Kevin Bemel ·
How to Be Sure God is With You Always
Parsha Nugget Vayigash – Genesis 44:18-47:27
When a challenge looms so overwhelmingly huge, sometimes I feel completely alone. Especially when it comes to the challenges of being in the navy, I long to speak to my father. But I cannot since he died in 2009. Yet Parshas Vayigash reminds me I am never alone:
“All of the souls from the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were 70.’” (Bereshis/Genesis 46:27)
In this Sabbath’s parsha we find Joseph’s brothers have learned their lesson. Judah steps forward to take Benjamin’s place as a slave. Overcome with emotion Joseph clears the room and reveals himself to his brothers.
He convinces them to bring Jacob and their households to Egypt where he will take care of them. At first, Jacob does not believe his sons when they say Joseph is still alive. But the brothers finally convince him and they load up the wagons and move to Egypt where they settle in Goshen.
The famine comes. It is harsh. The Egyptians spend all of their money buying food then sell their animals, land, and finally themselves so that they will live. Only the priests are exempt.
At the time of the Exodus from Egypt, there were 600,000 men of military age and at least another million or two others in the Israelite nation. But as noted above a tiny fraction of this number descended to Egypt. Growth from 70 to millions, in a little over two centuries, is miraculous.
But a close reading of the parsha lists only 69 people in Jacob’s household. The Midrash and Rashi say that Jochebed, the mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, who was born at the entrance to Egypt, was the 70th soul. Others say that Jacob should be included.
More comforting is another thought from the Midrash:
What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do? He Himself entered into the count and thus it totaled seventy, to fulfill his promise made earlier to Jacob (Genesis 46:3-4), ". . . do not fear going down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. I will descend with you to Egypt and I will also surely bring you up..." (Emphasis added)
Throughout all of the pain and torture of slavery in Egypt G-d was with the Children of Israel.
Nor was this unique. During all of the hardships, trials, and murderous times in Jewish history the Divine Presence was there. In Achashveirosh’s Persian kingdom, in the pogrom-plagued Pale of Settlement, and in the ghettos of World War II Poland many Jews were inspired by their faith that G-d was with them, giving them the courage and strength to survive and rejuvenate. While perhaps understandably some lost their faith during the Holocaust, many Jews saw their deliverance as a G-d given miracle. Perhaps even more miraculous, these Jews remained committed to their faith and to rebuilding the Jewish people.
Today, what is left of the mighty empires of the Syrian Greeks, the Romans, or the Third Reich? Yet the Jewish people survives and flourishes.
Through your faith in Him, G-d hopes you will bring to the world the message of His eternal presence, in times of blessing to be sure, but more importantly in times of trial.
Question – When hit by a crisis what reminds you to connect with G-d? Please leave a comment below.
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Every year beginning on Simchas Torah, the cycle of reading the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, ends and begins again. Each Sabbath a portion known as a sedra or parsha is read. Its name comes from the first significant word or two with which this weekly reading begins.
Do you have a question about the Old Testament? Ask it here and I will answer it in a future Parsha Nugget!
