I don’t mean to make light of serious things, but a lot of the problems of the bible could have been solved by cell phones. Imagine Joseph, lost for years, texting his father Jacob back in Israel: “In Egypt – all is well.” Camel emoji?

Even without cellphones, it is still a problem — why did Joseph not get in touch with his father when he was in Egypt and his father in Canaan? Why permit his father to believe he was dead? Joseph might have sent an envoy in the decades of distance. There are many theories. But we can posit one based on Joseph’s own words.

Joseph had two children in Egypt and explains the significance of their names. Menasseh – “God has made me forget my troubles and the house of my father.” And Ephraim – “God has made me prosper.” As my friend Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin said, Joseph named his children “Amnesia” and “Assimilation.”

We can sympathize with his motivations. As far as Joseph knows, his family not only sold him into slavery, but they never came to look for him. Perhaps he simply wants to forget where he came from and celebrate his success in his new land.

In other words, Joseph sounds like us. We, too, wish to celebrate our joys and forget our historical sorrows. How many Jews now fast on Tisha B’Av, the holiday commemorating the destruction of the Temple? It is sad the Temple was destroyed, to be sure, but it was so long ago.

Yet Joseph’s past returns in the form of his brothers. When he sees them, Joseph goes into the next room and weeps. Suddenly, he remembers that his core is Beit Avi – not just the house of his father, but the house of his tradition.

October 7 brought our past to our door. Many Jews have reawakened to their people since the horrors of October 7. It reminded us of our origins.

And what is Joseph’s last command? “When I die, bring me back to the land of Israel.” And at the time of the Exodus, Moses retrieves Joseph’s coffin and brings him home. When people saw the ark of the covenant and Joseph’s coffin in the desert side by side, the Israelites would explain, “The person in this fulfilled the commands in that.”

On Friday night, we bless a male by wishing them to be like Ephraim and Menasseh. We hope for success and social integration but also recall that in the end both Ephraim and Menasseh became tribes of Israel. We cannot let ease or obliviousness turn us or our children away from the lessons of history or the present struggle to battle hate, preserve tradition, protect Israel, and carry the blessing forward to a new generation.