Genesis Cycle Three Vayigash 44:18 to 47:27

Vayigash

Vayigash, the name of this week’s parasha, means and he approached. In Genesis Rabbah 93:4 we learn of three occasions in which Judah approaches his brothers and speaks before them. First, in Genesis 37:26 he asks them how they could profit if they kill Joseph. Next, in Genesis 44:14 Judah (mentioned first) and his brothers come to Joseph’s house. This is after they find a chalice in Benjamin’s bag placed by Joseph’s servants and (in the eyes of the brothers) highly incriminating. And third, in this week’s parasha Judah approaches Joseph to protect Benjamin. Here, Judah does not cease until he penetrates to the very heart.

Here’s a question. Why would the respected sages of Genesis Rabbah even bother listing and organizing these lines…these approaches of Judah? Why go through the trouble? Well, clearly there is something to be learned from the process of approach as exemplified by Judah (and later by Jacob). According to the rabbis, the step taken by Judah not only enables him to get to the heart of the matter. It opens the gates for the whole tribe to arrive in full. One small step by Judah. One huge step for mankind.

Needless to say, in Miketz (the last parasha) we were more focused on the force of attraction, on Joseph and how he creates the magnetic energy to bring his brothers (and the world) to him. Today, we are following the brothers. Approach is a dangerous decision. Discernment and care are necessary. And reassurance is necessary on the part of the Joseph character, or even more specific, the God-force so encapsulated within the being of Joseph, the God-force beyond all beings.

Why discernment and care? Judah explains this well in the first line of the parasha. Do not get very angry (Judah says) for you are like the Pharaoh. Many sages believe that Judah says this to demonstrate Joseph’s great power. I see it differently though. According to kabbalists the God-construct and that of the sitra achra (the darkness) are mirror reflections. They are made of seemingly the same emanations. Therefore, it’s easy to be in the underworld and make excuses for it, see it as radiant and divine. It’s easy to stay in it for many years, lifetimes, generations after generations, continuing to believe it’s the only truth. Starvation, war, murder, slavery, torture, coldness, those subtle degrading comments, arrogance. It sucks us in before we even know it, quicksand of the soul. When Judah says this to Joseph therefore he is explaining why he has hesitated in his past approach. Joseph, after all, could be the sitra achra like Pharaoh. And how easy to confuse the two. For here is a man (Joseph) of great light concealing himself over and over again in the underworld (Mitzrayim).

To take this farther, God as well could confuse anyone…for God is a force of light concealed within our dark world. Several and careful approaches are necessary to make sure we are following the attraction we want, that we know what we are doing. Most important, we need to place the essence of our sparks, our most powerful intuition and logic before us as the leader in battle, in conciliation and in prayer (Genesis Rabbah). If we do this, we know that we are stepping in God-rhythm beyond time. This is what Judah does when he finally goes straight in with words to the heart. In my opinion he does this to finally discern what stands before him. Darkness does not open a heart as easily as light. By the way Joseph responds, by the way he opens his heart, Judah knows he can trust him. He is assured.

Looking further at the process of assurance, in midrash we read that when Joseph is young he studies Torah with Jacob. The last parasha studied (before Joseph is thrown into the pit) is Deut 21 1-8 in which a heifer is killed. This is why Joseph sends wagons to Jacob to help him to move to Mitzrayim to join him. The purpose is to build trust. Wagons is agalot and heifer is egla…two words with the same root. In this way, Joseph can send a sign that it is really him. According to the rabbis, Joseph studied Torah just as his forbears even though Torah had not yet been given (Gen Rabbah 95:3).

The trust therefore goes beyond person and story. It’s a trust that Torah-time goes beyond time…that we are radiant beings placed here on earth to join in union with a consciousness placed in us for the purpose of creating light for each other and for the world…and that approaching/receiving and assuring/transmitting is part and parcel of that creation.

So may we approach each other carefully with strength and peace. May we be patient so we can be sure. May we have faith in the importance of our continuing reception and transmission in the God-story in which we are so intricately woven. May we conceal ourselves in the darkness to safeguard our light and assure those around us. May we be the leaders and the followers as we take the step to join together in a radiant bond of love with humility, caution, wisdom, submission and relief.