Vayigash | ויגש

Ruth Weisberg, USA       

I experience this as one of the most moving and profoundly human moments in the Torah. The universal and eternal emotions surrounding the reunion of parent and child is intimately expressed here. It is easy for the reader to understand, on a visceral level, how deeply moved Jacob is to discover that Joseph is alive. In Genesis 45:26–28, we learn that when Jacob’s sons tell him that Joseph is still alive and that he had influence over the whole land of Egypt, “his heart froze for he could not believe them.” But then his spirits are revived and he exclaims, “My son Joseph is alive! I must go and see him before I die!”

Professional Background  Ruth Weisberg, former Dean of the Roski School of Art and Design, University of Southern California, is the Director of the USC Initiative for Israeli Arts and Humanities. Weisberg’s work is included in 60 major museums, among them the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago.