A Thought on Parshas Vayigash

"...al tirgazu b'darech.." "...do not agitate on the highway..." (45:24) Yosef dispatches his brothers on a return trip to Yaakov in Kanaan. He begs them, however, not to agitate on the way. The tricky word here is tirgazu. It has been translated a number of ways by a wide variety of commentaries. Rashi suggests that it may mean "don't get angry" from the root word rogez which can mean to get angry (think of the Hebrew-Yiddish term "b'roigez" which means the same thing.) Rashi also suggests that it may mean "don't get too involved" while traveling, meaning that he asked his brothers not to get engrossed in halachic concerns while traveling, lest the journey lead to trouble. Other commentaries suggest that the words might mean "don't argue", "don't worry" or "don't fear." Rabbeinu Avigdor has a different take on the word. As we know, his preference is to meld the pshat - the literal meaning, with the psak - the practical or halachic implication of a verse. Here too, he notes that whereas we can find support for some of the other interpretative approaches in the Talmud and in Midrashim, we have an opinion in the gemara (Taanis 10b) which infers from this verse that when people travel together, they are expected to engage in Torah discussions. To do otherwise is foolhardy. Based on this, Rabbeinu Avigdor suggests that our verse cannot mean that Yosef told his brothers not to quarrel or not to get too involved in matters (including Torah discussions). He had something more to say than telling them what not to do on their trip. Rather, Yosef was instructing them what they had to do on that journey. Namely, to assure their safe passage, they needed to engage in sharing words of Torah. There is no vacation from learning. The Torah Jew stays mindful and focused on the Word of HaShem in all places and all times, as we say in the Shma "u've'lech'techa ba'derech" - even when we are on the highway. To lose sight of this responsibility would be to "agitate" or to stray from their mission. To assure that we feel that HaShem is close to us as we travel, we include Him in our experience. Wishing you a good Shabbos. D Fox