Our Home
– In Memoriam of Mr. David
M. Warren (Menachem Dovid
ben Harav Yosef Z’L)
In Parshat Vayigash, Joseph
confronts his brothers,
greets his father Jacob
after twenty two years, and
guarantees his entire family
sustenance in the land of
Egypt. The Torah concludes
this week’s portion with a
seemingly happy note:
“Israel settles in the land
of Egypt, in the land of
Goshen; they took ownership
of the land and they were
fruitful and multiplied
greatly.” (Genesis 47:27)
The Kli Yakar seems to
implicitly ask why the Torah
concludes the parshah with
this verse if we already
know that Israel settled in
Goshen?
Answering his own question,
the Kli Yakar ( explains
that Israel reneged on their
deal with Pharaoh. Pharaoh
had agreed to allow Israel
to live in Goshen as
“sojourners” (Genesis 47:4),
not as permanent residents.
Originally, Israel defended
its stay reasoning there was
a famine and they needed
Egyptian straw to feed their
flocks of sheep. However,
once the Israelites became
comfortable with Egypt’s
surroundings, their
mentality changed and they
took possesion of Goshen as
owners where they
“multiplied greatly”. This
dramatic change in outlook,
their resistance to leaving
Egypt and instead choosing
to remain as permanent
dwellers, ultimately set the
stage for Israel’s next
chapter as slaves in Egypt;
in the book of Exodus we
learn that Israel was
enslaved after Egypt became
worried over the growing
power of its foreigners.
This original “exile of
Egypt” seems to parallel all
our exiles throughout Jewish
history. Each time the Jews
find themselves in exile,
the second generation of
Jewish exiles cannot fathom
leaving their “homes” until
they absolutely have no
choice.
The question “Are you an
American Jew or a Jewish
American?” points to this
exact circumstance. In many
ways, the American Jewish
community has become
“permanent residents”. We
feel “at home”. Yet, history
teaches us that every time
we have gotten too
comfortable with our
“strange land” and became
“permanent dwellers”, the
situation drastically
changed, whether slowly or
quickly, and we were once
again forcibly reminded that
we are but temporary
residents.
We should never minimize the
kindness, generosity, and
liberties bestowed upon us
by the United States. We
must be loyal to our adopted
country, its people and
government, without any
reservations. But we must
always remember that we are
“sojourners” living in exile
and we rely solely upon G-d
for everything we are
blessed to receive.
As the Kli Yakar explains
the Torah portion is not
ending this chapter of
Joseph’s story with a Disney
ending. The Torah is
reminding us in very direct
terms to never forget where
lies our true home.
Shabbat Shalom
