What makes Joseph so keen on settling his family in a suburb of Egypt, in a place called Goshen (Genesis 46:31–34)? Isaac Arama suggests that Goshen was not a special place. As with many attractive areas, its import lies in its location – far from the capital of Egypt. In the center of the politics of the Egyptian empire, one could easily fall prey to the intrigues and contradictions inherent in the Egyptian political system. Joseph and Jacob understood the appeal of remaining far from such a place.
AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg
An off-duty member of Israel’s security forces joins worshippers at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg
The Netziv, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin, sees this choice differently. For him, living in Goshen was a way in which Jacob’s family could have the opportunity to build a life of holiness.
The fundamental difference between these approaches is the following: Arama sees Goshen as a way to distance oneself from a negative (in this case, the Egyptian political scene). Goshen in and of itself had nothing positive to offer. Its only attraction was what it was not: that is, it was not the center of Egyptian life.
But the Netziv disagrees. Goshen had something positive to offer. There, Jacob’s family could preserve their sanctity.
Nehama Leibowitz notes that, as is often the case, the background of these commentators contributes to the differing views presented here. Arama lived in fifteenth-century Spain and was painfully aware of the Spanish political system. He knew the possible corruption of political office and understood how Jacob would have wanted to keep his family far from the center of political life.
The Netziv, on the other hand, who lived in nineteenth-century Europe and whose life was interwoven with a hope for the return to Zion, saw Goshen as a move toward realizing this dream.
Perhaps, too, one could further suggest, that in Goshen, Jacob’s family could develop an infrastructure of an autonomous, sovereign people. It was there – much as would unfold in the post First Temple Babylonian era – that a state within a state could be built, marking a hopeful step toward returning to Israel and developing our national homeland.
But, as Nehama remarks, “In spite of all of Yosef’s endeavors to prevent them settling down permanently in the land and becoming enmeshed in the attractions of the surrounding society, they forgot the temporary nature of their sojourn in Egypt. The last verse alludes to the dangers of assimilation when it states, ‘and Israel settled in the land of Egypt and in the land of Goshen; they acquired holdings therein and were fruitful and increased greatly in numbers [Genesis 47:27].’”
This is an important message for Diaspora Jewry today: no matter how developed and sophisticated we are, the dangers of assimilation exist when we live in a non-Jewish society. To be sure, individuals may maintain their Jewish identity in exile, but our national destiny lies not in the Goshens of this world, not in Egypt, but in a place where Judaism is the main compass: in the land of Israel.
Candle lighting:
Vayigash parsha
December 22 at 5:18 p.m.