23 Dec VAYIGASH- HASHEM’S CHILDREN ARE ALIVE!

When Yaakob’s
sons returned to
Egypt and informed
him that his beloved
son, Yosef, was
still alive, he at first
didn’t believe them (45:26). But Yaakob
then saw the wagons that Yosef had sent
with his brothers to use for carrying
Yaakob to Egypt. At that point, Yaakob’s
“spirit was revived,” and he realized that
Yosef was, indeed, alive.
The Midrash famously explains that the
“wagons” contained a “coded message”
of sorts to Yaakob. The Hebrew word
“Agalot” (“wagons”) reminded Yaakob
of the last subject which he taught to
Yosef, the law of “Egla Arufa.” This law
applies in a situation where a murder
occurred near a city, and the killer was
not found. The city’s leaders must
perform a special ceremony, killing a
young calf – “Egla” – in an area which
cannot be cultivated, and this atoned for
the crime which was committed. Yosef
wanted to show Yaakob that he still
remembered the Torah which Yaakob

had taught him. And so when Yaakob
saw the wagons, which alluded to the
Torah which he taught Yosef, and which
Yosef remembered, Yaakob knew that
his son was indeed alive.
Why did Yaakob not initially believe his
sons? And what changed once he saw
the wagons?
Some commentators answered these
questions by taking a closer look at
what Yaakob’s sons told him. They said,
“Yosef is still alive – and he is in fact
ruler over the land of Egypt.” True “life,”
for a Jew, is a life of Torah commitment.
The brothers were telling Yaakob that
Yosef was spiritually “alive,” dedicated
to Hashem, even as he served as leader
over Egypt. This is what Yaakob could
not believe. He found it inconceivable
that Yosef retained his spirituality, his
religious commitment, while serving in
a powerful position in a pagan country.
Once Yaakob saw Yosef’s hidden
message, that he still remembered and
felt connected to the Torah that Yaakob
had taught him, he realized that it was

true, that against all odds,
Yosef was still “alive” in the
truest sense of the word, full
of spiritual life.
The same can be said of all of
us, the entire Jewish People.
Like Yosef, we were driven
from our homeland, and were
forced to live among foreign
cultures. And, like Yosef, we
endured a great number of
hardships and difficulties. It
would seem almost impossible
for the Jewish Nation to remain
“alive” through the centuries
of exile and persecution, for us to retain
our firm commitment to Torah and
Misvot. And yet, to our nation’s credit,
we have remained spiritually “alive,”
we have persisted in our devotion to our
faith and our traditions.
There is no doubt that each day, our
Father, Hashem, looks down from the
heavens and jubilantly exclaims, as
Yaakob Abinu did, “Od… Beni Hai”
– “My child is still alive!” Hashem

takes great pride in the fact that despite
all we’ve been through, even with all
the spiritual challenges we have faced
and continue to face, with all the lures
and temptations that we confront, we
nevertheless remain fervently committed
to Him. We, Hashem’s children, are
still “alive,” and we must continue to
steadfastly adhere to our sacred traditions
until this exile finally ends and we are
prepared for the final redemption, may
it come speedily and in our time, Amen.