Genesis Cycle Five Vayigash

Vayigash

Saying I Love You

Vayigash, the name of this week’s parasha, means and he approached. In Genesis Rabbah 93:4 we learn of three occasions in which Yehudah approaches his brothers and speaks before them. First, in Genesis 37:26 he asks them how they could profit if they kill Yosef. Next, in Genesis 44:14 Yehudah (mentioned first) and his brothers approach Yosef’s house. This is after they find a chalice in Benyamin’s bag placed by Yosef’s servants and (in the eyes of the brothers) highly incriminating. And third, in this week’s parasha Yehudah approaches Yosef to protect Benyamin. Here, Yehudah 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 Yehudah? Why go through the trouble? Well, clearly there is something to be learned from the process of approach as exemplified by Yehudah (and later by Yaakov). According to the rabbis, the step taken by Yehudah 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 Yehudah. One huge step for  all of us.

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

Why discernment and care? Yehudah explains this well in the first line of the parasha. Do not get very angry (Yehudah says) for you are like the Pharaoh. Many sages believe that Yehudah says this to demonstrate Yosef’s great power. To bow down to him.  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 Yehudah says this to Yosef therefore he is explaining why he has hesitated in his past approach. Yosef, after all, could be the sitra achra like Pharaoh. And how easy to confuse the two. For here is a man (Yosef) of great light concealing himself over and over again in the underworld (Mitzrayim).

To take this farther, God as well could bring confusion to 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 Yehudah does when he finally goes straight in with words to the heart. In my opinion he does this to feel out the situation, discern what stands before him. Darkness does not open a heart as does light. By the way Yosef responds, by the way he opens his heart, Yehudah knows he can trust him. He is assured.

Looking further at the process of assurance, in midrash we read that when Yosef is young he studies Torah with Yaakov. The last parasha studied (before Yosef is thrown into the pit) is Deut 21 1-8 in which a heifer is killed. This is why Yosef sends wagons to Yaakov 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, Yosef can send a sign that it is really him. According to the rabbis, Yosef 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 our-time…that we are radiant beings placed here on earth  for the very purpose of  creating One wholeness of  our same radiance. All approaching/reception and assurance/transmission is part and parcel of that creation.

How do we apply this to today? Step carefully, know what is before you. And then, act on it.  Be the one to say I love you.

So may we approach each other  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  with humility, caution, wisdom, submission and relief.