Parashat Vayigash
The lion and the bull confronting each other represent Yehuda and Yosef. This is a clash that is touched by both the sedra and haftara. The five shirts represent the five "changes of garments" that Yosef gave Binyamin. See the "observation" on page 6 for a fuller discussion. The dreidel (specifically with a SHIN) is "hinted" at by the word GOSH'NA - to Goshen. Vayigash is one of the "Chanuka sedras" and the word contains the letters of the non-Israeli dreidel. The wagons are those that Yosef sent to his father as a signal that he had not forgotten his heritage. Commentaries mention the Tradition that Yosef was referring to EGLA ARUFA (a play on words with AGALA), the last topic he was studying with Yaakov. There also could be a subtle reproach to the brothers, since in EGLA ARUFAthecity elders share a blame. The 10+10 donkey are the 10 male and 10 female donkeys that carried food and Egypt's finest offerings from son to father. The 70 with the arrow turned down are the 70 people of Yaakov's descent who went down to Mitzrayim. The asterisk indicates that Yosef and his sons were included in the count, even though they were already in Egypt and did not "go down with Yaakov. There is interesting speculation as to who is the 70th soul. Nonetheless, the number is symbolic. [The ParshaPix Index][The Vayigash Homepage]
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