By Toby King

Parshat Veyigash begins with this, basically.

It concludes Joseph's story. His brothers find out that he has become Viceroy of Egypt. Joseph forgives them for their betrayal of him. He sends for his father and the whole family, 70 souls all told, to come down to live with him in Egypt.

This week's parsha is the end of one story and the beginning of the next.

Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; they took possession of it, and grew and multiplied exceedingly.

Happily ever after, right? But we all know the next part - that the Israelites will be enslaved in a few generations. That this leads to our eventual revolution and our origin story as a nation. We're just not there yet.

How could those 70 souls have known? Would they have stayed in Caanan if they knew how their children would struggle? Would they have faced that struggle if they knew of the future to come? I'm not sure, and they couldn't have been either.

Many of us are going on a trip soon ourselves. Not as permanent or as long of a one, but maybe just as shaping of our future. We don't know what struggles we'll face, or what long-term consequences they will have. It may lead to hardships, it may lead to revolution, but we're going anyways. We're going to reunite, with our kfutzot, with our chaverim and with our madrachim. We're going to struggle, with our values, ourselves and each other. I don't know what it's going to look like, but I do know that it's going to change us, to reshape us as individuals and as a Movement. It will reshape the Jewish people a little bit as well.

And, personally, I'm looking forward to it immensely.

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