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Weekly Torah Portion: Genesis - VaYechi 101
 Contributed by: Yosef, December 1999

The Starting this week, we are going to begin to take lessons from the weekly Parshah. For those who are new to this, the Torah, the first five books of the Tanakh or Bible, is divided into 54 portions or Parshahs. Each year, from the holiday of Simchah Torah, we begin to the read the complete Torah, one, and sometimes two Parshahs per week, until we have read the entire Work. This week, the Parshah is Vayechi which is encompassed by Bereshis (Genesis) Mem-Zayin (Chapter 47) Khav-Chet (Verse 28) through Nun (Chapter 50) Khav-Vav (Verse 26), the end of the chapter.

In Vayechi, Yaakov (Jacob) tells his son Yosef (Joseph) that he is going to die and asks Yosef to swear that he will return his father's body to where his parents, grandparents, and wife Leah are buried. As well, Yaakov blesses each of his sons, and Yosef's two sons, Ephraim and Menasheh.

After burying Yaakov, his sons, who return to Mitzrayim (Egypt), are concerned that their brother Yosef, whom they previously betrayed and sold into slavery, will now take revenge on them. We begin with Nun, Tet-Vav (Chapter 50, Verse 15).

Yosef's brothers perceived that their father was dead, and they said, "Perhaps Yosef will nurse hatred against us and then he will surely repay us all the evil that we did him." So they instructed Yosef be told, "Your father gave orders before his death saying: Thus shall you say to Yosef, 'O please, kindly forgive the spiteful deed of your brothers and their sin for they have done you evil,' so now, please forgive the spiteful deed of the servants of your father's G-d." And Yosef wept when they spoke to him.

Yosef’s brothers themselves also wept and flung themselves before him and said, "We are ready to be your slaves."

But Yosef said to them, "Fear not, for am I instead of G-d? Although you intended me harm, G-d intended it for good: in order to accomplish -- it is clear as this day -- that a vast people be kept alive. So now, fear not -- I will sustain you and your young ones." Thus he comforted them and spoke to their heart.

It must be remembered that Yosef's brothers and father were faced with the same famine that would have destroyed the natives of Egypt had it not been for Yosef's careful planning and rationing during the seven years of plenty. In other words, Yosef was not only responsible for saving Mitzrayim, but for saving his family too.

To comment on that last paragraph, Rashi, the most prolific commentator of the Torah, tells us that Yosef reassured his brothers, saying that he could not harm them even if he wanted to. If G-d would not permit them - a large group of righteous people - to harm him, how could he as an individual succeed in harming them. Further, Sforno (another commentator) explains that Yosef is saying am I a judge with the power to take G-d's place in analyzing whether His decree was proper and punish those who carried it out? You were nothing more than His agents. You erred in thinking that I was your enemy, but G-d used your actions to bring about the ultimate good.

It is from these things, both what the Parshah says, and the commentaries of Rashi and Sforno, that we can learn a very valuable lesson in life. Not too long ago, my wife and I were discussing business difficulties. We seemed to be doing everything right but were not rewarded with the desired results. As if Hakadosh Baruch Hu (The Holy One, Blessed Be He) was not putting His blessing on our efforts, for whatever reason. During our discussion, we looked back on other times when things seemed to go awry, and realized that the hardships we experienced lead to invention, innovation and, ultimately, greater accomplishments.

This is the essential point that Yosef is making to his brothers. Indeed, they had nearly been the cause of his death a number of times, when he was thrown in the pit, when he was sold into slavery, and when he was imprisoned in Egypt. Yet, it was while he was in prison that he had visions concerning the seven good years and seven bad years. Those visions brought him to the Pharaoh’s attention, leading to his becoming the Viceroy and to saving that part of the world from a devastating famine, including his very own family. Some of Yosef's greatest hardships resulted from his brothers’ callous actions, yet, without those actions, there is every possibility that the famine would have destroyed the Tribes of Israel in their first generation.

Before being quick to say that G-d is withholding His blessing from us and our efforts, we best make absolutely certain that this is the case. Since we can't know the mind of G-d, nor His plans, and since, as humans, we notoriously look at the tree rather than the forest, perhaps it would help us to look back and realize that not every stumbling block or hardship is what it may seem. It may just be G-d’s way of leading us on a path that produces the greatest possible outcome.
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Translations in Torah Portions of the week are partially taken from the ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash and from Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch Chumash 

THE TORAH: THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES
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   •  Vayikra ויקרא   - Leviticus
   •  Bamidbar במדבר  -  Numbers
   •  Dvarim דברים  - Deuteronomy

RECOMMENDED READING
 •  ArtScroll: The Stone Edition Chumash - Full Size
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 •  Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch Chumash - The Masterful New English Translation!
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