Parashat VaYigash: Torn Between Father and God

Parashat Vayigash Joseph Recognized by His Brothers (1863 painting by Léon Pierre Urbain Bourgeois)

In his royal chambers, covered in fine Egyptian linen sheets, Zaphenat Pa’aneah, aka Joseph the Hebrew, wakes up screaming, awash in cold sweat. His wife, the delicate noblewoman Asenath, finds his shaking hand and holds it, whispering “you had that nightmare again, honey?” Her husband is too startled to talk, taking a deep breath before […]