19 Dec PARSHAS VAYIGASH IT’S MY BUSINESS

Yaakov Listens To
His Messages: The
Wagons Indicate
Yosef Is Still Alive
The pasuk [verse] in
this week’s parsha reads “And they told
him (Yaakov) that Yosef was still alive
and that he ruled throughout the land of
Egypt. But his (Yaakov’s) heart rejected
it because he didn’t believe them”
[Bereishis 45:26]. The next pasuk says
that they told him everything that they
discussed with Yosef. Finally, the pasuk
says that Yaakov saw the wagons
(agahlos) that Yosef sent him,
whereupon, he believed the brothers
and his spirit was revived.
Our Sages make a play on words
(agahlah / eglah) and explain that Yosef
was indicating to his father that when
they were last together they were in the
midst of studying the laws of the
decapitated calf (eglah arufah). This is

why the pasuk says “the wagons that
Yosef sent”, when in fact the wagons
were really sent by Pharoah.
Rav Nissan Alpert, zt”l, gives a
beautiful explanation regarding why
this specific message revived Yaakov’s
spirit. The law of the decapitated calf is
invoked when a dead body is found
between two cities. The elders of the
nearest city come and proclaim their
innocence in the matter. They never saw
this person; they were not aware of and
played no role — directly or indirectly
— in his murder. As part of this ritual a
calf is decapitated as a type of atonement
offering by these elders [Devorim 21:1-
9].
What is the basic theme of this
mitzvah? The fundamental idea is the
concept of “All of Israel are responsible
for one another” (Kol Yisrael areivin
zeh l’zeh). After all, why was it
necessary for the elders of the

neighboring city to bring an
atonement offering? Today, one’s
next door neighbor could, G-d forbid,
be murdered without so much as a
shrug from the neighbors. People see
others being mugged in the subway
and they look the other way. “It’s
none of my business.”
The Torah has a different outlook on
life. Even if this person was unknown,
even if he was from a different city, if
his dead body was found near a city,
the residents of that city bear a certain
degree of responsibility. This is the
meaning of Kol Yisrael areivin zeh
l’zeh. We each have a responsibility for
our fellow Jew. There is no such thing
as “It’s none of my business.”
That is why the elders bring the
atonement offering. In truth it is not
only an atonement for that neighboring
city. It is brought by that neighboring
city as an atonement for the entire
Jewish people. In some respect,
even the far distant Jews share the
responsibility for the tragedy. One
Jew’s murder is the “business” of
every single other Jew.
This, then, was the message of
the Decapitated Calf (Eglah
Arufah). If we look at the life of
the righteous Yosef, we see that he
was in fact preoccupied with the
idea of his responsibility for his
fellow brethren. When the Torah
tells us that Yosef brought “evil
tidings” about his brothers to his
father, what was he telling his
father? Our Sages tell us that he
reported that they were not
treating the sons of the
handmaidens properly. The sons
of Leah were discriminating
against the sons of Bilhah and
Zilpah.
True, he could have ignored the
matter. He could have said, “This
is not my business”. But that was
not Yosef. His entire being was
dedicated to a sense of
responsibility for each of the sons
of Yaakov. He literally lived a life
of “Kol Yisrael Areivin zeh l’zeh”.
It is my business.

When Yaakov sent Yosef to check up
on his brothers, Yosef knew very well
how his brothers felt towards him. He
knew it would be a dangerous mission,
as it indeed turned out to be. Why then
did he go? Because of the sense of
responsibility, the sense of “Kol Yisrael
Areivin zeh l’zeh”.
This is why Yaakov responded with
disbelief when he was told that Yosef
was alive and the ruler of all the land of
Egypt. He could not understand how it
could be that Yosef, who was always so
concerned with his fellow man, could
be in such a powerful position now and
have ignored the plight of his father,
never writing to tell him of his
whereabouts. “My son Yosef would not
ignore his father and family during all
the years of famine, not to send them a
message, not to send them provisions.
The Yosef I knew could not be alive.”
That is why Yaakov did not initially
believe his sons.
But then when they told him “All the
words of Yosef,” something changed.
The brothers told Yaakov that Yosef told
them “G-d sent me here for providing
you with salvation” (l’michyah
shlachani HaShem). When Yaakov
heard that Yosef felt that his whole
reason for being in Egypt was so that he
could take care of his family – even
indirectly – then Yaakov began to
believe.
And when Yaakov saw the wagons —
when he understood that Yosef still
recognized the implicit message of
Eglah Arufah – that every Jew is
responsible for his fellow Jew – then
Yaakov knew for sure that his son Yosef
was still alive, and his spirit was
revived.