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By Rabbi Joshua Kullock,
Comunidad Hebrea de Guadalajara, Mexico

Translated by Inés Baum - Proofreading by Ellen Zindler

One of the recurrent themes in the book of Bereshit is, without a doubt, that of the conformation and building of families, and along this, all the conflicts that may arise from the dynamics generated among the various actors involved. From the children of Adam and Eve up to Joseph and his brothers, it will be difficult for us to find a family devoid of conflicts, which will mark the lives and identities of their characters.

At the beginning of Parashat Va-yiggash, we can see a point of strain: in this case, Joseph faces his brother Judah regarding Benjamin’s future. The youngest of the brothers had been incriminated (on purpose) by Joseph, in order to measure the other’s reaction, and it is Judah the one who appears as the leader and the one who pleads for the release of Benjamin, struggling on behalf of old Jacob’s health. This protective stance will allow Joseph, after many years of separation and grief, to make peace with his brothers, finally producing the reconciliation.

And even so, the multiple tears of Joseph, his brothers and their father could not prevent the break-up of relationships between the various families – borne precisely by Jacob’s sons – as time went by, to the point that the unity of the twelve tribes under a unified leadership was just an illusion of three generations: from the time that the people requested a King from Samuel (I Samuel 8) until Solomon’s death (I Kings 11:42-43), less than a hundred years went by… and then the illusion broke.

Judah and Joseph – the brothers who came face to face at the beginning of our parashah – were precisely the ones who came to symbolize the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, neighboring kingdoms that far from being allies, lived through periods of deep rivalry. And history was thus built in such a manner that, in the year 722 BCE, the Northern Kingdom fell into the hands of the Assyrian Empire and ten of the tribes were lost, and in the year 586 BCE, the Southern Kingdom fell into the hands of the Babylonian Empire, then ending the period of the First Temple in Jerusalem.

And even so, in the same age of the downfall of the Southern Kingdom, there lived in Babylon one of the most interesting prophets ever known. Ezekiel, exiled along with many others in the year 597 BCE, handed down in his work a number of intense prophecies. And one of them was chosen to be read on the Shabbat of Va-yiggash, its main theme being: the future reunification of North and South, the reconciliation of the brothers who had grown apart, the reencounter of those who for countless years set themselves as rivals. In the words of the prophet himself:

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: “And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it: ‘For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions’; then take another stick, and write upon it: ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and of all the house of Israel his companions’; and join them for thee one to another into one stick, that they may become one in thy hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying: ‘Wilt thou not tell us what thou meanest by these?’ say unto them: ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them unto him together with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.’” (Ezekiel 37:15-19)

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Forwarded by Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, from Kol Shearith Israel Congregation, Panama.
Translated by Inés Baum and proofread by Ellen Zindler, from B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica.

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