The name of the Parshah, "Vayigash," means "And he approached" and it is found in Genesis 44:18.
Judah approaches Joseph to plead for the release of Benjamin, offering himself as a slave to the Egyptian ruler in Benjaminโs stead. Upon witnessing his brothersโ loyalty to one another, Joseph reveals his identity to them.โI am Joseph,โ he declares. โIs my father still alive?โ
The brothers are overcome by shame and remorse, but Joseph comforts them. โIt was not you who sent me here,โ he says to them, โbut Gโd. It has all been ordained from Above to save us, and the entire region, from famine.โ
The brothers rush back to Canaan with the news. Jacob comes to Egypt with his sons and their familiesโseventy souls in allโand is reunited with his beloved son after 22 years. On his way to Egypt he receives the divine promise: โFear not to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.โ
Joseph gathers the wealth of Egypt by selling food and seed during the famine. Pharaoh gives Jacobโs family the fertile county of Goshen to settle, and the children of Israel prosper in their Egyptian exile.
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Why did Joseph, as ruler of Egypt, have all male Egyptians circumcised?
for A K
This from the Chumash: When all the inhabitants of Egypt therefore were starving, they asked Joseph to provide them with grain. Joseph knew that God had commanded Abraham and his descendants to circumcise any servant they purchased.22 When he became officially responsible for the welfare of Egypt, this in effect made all its citizens into his property, and he thus became liable to circumcise them. When they came to him for food, he saw this as an opportunity to prevail upon them to do so.
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This from TheRebbe.org/Daily Wisdom/Mikeitz: Refining the World
Pharaoh said to all Egypt, โGo to Joseph and do whatever he tells you to.โ Genesis 41:55
Egyptian society was steeped in the pursuit of self-serving carnal pleasure, which is reduced by circumcision. Thus, by having the Egyptians circumcised, Joseph subdued their obsession with carnal indulgence. Pharaoh himself instructed them