ויאמר ליוסף הנה אביך חולה
If someone had not informed Yosef that his father was ill, he would not have known. During the entire seventeen years that Yaakov Avinu resided in Egypt he was never alone with his long lost son, Yosef. They had been separated for twenty-two years, their hearts yearning for one another; yet, they were never alone together, never saw one another, until the end, when Yaakov lay on his deathbed. Pesikta Rabbasi explains that Yosef was afraid to be alone with his father, lest he ask him the big question: “What happened?” Yosef was acutely aware of his father’s supernatural powers….
