Revelation
No, this is not a Jewish attempt to go outside our field of expertise and into New Testament interpretation. Rather, revelations figure prominently in this week’s portion, Vayigash, as they do more broadly in the term being used to describe the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Joseph’s brothers find themselves in the throne room face to face with who they perceive to be Pharaoh’s trusted advisor. They are at his mercy, having been through an exchange of dialogue and actions from which they feel deeply vulnerable. Joseph can no longer contain himself, and he breaks down to reveal his identity to his brothers. They are at first gobsmacked, and then, as the text implicitly conveys, they are concerned that Joseph will finally wreak vengeance on them for having sold him into slavery. But Joseph demurs, and goes even further, telling them that they are “off the hook” because God was behind the ups and downs of their family’s experience in order to propel Joseph into a position to save the Jewish people from famine.
The modern commentator Nechama Leibowitz offers this telling insight:
Fortunate is he to whom it is granted to detect in the metamorphoses of his daily existence and the vicissitudes of his personal affairs, the workings of Providence—a mission on which he has been sent by God.
While a bit convoluted, Leibowitz offers the ultimate goal for all people of faith: To align our intentions, attitudes, and actions with what we imagine to be God’s will, whether in pursuit of the qualities of goodness and justice more generally, or as an expression of our bond with the transcendent. Perhaps we fulfill our greatest capacity as human beings in serving as agents of God in realizing a vision, borne out of the first moments of creation, brought to fruition by the works of our hands and the will of our hearts.