Vayigash:
So Israel set out with all that was
his, and he came to Beer-sheva, where he offered
sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
God called to Israel
in a vision by night: “Jacob! Jacob!” He
answered, “Here.” God said, “I am God,
the God of your father. Fear not to go
down to Egypt,
for I will make you there into a great nation.
I, Myself will go down with you
to Egypt. I, Myself will also bring you
back; and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”
46: 1-4
The expression “fear not” is only
directed to one who is afraid. Jacob was
afraid and said: Now that I am about to
go down to Egypt
the days are at hand foretold my forefathers regarding the decree of bondage
and affliction of my seed in a land not their own… (God said) “I have come to
promise you that though the days of bondage and affliction are at hand, so too is the blessing that I gave your grandfather…
Hizkuni (13th Century)
Jacob should have gone down to Egypt
in chains. Yet God said, “Jacob, My
first-born, how could I banish him in disgrace?
Rather, I will send his son to go down before him.”…The Jewish people
have spent more years in exile than in their own land. Why?...First, in order that the Jewish people
should realize their true spiritual potential, God made sure that the nation
would lack material success for long periods of time…Two, exile serves to
spread the belief in one God throughout the world…
Abraham Isaac Kook (20th
Century)
Why was Jacob afraid to go down to
Egypt? Why does he have to be reassured? For good reason. He realizes that he may discover what really
happened to Joseph years earlier and that his own culpability and that of the
brothers will be exposed…But what does it mean to
suggest that God will “go down” with Jacob to Egypt and that God will “bring you
back?” The “Etz
Chayim” commentary suggests that this is a metaphor
for God’s protection on the journey and in Egypt, but the text knows how to
refer to God’s protection, and it doesn’t use that language here. It says God will “go down” to Egypt…God dwelt in Egypt
even during the enslavement…The Midrash teaches that God used the bricks from Egypt to build God’s heavenly palace…There is no
satisfying theological justification for Israel’s suffering through the
generations. But the notion that God suffers
with Israel
provides a trace of consolation. It may
be the most we can expect to have.
Neil Gillman (Contemporary)
Jacob the individual requires food
for his family. Jacob the bereaved
father likewise yearns to see his beloved son after an estrangement of 22
years. Psychologically Jacob is also
smitten with guilt over the manner in which he has led his family. He understands that it was his blatant
favoritism for Joseph that caused the sibling rivalry and even enmity which
almost resulted in Joseph’s tragic death.
The sign of the wagons, or agalotk, is
reminiscent of the heifer, egla, which the elders of
a city wherein a murder has occurred must bring as expiation for their faulty
leadership. Jacob feels he has been
forgiven by his son…and so his sprit is revived. Israel the Patriarch goes down to Egypt in
order to further realize the vision of the covenant…which called for a black
and frightening exile to teach an emerging nation the value of freedom….
Shlomo Riskin (Contemporary)