Parasha Summary
In Parashat Vayigash, Yehuda passionately pleads with Yosef to free Binyamin, offering himself as a slave instead. Moved by his brothers’ repentance and unity, Yosef reveals his identity, explaining that his sale to Egypt was divinely orchestrated to save their family during the famine. Yaakov, initially hesitant, journeys to Egypt after receiving divine reassurance. The parashah highlights themes of teshuvah (repentance), divine providence, and family reconciliation. Orthodox interpretation emphasizes Yosef’s forgiveness as a model of overcoming personal grievances for a higher purpose, and Yaakov’s descent to Egypt as the beginning of the exile foretold to Avraham, setting the stage for Yetziat Mitzrayim (the Exodus).