Our Parashah begins with Judah begging the Pharoah-like character standing before him to not punish his youngest brother, Binyamin. Judah does not know the man standing before him in Egyptian makeup and clothing is his brother Joseph, whom he and his brothers betrayed twenty-two years earlier. Judah’s willingness to advocate for Binyamin is a testament to his moral arc and capacity for teshuvah; he now has courage and care to intercede for Binyamin and their ailing father, offering even his own freedom. In this approach, Judah proves he is no longer the same person who sold Joseph into slavery.  

Judah’s transformation touches on Joseph’s grief and becomes a catalyst for revelation and healing; Joseph cannot contain his hidden self any longer (Genesis 45:3-4):  

וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף אֶל־אֶחָיו אֲנִי יוֹסֵף הַעוֹד אָבִי חָי וְלֹא־יָכְלוּ אֶחָיו לַעֲנוֹת אֹתוֹ כִּי נִבְהֲלוּ מִפָּנָיו׃ 

וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף אֶל־אֶחָיו גְּשׁוּ־נָא אֵלַי וַיִּגָּשׁוּ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲנִי יוֹסֵף אֲחִיכֶם אֲשֶׁר־מְכַרְתֶּם אֹתִי מִצְרָיְמָה׃ 

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still well?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dumbfounded were they on account of him. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come forward to me.” And when they came forward, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, he whom you sold into Egypt. 

There are two approaches in two consecutive verses. First is the emotional approach, revealing with words. Then Joseph says גְּשׁוּ (geshu)–come forward, approach me. This is the same root as the first word in our Parashah (vayigash), when Judah approached Joseph. Following Joseph’s revelation, we see the distance between them close even further (Genesis 45:15): 

וַיְנַשֵּׁק לְכׇל־אֶחָיו וַיֵּבְךְּ עֲלֵהֶם וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן דִּבְּרוּ אֶחָיו אִתּוֹ 

He kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; only then were his brothers able to talk to him. 

The act of approaching–Judah to Joseph, and Joseph to both himself and then his brothers–closes the distance and estrangement between them both physically and emotionally and creates the conditions for reconciliation and redemption.  

In what relationships are you hoping to approach and draw closer? What repair might happen if you do? I bless that we can find the courage of Joseph and Judah to approach the fraught spaces between us. 

May our approaching close the distance and open new paths toward healing.