SHEMOT 1:1-6:1, THE BOOK OF NAMES, EXODUS

  SHEMOT 1:1-6:1, THE BOOK OF NAMES, EXODUS

We start a new Book this week, Sefer Shemot, the "Book of Names".   The opening Parshah begins with a retelling of the names of Jacob's sons that came with him to Egypt.  They are all gone now; it's a different generation, but one that may have problems:

In this retelling of the names, the sons of Leah and Rachel are enumerated first, and then come the sons of their hand maidens (1:1-4).  From the way they are presented, one can draw an inference that the sons of the Matriarchs consider themselves higher than the sons of the handmaidens.  This differentiation may be a indicative of disunity and discord between the brothers.

Then we are told that: "The children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed (creeped?) and increased and became very very strong, and the land became filled with them". The use of the word "swarmed", וַיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ in Hebrew is not complimentary.  Swarmed is interpreted as being lowly creatures.  You remember in the Book of Genesis when God says:  "Let the waters swarm a swarming of living creatures..."  In modern Hebrew a שרץ is a creepy crawly or a reptile or an insect.  No wonder the new Pharaoh is concerned.  

The question then is just what Pharaoh is going to do about it

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I'm listening to a tape of Rabbi Soloveichik on the opening sentence of the Book of Exodus where it says "And these are the names of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt...".

The Rabbi asks: Why is the present tense "were coming" used for an event that took place 210 years in the past?

The Rabbi answers that even after 210 years the Jews were not accepted: While it is true that they were present, it is as if they were outside the land because the locals did not give them a positive response. Indeed, they were made to be slaves, their male children slaughtered..

It is only in Israel that Jews can hold their head high. It is here that we are all brothers and sisters. Outside of Israel, Jews are only fooling themselves. The best they can do is try to assimilate. But even so, you will always be a stranger in a strange land.

Come on home to beautiful Israel, better yet to beautiful Nahariya.

https://youtu.be/WBugBEWVnpA

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NAMES

This week we begin a new Book, Sefer Shemot also called Exodus 
This is Rav Kook’s take on the 1st Parshah in Shemot:
The Parshah begins with “These are the names of the B’nai Yisrael…”.
The names of the brothers are enumerated

Names are very important in Judaism. A person’s name reveals a person’s potential. And in this case the potential of the B’nai Yisrael, the nation of Israel.

What exactly is our potential?  With due respect to the Levites, the לוויים, We are no longer the Twelve Tribes.  As best as I can tell the Twelve Tribes have been replaced by Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Secular, Humanist, Sephardic, Ashkenazi, Chassidim. Misnagedim, Atheist, Haredi and Zionist Jews.  Obviously there has been some intermingling between the groups, but we are All JEWS nonetheless.  

Let us realize our God-given potential: Compassion and Social Justice.

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At Chapter 2, Verses 11-12 we learn about Moses as a grown man:

וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם, וַיִּגְדַּל מֹשֶׁה וַיֵּצֵא אֶל-אֶחָיו, וַיַּרְא, בְּסִבְלֹתָם; וַיַּרְא אִישׁ מִצְרִי, מַכֶּה אִישׁ-עִבְרִי מֵאֶחָיו.

וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה, וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ; וַיַּךְ, אֶת-הַמִּצְרִי, וַיִּטְמְנֵהוּ, בַּחוֹל.

“Now it came to pass in those days that Moses grew up and went out to his brothers and saw their suffering, and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man from his brothers.

He turned this way and that way, and when he saw no man; he struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand”.

This was not a crime of passion.  Moses was deliberate in his action.  He had intent and what is called in the court system, the requisite mens rea or guilty mind.

The Sages go out of the way to exonerate Moshe:  Moshe never raised his hand against the Egyptian; he either said the ineffable name of Hashem or only stared at the Egyptian, both of which resulted in the Egyptian’s demise.

 In the alternative:

The Egyptian taskmaster had laid eyes on the Hebrew’s wife. So the Egyptian woke the Hebrew at night and took him out of his house, and he returned and entered the house and was intimate with the Hebrew’s wife.

This was a capital crime, and Moses’ slaying of the Egyptian was tantamount to rendering justice to a wrongdoer.

An explanation as to why the Sages were against a Jew standing up for a fellow Jew has to do with the terrible losses that we incurred during the unsuccessful Bar Kokhba Revolt.  The Sages were reluctant to have Moshe  pictured as a hero, and perhaps inspire another costly rebellion.  We took this mindset with us into the Diaspora, and outside of Israel (and sometimes inside) it is still shamefully prevalent today.

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In the Parsha at the burning bush we hear for the first time Moshe being called by his name (3:4) -

וַיִּקְרָא אֵלָיו אֱלֹהִים מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה, וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה מֹשֶׁה--וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי

“…'Moses, Moses.  And he said: 'Here am I.”

We do not know what name Moshe was given at birth.  We do know that Pharaoh’s daughter called him “Moshe” which means “son” in Egyptian. as for example in Egyptian names like Thutmoses ('child of Thoth') and Ramesses ('child of Ra'),

 However, Pharaoh’s daughter may have also reasoned that since he was drawn out from the water, מִן-הַמַּיִם מְשִׁיתִהוּ,“מֹשֶׁה” is a fitting Hebrew name.

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In the Parshah at 3:8 Hashem speaks to Moshe telling him to deliver the following message from Himself to the Elders of Israel:

וָאֵרֵד לְהַצִּילוֹ מִיַּד מִצְרַיִם, וּלְהַעֲלֹתוֹ מִן-הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא, אֶל-אֶרֶץ טוֹבָה וּרְחָבָה, אֶל-אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ--אֶל-מְקוֹם הַכְּנַעֲנִי, וְהַחִתִּי, וְהָאֱמֹרִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי, וְהַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי.

“And I said, 'I will come down to bring you out from the hand of Egypt, out to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivvites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.'””.

Moses is given an almost impossible job of galvanizing the B’nai Yisrael, to actualize their potential. It is a two-step process: firstly to seek their freedom, and secondly to make the Land of Israel their home. Moses and most of the generation do not make it to Israel. It takes 40 years of wandering to get us to the point where we are ready to fulfill Hashem’s promise.

Being in Israel today we are again fulfilling Jewish potential.

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In the Parshah at Chapter 3, Moshe Rabeinu meets Hashem at the burning bush. This is not a chance happening; it is an initial prophetic encounter. Similarly in the Haftarah portion, as read by Sephardim, the Prophet Jeremiah experiences his initial prophetic encounter.

Both men either out of modesty or fear are reluctant to proceed on their Divine mission:

Moses at 3:11-12 says to God:

 "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

And God responds:

And He said, For I will be with you, and this is the sign for you that it was I Who sent you. When you take the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

Likewise, Jeremiah at 1:6-7, “And I said, Alas, O Lord God! Behold, I know not to speak for I am a youth.”

Hashem responds: “… Say not, I am a youth," for wherever I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Fear them not, for I am protecting you, says the Lord.”

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                                  “Long Live King Mashiach”

Last week was the Christmas holiday. It celebrates the birth of Jesus, and whether you like it or not the most famous Jew of  all time.

There is a custom not to study Torah on Christmas eve. The custom is called Nittel Nacht.

"Nittel" is Yiddish for Christmas.   It is derived from the Latin natalis or maybe the Hebrew nitleh, the hanged one, referring to the crucifixion.  

Considering that Jesus is one of us, the most famous Jew of all time, this custom very popular with Chabad. To me it seems inappropriate.  

And tongue in cheek:  Maybe it is a matter of competition if your choice for the Messiah is a dead Rebbe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nittel_Nacht?wprov=sfla1    

 

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In Parshat Shemot (3:13-14), Moses is told that with Hashem's help he will lead the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. And Moses asks:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר משֶׁ֜ה אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּ֨ה אָֽנֹכִ֣י בָא֘ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וְאָֽמַרְתִּ֣י לָהֶ֔ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם וְאָֽמְרוּ־לִ֣י מַה־שְּׁמ֔וֹ מָ֥ה אֹמַ֖ר אֲלֵהֶֽם:

“And Moses said to God, "Behold I come to the children of Israel, and I say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"

Hashem replies: "אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה "...I will be who I will be".

Is this a Divine Name of Hashem? What does it mean? What are the ramifications?

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It would appear that Hashem has made public His name to Moses.  Bearing in mind the significance of name revelation, what do we have here; what do we do with this information?

To me this is a watershed or seminal moment in Jewish knowledge regarding the ultimate being, God.  We have just been told what may be the personal name of God. 

Now don’t you say so what, no big deal.  It is a big deal.  We do not articulate the name of God when we read it in a text.  Instead we say Hashem or Adonai.  Many of us write the word God as G-d, leaving out the middle letter. We pronounce the individual Hebrew letters as a whole name, but say it as yud-kay-vav-kay, changing the letter hay to a kay.  In short, we go out of our way not even to get close to what may or may not be God’s name.  It is more than a sign of respect; it is a sign of awe.

And whether or not the name  אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה should ever be uttered, I will leave that up to you.  The only time that Hashem’s name was fully and correctly articulated was by the Kohen Gadol at Yom Kippur and only in the Holy of Holies. 

 It is called the "Ineffable Name of God".

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Rav Kook considers the following:

The redemption from slavery in Egypt is not a one-time rescue mission; it is continuous, happening even today:

God’s message to the Jewish people is that the Torah and its mitzvot enables us to attain the highest state of being. The Torah guides us throughout history, in all situations, whether we were a subjugated people in exile or a free people in our own land.

The Torah at that time prepared us to be an eternal nation, to overcome the challenges of future exiles. “'I Will Be’ with them in this exile; and ‘I Will Be’ with them in future exiles.”

 Today, the Torah allows us to overcome the challenges of a free people in the Land of Israel. 

I am not sure if I hold with Kook.  But what I do know is that we are not command to forget about the name אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה, or to cease from contemplating its meaning. Had that been what was intended, then it would not have been written in Sefer Shemot.  It is my belief that the meaning of אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה should be understood, and contemplated, and discussed, and remembered now and forever.

Rabbi Riskin takes the letter yad of אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה and substitutes the letter vais to get I will love who I will love. 

 This gives me the shivers…a loving God...Wow.

Christians do a take on this with the expression "Jesus loves you".

This is all good and fine except if you are being locked up in a Mexican prison.

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But for the heroism of women in Parshat Shemot there would be no Moshe Rabeinu:

SHIFRAH and PUAH, the midwives who blatantly disobeyed the Pharaoh, (1:15-21).

JOCHEVED, who put her life at risk in just giving birth to Moshe, and despite knowing if she had a boy, it was probable that he would die because of the Pharaoh’s decree, she still carried him to term. (1:22, 2:1-3).

MIRIAM, watched over her infant brother, bravely spoke up to Pharaoh’s daughter and arranged for her brother’s feeding, (2:4, 2:7-9).

BITYAH, Pharaoh’s daughter who defied her father by rescuing the Hebrew infant, named him Moshe and raised him as his foster mother, 

(1Chronicles 4:18, Shemot 2:5-10).

ZIPPORAH, saved Moshe’s life when he was about to be killed for not circumcising his son. She stepped in and did the circumcision herself, 4:24-26). An unattended consequence is that a women who performs the brit milah is called a Mohelet
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VAYECHI 47:28-50:26

 VAYECHI 47:28-50:26

  

This essay on Parshat Vayechi contains among other things:

• ·        The meaning behind Joseph’s tears.
• ·        Where Ephraim and Manasseh for us or against us?
• ·        Blessing your children.
• ·        Labayu, King of Shechem, a city-state.
• ·        Our right to Machpelah.
• ·        Embalming Jacob through the ages.
• ·        Turning the past into the future.

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Joseph is characterized as being a dreamer. He is also described as Joseph “the righteous” when he does not succumb to the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife. 

But Joseph is also a weeper.  Time after time he weeps copious tears: 

 42:23-24, They did not know that Joseph understood, for the interpreter was between them. And he turned away from them and wept, then returned to them and spoke to them…

43:30, And Joseph hastened, for his mercy was stirred toward his brother, and he wanted to weep; so he went into the room and wept there.

45:1-2, And he wept out loud, so the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.

45:14, And he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.

45:15, And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and afterwards his brothers spoke with him.

46:29, And Joseph harnessed his chariot, and he went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and he appeared to him, and he fell on his neck, and he wept on his neck for a long time.

50:1, Joseph fell on his father's face, and he wept over him and kissed him.

50:17,… Now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father. Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 

Yael Tzohar of Bar Ilan University writes: “…it must be said that weeping is the song of the soul.  It expresses that which is beyond words.  That which cannot be expressed by words, which limit, finds expression in the meritorious tears of Joseph, the righteous man who wept.”

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In this week’s Parshah at 48:8 Israel (Jacob) asks:

וַיַּרְא יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶת-בְּנֵי יוֹסֵף; וַיֹּאמֶר, מִי-אֵלֶּה

“Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, Who are these?"

Joseph’s two boys will be the beneficiary of their father’s double portion.  It is not unreasonable to assume that Jacob was asking whether they are Jews or Egyptians, culturally or otherwise.  They are being brought up in a palace.  They are not herdsmen.  Their mother is not a Jew.  She is the daughter of an Egyptian priest.

Ezra (Chapter 9) makes it clear that intermarriage is verboten. 

Will these boys be for us or will they be against us?

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Traditionally on Friday nights we bless our boys, referring them to Joseph’s sons: “May you be like Manasseh and Ephraim”.  I do not think this is wise.  My reasoning is as follows: As to whether Ephraim and Manasseh will be for us or will they be against us?  Hindsight being 20-20, they were against us. 

 The most famous descendent of Ephraim was Jeroboam, the first King of the Northern Kingdom.  To his shame, the Ephraimite Jeroboam constructed a temple replete with priests and two golden calves for his followers to worship.

Without exception the Kings of the Northern Kingdom are viewed as wicked and evil.

If you are looking for an alternative with which to bless your boys consider two other brothers: Moshe and Aaron

Parents bless their children for a variety of reasons.  For example: that the youngsters be able to cope in difficult surroundings, that they continue the family line, that they succeed in elevating themselves in spirituality in a way appropriate to them, and that they preserve peace and friendship with one another.

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At 48:22 Jacob says to Joseph:

וַאֲנִי נָתַתִּי לְךָ, שְׁכֶם אַחַד--עַל-אַחֶיךָ:  אֲשֶׁר לָקַחְתִּי מִיַּד הָאֱמֹרִי, בְּחַרְבִּי וּבְקַשְׁתִּי

“And I have given you Shechem, one portion over your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow."

Jacob knows that his life is drawing to close.  He wants Joseph to ensure that he will be buried in Machpelah.  In return, Jacob gives to Joseph a burial place in Shechem.

Not only did Jacob purchase land in Shechem, but he fought to keep Shechem as his.  This is unusual; Jacob is largely understood as a peaceful man, not as a man of war.

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Today we recognize Shechem as the city of Nablus.  

                            This letter is from Labayu to an Egyptian Pharaoh.

 

There are cuneiform (Amarna) postal letters from about 1350 BCE.  In them Šakmu or Shechem is said to be the center of a kingdom carved out by a warlord who recruited mercenaries from among the Habiru, Hebrews.

Shechem was a city-state had its own ruler, and consisted of a main city and a system of villages around it.  Its king was named Labayu.  He is noted for his territorial ambition.  Using diplomacy and a strong army Labayu expanded the boundaries of Shechem into other Canaanite city-states.

There is a possibility that Labayu, is Gideon’s son Avimelech from the Book of Judges (Chapter 9).  They both lived approximately at the same time and are identified as rulers of Shechem.  Labayu is characterized as an unprincipled, ambitious ruler, often engaged in war with his own subjects. 

This is a translation of the illustrated letter to the Pharaoh where Labayu defends himself against accusations made by a Canaanite city-king ruler named Milkilu.

To the king, my lord and my Sun:

Thus Lab'ayu, your servant and the dirt on which you tread.

I fall at the feet of the king, my lord and my Sun, 7 times and 7 times. I have obeyed the orders that the king wrote to me.

Who am I that the king should lose his land on account of me?

The fact is that I am a loyal servant of the king!

 I am not a rebel and I am not delinquent in duty.

 I have not held back my payments of tribute; I have not held back anything requested by my commissioner.

He denounces me unjustly, but the king, my Lord, does not examine my (alleged) act of rebellion.

Moreover, my act of rebellion is this: when I entered Gazru-(Gezer), I kept on saying, "Everything of mine the king takes, but where is what belongs to Milkilu? "

I know the actions of Milkilu against me! Moreover, the king wrote for my son.

I did not know that my son was consorting with the 'Apiru (Herews).

I hereby hand him over to Addaya-(commissioner).

Moreover, how, if the king wrote for my wife, how could I hold her back?

How, if the king wrote to me, "Put a bronze dagger into your heart and die", how could I not execute the order of the king?

 

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In the Parsha at 49:1, the Torah says:

וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב, אֶל-בָּנָיו; וַיֹּאמֶר, הֵאָסְפוּ וְאַגִּידָה לָכֶם, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-יִקְרָא אֶתְכֶם, בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים

“Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather and I will tell you what will happen to you [at the end of days] or [in days to come].”

If you have a Messianic bent, then בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים means at the end of days, but if you opt for the simple meaning, then you favor in days to come.

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In this week's Torah portion, Parshat Vayechi, there are important lessons for Jews today:

 

Machpelah, Hevron

At 49-29-30, Jacob commands his sons to bury him in the double cave purchased by Abraham from Ephron the Hittite:

“And he charged them, and said unto them: 'I am to be gathered unto my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place”.

The description of the burial place is specific and exhaustive. There is no doubt as to its location, the lesson being that it belonged to us then; it belongs to us now and it will always belong to us. We are talking about Hevron, where between 500-850 Jewish Israeli citizens live, and who are surrounded by 200,000 Muslim Arabs. 

Despite the condemnation of International bodies, Arab peoples and Leftist whining, there is no question as to our right to right to live there in our Land, and so we do.

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In the Parshah at 50:2 -

 וַיְצַו יוֹסֵף אֶת-עֲבָדָיו אֶת-הָרֹפְאִים, לַחֲנֹט

אֶת-אָבִיו; וַיַּחַנְטוּ הָרֹפְאִים, אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל.

“And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. And the physicians embalmed Israel”.

Upon his death, Jacob undergoes the Egyptian embalming process, something that is antithetical and abhorrent to Jewish death and burial practice today. The lesson is that when a Jew is living outside the Land of Israel, he willfully or by osmosis will absorb the customs of his non-Jewish friends, family and neighbors.

An example of one such custom, although lovely, is to exchange gifts at Chanukah time. I'm not playing at holier than thou. The custom is overpowering and most of us have done it, perhaps using blue wrapping paper instead of red, but it is not something for us.

Come to Israel and you can forget this foreign tradition.

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The Haftarah portion is from 1Kings 2:1-12 –

King David is about to die, and he gives over to his young son Solomon these final words:

אָנֹכִי הֹלֵךְ, בְּדֶרֶךְ כָּל-הָאָרֶץ; וְחָזַקְתָּ, וְהָיִיתָ לְאִישׁ

"I go the way of all the earth; you shall be strong,  and you will be a man…”

In Hebrew grammar the future tense is marked by prefixes that indicate person, gender and number.  In contrast the past tense is marked by suffixes that indicate person, gender and number.  In this verse the suffix תָּ should normally indicate 2^nd person, male, singular for the past tense.

However, this is not always so.  In biblical Hebrew the letter vav וְ, normally a conjunction, has the power to change the past tense into the future tense and vice versa.  From its context, David must be addressing Solomon about the future where if Solomon is to be a man, he must be strong.

We also must be strong.

Vayechi is the final Parsha in the Book of Genesis.  At the conclusion of the Torah reading it is a custom to say:

חזק, חזק, ונתחזק

Chazak Chazak Ve-Nit’Chazek

Be strong; Be strong, and let us strengthen one another. 

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VAYIGASH 44:18 - 47:27

 

VAYIGASH 44:18 - 47:27

In the Parsha, among other things:

Judah approaches Joseph to plead for the release of Benjamin, offering himself as a slave to the Egyptian ruler.

 Upon witnessing his brothers’ loyalty to one another, Joseph reveals his identity to them.

Joseph declares: “I am Joseph; “Is my father still alive?” The brothers are overcome by shame and remorse, but Joseph comforts them

The brothers return to Canaan with the news. Jacob comes to Egypt with his entire and is reunited with Joseph after 22 years.

On his way to Egypt Jacob receives a Divine promise: “Fear 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.”

Because of the famine, Egyptians and Canaanites had to sell all their assets to Joseph who represented the Pharaoh. Pharaoh became exceedingly wealthy.

Pharaoh gives Jacob’s family the rich region of Goshen in the Nile delta..

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The Parshah opens at 44:18 with Yehuda’s speech to Joseph.  It is the longest speech in the Chumash, lasting for 16 verses.  Yehuda says אָבִי “my Father” 14 times.  Which "Father" is this?

 Whether he knows it or not, Yehuda is doing T’sheuvah.  Twenty two years ago, Yehuda was willing to make some money by selling his brother into slavery.  Now, he is willing to put himself into slavery for the sake of his Father…a similar set of circumstances, but now with a lofty outcome.  He is a changed man and our leader.  And as a reasonable consequence we are called the "Yehudi", the Jews.

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At 44:33-34, Why does Joseph want his brothers to say to Pharaoh that they are shepherds, an occupation abhorrent to Egyptians, so that the family may settle in the area called Goshen? 

Rabbi Etshalom supplies an answer to this question: He is of the opinion that Joseph has pragmatic foresight.  Joseph is thinking that our family and our Tribe have a particularly unique mission, and we are coming into a land that has core values different from us.  In the long run it will be advantageous that we are always seen as foreigners, always seen as the “Other” and always seen as separate and worthy of separation. 

Living in Goshen you will be kept foreign and distant from the rest of the population so that assimilation will be impossible or relatively unlikely.

Today the Land of Israel fulfills that purpose. 

It does and will continue to do just that.

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At 46:2, in referring to the Patriarch Jacob by name,  Hashem uses both “Israel” and “Jacob”.

וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמַרְאֹת הַלַּיְלָה, וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב יַעֲקֹב; וַיֹּאמֶר, הִנֵּנִי.

“And God said to Israel in visions of the night, and He said, "Jcob, Jacob!" And he said, "Here I am."

What is the significance of each name, ie., Israel and Jacob?  And Jacob twice?  This is not the 1^st time that Jacob had a vision.

And is a vision of the night a dream or something else? 

What does הִנֵּנִי "Here I am." signify?

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At 46:3-4, Before leaving the Holy Land and setting out to live in Egypt Jacob or Israel receives a Divine promise:

” וַיֹּאמֶר, אָנֹכִי הָאֵל אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ; אַל-תִּירָא מֵרְדָה מִצְרַיְמָה, כִּי-לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשִׂימְךָ שָׁם.

אָנֹכִי, אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרַיְמָה, וְאָנֹכִי, אַעַלְךָ גַם-עָלֹה; וְיוֹסֵף, יָשִׁית יָדוֹ עַל-עֵינֶיךָ."

"And He said, "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.

I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up, and Joseph will place his hand on your eyes".

Woe to those people who leave the Land to dwell some place else.

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At 46:17 we learn about the children of Asher.  His Mother was Zillah.  She was Leah’s handmaiden. Asher had a daughter.  Her name was Serach, שֶׂ֣רַח.  It is unusual for a woman to be mentioned by name in the Chumash. And we know nothing more about her. 

However there are many Midrashim praising her beauty, intelligence and amazing longevity.  She even helped Moses fulfill the obligation to bury Joseph’s bones in Israel. If you look at Serach’s name, and end it with the open letter Hay, it resembles the name Sarah.  Seal the letter Hay with the letter Yud, a representation of Hashem and you are back to Serach.

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The Haftorah portion for Parshat Vayigash is from the Prophet Ezekiel (יְחֶזְקֵאל ) 37:15-28.  In it Hashem commands Ezekiel to take two wooden sticks and write on one some words that signify the Kingdom of Judah, and on the other some words that represent the Northern Kingdom.  He is then to join the two sticks together, in an meaningful symbolic gesture once more uniting the entire nation of Israel. 

The symbolism is meaningful.  Ezekiel prophesied shortly before the fall of the First Temple, probably around 598 BCE.  From the preceding verses he was staunchly anti-Egyptian. At the time of his writing the Northern Kingdom was no more, and the Kingdom of Judah was in imminent danger of being destroyed.

First of all: why use wood?  What inferences may be drawn from using wooden sticks?

Wood is a readily handy material, somewhat durable. Unlike clay or metal or stone, wood requires little preparation and is more durable than papyrus or parchment.  Alternatively: Hashem knows what he is doing.

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At 47:6 Pharaoh gives Jacob’s family the rich region of Goshen in the Nile delta..

בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ, הוֹשֵׁב אֶת-אָבִיךָ וְאֶת-אַחֶיךָ:  יֵשְׁבוּ, בְּאֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן

 "...in the best of the land settle your father and your brothers. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen,..."

To get the best land in all of Egypt, Joseph's brothers probably had to uproot the prior owners.  Whether in the short term or in the long term this could not have been a good move.

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At 47:14 - 20 

Representing the Pharaoh when the famine began, Joseph sold grain to the Egyptian populace and to the Canaanites.  As the famine continued, people ran out of money and had to sell their livestock to Joseph.  The famine continued and in order go buy grain, people had to sell their land and possibly themselves as slaves to Joseph.

14And Joseph collected all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan with the grain that they were buying, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

15Now the money was depleted from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan, and all the Egyptians came to Joseph, saying, "Give us food...

16And Joseph said, "Give your livestock, and I will give you [food ]...

17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food [in return] for the horses and for the livestock in flocks and in cattle and in donkeys, and he provided them with food [in return] for all their livestock in that year.

18will ...We will not hide from my lord, for insofar as the money and the property in animals have been forfeited to my lord, nothing remains before my lord, except our bodies and our farmland.

19      ...Buy our farmland for food, so that we and our farmland will be slaves to Pharaoh, and give [us] seed,

20So Joseph bought all the farmland of the Egyptians for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold, each one his field, for the famine had become too strong for them, and the land became Pharaoh's.

I think in the long run, Joseph the Israelite representing the Pharaoh, did not endear us to the Egyptians.

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