Vayigash: What Motivates Mutual Responsibility?

How can we give encouragement to a person going through a crisis? How did G-d encourage Jacob on his way to a difficult exile in Egypt?

Prophecies, omens, and science. What is the Jewish view? Should we read into the random occurrences in our lives? Should we view scientific advances as questioning our faith? And, by the way — is it possible to jump to the moon?

Joseph lived in a very unforgiving world. People weren’t as tolerant of other nations and other religions like today. Even the forefathers, who preached G-d’s word to the world, preferred to be shepherds, where they wouldn’t be forced to engage with the basest elements of idol-worshiping society. Yet Joseph was fully immersed in their world, and in fact, he was personally responsible for the survival of the very society he despised. Who taught him to be so forgiving?