Vayigash 5775: Pure Association
By Rabbi Joshua (continually known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
Yosef sends his brothers back to Eretz Yisroel to inform Yaakov that he is alive, and to bring him down to Egypt with his family. At first, Yaakov could not believe what they told him. However, the Torah tells us, when they related the words that Yosef had spoken to them, and he saw the wagons that Yosef had sent to transport him, Yaakov's spirit was revived (Bereishis 45:26-27). Why did seeing the wagons lead Yaakov to believe that Yosef was alive? Rashi brings a midrash which notes that the word for wagons, agalos, is similar to the word for calf, eglah, and that Yosef was sending a message to Yaakov that the last thing they had studied together was the laws of eglah arufah, the calf which is decapitated as an atonement for an unsolved murder. Interestingly, there is another midrash, brought in the commentary Da’as Zekeinim Mi’Ba’alei HaTosafos to Vayigash, which says that the message of the wagons was an allusion to the six covered wagons given as a gift for use in the mishkan when it was inaugurated. Each of these midrashim represent a different kind of message sent by Yosef to Yaakov, meant to assure him of his spiritual state in Egypt.
The message of the reference to the eglah arufah may have been simply that Yosef was telling his father that he was still learning Torah, even in Egypt, and hadn’t forgotten the sense of importance of Torah study that he had absorbed from his father. An added element, says Rav Mordechai Gifter in his Pirkei Torah, is the uninterrupted nature of Yosef’s Torah learning, indicated by the fact that he was still delving into the same topic that he had been studying with his father when he had departed from him. On another level, the laws of eglah arufah highlight the importance of taking responsibility for others, as expressed in the declaration of the elders that they did not cause the spilling of the victim’s blood. This was the message of responsibility for his brothers welfare, that Yaakov imparted to Yosef in their last meeting together, that Yosef was now indicating still remained in his consciousness.
The message of the wagons of the mishkan, says Rav Mordechai Ilan in his Mikdash Mordechai, is that of unity among the brothers. The six wagons were each given by the nesi’im, who brought them to be given over to the Levi’im to aid in their work in the mishkan. The partnership involved in bringing each of the wagons demonstrated that each of them respected the dignity of his partner. Although each tribe played a different role in the nation, they all cooperated in contributing together toward the wider goal of attaining holiness. Yosef, in alluding to these wagons, was also sending a message to his father that although he had given him a special garment to indicate his leadership position, he felt a sense of unity with his brothers, and appreciated the unique role that each one played within the family and nation.
In the context of the allusion to the wagons of the Mishkan and their symbolism, as explained by Rav Ilan, the aspect of the uninterrupted nature of Yosef’s allusion, pointed out by Rav Gifter, takes on a wider meaning, as well. When Yosef first set out to meet with his brothers in Shechem he encountered an unnamed man, whom, the rabbis tell us, was the angel Gavriel. The Torah relates, “And the man asked him saying (leimor) ‘What do you seek?’ And he said, “I seek my brothers” (Bereishis 37:15-16). The word “leimor,” to say, seems out of place here. Why did the man say it? The Kotzker Rebbe explained that the angel was teaching Yosef that in his state of confusion and sense of abandonment, it was important to state a goal and continually repeat it to himself, to maintain a sense of direction in his life. That goal, for Yosef, was to find his brothers, to restore a sense of unity with them, which is what Yaakov sent him to Shechem to accomplish. By sending the wagons to Yaakov, Yosef was indicating that he was still animated by that goal, as he had been from the very beginning.