Rabbi Efrem Goldberg
The first words in Parshas Vayigash are Vayigash eilav Yehuda telling us that Yehuda approached Yosef to beg that he allow Binyamin to return home to their father. Yehuda had personally guaranteed Yaakov that Binyamin would return home safely, and so now that Yosef wanted to keep Binyamin as his slave after discovering his goblet in Binyamin’s bag, Yehuda set out to plead that Binyamin be permitted to go home, offering to remain as a slave in Binyamin’s stead.
The Midrash offers an additional layer of interpretation to the words, explaining that Vayigash refers to tefila. As Yehuda approached Yosef to plead on Binyamin’s behalf, he also silently offered a prayer to Hashem. Outwardly, he was speaking to Yosef, but in his mind, he placed his faith in Hashem, begging Him to come and help the family in this moment of grave crisis.
The Midrash here teaches us a vitally important lesson about emuna – that even as we perform our necessary hishtadlus, putting in the effort that we need to put in, we must recognize that the outcome always depends on Hashem, to whom we must always turn for help. Before any meeting, whether it’s a job interview, a business deal, parent-teacher conferences, or any other important appointment, we must reflect on the fact that ultimately, the outcome depends solely on Hashem, and we are to pray that He orchestrates everything for the best.
Rav Nachman of Breslav added that this pasuk, as understood by the Midrash, teaches us about a crucial prerequisite for tefila.
The expression Vayigash eilav Yehuda which the Midrash understands as referring to Yehuda’s approaching Hashem, alludes that we must always feel comfortable and confident enough to approach Hashem. One of the impediments to meaningful, heartfelt prayer is the sense of unworthiness that many people feel. They think about the inappropriate things they’ve done and said, all the mistakes they have made, and conclude that God is not interested in them, that He does not want to hear from them, that He wants to have nothing to do with them. Rav Nachman’s most famous teaching is that a person must always be happy (Likutei Moharan, 1:282). He emphasized that even if a person has failed and sinned, he should remain joyful and in good spirits, remembering that he also has many virtues, and much goodness within him.
It is the yetzer ha’ra, Rav Nachman explained, that tries to convince us to feel despondent and worthless after acting wrongly. Alongside our sincere regret for our wrongdoing, we must recognize our redeeming qualities, and all the good that we do. And we must confidently believe that despite our mistakes, Hashem is always approachable. His door is always open. He wants us to come to Him often to ask for what we need.
The first step toward meaningful tefila is Vayigash eilav Yehuda to recognize that regardless of what we’ve done, Hashem invites us to approach Him, at all times.
