Blessing 13-Vayigash-Jacob’s and Joseph’s Trust: Part One

Let us first examine this through Jacob’s perspective. Jacob is going down to Egypt after he has just been told that Joseph is alive. Imagine the scene; one day, he sends Joseph to see how his brothers are doing. And then, Joseph disappears for twenty-two years. For twenty-two years, Jacob believes that his son, the one he identifies with, loves and cares for the most, the one who he thought would carry on his legacy, is dead. Then, there is a devastating famine, he sends his sons to Egypt, one son ends up in jail. The ruler of Egypt demands that Benjamin come down too. Jacob’s world is crumbling. And then, he gets a message: Joseph is alive, and he is the ruler of Egypt! Suddenly, nothing is falling apart. Everything is being taken care of. Everything worked out. It is like looking at a tapestry from behind; it is a mess. You see a thread going here and connecting to another across it. It is only later, when you turn the tapestry around that you see that the convoluted disarray on one side is really a beautiful picture on the other.

Looking at it this way, we can say that this blessing was about Jacob. After twenty-two years of wondering what is going on, and feeling that everything was being ripped apart, it all eventually works out and he is able to see the whole picture. And it is a fantastic feeling. Why? Because Jacob was able to maintain his faith, his conviction and his trust in the Almighty, and this allowed him to finally see the beauty of the tapestry.

So when we say in this blessing that God is the mainstay of assurance for the righteous, the mainstay in this story would be the trust that kept Jacob going. The assurance is that in the end, Jacob was showed how his Bitachon paid off. This is very important to know; that your trust pays off.