Though we often think that Moses is the hero of the story of the Exodus, Joseph/Yoseph has an important but unacknowledged role. The obvious connection lies in the fact that the Israelites would never have ended up in Egypt if Joseph hadn’t been sold into slavery. However, I don’t think his importance is related only to that fact.
At the beginning of the book of Exodus, the Israelites are prospering in the land of Egypt. It all changes when a new Pharaoh comes to power who was not aware of the ways Joseph had helped the former Pharaoh. The past is forgotten. Instead, this Pharaoh is worried that the Israelites are too numerous and will join (nosaph) with Egypt’s enemies. (Exodus 1:10). Pharaoh decides to meet this threat by first urging the killing of all newborn Israelite babies. When that doesn’t seem to work, he enslaves the Israelites with onerous work. For Pharaoh, the Israelites are a dangerous swarming infestation — no longer real human beings.
The rabbis viewed Egypt as Mitzrayim, a place of narrow (meitzar) possibilities. Interestingly, Joseph’s name Yoseph can be understood to mean the opposite — to expand. That sense of expansiveness is given expression in Joseph’s story when he forgives his brothers for selling him into slavery. He reveals himself to them by saying, “I am Joseph, your brother.” He doesn’t narrow their future; he expands the possibilities for healing.
Whenever Joseph falls, whether thrown in a pit by his brothers or in prison in Egypt, he doesn’t despair. He has faith in himself and his future.
After all, Joseph breaks all the troubling patterns of the book of Genesis. Unlike Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he doesn’t choose one son over another. Those repeatedly lead to disastrous results in Genesis. Joseph expands the choice to be inclusive. All the pairs in Genesis, beginning with Cain and Abel, result in rivalry, hurt feelings and family discord. Joseph is the only one who reconciles with his brothers. Despite being sold into slavery, he forgives them. More broadly whenever he falls, whether thrown in a pit by his brothers or in prison in Egypt, he doesn’t despair. He has faith in himself and his future.
Joseph is an example for us of open heartedness, in contrast to a hard-hearted Pharaoh. Joseph frames this foundational story. His deeds are forgotten by Pharaoh, which begins the oppression. At the moment of the Exodus, Moses carries Joseph’s bones with the Israelites (Exodus 13:19), accompanying the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land. Why?
Perhaps it is to remind the Israelites to leave behind the difficult past. We live with this seeming contradiction. So much of the seder enjoins us to remember. Yet we remember the slavery not to lament our persecution, but to remember to be empathetic to all who suffer. Joseph is here to teach us to let things go. It is not clear that the Israelites in the desert met this challenge. Have we, too, forgotten (lo yada) Joseph? It is still a challenge for us today.
Additional Note: It helps to remember that for a long time, the stories that became the Torah were handed down orally. This meant that the sound of the words was important. Joseph/Yoseph sounds like a verb that appears in various forms in the Exodus story. The verb means to continue, gather or to increase such as nosaf, in Exodus 1:10, when Pharaoh worries that the Israelites will join Egypt’s enemies. The word for “reeds” and “sea of reeds” (suf/yam suf) also sounds like Yoseph/Joseph. Even the word for the “basin” of blood (saf), used to dip the blood to mark the doorposts of the Israelites, echoes Yoseph/Joseph. I suggest this was meant to point to the importance of Yoseph/Joseph in the Exodus. Here are the verses; you can check yourself: Exodus 1:8; 1:10; 2:3; 2:5; 3:16; 4:29; 5:7; 8:25; 9:19; 9:28; 9:34; 10:19; 10:28; 10:29; 11:6; 12:22; 13:18; 13:19; 14:13.
