Midreshet Amit

Torah

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Judging and Accepting

By: Alyza Taub and Naama Pando

This week's Parsha, Parshat Vayigash, is the culmination of a stressful time in the lives of Yaakov and his son's. We have chosen to focus on the most climactic moment of the Parsha, Yosef reveals his identity to his brothers.  åÇéÌÉ֨àîÆø éåÉñÅ֤ó àÆìÎàÆçÈéå֙ àÂðÄ֣é éåÉñÅ֔ó

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph."  This is one of the most emotional scenes in the Torah. It has been 22 years since Yosef’s brothers sold him out of spiteful jealousy. Yosef finally sees the opportune moment to tell his brothers who he really is. According to the pisukim, he couldn't hold back åìà éëåì éåñó ìäúàô÷. Was this the opportune time or was Yosef forced into this revelation by his emotions? Though Yosef waited to open up to his brothers we can see that he was unsure of what their reaction would be. He didn’t know if they were sorry for selling him or if they would still hate him. Yosef wanted to make sure that they were going to accept him before he told them who he was. We see in the pisukim that Yosef reassures his brothers by adding to the revelation, when he sees their worried faces he adds, 
åÀòÇúÌÈä àÇì-úÌÅòÈöÀáåÌ, åÀàÇì-éÄçÇø áÌÀòÅéðÅéëÆí, ëÌÄé-îÀëÇøÀúÌÆí àÉúÄéäÅðÌÈä:  ëÌÄé ìÀîÄçÀéÈä, ùÑÀìÈçÇðÄé àÁìÉäÄéí ìÄôÀðÅéëÆí.


 Don't be fraught, he tells his brothers and don't be angry that you sold me , this was part of gds plan. In Yosef's years away he didn't just change in appearance but he matured emotionally as well. He was worried of his brother's judgment and thus made sure that they understood that this was part of a greater plan.


We can apply this to our lives because just as Yosef was scared of other people’s judgement we to may be scared to show our families how much we have changed through our Midrasha experience, but it is important to show who we really are. Just as Yosef’s brothers accepted him so too we will be accepted by our families after our year of learning and maturing experiences .