When Yaakov Avinu and Yosef HaTzaddik met for the first time, after being separated for twenty-two years, the Torah tells us (46:29) עוֹד צַוָּארָיו עַל וַיֵּבְךְּ צַוָּארָיו עַל וַיִּפ ֹּל אֵל ָיו וַיֵּרָא, "[Yosef] appeared before him, fell on his neck, and he wept on his neck excessively." Rashi writes, "[Yosef] cried... but Yaakov didn't fall on Yosef's neck, and he didn't kiss him. Chazal tell us that he was saying the Shema."
The question is that if it was time to say Shema, why wasn't Yosef saying Shema, as well? And if it wasn't time to say Shema, why was Yaakov saying Shema? There are several answers written in the sefarim.
It is important to note that whenever we talk about the lives and the challenges of the avos hakedoshim, we know that their madreigos were very exalted and beyond our perception. Nevertheless, we are permitted, and even obligated, to study their lives, how they appear to us, to learn lessons that can be applied to us.
Rebbe Shlomo of Bobov zt'l (Noam Shlomo, p.248) answers that Yaakov wasn't performing the mitzvah of Shema at this time. He said the first pasuk of Shema, to teach himself and his family a lesson about life. For twenty-two years, Yaakov was crying and mourning over his dear son, Yosef. And now that he sees his son, alive and well, he recognized that he was wrong for crying and mourning the past twenty-two years. He now knows that everything that occurred was for his favor, so that Yosef could feed the family during the famine. As it states (45:7) וַיִּשְׁלָחֵנִי לָכֶם וּלְהַח ֲיוֹת בָּאָרֶץ שְׁא ֵרִית לָכֶם לָשׂוּם לִפ ְנֵיכֶם א ֱלֹק ִים, "Hashem has sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival in the land and to sustain you..."
Therefore, Yaakov Avinu said 'ה ישראל שמע אחד 'ה אלקינו. His intention was ישראל שמע, "Bnei Yisrael, pay attention to what I tell you. 'ה represents the times that Hashem appears to be our compassionate father. אלקינו is when Hashem appears to be acting strictly with us, with harsh judgment. But we should know that אחד 'ה אלקינו 'ה, that Hashem is one. Even when Hashem acts with us harshly, it is the same, compassionate Hashem.
Yosef also endured many tzaros in his life, and he discovered that everything was for the good. He was sold as a slave, he suffered a difficult test in Potiphar’s home, and then he was in prison for twelve years. About him, we can say the pasuk (Tehillim 42:8) עָב ָרוּ עָלַי וְגַלֶּיךָ מִשְׁבָּר ֶיךָ כָּל, "All your breaks and waves have swept over me," since he suffered so much in his lifetime. But in the end, it became clear that it was for his good, and for the good of his family. Yaakov Avinu would have been brought down to Mitzrayim in iron ropes, but since Yosef lived in Mitzrayim, and he was second to the king, Yaakov came to Mitzrayim with immense honor, befitting kings.
It states (Tehillim 126:1) אֶת 'ה בְּשׁוּב הַמַּע ֲלוֹת שִׁיר כְּחֹלְמ ִים הָיִינוּ צִיּוֹן שִׁיבַת, "... When Hashem will return the captivity of Zion, we will be like dreamers." The Beis Avraham zt'l explains the pasuk to mean that when Moshiach will come and Hashem will return us to Yerushalayim, כְּחֹלְמ ִים הָיִינוּ, we will be like Yosef HaTzaddik, the החלומות בעל, the person who had dreams. Yosef discovered that everything was for his good, and that is how it will be for us when Hashem takes us out of galus. Then we will discover that everything was for the good. As the next pasuk states (Tehillim 126:2) וּלְש ׁוֹנֵנוּ פִּינוּ שְׂחוֹק יִמָּלֵא אָז רִנָּה, "Then our mouths will be filled with laughter, and our tongue with glad song."
It is likened to when someone dreams a frightening dream. He laughs when he wakes up because he realizes that it wasn't real. Similarly, when the redemption comes, we will look back at the tzaros of galus and laugh, recognizing that it was all for the good.
