Joseph and Judah, the Two Messiahs
In Vayigash (he approached), we come upon the encounter of two of the twelve sons of Jacob. We saw how Jacob had to flee his brother and go to Haran where his father-in-law exploited him. After twenty years, he left a wealthy man, with eleven sons, a daughter and four wives. He returned to Canaan, the Promised Land. He had placed his son, Joseph on a pedestal, giving him a special coat to differentiate him from his brothers, creating so much hatred toward him that they wanted to kill him. He was saved due to the grace of our Creator. From his height among his brothers, he was taken to the lowest of the low in prison in Egypt only again to rise to the top of humanity.
In that process, Joseph had become outwardly assimilated into the Gentile world in Egypt. No one would have recognized him as a Hebrew since he looked gentile in every aspect. Pharaoh was considered a god and Joseph was considered the “son of god”. The idea that god has a son who became a god didn’t begin with the Greeks and Romans. It was part of the old religions. His name was changed to Zaphenath- Paneah, the meaning of which is not clear but what is clear is that he was no longer a visible Israelite.
Judah represented Israel, (Jacob’s new name), and Joseph represented the Gentile world. Israel not only means the one who contends with God but also one who needs to have God’s calling. We can draw a midrash from the picture of these two giants who were leaders in their own right. Judah demonstrated that he was serious and responsible despite his many mistakes. One of the beautiful things about the Torah is that it teaches us that our heroes are mere humans, not perfect beings who cannot commit sins or do anything wrong. In spite of their humanity, they are “called” by the Creator for a special role and purpose.
Many teachings on these two have emerged from the religious sectors however we must always compare them with the Scriptures. Although they were not equal in power and authority, according to human understanding, they were equal in the sight of the Creator each having their role. Here we see that Judah took his responsibility as leader very seriously and Joseph had not yet revealed himself to his brothers. We can understand that because Joseph treated his brothers quite harshly, he was still dealing with his pain as a direct result of their treatment of him in the past. He had been sold, abandoned, and forgotten by them. Twenty years had passed and now he was looking to get even with them. He was the most powerful person in Egypt and he never returned to his land to find his father. This tells us that something happened here. Instead of revealing himself right away to his brothers, he waited and held Shimon captive. Why Shimon? Shimon and Levi were the two brothers who loved to kill; they were the fighters. They would have been the ones to say, “Let’s kill him” until Reuben and later Judah intervened. The brothers all lied to their father Jacob demonstrating midah keneged midah, measure for measure.
Now he would keep Benjamin behind but Judah had made a promise to his father Jacob that he would be responsible for him at all costs. When Judah told Joseph the story of how he offered to give up his own life for Benjamin, Joseph saw that the brothers were united in their remorse. Judah was willing to make the greatest sacrifice that any brother could do. Remember, Judah had a family, children, workers, and people dependent upon him, but he was willing to give his life in exchange for Benjamin, the son of the beloved wife of his father Rachel, not of his mother, Leah. This was when the entire picture changed in Joseph’s mind and he was able to let go of his desire to get even, thus healing the pain from the past.
This message is for today. It is a projection of what will happen in the future. Israel can only take her place at the top when the people recognize and acknowledge their wrongdoings and return as united to the Creator. This has not yet happened.
This week’s Haftarah portion, Ezekiel 37:14 – 28 speaks of the two branches, Joseph (Ephraim) and Judah, which will one day unite. That is what we are seeing in this parashah but I will go a little further. The idea of the Mashiach, developed slowly over time by our sages, is derived from a spiritual truth. It is not directly written about in the Scriptures rather we need to delve a little deeper to come to an understanding. The total redemption of the world comes about in the apocalyptic writings. In this process a hero would emerge perhaps as a king, or a priest or from any of the tribes but most likely from the tribes of Judah or Joseph. In this portion it seems that Joseph represents the suffering messiah while Judah represents the conquering messiah but it seems to be the opposite because it is Judah who bows down several times before Joseph, even calling him my lord. Joseph is on top but the Davidic Messiah in Judah doesn’t recognize Joseph as the messiah in Joseph.
When and how does Joseph finally get recognized? Joseph was speaking to them through an interpreter. He understood everything they were saying. Why couldn’t his brothers recognize him? His physical appearance, his language, and his god were all different from theirs. He knew who his brothers were but they did not know him. Compare our Yeshua the Messiah with Jesus Christ today. Sorry to tell you, they are not the same. One is an historical personality while the other is a theological invention.
How can the descendants of Judah recognize Jesus Christ as being their brother when he doesn’t speak their language, he dresses differently and people worship him as a god? The Jews cling to “Shema Israel, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad” – Hear O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is ONE. There are not three gods; there is only One. This is the contention of the Jewish people and the reason we cannot worship him as a god; they could bow down to him as a pharaoh but they could never worship him as a god. They knew he was a mere human.
I believe that we are approaching the day that my people Israel will discover the true Yeshua, both historically and as the messenger of the Creator, chosen to bring them back to the written Torah so that we could fulfil our calling of being, “Ohr l’goyim” – light to the nations; to disseminate the Torah to all the nations and to bring them to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Has this happened? Has there been an encounter between Judah and Joseph? Not yet. I believe that it will happen soon. More and more the people of Israel are opening their eyes to the true Yeshua, not the concocted Jesus with their artifices that make him a god nor the attitude of the rabbis who try to destroy the real Yeshua in their reaction against paganism. The time will come when both sides see their mistakes because they are both believing the wrong things. No one but the Bore Olam – the Creator can remove spiritual blindness from humanity.
It doesn’t matter what we believe. When I was young, I was a proud atheist but just because an atheist says that he doesn’t believe in the Creator, doesn’t mean that the Creator doesn’t exist. Humans didn’t create the Truth, only God did. Our beliefs can’t save us. He chose us not for our beliefs but for what is in our hearts. That was the case with both Joseph and Judah. With all their shortcomings, they were men of integrity. With all their problems, they represent the people of God. He knew their hearts. Our prophet Jeremiah (17:9-10) told us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”. Our religious beliefs, dogmas and doctrines do not save us; He comes to us, we respond to Him and that makes us have a relationship with Him.
When Yeshua said, “You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free”, he was referring to the God of creation as being the Truth. The Hebrew word, “Yodeah” means intimate…we would have an intimate relationship with the Creator and He would set us free from all the religions, superstitions, and anything that we hold onto of no value. Then we can return to Him to have a personal relationship with Him.
Joseph was not recognized by his brothers for several reasons: the gentile world had turned him into a god. Both Joseph and Judah knew the Creator; they and their brothers knew that no human could be God. Joseph finally revealed himself to his brothers saying – “Ani Yosef”, I am Joseph. The poor guys almost had a heart attack but then he told them not to worry; what they meant for evil, the Creator used for good, to preserve their lives. He understood at that moment what the Creator had been doing with him.
America in some ways represents Christianity. They have only one understanding about Jesus Christ but one day they will find the true Yeshua. They have been the only ones to stand up for Israel, sadly not even Canada. Even worse, the highly elevated European countries hate Israel. The world hates Israel. Why? Is it because Israel is the most powerful, the most numerous, people who ate everyone and are killing everyone? On the contrary, in a recent documentary, I watched several Arab Israelis speaking out about how Israel is the only country in which they can live freely. Why doesn’t this come out at the United Nations where eighty percent of the injunctions are against Israel? Why don’t they mention North Korea, the Middle Eastern countries that have massacred so many of their own people, or Turkey and the European countries as well as Venezuela and Latin America? They are all attacking Israel and refuse to look at themselves.
This is the encounter between Judah and Joseph. All Jewish people are part of Israel but not all of Israel is part of the Jewish people. That may sound confusing. The term “Yehudim – Jewish” comes from the tribe of Yehudah, Judah, the kingdom of the South. The Northern Kingdom disappeared but the tribes were not lost, they simply assimilated into the South. The haftarah portion teaches us that the Creator will bring His people back from all over the world one day. Being part of Israel has nothing to do with having the right DNA or the pure bloodline of the ancient people, rather it has to do with our hearts and having a true relationship with the God of Israel, both for Jew and Gentile. As God called Abram, a gentile, not a Jew, He is now calling His people from all over the world. This is depicted with Joshua (from the tribe of Ephraim – Joseph) and Caleb ( from the tribe of Judah), the only two men of that first generation who were slaves in Egypt, to enter the Promised Land – Joshua was an Israelite and Caleb was a Kenizzite, a gentile. What do these pictures tell us? Don’t concern yourself with being Jewish; concern yourself with what is in your heart.
The stage is being set for the understanding that we have today about these two men. Joseph and Judah point to the two types of Messiah, Mashiach ben Joseph, the suffering Messiah and Mashiach ben David the conquering Messiah. It is my desire that Yeshua will be revealed to my people Israel and that our gentile people will see our brother Yeshua for who he is not for who they made him to be, sooner than later! We Jews cannot understand their Jesus Christ but we wouldn’t have a problem with our teacher, our rabbi, our messenger, our messiah Yeshua.
Shabbat Shalom
Ranebi (Rabbi Netanel ben Yochanan)