פרשת ויגש תשט"ו - ירידת יעקב למצרים

And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.

And they told him all the words of Joseph: It appears to me according to the simple meaning that throughout all the days of his life, Jacob was never told that the brothers sold Joseph. Rather he thought that he got lost in the field and that the ones that found him took him and sold him to Egypt. For the brothers did not want to tell him their sin, especially since they feared for their lives, lest he get enraged and curse them.... And Joseph did not want to tell him because of his good ethics. And it therefore states (Genesis 50:16-17), "Your father commanded before his death, saying... 'Please now forego the sin of your brothers.'" And if Jacob had known about this matter, it would have been fitting for them to beseech the face of their father at his death to command Joseph from his [own] mouth - as he would not raise [himself against his father] and violate his words. And [then] they would not have been in danger, and they would not have needed to make up words from their hearts (that he had not said).

And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father.

And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.

And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

לאלהי אביו יצחק TO THE GOD OF HIS FATHER, ISAAC — The duty of honouring one’s father is more imperative than that of honouring one’s grandfather (Genesis Rabbah 94:5); therefore the sacrifices are associated with the name of Isaac and not with that of Abraham.

And He said: ‘I am God, the God of thy father; fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation.

I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again; and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.’

ויאהב גם את רחל, he not only slept also with her, but also loved her more than he loved Leah. On most occasions in Scripture when the word גם appears in an inverted fashion, such as here, the meaning is similar. In Exodus 12,32 when Pharaoh said to Moses וברכתם גם אותי, the meaning is: “also bless me.” In Numbers 22,33 when the angel said to Bileam: גם אותך הרגתי, he meant: “I would also have killed you, seeing that I first squeezed your foot and you are already lame. Now I would have killed you if not for your ass lying down.”

אעלך גם עלה. Not only will I bring you out of Egypt (in a coffin) to be buried in the Holy Land, but I will also bring your numerous descendants out of there to a good land flowing with milk and honey (the land of Cannan) as we know from G’d’s promise to Moses in Exodus 3,8.

I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again; and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.’

ישית ידך על עיניך, you yourself will not have to worry about any of your affairs while in Egypt, seeing that Joseph will take care of all the mundane matters pertaining to daily life. In other words, you can keep your eyes closed when it comes to mundane matters.