Parashat Vayigash 5782

by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields

The haftarah that is b’yachad, together, with Parashat Vayigash is Ezekiel 37:15-28. In Parashat Vayigash, Joseph and Benjamin have a reunion filled with tears. In Genesis 45:12, we read the phrase “see for yourselves,” which seems to mean that in order to understand completely what is happening, Joseph’s brothers cannot just hear an explanation but must also see evidence that supports it. The brothers require a visual sign, similar to the Israelites in the haftarah. In the Torah reading, Joseph causes his brothers to go through the action of going home to get Benjamin and bringing him to Egypt in order to facilitate them reliving the time they were alone with Joseph and sold him. The purpose of the enactment was to teach them to protect their younger and weaker brother. In the haftarah, we also see an action which symbolizes a lesson. 

In the haftarah, Ezekiel proclaims the reunion of the two halves of Israel, symbolized by the two sticks. One stick has the name “Judah” engraved on it, which included the tribe of Benjamin in the Southern Kingdom and on the other stick, the name “Ephraim,” Joseph’s son who represents the Northern Kingdom. Ezekiel’s reunion of Judah-Benjamin and Ephraim Joseph parallels the Torah reading’s reunion of Benjamin and Joseph.