There are terms now commonly understood to be key words, by way of their unusual frequency in a certain passage in TaNaKh. The rabbis were also aware of another type of key word, wherein a somewhat ambiguous word or phrase occurs in contexts that can be understood as referring back to each other. So, for example, the rabbis note that it is Yehudah that is addressed by Tamar when she says “haker na;” the same Yehudah who is likely the one who said this very phrase to his father when they brought Yosef’s bloodied tunic back to his Yaakov.

A similar, but more subtle, variation of this pattern may be found in this week’s parsha: The word in question here is the word “rav.” Upon hearing that Yosef is alive, Yaakov’s response is, “rav, od yosef beni chai“ (Bereshit 45:28). Here it means something to the effect of it is too much, or it is great; introducing his acknowledgement that Yosef is not dead after all. It has an almost colloquial sound to it and is not used by anyone else in just quite this way until this point. It had however been used in another curious way by his brother Esav (33:9), when he gave the reason for why he didn’t need Yaakov’s present. There he states “yesh li rav,” meaning I have a great deal, or I have more than enough.

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Much later in the argument with Korah, the word rav is used to indicate more than what is appropriate (Numbers 17:3 and 17:7). However, it is not used to refer to oneself, but rather to one’s opponents – that they seek more than what is coming to them. Here in Bereshit however it is used as a reflection about self. In comparing the two, we see that one who says rav to the other is accusing them of an inappropriate perspective and a lack of humility. In contrast, the one who says it about themselves is doing just the opposite and saying that God has gone overboard and well beyond what he would have thought he deserved.

When Yisrael declares that he is experiencing rav, he is able to come to terms with his past as well as his present. For one of Yisrael’s biggest challenges was not to think that he had been given a bad hand. After all, he had lived an exemplary life and yet still suffered a great deal. When Yosef turns out to be alive and the one who will save the family from starvation, Yaakov immediately realizes that there was a Divine plan all along. It is not that the hurt and pain went away, but simply that there was a reason for it, and he now understood that God did not inflict suffering on him for no reason.

Much emotional suffering is alleviated by finding some sort of meaning in it. Obviously, this is sometimes a greater challenge than we can handle – rare are those who are privy to Yaakov’s revelation about Yosef. Still, seeking the light amidst the darkness can only help our morale and strengthen our connection with God. It is for this reason that the rabbis noted that happiness is a precondition to prophecy.

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Rabbi Francis Nataf (www.francisnataf.com) is a veteran Tanach educator who has written an acclaimed contemporary commentary on the Torah entitled “Redeeming Relevance.” He teaches Tanach at Midreshet Rachel v'Chaya and is Associate Editor of the Jewish Bible Quarterly. He is also Translations and Research Specialist at Sefaria, where he has authored most of Sefaria's in-house translations, including such classics as Sefer HaChinuch, Shaarei Teshuva, Derech Hashem, Chovat HaTalmidim and many others. He is a prolific writer and his articles on parsha, current events and Jewish thought appear regularly in many Jewish publications such as The Jewish Press, Tradition, Hakira, the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Action and Haaretz.