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Vay'chi: what makes Yosef so special?
It seems that the brothers assume that Yosef hasn't changed either; once their father has died they cook up a story about how Yaakov wanted Yosef to forgive his brothers and not take revenge. But Yosef has changed. He's the one who breaks the cycle of dysfunction in the family. Yosef has held onto torah values like family peace, honoring parents, not holding grudges, and fearing God, despite everything that's happened.
It's not just the family strife I'm talking about. Yosef has at this point been living in Egypt for about 40 years. He's been given an Egyptian wife and Egyptian home, and he's a top official in the court of the Egyptian king -- a king who is also a god, according to them. Yosef has been immersed in this culture, and as Paro's #2 he doesn't really have the option to separate himself from it. Despite all this, Yosef doesn't become an Egyptian at heart.
Yosef will live several more decades in Egypt, and they won't be good years. If you do the math, it's clear that Yosef sees the beginning of Israel's slavery in Egypt. One commentary says that the enslavement began immediately after Yaakov's death, as if Yaakov's presence was the only thing that stayed the divine hand. I noticed in the text that when it's time to bury Yaakov, Yosef approaches Paro's house, not Paro directly; perhaps Yosef was already out of favor in Paro's eyes at this point and Paro wouldn't see him. Remember that the famine is long ended but Yosef's family is still living and multiplying in the choice land of Goshen; perhaps Paro is starting to think of them as the houseguests who just won't leave.
So Yosef has had highs and lows, both of which challenge his Jewish identity, and yet he holds onto those values. Not only holds onto them but transmits them. Yosef strikes me as kind of a bookend to Moshe, who hundreds of years from now will be immersed in Egyptian culture and the royal court, barely know his people's values and history, and yet live those values and be God's instrument in saving his people. Moshe and the rest of his generation might not have their Jewish identity had it not been for Yosef working so hard to hold onto his.
We don't face Yosef's trials (I hope!), but we too live in a foreign culture with its own values and its own gods, a culture that sometimes seeks to marginalize us. What do we do to hold onto our Jewish values despite all that? What do we do to transmit those values to those who come after us? This is a question for each of us to answer on our own, and it starts with being aware of how easy it would be to assimilate into the surrounding culture and lose our identity.
Yaakov singled Yosef out again at the end of his life as if he were somehow special. Maybe Yosef is special -- a model for holding onto what matters no matter where we find ourselves. Are we following in his footsteps?
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I recall that extra-biblical history shows that the Pharaoh at the time of Joseph was from a group that had a Semitic background that had gained control of Egypt for a time. So, group in charge of Egypt was at least more culturally disposed to the Israelites at that time. Then, the Pharaoh who no longer knew Joseph was of the group of Egyptians who once again took control of the country. Naturally, they wouldn't have been too thrilled to have a large group of Semites living in a country when their control was tenuous.
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Are you referring to the Hyksos? One of the people in our Shabbat torah-study group talks about them sometimes (he's of an archaeological/historical bent).
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