The Torah In Haiku: Vayigash

Slavery begins
Not the Jews, but Egyptians
Become Pharoah’s serfs

Genesis 47:19: Why should we die before your very eyes – us and our land? Buy our bodies and our land in exchange for bread. Let us become Pharaoh’s serfs, and let our land [also be his].

Trouble foreshadowed
A new Pharoah will not like
Events in Goshen

Genesis 47:27: Meanwhile, [the fledgling nation of] Israel lived in Egypt, in the Goshen district. They acquired property there, and were fertile, with their population increasing very rapidly.

Photo by Alex Hanna via Flickr