Vayigash 5773 - English

By Gustavo Kraselnik
Congregación Kol Shearith Israel

Joseph’s reunion with his brothers and their move to Egypt constitute the happy ending of the long saga of Jacob’s children.  Undoubtedly, the most moving moment is the hug between the splendid viceroy of Egypt and his elderly father (Gen. 46:29-30):

Joseph ordered his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel; he presented himself to him and, embracing him around the neck, he wept on his neck a good while.  Then Israel said to Joseph, "Now I can die, having seen for myself that you are still alive."

In the midst of this physical and emotional commotion in which everyone is immersed, both the newly arrived to Egypt as well as their host the now beloved and respected Joseph, a brief audience granted by Pharaoh to the patriarch Jacob stands out.

With the simple style that often characterizes the Torah (especially when we would like to know the tiniest details of the scene), our parashah offers us a succinct report of the meeting between those two prominent characters (Gen. 47:7-10):

Joseph then brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob greeted Pharaoh.  Pharaoh asked Jacob, "How many are the years of your life?"  And Jacob answered Pharaoh, "The years of my sojourn [on earth] are one hundred and thirty.  Few and hard have been the years of my life, nor do they come up to the life spans of my fathers during their sojourns."  Then Jacob bade Pharaoh farewell, and left Pharaoh's presence.

The story is written in a chiastic structure (in an X manner; the term in English is “pun”), with Jacob blessing Pharaoh at both ends of the meeting and a dialogue (Pharaoh’s question and Jacob’s answer) in the middle.

Commentators agree that there is a meaningful difference between the patriarch’s blessing to the king of Egypt at the beginning of the conversation, and the one at the end.

Rashi, for instance, maintains that whereas the first blessing is formal, that is, it is just a greeting, the second one constitutes an actual blessing, and he quotes Jacob’s words to Pharaoh from the MIdrash (Tanhuma, Naso 26):  “May the Nile rise to your feet”, summoning the Nile overflow essential for the fertility of the soil.

On the other hand, the difference with Joseph’s interview with Pharaoh before his meeting with Jacob is also very interesting (Gen 47:1-6).  Here, Joseph appears submissive and the superiority of the king of Egypt is perfectly clear, as he orders and decides (even if Joseph manipulated such decision, by telling his brothers what their answers should be).

Moreover, in the brief dialogue held with the patriarch a conversation between peers is discerned.  Jacob’s old age inspires respect and fear on Pharaoh’s part, to the extent that he feels forced to ask about his age.

On his commentary to this verse, Obadiah Sforno (Italy, 16th century) affirms that it was unusual to find such elderly people in Egypt, and Jacob appeared even older than he really was.  Hence, Pharaoh’s surprise.

The patriarch’s answer points in several directions.  It may be an act of ingratitude with God because of the struggles of his life, an acknowledgement that his appearance is due to the sufferings in his life, or an act of humility before a powerful man.  In any case, it is clear that the person who is speaking is rapidly approaching the end of his life.

And that is what disturbs Pharaoh.  The presence of that elderly man displeases him and forces him to put an end to the meeting which, according to the Torah, turns out to be too brief.

Regarding this matter, I read a very interesting commentary (by Joel Rosenberg, in the book “A Heart of Wisdom”, edited by Susan Berrin and quoted by Rabbi Pamela Wax):

One can only imagine that Pharaoh, who was accustomed to being viewed as a god, was brought uncomfortably close to being reminded that he, too, was of flesh.

In other words, Jacob’s presence confronted Pharaoh with his own mortality, and that was something really hard to accept by most mortals, even more so by those who considered themselves divine.

Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons found in this brief encounter between these two characters, as important as dissimilar, may be in the different perspectives posed by them concerning the meaning of life.  The majestic Pharaoh, incapable of acknowledging his own humanity, and the patriarch Jacob, humble and trustworthy, reminding him of the common destiny that awaits all living beings.

Shabbat Shalom,

Gustavo