Gen. 44:18 - 48:27
Précis: We approach the end of the Joseph saga. Benjamin is being held by Joseph as the alleged thief of a gold cup. Judah comes near (vayigash) Joseph, and begs for his brother’s life, offering himself as a substitute. Joseph is overcome and reveals himself to his brothers, forgiving them for selling him into slavery, stating that it was all part of God’s plan. Joseph sends them back home to bring Jacob and their families down to Egypt in order to survive the upcoming famine. They comply, and Joseph arranges for them to reside in the land of Goshen, living off “the fat of the land” at Pharaoh’s insistence. During the remainder of the famine, Joseph purchases land and cattle for Pharaoh, making serfs of the Egyptian people in exchange for the grain stored during the seven years of plenty. The Israelites prosper and multiply.
Gen. 47:8-9 “And Jacob said to Pharaoh, ‘The days of the years of my sojourning are a hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life…’”
Meeting Pharaoh, Jacob’s response seems strange. He indeed had a long life, he received the blessing from Isaac in lieu of Esau (with whom he had a reunion), he had many sons, great wealth, and was even reunited with his long-lost son Joseph.
Robert Alter, in his Genesis - Translation and Commentary, suggests that for Jacob, every positive outcome was achieved only through struggle, from his time in his mother’s womb, to his time as a servant to his uncle, to getting Leah instead of Rachel, to wrestling with an angel and to being injured before obtaining a new name, to a frightening reunion with his brother, and to the loss of his favorite son Joseph at the hands of Joseph’s brothers. Nothing came easily.
Here we see a lesson for today. Israel’s war with Hamas is not and will not be resolved easily. The Jewish People’s struggle against Jew-hatred around the world will not be overcome easily. As Jacob reminds us, nothing worthwhile comes easily, but in the end, through courage, faith and commitment, our hopes can be assured.
