Joseph Is Still Alive

In the Torah portion of VaYigash (read during the month of Tevet), Joseph discloses himself to his brothers: "I am Joseph; does my father yet live?" (Genesis 45:3). Joseph, the brother who was thought to have assimilated amongst the Gentiles (for a period of 22 years, from the age of l7), reveals himself suddenly to his brothers as a proud Jew, faithful to the traditions of his father, Jacob the Patriarch.

Joseph symbolizes the spark alive in the heart of each Jew, even one that appears to have assimilated amidst a foreign culture, estranged from the traditions of Israel. Though "I sleep" in exile, "my heart is awake" (Song of Songs 5:2)--this is the spark of Joseph. "Every person has his day," a time will come and the spark of Joseph will eventually be revealed for all to see: "I am Joseph, does my father yet live?"

Our mother Rachel called her first-born Joseph (Yosef), saying, "G-d shall add [yosef] to me another son" (Genesis 30:24). In Chassidic writings it is explained that the special quality embodied by Joseph is the ability to favorably influence a Jew, who has affiliated with those outside the fold (and thereby appears to be "another") to return to be a "son" to his Father in Heaven. Joseph is able to accomplish this, since the spark of Joseph has always been burning in the heart of the distant one (he who had appeared to be "another").

With Divine Providence, Joseph was sent to Egypt before his brothers in order to prepare the way--to implant in the land of Egypt the power of Jewish survival, which would become critical after the Jewish exile to Egypt. The soul of Joseph hides in the recesses of the souls of his brothers--the children of Israel--in exile, and it awakens them to go out of exile (Joseph gave over the "password" of redemption: "G-d will surely remember you" [Genesis 50:25]).

In the Zohar it is stated that Joseph's revelation to his brothers alludes to G-d's revelation to the Jewish People at Mount Sinai: "I am the L-rd your G-d who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exodus 20:2). The awakening to depart from Egypt, which is the secret of Joseph's revelation to his brothers, is really the manifestation of G-d's essence amidst the Jewish People. With an awakening from below (with the initial desire from the Jewish People to be redeemed), a complementary desire is aroused from Above (from G-d to deliver His people). Essentially the two are really one and the same--"I am the L-rd Your G-d."

"I Will Sing Praises to My G-d While I Exist"

When the brothers returned to Canaan they brought good tidings: "Joseph is still alive." In turn, Jacob declared, "It is great; Joseph my son is still alive" (Genesis 45:28). Significantly, in each of the three excited pronouncements--"I am Joseph; is my father still alive," "Joseph is still alive," and "It is great; Joseph my son is still alive"--the word "still" (in Hebrew: Od) is emphasized.

On the verse in Psalms (l46:2): "I will praise G-d while I live; I will sing praises to my G-d while I still exist" (In Hebrew: b'odi), the first Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, explains in Tanya: "When it states, 'I will praise G-d [Havayah] while I live; I will sing praises to my G-d [Elokim] while I still exist' it indicates that life is drawn down from G-d's name Havayah and the od ['still exists'], is the body--of secondary importance--that stems from G-d's Name Elokim." Thus, we see that od ("still") refers to the body of a Jew, which is subordinate to a Jew's soul.

The Divine soul of a Jew is "truly a part of G-d above" (Tanya, Chapter 2). Therefore, it is not surprising that the soul has eternal existence. However, regarding the body of a Jew, we unexpectedly learn that in any situation--even when it goes down to Egypt, "the nakedness of the land"--it lives and thrives. In the body of the Jew, there is an essential spark (in addition to the pure soul placed within) that enlivens and sustains the body: this spark is none other than the spark of Joseph, the secret of "G-d [Elokim] will surely remember you" (and in the secret of: "?it is not me: G-d [Elokim] will give Pharaoh a favorable answer"--[Genesis 4l:l6]--"I will sing praises to my G-d (Elokim) while I still exist (b'odi--in my body)."

The Power of Generation

The first expression of excitement ("when Joseph made himself known to his brothers"): "Is my father still alive?" refers to the body of Jacob, the elderly father. Afterwards, the excitement concerns the body of the son, Joseph, which also has been able to survive and thrive: "Joseph is still alive;" "It is great; Joseph my son is still alive."

According to the Kabbalah, our forefather Jacob parallels the sefirah of "beauty" (tiferet). In the entire scheme of the Supernal Man, this sefirah is associated with "the body," the trunk of the Supernal figure (as is also discussed in the Zoharic section "Elijah Opened"). Joseph "the Tzadik, foundation of the world" parallels the sefirah of "foundation" (yesod), the "sign of the holy bond," the site of circumcision (in the words of Elijah's opening: "the end of the body"). Thus, we find that both Jacob and Joseph hint at the same body--the "main part of the body" and "the end of the body" (in the secret of "the body and the site of the bond are considered one").

On the verse, "These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph" (Genesis 37:2), Chassidic writings explain that all the generations of Jacob were born via the power of Joseph (including those born before Joseph's birth; as well as the generations yet to be born from then until the end of time). The living od of Joseph refers to the "live member" in which is enclothed the power of generation (which is a power of the Infinite One)--in both physical and spiritual forms, as explained by the Ba'al Shem Tov. This reflects the essential vitality of Jews' bodies: that each form is able to generate infinite new forms.

The closing verse of the Torah portion of VaYigash is: "And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt in the section of Goshen, and they took possession of it and grew and multiplied exceedingly" (Genesis 47:27). The power to be fruitful and multiply (exceedingly, beyond all measurement and limitation) is the special power of Joseph, whose name comes from the Hebrew word for "addition" (tosefet, as in the saying, "G-d's increment [tosefet] greatly exceeds the essence")--"G-d will provide me with an additional son." In the words of the first Chabad Rebbe: "Each Jew should make another Jew."

The sages express that the month of Tevet is "the month where one body enjoys another one." In Tevet, one od receives pleasure from another od: "Is my father still alive" from "Joseph is still alive;" the father ("body, trunk") from the son ("the end of the body"), and the son from the father. This is to enable the begetting of numerous Jewish progeny--the Hosts of G-d--until "all the souls in the body will be finished" at which time the redeemer will appear.

The anniversary of the passing of the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch, is celebrated on the 24th of Tevet. The Alter Rebbe used to say that in the world to come, "the soul will be nourished from the body." There will be a reversal of nature: the essential (the soul) will become incidental while what was once incidental (the body) will become essential. This is the real secret of "Joseph is still alive": the od of Joseph (which is in each Jew) will live eternally, while the soul (the aspect of "I will praise G-d while I live") will receive its principal vitality from the body which will live forever.