Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Vayigash YOSEF COULD NO LONGER RESTRAIN HIMSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL WHO WERE STATIONED AROUND HIM, HE CALLED OUT: HAVE EVERYONE LEAVE ME! SO NO ONE STOOD IN ATTENDANCE UPON HIM WHEN YOSEF MADE HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS BROTHERS. HE PUT FORTH HIS VOICE IN WEEPING: THE EGYPTIANS HEARD, PHARAOH'S HOUSEHOLD HEARD. THEN YOSEF SAID TO HIS BROTHERS: I AM YOSEF. IS MY FATHER STILL ALIVE? BUT HIS BROTHERS WERE NOT ABLE TO ANSWER HIM, FOR THEY WERE CONFOUNDED IN HIS PRESENCE. YOSEF SAID TO...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Vayigash Yosef brought his father, Yaakov, and had him stand in Pharaoh’s presence… Yaakov gave Pharaoh a blessing. (Bereishit 47:7, 10) Rabbi Avraham, son of the Rambam, wrote: “Yaakov blessed” – he blessed him upon his entering and he blessed upon his leaving. And our Rabbi Saadya Gaon twice interpreted “blessed” as “gave him peace”, and our teacher interpreted “God bless you” (Ruth 2:4) “Allah yislameha” – “God will give you peace”. (Notes by Rabbi Yosef Kapah, z’l, on his commentary on Rabbi Saadya Gaon)  ...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat Vayigash (link to original page) Parshat Vayigash "Pray let your servant speak a work in the ears of my lord." This is an appropriate expression for one offering his words for consideration by the other. I am appealing not to your emotions but to the breadth of your intelligence. (Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Bereishit 44:18) Yehuda's Pacifying Toughness "My lord asked his servant saying" –Know that you libel us; how many nations came here to purchase food – did you interrogate them as you did us? Were we seeking your daughter,...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat Vayigash (link to original page) Parshat Vayigash Joseph heals the breach in his father's house by Uriel Simon The gates of Torah interpretation have not been locked and never will be locked. Every generation has its interpreters, and the contribution each interpreter makes to the understanding of the Torah lies, among other things, in the new difficulties he finds in the texts. On the face of it, it is odd that questions which so much taxed and perturbed later commentators were not raised by their predecessors at all. But when we...