קחו לכם... עגלות לטפכם ולנשיכם... וירא את העגלות אשר שלח יוסף... ותחי רוח יעקב אביהם
Chazal wonder what it was about the agalos, wagons, that assuaged Yaakov Avinu’s fear concerning Yosef’s moral status. [His son had been separated from him and his pristine spiritual environment for over two decades. During this time Yosef had been ensconced in a country whose moral compass was bankrupt, its culture redefining the nadir of moral profligacy. He worried, but when he saw the agalos, he calmed down.] The simple answer is that agalos, wagons, allude to Eglah Arufah (agalah, eglah, same letters), the axed heifer, which was the last topic Yaakov had studied with Yosef prior to his disappearance….
