"And there was a famine in the land." Rabbi Judah bar Nachman said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, "Jacob was deserving of descending to Egypt in chains of iron and collars. But the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged for many plots and melodies, and Joseph was sold into slavery to bring about Jacob's descent. And there was a famine in the land.
Why was it so severe? As it is written (Genesis 46:6), "And Jacob and all his offspring with him came to Egypt." Rabbi Pinchas the son of Chama said in a parable, "It is like a cow that they wanted to pull to her yoke, but she would not be pulled. What did they do?
They first pulled her son, and then she followed after him." Thus did the Holy One, blessed be He, orchestrate the melodies that Joseph's brothers played, so that they would also descend to Egypt and Jacob would come, as it is written (Hosea 11:4), "With human cords, I drew them; with cords of love, I was to them like one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them."...