What’s Up With Goshen?

 Parshat Vayigash

by Rabbi Avi Billet

After revealing his identity to his brothers, Yosef tells them to tell their father to descend to Egypt, “And you will live in the Land of Goshen and you will be close to me… I will provide for you in the remaining five years of famine.” (45:9-11) 

Pharaoh comes into the scene and he says, “[When you family comes down here] I shall give you of the best of the Land of Egypt.” (45:18-20) Note how he does not specify which land. 

This is followed with Yaakov deliberately sending Yehuda down ahead of everyone to “Set up Goshen before [his arrival]” (46:28). Yosef specifically heads to Goshen to meet his father (46:29). He then seems to set up some kind of plan with his brothers for them to convey to Pharaoh that they are shepherds (or “Anshei Mikneh” – this is a larger discussion surrounding how they are supposed to present themselves and how much they follow Yosef’s script) “so that you will settle in the Land of Goshen” (46:34) for Egypt’s relationship with shepherds is תועבה (again – there is a large discussion surrounding what this means). 

 Finally in chapter 47, Yosef to comes to Pharaoh with some of his brothers saying that his family has arrived “And behold they are in Goshen” (47:1). Pharaoh asks them what they do, and they note how they are shepherds and that they have come to sojourn in the land and “may we please settle in Goshen?” (47:4) Pharaoh responds: “The Land of Egypt is before you, have your family stay in the best of the land, they will stay in the Land of Goshen…” 

All the hints, and all the roundabout ways they aimed to get this land granted to them seem to have worked! 

Whose idea was it for them to move to Goshen? Why? Why didn’t Yosef just speak with Pharaoh directly about it? Why the secrets and the codes and the hints and the backhanded manner of getting what they wanted? 

The commentaries who discuss Goshen go from very practical to esoteric to even historical claims to the area that make this a good fit for the burgeoning Bnei Yisrael. 

 Ramban notes that Goshen wasn’t part of Egypt proper, and that Yosef felt that was a better fit for his father who would not do well in the idolatrous land of Egypt proper (which, absent the merits of Canaan, would have been bad for his soul). The idea of it being more North than other parts of Egypt, and therefore closer to Eretz Yisrael, also serves in its favor, according to Daat Zekenim. Netziv notes that it wasn’t a particularly settled area associated with Egypt. It could easily be cleared out as it wasn’t more than an outpost. These are all geographical and logistical considerations. 

Another consideration is the idea that it is great pasture land for people who take care of sheep (Rashi), a profession that was apparently not very Egyptian. In fact, using the verse from Yehoshua 11:16 which indicates the Israelites conquered and settled in a place called Goshen in Canaan, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky argued that “Goshen” is more likely a generic term for a land that has much pasture for animals. 

 For family reasons, Yosef considered the following options: Netziv writes that Yosef’s main goal was to set his family up for success in avoiding assimilating into Egyptian culture. Their living in Goshen, apart from Egyptian society, would help preserve their culture and heritage. 

 There are a number of reasons for the hints that Yosef fed his brothers (and not his father) to share with Pharaoh. Abrabanel writes that Yosef didn’t want his father to worry that their living in Goshen was anything but a sure thing. As Yosef wanted his brothers to remain shepherds (and not work for Pharaoh directly), which Abrabanel describes as “their profession, a holy endeavor,” and he felt that if the suggestion to go to Goshen were to come from Pharaoh it would be far less regrettable on Egypt’s part than if it came from Yosef – clearly a concern of being accused of nepotism. As Netziv puts it, Yosef wanted their profession of shepherding to be so disturbing to the Egyptians that the Egyptians would prefer they have their own land. To that effect (back to Abrabanel in ch. 46), he had his brothers drop hints to Pharaoh, such as “we’re not planning to be here for too long.” That should give Egypt less pause to think about whether this move is a long term concern of theirs. Yosef’s hints to Pharaoh essentially led Pharaoh to indicate it’s less important if Pharaoh gives that land, but more important that Yosef give them the land. After all, as Pharaoh puts it, “Your father and your brothers have come TO YOU.” Yosef was insistent that no land giving (or land grabbing) were to take place without the express permission from the king. This is certainly why he wanted any final decision to come from the king himself. 

 For his family, Abrabanel writes (now in 45:9) that since Egypt looked unfavorably upon shepherds and had an unfavorable disposition to Ivrim (Hebrews), not to mention its being steeped in idolatry, it would be in the family’s best interest to avoid the distractions with which regular everyday Egypt would challenge them. So Yosef argued that Goshen was good for them because 

1. Yosef will be close to them if they are in Goshen. 

2. It is big enough for all the family and all their animals (consider that in Canaan they needed to go to Shechem from Hevron for their sheep to graze) 

3. Yosef can easily provide for them when they are in Goshen (more easily than if they are elsewhere in Egypt – what with the supply chain being a bit broken) 

4. There really isn’t a better choice with our anticipating another 5 years of famine. 

 In both 45:10 and 46:31 Alshikh raises a thought from Pirkei D’rabi Eliezer which suggests that when Avraham and Sarah came down to Egypt the Pharaoh at that time gifted her this land of Goshen. Therefore the land itself was invested with Kedusha (holiness) on the one hand, and on a different hand already belongs to the family (!) so the current Pharaoh will not feel as if he is giving anything away! 

Ultimately, as Netziv puts it, Yosef’s instructions to his brothers, their changing the plans from his instruction to their way, Pharaoh coming to the conclusions on his own, was all what God ordained to happen. As Riv”a puts it, Pharaoh could have limited them to Goshen, but instead he expanded their own benefits in the land when he said in 45:18 they’ll have “the best of Egypt available to them.” This promise allowed for them to have the longest possible grace period in Egypt, as they ultimately did not endure slavery for close to one hundred years from their arrival in Egypt, only experiencing slavery (in the relative scheme of things) for around 115 years of the originally ordained 400 years.

 Many plans come in the hands of man. Some fail, and some work out for the best. Only God knows the full reasons for the exile of Avraham’s descendants to Egypt. But the circumstances surrounding Goshen indicate that at the very least in that tale God had a plan that human intervention only moved right along in the manner God had devised. 

 This is a thought process that many of us see in practical terms in many if not every aspect of our lives. It didn’t start with Goshen, and it certainly didn’t finish with Goshen. It’s God’s world – we do our best to serve Him and always hope that things turn out for the best in terms we can understand. In one way or another it is all for the best. Hopefully we can always be blessed to see that. 

 If I may borrow from Ahad Ha’am, more than the Jews kept to Goshen, Goshen kept the Jews. Certainly being in Egypt was far from perfect in many ways, but the idea that Goshen was gifted to the family from Pharaoh turned out to be one of the greatest gifts which allowed Bnei Yisrael to create their own society within the larger society which ultimately led to their survival both physically and especially spiritually.