Every year, the week when we read Paracha Vayigash coincides with the fast of the 10th of Tevet. Is this a coincidence? Absolutely not! Hashem orchestrated things this way to reveal a profound secret.

In the era of the Sanhedrin, when months were fixed by testimony, the 10th of Tevet could fall on Shabbat — and they would fast anyway! Today the calendar is arranged so it falls at most on a Friday, when we enter Shabbat still fasting.

We learn a Gezera Shava (textual analogy) between the 10th of Tevet and Yom Kippur, based on a shared phrase.

This analogy teaches that the 10th of Tevet shares with Yom Kippur an essential characteristic: it cannot be postponed.

Here is the fundamental difference: the other fasts (17th of Tammuz, 9th of Av) commemorate past events — the breach of the walls, the destruction of the Temple. The 10th of Tevet and Yom Kippur, however, are oriented toward the future.

That is why this fast is not postponed: it is a day that determines our future, not merely a memorial of the past.

In our Paracha, the Torah interrupts the dramatic narrative of Jacob descending to Egypt to give a detailed list, name by name.

Let us examine the count: children of Leah = 33; children of Zilpah (Leah's maid) = 16; children of Rachel = 14; children of Bilhah (Rachel's maid) = 7. Total = 70.

The pillars themselves evoke the ancestors: 5 pillars at the entrance (Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Bilhah, Zilpah) and 4 pillars of the Parochet (Abraham & Sarah, Isaac & Rebecca).

The Torah mentions Er and Onan, sons of Judah, even though they died ("vayamot Er ve'Onan"). Why? Because they reincarnated into Peretz and Zerach: they exist, but are "hidden."

Likewise, the Torah counts 32 children of Leah but concludes "33": the 33rd is Yocheved, future mother of Moses, born "between the walls" as the family crossed the Egyptian border.

If we count the 70 souls + Er and Onan (who existed and reincarnated), we obtain 72. Now חסד = ח(8) + ס(60) + ד(4) = 72.

The Mishkan is the channel through which Hashem pours His Chesed upon Israel and all humanity. The 72 components of the Mishkan = the 72 souls = the gematria of Chesed.

We finally understand why Vayigash always precedes the 10th of Tevet. The 10th of Tevet is the day when Heaven decides whether the Temple will be rebuilt; Vayigash reveals its condition: the perfect unity of Israel, like the 70 souls descending together to Egypt, reconciled and supportive of one another.

The 70 souls are the roots (shorashim) of all Israel. If we behave like them — unity, reconciliation, solidarity — then, with Hashem's help, Mashiach will come and the Temple will be rebuilt speedily, in our days. Amen!