Parsha Thoughts: Vayigash 5776

When Yosef is no longer able to contain himself in the presence of his brothers, he clears the room before revealing himself. The medrash tells us that Yosef calls out, “Yosef ben Yaakov come to me, Yosef ben Yaakov come to me…” The Baal Shem Tov explains that Yosef was calling on himself to identify whether or not he could reclaim the Yosef ben Yaakov that was part of the collective Shevatim, unaffected by the fact that he was wronged by his brothers. Would he be able to extricate himself from the events that had occurred up until this point. Finally, in a moment alone with his brothers, faced with all of the past, Yosef declares, Ani Yosef — I am Yosef. I am not the viceroy or Egypt, I am your brother of old.