The ruler of Egypt keeps asking these strange men,

“How is your father?” And they share, again and again.

And then in Vayigash things take a turn,

from which there is a deep lesson to learn.

They say their father has a young son

and he is his precious, special one,

«And if you take that boy it will kill this man,

this is something that you must understand.»

Then this ruler says, «Look closely, who do you see?

It’s your brother, it’s Yosef. Remember? It’s me.

Remember when you hurt me, remember your ploy?

Did you think about my father when I was his boy?

You say you care for your father and his little kid,

but remember me? Remember what you did?

I wonder if you realize your story doesn’t jive

That’s what I mean by asking is MY father still alive.”

This is a lesson that applies to me and you:

We must always make sure that what we say is true,

particularly about this life, which is ours on a lend.

What will we answer about our actions in the end?

Will we be honest and transparent about what we said and did?

Or will God have to call us out on what we wished we hid?

This story’s surprise message applies to us on Judgment Day.

May we be found to be consistent in what we do and what we say.

Rabbi Neil Fleischmann, an ordained rabbi from RIETS, has taught Torah for over 30 years, primarily at The Frisch School, where he coached the award-winning poetry team. As an integral part of the Yeshiva Poetry Society, Fleischmann is a passionate advocate for the arts within the Torah world. He was named New York's Funniest Rabbi and has performed stand up comedy, as well as presenting as scholar in residence, across the city and country. His literary work includes the haiku collection In The Field, and he has contributed close to twenty poems to the Stories of Our Lives anthologies, parts 1 and 2. Currently, Fleischmann is working on a book of parsha poems that combines meaningful content with whimsical formatting. You can reach him at [email protected].