Vayigash or Vaigash (—Hebrew for "and he drew near" or "then he drew near," the first word of the parashah) is the eleventh weekly Torah portion (, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It constitutes . In the parashah, Judah pleads on behalf of his brother Benjamin, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, Jacob comes down to Egypt, and Joseph's administration of Egypt saves lives but transforms all the Egyptians into bondmen. The parashah is made up of 5,680 Hebrew letters, 1,480 Hebrew words, 106 verses, and 178 lines in a Torah Scroll (, Sefer Torah). Jews read it the eleventh Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in December or early January. Readings In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or , aliyot. In the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Parashah Vayigash has no "open portion" (, petuchah) divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (peh)). Parashah Vayigash has three, lesser, "closed portion" (, setumah) divisions (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (samekh)). The first closed portion includes the first four readings and part of the fifth reading. The second closed portion includes the rest of the fifth reading. And the third closed portion includes the sixth and seventh readings. First reading—Genesis 44:18–30 In the first reading, Judah approached Joseph, whom he likened to Pharaoh, and recounted how Joseph had asked the 10 brothers whether they had a father or brother, and they had told him that they had a father who was an old man (Jacob), and a child of his old age who was a little one (Benjamin), whose brother was dead, who alone was left of his mother (Rachel), and whose father loved him. Judah recalled how Joseph had told the brothers to bring their younger brother down to Egypt, they had told Joseph that the lad's leaving would kill his father, but Joseph had insisted. Judah recalled how the brothers had told their father Joseph's words, and when their father had told them to go again to buy a little food, they had reminded him that they could not go down without their youngest brother. Judah recounted how their father had told them that his wife had borne him two sons, one had gone out and was torn in pieces, and if they took the youngest and harm befell him, it would bring down