Our parashah opens with Judah pleading for Benjamin to be returned to his family after Joseph has framed him for allegedly stealing his goblet.

Twenty years earlier Judah had instigated the sale of Joseph into slavery. Now he beseeches the still disguised Joseph not to let the family become further fragmented.

It is a pivotal moment; as his brothers bow, Joseph sees the fulfilment of his dreams and indication of family responsibility, a half-sibling committed to Joseph’s only full-brother. It triggers Joseph’s revelation. Moreover, our rabbis explain that Jacob’s decision to bless Judah and give him sovereignty, so that he would become the great-grandparent of our kings, David, Solomon etc through to the Messiah, is a response to this passionate appeal.

We might have thought that after everything that Joseph had achieved, and his ongoing management of the family’s affairs when they move into Egypt that, he would be rewarded with sovereignty. But this is not the case.

Joseph’s faith was the critical feature that enabled him to establish the framework for the exile. He amassed the riches, kept the Children of Israel apart, making their homes away from Egyptians in Goshen. Joseph did what was pragmatic and necessary to build up for the future.  He did it successfully because he saw himself as a tool of God and indeed he was.

However, Judah is ascribed a longer-lasting greatness. He had the ability to build for the future upon cares for the past. How can I look my parents in the eye if I only do what is pragmatic? How can I build a way forwards if I burn my bridges with my point of origin?

Judah appreciated that the Jewish future is not just about moving the present tense onwards.  Nor is it about maintaining the status quo, about mere “continuity.” The Jewish future is about forging a destiny honestly rooted in our heritage.

“How can I go to my father and the child not be with me?” Judaism moves on, but we must always be accountable to our roots.