Vaigash 5776 - English

By Rabbi Guido Cohen

Asociación Israelita Montefiore Bogotá, Colombia.

Parashat Vayigash is the next-to-last section from the book of Bereshit. In this Parashah, which begins to close the story of Joseph, the brothers reunite and embrace, leaving us with an optimist view of the fraternal bond.

The relationship between brothers is, in a way, the common thread of the book of Bereshit.  The quarrels between siblings, the tensions in this bond, are so recurring that one might think this is the central them of this book.  In fact, the word ‘brother’ (in its different forms) appears more than a hundred times throughout Bereshit.  If we made a ‘word cloud’ of this book, all the words referring to the fraternal would have a notable place in the hierarchy.  

The first of these stories about brothers is the tragic tale of Cain and Abel, where the hatred between brothers provokes bloodshed.  This little story, no more than 15 verses, contains the word ‘brother’ seven times.  The Torah does not want us to forget that these two young men killing each other are brothers.  

The next story about the fraternal bond will be Isaac and Ishmael.  Even though the sages have different opinions regarding what precisely Ishmael did to Isaac that bothered Sara so much, the truth is that these brothers could not live together.  The birth of one implied the almost automatic expulsion of the other.  Isaac and Ishmael cannot coexist as brothers, they do not know how to share, and maybe because of this, what happens later with the sons of Isaac comes as no surprise.   

Jacob and Esau fight since they are born, they cannot even share the maternal womb, and after the first one swindles the second one, this one swears to kill his brother.  Jacob runs to his uncle’s house and his brother spends his days harboring a thirst for revenge.  This reaches such an extent that two decades later, Jacob still lives in fear of Esau.  

And finally, the story that we have followed for the past three weeks: Joseph and his brothers.  These brothers could not speak peacefully and that is why they almost killed each other.  

Anyone who reads these stories could come to a fast conclusion that one of the messages we learn from Bereshit is that brothers cannot live together, that fraternal violence is inherent to this type of bond.  However, the book closes with brothers embracing and reconciling.  True, they used to fight and threaten each other.  They nearly killed each other.  But finally, they manage to live together in a tearful embrace that seals the reconciliation which will be the basis for the transformation from a tribal clan into a people.  A people that will reach the foot of Mount Sinai and stand before God “as one man, with one heart.”

How does this evolution take place?  How did we get from Cain to Joseph?  Little by little.  Slowly, but with small steps that made the difference.  Cain kills Abel and never owns up to it.  Ishmael and Isaac cannot live together, but they reunite to bury Abraham.  Jacob and Esau do not meet again for a funeral, but to give their bond a second chance.  They not only meet, they talk and embrace, but they still do not know how to walk together.  Joseph and his brothers manage to advance even further.  Not only do they meet, but they reconcile, they forgive, and they live in peace again.   

The central theme of the book of Bereshit is brothers, but it can be read en two ways.  We can conclude that siblings fight because that is normal and natural.  That’s how it has always been and how it always will be.  Or, on the contrary, we can read in the text a story that grows and evolves.  It does not hide the evident, that the fraternal bond is complex and hard, that it requires patience and effort to find harmony.  But it is not condemned to be like Cain and Abel.  

Right before he is thrown into the well, Joseph says, “et achai anochi mevakesh”, my brothers I seek.  When Cain is asked where his brother is, he responds he is not his keeper, he does not know nor does he care where he is.  Joseph and his brothers end up not only looking for each other but also finding one another.  In this way they begin a new stage, and this embrace will transform them into a people that holds unity in spite of differences as one of its essential values.  

Shabbat Shalom 

Rabbi Guido Cohen