For how shall I go up to my father, and the youth is not with me? (Gen. 44:34)
Every Jew must ask himself this same question: After 120 years, how will I be able to face my Father in heaven "and the youth is not with me" - if I have wasted my younger years on trivial and frivolous pursuits? This is also a question to be asked by every Jewish parent: How will I answer to G-d "and the youth is not with me" - if I have not met the Jewish educational needs of my children, and allowed them to become estranged due to ignorance? (Der Torah Kval)
You shall tell my father of all my glory ("kevodi") in Egypt (Gen. 45:13)
The literal meaning of "kavod" is heaviness, weight or gravity. In other words, Joseph was asking his brothers to tell their father Jacob that despite his being in the spiritually unclean land of Egypt, he had managed to remain strong and connected to G-d. (Butzina D'nehora)
I will go down with you to Egypt; and I will also surely bring you up again (Gen. 46:4)
The Jewish people can rest assured they will eventually go out of exile, as the time must ultimately come for G-d to be revealed in the world. The only way this revelation can happen is for the Jewish people to be redeemed and their true advantage revealed in the world. (Beit HaLevi)
Reprinted from Parshat Mikeitz 5762/2001 edition of L’Chaim
