Chapter 46. Joseph is petrified. Suddenly he asks himself: Why did I commit to this? Have I lost my mind? Who am I to make such decisions? Wait, wait… let’s take a step back. What are we talking about?
As we recall, at the beginning of Parashat Vayigash, Joseph is deeply moved by Judah’s speech. He bursts into tears, embraces his brothers, and in a surge of enthusiasm invites his father and his entire family—seventy souls—to come live in Egypt. He even specifies a particular place: "So, it was not you who sent me here, but God—who has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt. “Now, hurry back to my father and say to him: Thus says your son Joseph, ‘God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me without delay. You will dwell in the region of Goshen, where you will be near me—you and your children and your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that is yours. There I will provide for you—for there are yet five years of famine to come—that you and your household and all that is yours may not suffer want." (Gensis, 45:8-11).
That’s quite a commitment. For a moment Joseph forgets that there is someone above him—Pharaoh—even though he himself is “ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And so, at the end of chapter 46, we encounter him in a very different mood. Suddenly he realizes that he made promises on his own authority, without asking Pharaoh’s permission. The family is already approaching Egypt, and Joseph understands that they are about to arrive—and that Pharaoh will discover Joseph has overstepped his authority.
What does one do? One presents matters as a request, not as a fait accompli. Joseph is an expert at this.
After all, when he was brought up from the pit to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, he likewise suggested—seemingly innocently: "Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt".(Gensism 41:33). You, Pharaoh, decide who is wise; you decide whom to appoint. Here too, things must be presented so that Pharaoh feels like this is his idea.
Joseph decides to meet his brothers before they arrive in Egypt, before Pharaoh meets the family, and to prepare them for the encounter: "Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, "I will go up and tell the news to Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me'". (Gensis, 46:31).
Wait a moment—I need to prepare Pharaoh emotionally… I need to inform him that you’ve come to “visit me.” Here the Torah adds a parenthetical detail that will be very important later in the story: "They happen to be shepherds; they have always been breeders of livestock, and they have brought with them their flocks and herds and all that is theirs.’" (Gensis, 46:32).
Oops… the family has arrived with all the sheep. One doesn’t come for a visit with entire herds—it makes noise and chaos, smells, dirt. Joseph decides to leverage this. He asks his family to present themselves as shepherds—which is true—and to emphasize their occupation. Why? "For all shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians". (Gensis, 46:34).
So what is the plan? To get Pharaoh to want to send them off to a distant (yet fertile and green!) region—both them and their herds.
And so it goes. Joseph goes in to Pharaoh to prepare him emotionally for the family’s arrival, presenting them as shepherds. Five of the brothers join him and explain that because of the severe drought they were forced to bring their herds with them, hoping that Pharaoh will agree that they settle in the land of Goshen, where there is abundant pasture.
The fear of Pharaoh’s anger is great—over the brothers’ arrival, over their creating facts on the ground by coming with the herds, over their request for a specific territory. How will the ruler of Egypt respond to such audacity? Pharaoh’s response is very surprising: "Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'As regards your father and your brothers who have come to you, the land of Egypt is open before you: settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land; let them stay in the region of Goshen. And if you know some men of ability among them, put them in charge of my livestock.'” (Gensis, 47:5-6).
Of course your family has reunited with you! How wonderful!—says Pharaoh. They are welcome to live wherever you wish, in the best of the land. If you want the land of Goshen—by all means, Goshen.
Not only that: I would be glad if the most skilled among them would manage my own herds as well.
***
The arc of this story offers an important life lesson. The scholar Asher Cohen, Ph.D., distinguishes between “identity”—our inner identity—and “identification”—the way we are identified in the eyes of society. Often our identity is diminished by external identification. Often society tramples our identity through stereotypical, racist, exclusionary “labels.” Here, something opposite occurs. Joseph is deeply concerned about his family’s foreign identity—they look different, speak a different language, and have customs and a religion unlike those of the Egyptians.
Joseph chooses to focus on an inferior external identification - one that is “an abomination to the Egyptians”: their being shepherds. He hopes this will work to the family’s advantage, but in doing so he decrees for them, from the outset, separation, isolation, and rejection from Egyptian society.
It is Pharaoh who opens his arms, his land, and his heart to them. He sees them first and foremost as human beings - the long-lost family of Joseph.
He wishes to benefit them, and even transforms the inferior identification, despised shepherds, into a profession he defines as important and needed. Pharaoh is the one who strives, with all his might, to give Joseph’s family a sense of belonging and worth, to convey the message that they are welcome in his kingdom and can contribute to it.
Pharaoh teaches us not to grovel, not to diminish our worth in order to be accepted, not to assume in advance that everyone around us hates us, looks down on us, or is racist. He teaches us that a society can include everyone, and that we should be proud of our heritage and of what we can contribute to society. And he reminds us that if we are confident in our identity and in the blessing within us, it will be easier for us to contain the other, even the seemingly “abhorrent.”
May we, too, be inclusive, sensitive, accepting, and generous - like this Pharaoh of chapter 47.
Shabbat Shalom!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Galia Sadan is one of the congregational Rabbis of Beit Daniel Reform congregation in Tel-Aviv, and serves as the head of the Rabbinical Court (Em Bit HaDin) of the Israeli Reform Movement.
As we recall, at the beginning of Parashat Vayigash, Joseph is deeply moved by Judah’s speech. He bursts into tears, embraces his brothers, and in a surge of enthusiasm invites his father and his entire family—seventy souls—to come live in Egypt. He even specifies a particular place: "So, it was not you who sent me here, but God—who has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt. “Now, hurry back to my father and say to him: Thus says your son Joseph, ‘God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me without delay. You will dwell in the region of Goshen, where you will be near me—you and your children and your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that is yours. There I will provide for you—for there are yet five years of famine to come—that you and your household and all that is yours may not suffer want." (Gensis, 45:8-11).
That’s quite a commitment. For a moment Joseph forgets that there is someone above him—Pharaoh—even though he himself is “ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And so, at the end of chapter 46, we encounter him in a very different mood. Suddenly he realizes that he made promises on his own authority, without asking Pharaoh’s permission. The family is already approaching Egypt, and Joseph understands that they are about to arrive—and that Pharaoh will discover Joseph has overstepped his authority.
What does one do? One presents matters as a request, not as a fait accompli. Joseph is an expert at this.
After all, when he was brought up from the pit to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, he likewise suggested—seemingly innocently: "Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt".(Gensism 41:33). You, Pharaoh, decide who is wise; you decide whom to appoint. Here too, things must be presented so that Pharaoh feels like this is his idea.
Joseph decides to meet his brothers before they arrive in Egypt, before Pharaoh meets the family, and to prepare them for the encounter: "Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, "I will go up and tell the news to Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me'". (Gensis, 46:31).
Wait a moment—I need to prepare Pharaoh emotionally… I need to inform him that you’ve come to “visit me.” Here the Torah adds a parenthetical detail that will be very important later in the story: "They happen to be shepherds; they have always been breeders of livestock, and they have brought with them their flocks and herds and all that is theirs.’" (Gensis, 46:32).
Oops… the family has arrived with all the sheep. One doesn’t come for a visit with entire herds—it makes noise and chaos, smells, dirt. Joseph decides to leverage this. He asks his family to present themselves as shepherds—which is true—and to emphasize their occupation. Why? "For all shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians". (Gensis, 46:34).
So what is the plan? To get Pharaoh to want to send them off to a distant (yet fertile and green!) region—both them and their herds.
And so it goes. Joseph goes in to Pharaoh to prepare him emotionally for the family’s arrival, presenting them as shepherds. Five of the brothers join him and explain that because of the severe drought they were forced to bring their herds with them, hoping that Pharaoh will agree that they settle in the land of Goshen, where there is abundant pasture.
The fear of Pharaoh’s anger is great—over the brothers’ arrival, over their creating facts on the ground by coming with the herds, over their request for a specific territory. How will the ruler of Egypt respond to such audacity? Pharaoh’s response is very surprising: "Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'As regards your father and your brothers who have come to you, the land of Egypt is open before you: settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land; let them stay in the region of Goshen. And if you know some men of ability among them, put them in charge of my livestock.'” (Gensis, 47:5-6).
Of course your family has reunited with you! How wonderful!—says Pharaoh. They are welcome to live wherever you wish, in the best of the land. If you want the land of Goshen—by all means, Goshen.
Not only that: I would be glad if the most skilled among them would manage my own herds as well.
***
The arc of this story offers an important life lesson. The scholar Asher Cohen, Ph.D., distinguishes between “identity”—our inner identity—and “identification”—the way we are identified in the eyes of society. Often our identity is diminished by external identification. Often society tramples our identity through stereotypical, racist, exclusionary “labels.” Here, something opposite occurs. Joseph is deeply concerned about his family’s foreign identity—they look different, speak a different language, and have customs and a religion unlike those of the Egyptians.
Joseph chooses to focus on an inferior external identification - one that is “an abomination to the Egyptians”: their being shepherds. He hopes this will work to the family’s advantage, but in doing so he decrees for them, from the outset, separation, isolation, and rejection from Egyptian society.
It is Pharaoh who opens his arms, his land, and his heart to them. He sees them first and foremost as human beings - the long-lost family of Joseph.
He wishes to benefit them, and even transforms the inferior identification, despised shepherds, into a profession he defines as important and needed. Pharaoh is the one who strives, with all his might, to give Joseph’s family a sense of belonging and worth, to convey the message that they are welcome in his kingdom and can contribute to it.
Pharaoh teaches us not to grovel, not to diminish our worth in order to be accepted, not to assume in advance that everyone around us hates us, looks down on us, or is racist. He teaches us that a society can include everyone, and that we should be proud of our heritage and of what we can contribute to society. And he reminds us that if we are confident in our identity and in the blessing within us, it will be easier for us to contain the other, even the seemingly “abhorrent.”
May we, too, be inclusive, sensitive, accepting, and generous - like this Pharaoh of chapter 47.
Shabbat Shalom!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Galia Sadan is one of the congregational Rabbis of Beit Daniel Reform congregation in Tel-Aviv, and serves as the head of the Rabbinical Court (Em Bit HaDin) of the Israeli Reform Movement.