Tevet 6, 5776/December 18, 2015
The reconciliation and reunion of Yosef and his brothers, which takes place in this week's Torah reading, Vayigash, is suspenseful, tender, tearful and heartwarming. What could be more wonderful than brothers overcoming their differences, forgiving and embracing one another, and being together once again, spiritually, emotionally and physically. Yet the warm, fuzzy feeling is not without its thorns. There is a melancholy lurking behind the joyful happenings, as a bitter-sweet reality unfolds. After all, this new-found unity comes at the price of a long exile from the land of Israel. How much nicer it would have been had the brothers overcome their differences while still in the land of Israel, and not in a foreign land.
We know from G-d's earlier revelation to Avraham that this period of exile was inevitable, but nevertheless, the conditions which precipitated the exile provide for us a necessary lesson about national responsibility and national purpose. Unity is something that the nation of Israel always aspires to. Parashat Vayigash helps to bring home the reality that there are two types of unity. There is the unity of exile and there is the unity of return and redemption, of purpose and prophecy.
Our sages teach us that a careful reading of the saga of Yosef and his brothers reveals that the brothers' jealousy over Yaakov's extra measure of love for Yosef, and their anger over the negative words Yosef delivered to his father concerning his brothers, and aboutYosef's seemingly megalomaniacal dreams, were symptoms of the conflict and not the conflict itself. The brothers shared a worldview that was different than that of Yosef, and their idea of how to build the nation of Israel differed from Yosef's idea. Both 'camps' shared the same end-goal, but were unable to overcome their differences in how to get there.
It was the inability to agree to work together inside the land of Israel that compelled the brothers to agree to work together outside the land. The unity that Israel has experienced in exile is the unity of survival. In a hostile environment, surrounded by an indigenous population that is different, and often suspicious and hostile, Israel must stick together simply in order to survive. The vision of return to the land of Israel and the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in the land for the purpose of fulfilling Israel's Torah responsibilities and building a Sanctuary for G-d , so that He "will dwell among [us]," becomes romanticized and mysticized. All efforts are made for surviving today, and the plans and visions for tomorrow become distant dreams and hopes, relocated to the realm of "someday, someday...' This is an admirable, albeit sad form of national unity.
In Egypt, the warm welcome that the children of Israel received soon turned cold, and their initial hopes for prosperity and plenty soon turned to a fight against despair and a struggle for daily survival. No doubt that without the reconciliation and rededication to unity that the brothers exhibited in this week's reading, their children would never have survived the Egyptian exile and enslavement. But this was not the unity of redemption and rebuilding. This was not the unity seen at Sinai when all of Israel stood before G-d and received His Torah, and this was not the unity displayed by Israel in the desert when all Israel worked side-by-side to built the Tabernacle for G-d's Presence to dwell in.
Once inside the land of Israel, the nation of Israel must collectively embrace its responsibility toward G-d , itself, and toward the nations. Israel must unify and coalesce over the need to pursue justice, to share the knowledge of G-d with the nations and to bring blessing into the world. This is the unity of vision, of purpose and prophecy. This is the unity not only worthy of a nation chosen by G-d , but necessary for that nation to reach its potential and to fulfill G-d's expectations.
We owe our presence today in the land of Israel to the renewed unity that Yosef and his brothers forged in Egypt. Likewise, we are obligated to these twelve sons of Israel to succeed in forging our own unity of purpose and redemption, of prophecy and vision, and to build a nation founded on justice and righteousness, and to rebuild the Holy Temple, the heart of the nation of Israel, the Place where G-d's Presence dwells, and a source of blessing for all the world.
-The Temple Institute
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