Glossary of Terms Used in the VaYigash Weekly Torah Portion

Crop

A “crop” is a plant that grows out of the still. It is the ability to rise from the will to receive, our egoistic desire, which is the still. If there is a seed in the still and you give it water, minerals, and the proper cultivation, a plant will grow out of it—the next degree in its evolution.

Everything emerges from the still. The will to receive is the general substance, and the forms that come out of it—vegetative, animate, and speaking—are forms of the desire to bestow together with the will to receive. The will to receive gives all the substance. If, for example, the form is vegetative, its next form will be an animal, followed by the speaking form.

Blessing

The “blessing” is the upper force that comes from Bina. Bet is Beracha (blessing). Without this upper force there is no growth. It is similar to water, which represents the force of Bina in our world.

Promise

This is the promise that Joseph was given that he would be able to come out of Egypt. The big problem is how to work with our egos and be certain that it does not “swallow” us down the line. This is why Joseph was told, “Go down to Egypt for a certain time, then return to the land of Israel with great substance.”

Weeping

“Weeping” is a state of Katnut (smallness/infancy), when one shifts from state to state. In between, one must be “small,” like an embryo, or like a newborn baby that is crying. These are signs of Katnut. At that stage, a person still has no Mochin (Light of Wisdom); one still does not understand where one is or why one exists. Such a person is in regret, in plight, in a narrow place where there are insufficient Hassadim (mercies), hence the crying.

Slave

A “slave” is our desire. In general, we always speak only about the desire. The whole of Creation is but one will to receive divided into 613 desires. A slave is one of those desires, which is under the complete control of below. It is below either on the side of Pharaoh or on the side of the Creator. That is, either it is a servant of the Creator or a servant of Pharaoh. It cannot be in the middle.