On the Importance of Stepping Up

On the Importance of Stepping Up
D’var Torah on Parashat Vayigash—Genesis 44:18-47:27
Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

Vayigash… Yehuda, “Judah drew near.” With these opening words of this week’s parashah, the process of reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers reaches its tearful climax.

Giving his brothers one last test of their faithfulness, Joseph announces that the youngest brother, Benjamin, must remain in Egypt as his slave. It is at this point that Judah draws near, taking the last step in his transformation from the person he was when he proposed that Joseph be sold into slavery—cynical, self-centered and mean—into the shining example that will make him worthy of the leadership of his people and of being credited as the founder of Judah-ism.

Life had taught Judah compassion. Having lost his first two sons and fearing the loss of his youngest, he has come to understand the agony and misery that his earlier misdeeds had caused Jacob. He can now understand fully Jacob’s terror at the prospect of losing Benjamin, the last survivor of Jacob’s love for Rachel. Overcoming his fear of the second most powerful man in all Egypt, Judah pleads for Benjamin’s freedom and offers himself as a slave instead: “For how will I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? Let me not see the misery that will befall my father!” (Gen. 44:34).

It is at this moment in the story that Joseph loses his composure. To be sure, he, too, was responsible for some of Jacob’s misery. He could have sent a message. Almost two decades had passed since the dreadful day he was torn from his father, a time span that Joseph employed to forget his past, rather than reconnect with it. Judah’s words bring home to Joseph the keen awareness of Jacob’s pain throughout this time—pain he could have eased, but didn’t.

Filled with guilt and remorse, Joseph sends out all the Egyptian courtiers. Alone with his brothers, he reveals his true identity: “I am Joseph.” Then, expressing his deepest concern, he asks, “Is my father still alive?” (Gen. 45:3). Did he wait too long? Was the connection with his past irretrievably lost? Was there still hope for t’shuva, for the possibility to repair at least some of the damage? Or had Jacob given up on him? Was it too late?

It is never too late to make amends, never too late to begin the process of t’shuva, of repairing the wrong. Joseph’s brothers are dumbfounded; but Joseph already knows the answer to his question. “Hurry,” he commands them, “hurry and bring my father down to me.”

One doesn’t need to imagine the shed tears. The scene is described beautifully in the parashah. It is one of great joy that is yet mingled with a deep sense of loss—the loss of so many years, the loss of love, innocence, faith and trust. Our days on earth are short, this story reminds us. In the best case, life is filled with trouble and hard work. Yet we are not helpless. Each of us has the ability to fill the moments we have allotted to us with love, joy and blessing. Why make life worse when we can make it better?

Judah steps up when he recognizes that up until this moment, his life was meaningless. It is only when measured against a higher ideal and a higher goal that Judah can begin to fill his life with true meaning. His was a long process of loss followed by small steps of enlightenment. He had started badly by abandoning Joseph to the care of slave traders. Uncaring and irresponsible, his only concern then was for the money he would be getting by selling the boy. Later, after the death of his sons Er and Onan, Judah let fear dictate his course of actions; his lack of concern for his personal worth, for the values his word and name stood for, caused him to forget his responsibilities to his daughter-in-law, Tamar, and for his youngest son. Now, however, facing the possibility of further misery and loss, Judah finds the strength to stop the downward spiral. He discovers within himself sufficient courage and determination to motivate him finally to do the right thing, to take that final step and make a real difference in life. And so Judah steps up. Vayigash… Yehuda, “And Judah drew near.” Filled with compassion for his father, with concern and care for his brothers, family and people, Judah steps up to Joseph and pleads their case, begging for justice and mercy.

The irony is obvious. Years earlier, Judah had failed to heed Joseph’s calls for mercy. Why should Joseph act differently now, with their fortunes reversed?

Yet, through his act of heroism, Judah not only redeems himself, but others as well. Judah’s courage and love cause Joseph to reveal his identity and forgive his brothers. At the same time, Judah inspires the rest of his brothers to step up as well. And so it is with all of us: with our actions we inspire others. If we are courageous, others around us will be the same; if we show compassion, others will follow suit. It is human nature.

And so the story reaches its conclusion. Joseph sends chariots and provisions for Jacob and all his family. Jacob, eager to see Joseph before he dies, leaves Canaan. His departure for Egypt signals both an ending to this chapter and a new beginning. Israel settles in the Land of Goshen—the land of “stepping forward,” “drawing near” and “stepping up.” It will be here that Israel will begin to find its identity as a nation and a people, but that’s another story altogether. For the time being, they live in happiness, together for the first time in many a year.

©2010 by Boaz D. Heilman