Parshat Vayigash teaches us a deep and meaningful message about the power of Jewish unity.
We witness the moving encounter between Yosef and his brothers, in which separation and hatred turn to unity and reconciliation. This meeting serves as a foundation for what will be revealed later—when the Jewish people are united, the divine presence dwells among them.
In the Amidah, we pray, “Sound the great shofar for our freedom, and raise a banner to gather our exiles and gather us together (yachad) from the four corners of the earth.”
We’re not just asking for the physical gathering of the people, but yachad—genuine internal unification. The great shofar is Am Yisrael’s wake-up call to redemption, and it echoes throughout the world—gathering the dispersed and uniting them as one people.
What do we mean when we ask Hashem to “Gather us together quickly from the four corners of the earth to our land?”
The simple meaning is all Jews living abroad will settle in Eretz Yisrael. And what is the purpose of gathering the exiles? To develop the country. After all, there is no state without a people, and the gathering of exiles is a necessary condition for building the state of Israel.
However, it seems to me there is a deeper meaning to this bracha in the Amidah. This is revealed both in Vayigash and its haftarah (Yechezkel 37:15–28).
Vayigash emphasizes the closeness between the brothers and how they become one unified family. The haftarah also speaks about healing the wounds and unifying the people. The first stage is gathering the exiles—“and I will gather them from around,” but immediately afterwards—and at the end, too—this leads to the revelation of the divine presence: “And My dwelling place shall be over them, and I will be their God.”
This is the order of brachot in the Amidah, too. At the beginning of the public blessings, we start with, “Sound the great shofar—gathering of exiles, and this leads to the dwelling of the divine presence,” “and to Jerusalem, Your city return with mercy,” and “the offspring of David, Your servant, quickly cause to flourish.”
The haftarah describes a wonderful vision of the people’s unification—symbolized by joining two pieces of wood—of Yehuda and of Yosef. This vision is not just a prophecy for the future but is being fulfilled before our very eyes. We have been privileged to see the gathering of exiles, as Jews from all over the globe return to Eretz Yisrael.
The current war has shown us the power of Jewish unity. Certainly at the start, everyone mobilized for the common goal. When the real moment comes, the Jewish people know how to unite.
However, this unity should not be taken for granted. We must continue to nurture it, overcome disputes and differences and remember that the divine presence can only dwell among us when we’re in true unity. As the parsha teaches, unity is not just a technical state of being together, but requires a constant effort of understanding, listening and unconditional brotherly and sisterly love.
The haftarah is written about us!
We are the generation privileged to witness the fulfillment of Yechezkel’s prophecy of the gathering of the exiles. Particularly now, we have a precious opportunity to continue strengthening this unity. Let us make it a permanent foundation in our lives. Let us be the “great shofar,” awakening and uniting in Eretz Yisrael—working together to be worthy of the divine presence—on the way to bringing the complete and final redemption.
Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon is the nasi of World Mizrachi. He is the founder and chairman of Sulamot and LaOfek, and serves as the chief rabbi of Gush Etzion, and rosh yeshiva of the Jerusalem College of Technology. He is a member of Mizrachi’s Speakers Bureau (www.mizrachi.org/speakers). The RZA-Mizrachi is a broad Religious Zionist organization without a particular political affiliation.
