The real Judah stands up - Vayigash (Genesis 44:18 - 47:27)

Truth, responsibility, and self-sacrifice, freely chosen and embraced, are redemptive: they can make things right. They can save the future.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the Patriarchs of Israel, and hereby of the Ethical Monotheism which Israel was to carry to the world. Joseph saved his family from famine, and also got them where they needed to be – 400 years of Egyptian slavery – to become who they needed to be to bear that message. Less often mentioned, Judah is the ancestor of most of Israel’s surviving remnant: today’s Jews. Perhaps, Judah’s life, and his triumphs over his younger, less mature self, also hold something of value – and might earn him a place as a Patriarch of Israel.

Way back when, Judah suggested selling Joseph into slavery, thereby ridding the brothers of Daddy’s hated favorite snitch, and make a few bucks in the bargain… (or, more charitably but also possibly, dispose of Joseph without committing outright murder). And now, by framing Dad’s new favorite, Benjamin, for grand theft of magical doohickey, carrying the penalty of perpetual slavery (44:1-17), Joseph has contrived to present the brothers with the opportunity to do it all over again. Just sell the brother out, and go home free and clear.

But perhaps unbeknownst to Joseph, in the interim Judah has taken the lead. It’s Judah who convinced Jacob to let Benjamin be taken to Egypt with his brothers (43:1-15), Joseph’s condition for releasing his hostage, Simeon. Judah could have said, let Simeon rot – why risk my own neck? Or again, Judah could have let Benjamin take the fall, no skin off his nose… Judah and the brothers would seemingly have gotten off scot-free, and waltzed back to Canaan with the food they came for, only short one more of Dad’s favorite snots… What’s not to like?

Joseph presents Judah with the same opportunity he once took… Only, Judah’s no longer the same Judah. He has kids and grandkids of his own. He’s learned from the whole embarrassing affair with Tamar. He has grown.

And so, Judah chooses the other way. Judah steps up, and instead of giving up his brother, he offers himself up to take his place (44:18-34). Judah chooses self-sacrifice. Chooses to give everything up, in order to save another brother from unjust slavery, and his father from more grief and pain – all the more poignant, since it means Judah knows that Jacob will grieve less for him than he would for Benjamin.

That is when Joseph breaks down, and reveals himself to his brothers (“I am Joseph – does my father still live?” 45:1-4). That is the moment on which the whole story turns, not only that of the family of Jacob, but therefore also that of the nation they will become because Joseph will settle them in Egypt. This moment, when Judah steps us, and shoulders the full burden of responsibility he has willingly volunteered for.

Judah’s choice means not only that Benjamin will be spared. It means that the entire family will survive the famine, and Judah will become the father of a whole tribe. One that will remember him. Not as the petty resentful slime he once was, but as the mature, grown-up, responsible adult, the leader he became. One worthy of being the ancestor of David, and of having what still remains of Israel today be mostly your descendants, even named after you: “Jews”, derived from Judah… as in Judeans, of Judea… you know, as in Judea-and-Samaria, aka “the West Bank”. And, someone worthy of Jacob’s blessing, arguably the greatest any of his sons receives (49:8-12). Maybe not just because Judah is next in line after the disqualified first three sons, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi… but perhaps because Judah has shown himself to be a cut above, and Jacob knows it.

Here’s what Judah learns, maybe in these very moments pleading with Joseph, or maybe before he steps up before Jacob: truth freely spoken, responsibility freely taken on, self-sacrifice freely chosen, are redemptive. In the deepest, truest sense of the word. They can make up for a whole world of pain, straighten much that was crooked, even atone for the misdeeds of a lifetime ago. They can make things right again.

We know all this, really. We just forget. Because this one really is a drag. Really makes demands of us, really requires us to stick our neck out. And often, pay precisely the price that we’re afraid of paying – exposure, shame, pain, loss; personal, social, professional, even material costs for whatever dumb thing we did, or whatever proper thing we didn’t do, and however long we’ve let that stew and ferment before we worked ourselves up to finally addressing it. When we step up, we almost certainly will take some flak. Lose some friends, lose a job, lose money. Lose face, maybe in a very public manner. Maybe worse.

But if we do so – if we work up the courage, admit our failings, and resolve to change… truly resolve, mind you, the kind of resolve that means, when given the same opportunity for immediate gain, we will not take it, but will instead choose the higher road, the one pointing to the higher value and the higher goal… higher, meaning the one both more remote, and more elevated… then, we will find out that this was the best possible choice all along. The one that not only brings us the greatest gain over the long term – but really, the one that leads to the best possible outcome for all involved. And, the only choice through which we can become all we can be, were meant to be. And by definition, there’s no better option than that. That, is what happens when we let the truth shine out, see, and let it guide our steps, wherever it leads. That’s what happens, when we have other, easier choices available to us… and still freely and willingly make the sacrifice, the one not only required of us, but offered to us as an opportunity – and take on the responsibility we were meant for.

Shabbat Shalom, and God help us all.