Blog - Torah Insights - Chabad Lubavitch of Greenwich

Alive in Egypt - ויגש

Thursday, December 25, 2025 - 10:31 PM

Alive in Egypt

Jacob’s first reaction wasn't celebratory, it was a refusal to believe.

After mourning his missing son Joseph for twenty years, Jacob was informed by his sons that the ruler of Egypt, the second in command to Pharaoh, was their lost brother Joseph. As the Torah describes:

And they told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive," and [they told him] that he ruled over the entire land of Egypt, and his heart changed, for he did not believe them.

Only after the brothers conveyed the words of Joseph and after Jacob saw the wagons that Joseph sent, did Jacob finally believe this stunning, incredible news:

And they told him all of Joseph's words that he had said to them, and he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, and the spirit of their father Jacob was revived. (Genesis 45:25-27)

What could have possibly convinced Jacob that the news was true? What exactly were "Joseph's words" that swayed Jacob? And how did the "wagons that Joseph had sent" convince Jacob that the ruler of Egypt was indeed his lost son Joseph?

Rashi explains that the Hebrew word for wagons, "agalot", is a reference to the commandment of the "egla", the heifer that is offered when an unidentified corpse is found. Joseph conveyed to his brothers that this was the final law his father had taught him twenty years earlier. Thus, the words of Joseph, and the "agalot", the law of the heifer, were clear proof that Joseph was indeed alive. As Rashi Explains:

All of Joseph's words. He {Joseph} gave them a sign, viz., in what topic he was engaged when he {Joseph} separated from him {Jacob}. {That was} the section dealing with the heifer that was to be beheaded (עֶגְלָה עִרוּפָה), and this is what Scripture says, "and he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent," and it does not say, "that Pharaoh had sent."

The Torah tells us, "And the spirit of their father Jacob was revived". Jacob was revived not only because his son was physically alive, but also because Joseph was clearly alive spiritually as well. If, after all these years of separation, Joseph was connected to the Torah he studied, then Jacob was assured of Joseph's spiritual survival. Indeed, that encouraged Jacob to migrate with his entire family to Egypt, saying: "Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die." For Joseph was a model of how one can remain connected to their values and history even while enduring adversity and the lure of a foreign culture.

Indeed, what has kept us alive as a unified people for thousands of years, amidst persecution and dispersion in every corner of the world, was our commitment and connection to the Torah (learn more about this at our upcoming course: Captivating Cases in Rabbinic Responsa). The commitment to Torah continues to keep us connected to the core of who we are, to our soul, to each other, to our purpose, and to our creator.

We Need More Fuel!

Friday, December 19, 2025 - 9:55 AM

We Need More Fuel!

Every person is a candle.

The wick is the body.

The fire is the Divine presence.

The oil is the good deed that connects the fire to the wick.

- The Holy Zohar

In the Tanya, the Alter Rebbe, the founder of the Chabad movement, asks why do we need good deeds to serve as the fuel that connects the Divine fire to the body? Why can't the soul, with its intense love and yearning for G-d, serve as the fuel?

In order for fire to exist in this world something has to be transformed. The fuel must let go of its current form. It must be consumed in order for the flame to be grasped by the wick. The soul, therefore, cannot serve as fuel for the Divine fire. For the soul which loves G-d still retains its identity and ego. In the language of the Tanya, it is a “Yesh”, an independent existence, which loves G-d.

A good deed however, is the fuel that is consumed.

The energy it takes to perform the good deed is spent and devoted for someone else. The energy invested in the good deed is an act of submission, where the personal ego is consumed for the sake of another.

This devotion is where the magic happens. The act of helping another, is where the self is suspended, the ego consumed, creating space, producing fuel for the Divine light.

When we encounter darkness, we must remember that we are each a candle that creates Divine light. We must increase G-dly light in the world by increasing acts of goodness and kindness. We must increase the light by adding fuel.

(Adapted from Tanya chapter 35)

Joseph: The Paradox of Descent - וישב

Friday, December 12, 2025 - 8:32 AM

Joseph: The Paradox of Descent

The story of Joseph is a story of a resounding fall. From being his father’s favored child, Joseph was sold as a slave, and if he thought he could not descend any further, he was put into prison, with no hope in sight. The verse states "and Joseph was brought down to Egypt”, the Hebrew word for “brought down”, is the word for descent, decline and downgrade.

Despite the bleak picture that “Hurad”, “brought down”, evokes, on closer examination we find a deeper perspective. Although Joseph did not realize it at the time, the terrible descent was, in fact, a critical step in his future ascent to becoming the leader of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. Indeed, the Hebrew word “hurad” is a contronym, a single word that contains two opposite meanings, as “Hurad” also means “to rule”, as the Midrash explains:

“Joseph was brought down”: The Hebrew word “hurad” (הוּרַד), “brought down,” can also mean “made ruler”, as the verse states: “and he will rule (“vayerd”) from sea to sea”. As it indeed came to pass that “Joseph is the ruler over the land, he is the provider to all the people of the land.”

Chasidic philosophy emphasizes that “the descent is for the purpose of the ascent”, that every setback, failure, and disappointment, can become a springboard for growth. Yet, the idea embedded in the double meaning of “Hurad”, brought down, is more profound: not only does the descent lead to something positive in the future, but rather, if we look deeper we can see the descent as part and parcel of the future growth.

Throughout the story, no matter how difficult the circumstances, Joseph remained optimistic and upbeat; that was possible because he sensed the third meaning of the word Hurad. The Midrash continues and explains the passive form of the word, “was brought down”, and explains that it refers to the Divine presence which was “brought down” to Egypt together with Joseph.

The story of Joseph is also our own story. It is a lesson for each of us. In the moments that we are “brought down”, when we enter a difficult circumstance or challenge, we must realize that we are not alone, that G-d descends with us. Therefore, not only are we able to survive a difficulty but we can rule over it, grow from it, and use it as an opportunity to advance our divine mission, spreading goodness and holiness throughout the world.

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Likutei Sichos 25 Vayeshev - 19 Kislev

Why We Remember Jacob’s Limp - וישלח

Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 10:50 PM

Why We Remember Jacob’s Limp

Of the six hundred and thirteen commandments in the Torah, only three appear in the book of Genesis: the commandment to be fruitful and multiply, the covenant of circumcision, and in this week’s Torah portion, in response to the story of the angel wrestling with Jacob and dislocating his hip, the prohibition of eating the Gid Hanashe, the sciatic nerve:

Therefore, the children of Israel may not eat the displaced tendon, which is on the socket of the hip, until this day, for he touched the socket of Jacob's hip, in the hip sinew. (Genesis 32:33)

The first two commandments, procreation and the covenant with G-d, are obviously pivotal and fundamental; but why is the episode with the angel so important that it warrants a commandment in the book of Genesis even before the Torah was given?

The sages teach that “the actions of the parents are a sign for the children”. The stories of the patriarchs are archetypes of the events that would occur at a later time in history with the Jewish people. The story of the mysterious man wrestling with Jacob all night is interpreted as a precursor to the oppression that the Jewish people would undergo throughout the lengthy exile. Jacob’s injured hip represents the profound affliction that we experience. As the Chinuch explains:

It is from the roots of this commandment [that it is to serve as] a hint to Israel that though they will suffer many troubles in the exile by the hand of the nations and by the hand of the descendants of Esav, [the Jews] should trust that they will not perish, but rather that their descendants and name will stand firm forever, and that their redeemer will come and redeem them from their oppressor. And in continually remembering this idea through the commandment that serves as a reminder, they will stand firm in their faith and righteousness forever. And this hint [stems from the fact that] that the angel who fought with Yaakov our forefather — who, according to tradition, was the guardian angel of Esav — wished to eliminate Yaakov from the world, he and his descendants; but he could not [get the better] of him, but anguished him in injuring his thigh. Likewise, Esav’s seed anguishes the seed of Yaakov; but in the end, [the latter] will be saved from them. As we find with respect to [our] forefather that the sun shone to heal him and he was saved from pain, so will the sun of the messiah shine and he will heal us from our pain and redeem us speedily in our days, amen!

This story, then, is a critical story and lesson for us to remember, placing it as one of the first three commandments in all of the Torah. The commandment reminds us that, despite the suffering we endure, G-d watches over us and protects us, and that everything that happens in our lives is by Divine providence.

Indeed, the commemoration of the story is related to the specifics of the event, the specific sinew that was affected, as opposed to a remembrance of the general story, in order to remind us that not only does G-d orchestrate the big events in our lives, but rather every detail in our lives is specifically orchestrated by G-d with a specific purpose. We may not know why we crossed this path, or met this person, or lived through this experience, yet we know that at every moment, and at every crossroad, there is a reason why we are here, and a purpose to fulfill.