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Remember Joseph?
Yeah, the Technicolor Dreamcoat guy.
He's one of twelve brothers,
but you wouldn't really know it, 'cause,
when he was young, the others threw him
in a well and left him for dead.
So, he kinda struck out on his own.
In fact, he made the most of the situation
and grew up to become Pharaoh's
Number Two man in Egypt,
despite the fact that he was a Jew.
Now we find him just after his brothers came
to beg him for help
during tough economic times.
Only, they don't recognize their grown-up,
and now powerful brother,
and they have no idea that he's actually trying
to trick them into leaving his youngest brother,
Benjamin, behind.
This is where we join the story of Vayigash.
Judah pleaded with Joseph,
"Look, man, you're practically the Pharaoh.
You couldn't possibly understand the lives
of little people like us! If anything happened
to Benjamin, our dad would just die! So please,
please let me take his place. Don't make me
go home without my youngest brother."
"Enough!," Joseph thundered,
and the room went still. "Get out!
Out, everyone! Leave me with these men!"
And, with that, the Egyptians fled the scene,
and Joseph was left with his terrified brothers,
who feared what fiery words or brutal acts
might erupt next from this unpredictable man.
But further punishment never came.
Instead, to Judah's shock,
Joseph broke down in sobs.
He wailed, "I have to tell you something.
I am your long-lost brother. I am Joseph."
And then, sounding like the vulnerable child
his brothers had abandoned
so many years ago, he asked,
"Is my dad still alive?"
Judah stared at Joseph aghast,
as the other brothers shook with disbelief.
"Guys, I swear," Joseph said, "it's me.
Look, I know I've been a jerk.
I wanted to punish you for having sold me out
when we were kids. But you should not
punish yourselves. I see now that it was not
you who sent me here, but God Himself,
so that I could make a difference
in people's lives. And, as you can see,
God set me up pretty good.
Look, times might seem tough right now,
but there are another five years
of famine ahead. Please, go get my father,
tell him kind of a big deal here in Egypt,
and I can provide for all of you
during the coming hardships."
So, the brothers went home to Canaan,
packed up Jacob and their families,
and returned to Egypt for the big reunion
between Joseph and his father.
Making good on his promise,
Joseph provided for his family
during the famine, and they flourished in Egypt.
He managed to save the rest of the people
of Egypt, too. Unfortunately for the Egyptians,
he did so by making
almost the entire population
into indentured servants of Pharaoh.
So, Joseph did some shady stuff at times
in his life in the name of self-preservation.
And his own brothers did some
pretty awful things to him, too. In their defense,
nobody's perfect -- except maybe God.
Even the great heroes of Judaism, like Joseph,
were just people like you and me
who made difficult choices,
and sometimes mistakes.
But their ancient stories and actions
built some of the cornerstones of
modern Jewish life and thought today.
In the story of Vayigash, for example,
the Jewish will to survive and thrive
against the odds, and the importance of
taking care of your family,
even when they make you angry, is foretold
by the choices Joseph made way back then.
Producer: Sarah Lefton
Animation Director: Nick Fox-Gieg
Animation: Jeanne Stern, Brenda Goldstein
Editorial Director: Matthue Roth
Theme Music: Tim Cosgrove
Written and Narrated by Liz Nord
Sound Recording: Shemspeed