Vayigash

Judah approaches Joseph, pleading for Benjamin’s release. Joseph can bear it no longer. He reveals that he is in fact their brother, Joseph, and asks if his father is alive. The brothers bow their heads in shame. Joseph assures them that his being sold to Egypt was all part of G-d’s master plan. Jacob and all his family – now seventy strong – move from the Land of Canaan to the Land of Egypt. G-d assuages Jacob’s worry; the descent down into Egypt will surely lead to a greater ascent upward and higher. Joseph, the economist, turns Egypt into the center of world finance. Jacob, Israel, and his family settle in the city of Goshen.