Parshat Vayigash "Mishpucha" Rabbi Yehoshua Schechter and Rabbi Yehuda Lave Parshat Vayigash "Mishpucha" Rabbi Yehoshua Schechter and Rabbi Yehuda Lave The sefer "Ahavat Chaim' brings down a beautiful Medrash. While Yosef is sitting in prison, having been put there by Potiphar, the right hand man of Pharaoh, he requests of the wine steward thusly, ועשית עמדי חסד והזכרתני אל פרעה והוצאתני מן הבית הזה. "Please do with me kindness, and mention me to Pharoh, that I may be taken out of this house". It's as if Yosef is insinuating that at some point in his past, he had done something good for Pharoh, and therefore wine steward should "remind" him of that kindness. What familiarity could Yosef possibly have had with pharaoh, given the fact, that they had never come into contact with each other heretofore? Not only that, but because he was put in prison by one of Pharaoh's right hand man, as a result of an alleged heinous crime, it stands to reason that Pharoh wouldn't second guess Potiphar, and set him free. Why would he give Yosef, even a morsel of credibility? Furthermore, Yosef adds something even more puzzling to his request; "for I have been kidnapped form the land of the Hebrews". Why should Pharaoh care about that? It was common practice in those days that anyone kidnapped or captured was sold into slavery. Did he expect Pharoh to have special pity on him? What was Yosef thinking? Another question. We find that when Pharoh made him his viceroy, Yosef did many things to make the life of the average Egyptian very difficult..specifically by disenfranchising them. Among his many decrees; he moved the city dwellers to the periphery of the country, and those on the periphery to the cities. He commanded them by use force, to be circumcised, and if they disagreed… he would refuse to sell them food. If anyone complained to Pharoh, they were told "deal with Yosef, he makes the rules". There was no question, that the Egyptians had a very difficult time under Yosef's reign. It is therefore a bit surprising, when the Torah says in (Shmot 1-8) ויקם מלך חדש אשר לא ידע את יוסף "A new king arose that did not know Yosef", How could that possibly be? Yosef reigned mightily, and innovatively for 80 years. There probably wasn't a king in the civilized world, who didn't know who Yosef was. In another matter, we read that when the Jews left Egypt, the Erev Rav, "mass of others" went out with them as well. and were also subjected to the exact same harsh oppressiveness and conditions as the Jews. So where did they come from originally, and why were they similarly oppressed? First, we will begin with a bit of a history lesson. In Jacob's time, and even in Abraham's, there existed a mixed group of Asiatic people from Western Asia, who took over the Eastern Nile Delta, effectively ending the thirteenth dynasty of Egypt. These peoples were known to the Egyptians as 'Hyksos'. Loosely translated; "rulers of foreign countries". They were comprised of many different tribes. They were known in our vernacular as "Arabic" nomads, and they were called by their enemies by the slang רועי צאן, "shepherds". Their kings were known as "shepherd kings" and they were absolutely detested by the Egyptians. So as it turns out, the "Pharoh"in Yosef's time was actually not a native Egyptian…he was in fact a hated shepherd king. Guess where all of these "shepherds" originally came from?...You guessed it, they were all Abrahamic in origin, from Ishmael, and Bnei Ketura. They captured Egypt with a mighty sword, and subjugated the Egyptians against their will. They were like "thorns in their eyes". Naturally, the "shepherd king" appointed his national and local ministers, and army generals from his own kin. We can now understand Yosef's request of the wine steward, to mention to Pharoh that he was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. He wanted to hint to Pharoh that he was a Jew, "Im mishpucha". As soon as Pharoh got the message, he immediately sent for Yosef. Once he saw who Yosef was, and his degree of intellect, he immediately made him his second in command. He was ecstatic that he was able to find a person from his "family" of that caliber….and he could trust him implicitly. In fact, when Pharoh heard that Yosef's family was coming to Egypt, what did Yosef instruct his brothers to say if asked "what is your craft" by Pharoh? "We are shepherds". That was the code word for easy passage. No wonder then as the Torah says, כי תועבת מצרים כל רועי צאן "the Egyptians abhorred all shepherds". So when the מלך חדש"new king" takes over, he is actually a native Egyptian… a bonafide Pharoah, who succeeds Yosef. He makes believe as if he never knew of Yosef or of his accomplishments, because he wants to totally eradicate him from his memory. In fact all of Yosef's family, the Erev Rav, all of the "shepherds', are now Enemy #1 to this new king. His singular all- consuming desire, is to take sweet revenge. His worry is that his enemies will spread the word, and band together to attack him, like they did 80 years ago with the previous Pharoh. He commands that they build fortified cities to keep all of his enemies in one place so that he would have total control over them. So it is, that he subjugates all of them, which includes the Erev Rav, into oppressive slavery. I always had the question, why does the Torah devote so many paragraphs and verses, to the lineage of Ishmael and Keturah, as well as to Esau and Midian. We now understand how these "mass of others" played a major role in the eventual redemption of the Jews from Egypt. | 
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