VaYigash: On Reconciliation and Reunification

Introduction

Parsha VaYigash opens with a dramatic encounter between Judah and Joseph that ultimately leads to a reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers and to the reunification of the family. What enabled this reconciliation to succeed? How does this story become a corrective of the failed reunification of Jacob and Esau? In this podcast, Rabbi Schweiger examines a number of possible approaches to answering these questions and how this may be relevant to our lives as well.

This podcast is sponsored by Karen and Marc Rivo in honor of the Pardes faculty who have taught and inspired Jessica and the amazing staff who have supported her.

Credits:
Larry Kluger – Creative Consultant
Arlene Harel – Production Coordinator

Meir Schweiger

Rabbi Meir Schweiger taught at Pardes for more than four decades before retiring in 2020. Originally from the Bronx, New York, he made aliyah in 1972. He studied at Yeshiva University, Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh and Yeshivat Har Etzion, received rabbinic ordination in Jerusalem, and later earned an M.Ed. in Teaching Bible from Herzog College.

At Pardes, Meir taught a wide range of subjects including Chumash, Talmud, Halakha and Siddur. He served as Mashgiach Ruhani, guiding the school’s spiritual life through coordinating and supervising tefillot, tiyulim, shabbatonim, and pre-holiday yemei iyun. For more than 10 years, Meir was also the Director of the Pardes Fellows’ Program for returning 2nd year students and the Educational Director of the Pardes Learning Seminar.