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The pasuk's wording "Ve-es Yehuda shalach lefanav el Yosef lehoros lefanav Goshen" raises several difficulties: why the unusual "ve-es," why is Yehuda sent to Yosef rather than directly to Goshen, and what was Sarah's original claim to Goshen 220 years earlier? The shiur develops that Goshen represented religious autonomy—Sarah was granted the right for Jews to settle there and practice their religion freely, similar to colonial America's religious settlements. Yehuda was sent not just to prepare housing but to establish a beis talmud (תלמוד) "lehoros"—to make Torah (תורה) the law of the land in Goshen.
This shiur examines the opening verse of Parshas Vayigash after the list of seventy souls: "Ve-es Yehuda shalach lefanav el Yosef lehoros lefanav Goshen." Rabbi Zweig identifies multiple textual difficulties. First, the unusual construction "ve-es Yehuda"—why begin with a conjunction and object rather than simply "Vayishlach Yaakov es Yehuda"? The "ve-es" suggests this connects to something prior, yet a stumah (paragraph break) precedes it, indicating a new topic. Second, the verse uses a pronoun without naming Yaakov, further suggesting connection to earlier material despite the paragraph break. The phrase "shalach lefanav" is also puzzling. "Lefanav" typically means someone is sent ahead as an agent while the principal follows, as when Yaakov sent messengers "lefanav" to Esav. But here, if Yehuda is going "lefanav," that would make Yaakov the principle and Yehuda the agent—yet at 130 years old, Yaakov is not going to run the settlement. Yehuda, as the melech, will be in charge. Why use "lefanav" language that implies Yaakov is the principle?
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Bereishis 46:28, Parshas Vayigash
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