Why Live in Goshen/2

Why Live in Goshen?

Exegetical Approaches

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Good Land

Yosef wanted his family to live in Goshen because it had high quality land, with good grazing for their cattle.

Sources:RashiBereshit 46:34About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 46:34Bereshit 47:4About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, Ralbag #1-2Bereshit Beur HaMilot 46:34About R. Levi b. Gershom,

אַנְשֵׁי מִקְנֶה / רֹעֵה צֹאן – It is the brothers' occupation as shepherds which leads to the choice of Goshen for their settlement.

"בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ" – Ralbag understands this to mean the best of the land of Goshen, rather than the best of Egypt.  Since the brothers were shepherds, they had no special need for quality agricultural land, only the best of the grazing area. In contrast, R"Y Bekhor Shor assumes that Paroh really settled the brothers in the best of the land as a whole.

"כִּי תוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם כׇּל רֹעֵה צֹאן" and the choice of Goshen

• According to R"Y Bekhor Shor, the word "abomination" is simply the Torah's derogatory term to refer to Egyptian idolatry, and says nothing about the Egyptian's feelings towards shepherds.¹ In fact, he claims that the Egyptians esteemed shepherds because they cared for and raised their gods, and for that reason desired that they live in a good portion of land.
• According to Ralbag, in contrast, the Egyptians found shepherds abominable,² and did not want to live in the same vicinity.  Since there was an uninhabited area in Goshen, Yosef knew that he would be able to have his brothers settle there.³

Conversation with Paroh

• Polite gesture – Ralbag suggests that the narrative wanted to highlight how, despite Yosef's high status and ability to do as he pleased, Yosef still made sure to get permission from Paroh to settle his brothers in.  He implies that this was not necessary from a legal perspective, but the proper thing to do.

• Paroh needed convincing – G. Naor⁴ posits, in contrast, that Yosef realized that it would not be a simple manner, in a time of famine, to convince Paroh to permit the settlement of an entire clan of foreigners.  He realized, however, that since the Egyptian nation had handed over all their cattle to Paroh,⁵ but shepherds were an "abomination" in Egypt, and thus very scarce, Paroh was in need of shepherds for himself.  Yosef thus had the brothers emphasize their shepherding, allowing Paroh to realize on his own the benefit the brothers could bring him.

Why continue shepherding?

• Yosef might have simply desired that his family be able to continue in their known profession.
• Alternatively, R. BachyaBereshit 46:32About R. Bachya b. Asher posits that the occupation gave them both economic and spiritual benefits.  It helped them attain the necessary provisions of wool, meat and milk (perhaps especially important in time of famine), while the solitude facilitated attaining closeness to the Divine.⁶ 
• According to G. Naor, had the brothers not been involved in shepherding, it was possible that Paroh would not have agreed to let them settle since they would not have what to contribute to Egypt.

"לָגוּר בָּאָרֶץ בָּאנוּ" – According to this approach, it is possible that when the family descended to Egypt they thought that it would be just for a short stay, until the famine ended.  Thus, they explain to Paroh that they seek land because there was no more grazing land in Canaan, implying that as soon as Canaan was revitalized they would return there.  If so, "לָגוּר" means to sojourn rather than to actively settle.⁷

"And you will be close to me" – This approach could read this as an additional benefit of settling in Goshen. Yosef would be close enough to look after the family.

Location of Goshen – This position might set Goshen in the eastern Delta, an area which had both grazing and farming lands.

Segregated from Egyptians and Paroh

Goshen was considered an ideal site for settlement since it was isolated from both Paroh and the Egyptians at large.

Sources:JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2:7:5About Josephus, Seikhel TovBereshit 46:34About R. Menachem b. Shelomo, Ramban, Bereshit 45:10About R. Moshe b. NachmanRalbag #3-4Bereshit Beur HaMilot 46:34About R. Levi b. Gershom, AbarbanelBereshit 45:9About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, R. Avraham SabaTzeror HaMor Bereshit 46:31About R. Avraham Saba (Tzeror HaMor), R. Eliezer AshkenaziMa'asei Hashem, Ma'asei Avot 42About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi (Ma'asei Hashem), Keli YekarBereshit 46:32About R. Shelomo Ephraim Lunshitz, R. S"R HirschBereshit 46:33About R. Samson Raphael Hirsch, NetzivBereshit 46:34Bereshit 47:4Shemot 1:7About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin

Desire for distance – These sources raise several possibilities as to why the nation wanted to live in isolation:

• Out of sight of Paroh – Ramban and Abarbanel emphasize the desire to distance themselves from the Court and its negative influences.⁸
• Prevent assimilation – Ralbag, R. Saba, R. Hirsch and Netziv all maintain that not mingling with the Egyptians was crucial for the Israelites to maintain their national identity and not assimilate into Egyptian society.⁹
• Prevent acts of hatred – Seikhel tov and Ralbag imply that had the family lived amidst he Egyptians, they might have become targets of antisemitism, due to the hatred Egyptians held towards shepherds.

"כִּי תוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם כׇּל רֹעֵה צֹאן" – Seikhel Tov explains that the Egyptians denigrated shepherds since they would milk, shear, and prod the sheep, rather than revere and worship them.  It was this disgust on the part of the Egyptians, which would allow the Israelites to settle apart from them in Goshen.

Discussion with Paroh – Netziv maintains that Yosef cunningly told the brothers to highlight that they were cattle-men, knowing that Paroh would then distance them from regular Egyptian society who abhorred them. The brothers did not really need the grazing land of Goshen, but if Paroh thought that they did, it would allow them to live there.

Yosef's policy of population displacement – According to Ma'asei Hashem and Netziv, Yosef's policy to displace the Egyptians was motivated by the need to empty Goshen of its inhabitants so as to give the city to his family without causing an uproar.  Ma'asei Hashem asserts that Yosef picked Goshen specifically since he wanted the family to be totally isolated from all Egyptians, and it was the only place which did not have priests¹⁰ whom he would not be able to uproot as part of the policy. 

"לָגוּר בָּאָרֶץ בָּאנוּ" – Netziv asserts that Yaakov and family were aware that their descent to Egypt marked the beginning of the Egyptian exile and a long stay in the land.  It is for this reason that they feared the potential for assimilation.  Netziv suggests that the brothers misled Paroh by saying that they had come just to "sojourn",and implying that they would leave after the famine.

Proximity to Yosef

¹ This is a difficult read of the verse, since according to R"Y Bekhor Shor it should read "תוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם כׇּל צֹאן"  and not "כׇּל רֹעֵה צֹאן". Later, however, Moshe speaks of the sheep themselves an "abomination" - "כִּי תּוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם נִזְבַּח לַי"י אֱלֹהֵינוּ הֵן נִזְבַּח אֶת תּוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם לְעֵינֵיהֶם וְלֹא יִסְקְלֻנוּ" (Shemot 8:22).

² Presumably, since the Egyptians worshiped sheep they found it disturbing to watch those who controlled them, as it suggests that the shepherds were superior to the sheep-gods.

³ Since, according to Ralbag, Goshen was considered "the best" of Egyptian land, it is not clear why it would be unsettled, and why, of all people, the Egyptians would allow "detested" shepherds to live there.

⁴ See his article, "כיצד הצליחו יעקב ויתו לרדת מצרימה", in Orot Etzion 21 (1992): 128-139.

⁵ He is assuming that the story of Yosef's harsh policies towards the Egyptians overlapped with the brother's descent to Egypt.

⁶ Moreover, he posits that the Patriarchs knew that eventually they would be exiled to Egypt where there would be a danger of acculturating and worshiping Egyptian gods. To prevent any notion of worshiping sheep, they chose the profession of shepherds which would make it difficult for their descendants to revere or seen any divinity in such animals.

⁷ See the Haggadah of Pesach where the verse is explained, "מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹא יָרַד יַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ לְהִשְׁתַּקֵעַ בְּמִצְרַיִם אֶלָּא לָגוּר שָׁם".  R"Y Bekhor Shor disagrees and asserts that the simple sense of the verse is that the brothers came to settle more permanently.  The later description "וַיִּתֵּן לָהֶם אֲחֻזָּה בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם" might support his reading as the word "אֲחֻזָּה" connotes a more permanent settlement.

⁸ See N. Leibowitz, Iyyunim Be Sefer Bereshit (Jerusalem, 1992):369, who suggests that Abarbanel might be peaking from his own experiences as a court official, knowing too well that proximity to the palace could also be detrimental.

⁹ This is consistent with Netziv's repeated emphasis throughout this story and the beginning of Shemot on the importance of the nation living alone. He lauds Yosef for trying to prevent their assimilation and points out that it is only after his death that the nation leaves the confines of Goshen. This mixng with Egyptian society, he claims, is one of the reasons that the enslavement eventually begins.

¹⁰ Since Goshen had grazing land it had been home to shepherds, amongst whom the priests could not bear to live.