And it will be that when Pharaoh will call for you, and will say, “What do you do?” you should say, “Your servants have been herdsmen... so that you will dwell in the land of Goshen, because the Egyptians detest all shepherds. (Bereishis 46:33–34)
We see that Yosef wanted his brothers to live in Goshen. Why? Rashi says he wanted them to be far from Pharaoh, to be out in the land of Goshen.
We already saw in Parshas Vayishlach how Yaakov Avinu made sure not to join up with Eisav. When Eisav offered to travel along with them, Yaakov turned him down, and told him they travel agonizingly slow, because of all the children and all the flocks, so he should just go ahead at his own pace. That’s the simple meaning of the verse. Chazal say there is an allusion here that until Mashiach comes, they will not meet, they will not join with one another. (Only when Mashiach comes will they meet, to make an accounting for all the rivers of Jewish blood that Eisav spilled.)
And here in this week’s parshah, we see how important it was to them not to dwell close to the non-Jews, even though they had to live in their land. They preferred to humiliate themselves and say they were herdsmen, so the Egyptians will settle them far away. This repeated itself when Yosef presented his brothers to Pharaoh. He took along the weakest of his brothers, so they won’t be appointed to official positions.
It was this way with the Jewish people throughout their exile. Our fathers and forefathers didn’t want to be close to the “high ups” and to be involved with economic and political matters. They didn’t mind being “outcasts” from the supposedly enlightened environment that existed next to them. They preferred to suffer all the harsh decrees and persecutions, just to avoid being in close contact with them.
So it was with the brothers of Yosef, the brothers of the viceroy of Egypt. They could have taken very high and esteemed positions. But they preferred being detested by their neighbors, just so they won’t have to mix in with the life of Egyptian society.
How did they prepare themselves for coming to their new country?
He sent Yehudah in front of him, to Yosef, to instruct before him to Goshen. Chazal say that the “instruction” in this pasuk is Torah instruction. In other words, Torah learning. As Rashi explains, Yehudah was sent ahead to set up a study house from which Torah instruction will emanate. So we see that Yaakov Avinu was not willing to go to a new place until they set up a beis midrash there.
Ostensibly, the normal way would be to first choose a good place to live, in a good environment, and then to move in, and the next morning, to ask where the shul is. Because on moving day, who has time for such things...
But Yaakov Avinu didn’t do it that way. Just like people won’t move into a new home unless they make sure in advance that it has water and electricity and everything else essential, so Yaakov Avinu treated his spiritual needs. For him, a beis midrash was as essential as water. He won’t move in, he won’t go down to Egypt, until a beis midrash is ready.
All this teaches us that Torah learning and mitzvah observance are not just lofty and important matters. They define our lives in the most basic way. Torah is the central point to which everything we do and think is focused. This is why our forefather made sure that first of all, there should be a beis midrash, because this is what life is.
