After Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, he invites Jacob and his family to come to Egypt. The parashah tells us about the descent into Egypt, counting the number of souls "descended from Jacob" who went down to Egypt, concluding: "all the souls... who came to Egypt, seventy." However, when we count the names mentioned in the parashah, we only arrive at sixty-nine. Who was the seventieth soul? Regarding this question, there are several opinions: the Talmud offers one opinion (which Rashi, the father of the commentators, mentions in his commentary on the Torah) that Jochebed, who was born within the walls as they entered Egypt, is the one who completes the seventy. According to the Midrash, God Himself entered with Jacob's sons and completes the count. Several Torah commentators opine (also in accordance with a Midrashic opinion) that Jacob Himself completed the count of seventy souls.
When we analyze the different opinions, we can observe that there are opposing views, ranging from one extreme to the other: if we accept that God or Jacob completes the count of seventy souls, we see that completeness comes through the "largest" component of the group. Conversely, if Jochebed completes the count of seventy souls, we see that completeness comes through the "smallest" component of the group, a newborn baby.
What is the point of contention between the different opposing opinions? The explanation is linked to the very descent of the Jewish people into Egypt. With this descent begins the preparation for the Giving of the Torah and for the fulfillment of the Jewish people's overarching goal: to unite the holiness and spirituality of God with the physical world around us. What gives the Jewish people the strength to carry out such a monumental mission—to make this physical world a dwelling place for God—without being drawn in by the spiritual darkness of the world?
The first opinion states that the strength comes from Jacob, who descended with his people to Egypt. The spiritual level of Jacob, our patriarch, transcends exile and is unaffected by the servitude of Egypt. The symbolism of Jacob's descent with his sons to Egypt is that from him comes the strength for the Jewish people to remain unaffected by exile.
The second opinion states that the one who completes the count of seventy is God Himself, whose meaning is even deeper: the strength of the sons of Jacob to endure the hardships of exile arises from the fact that God Himself joins them in the suffering of exile, so that, just as exile cannot rule over God, neither can it rule over the Jewish people.
According to these two opinions, the strength of the Jewish people to overcome the difficulties of exile arises from a superior Divine power.
On the other hand, there is a third opinion, that Jochebed completes the count of seventy souls. Jochebed is the mother of Moses (our teacher), who revealed faith to the Jewish people. She herself was the Hebrew matron who saved and sustained the Jewish children after Pharaoh's decree that "every male child that is born should be thrown into the river," nurturing them with faith and trust in God.
The idea of the third opinion is that, even though they are at a low spiritual level, the Jewish people have the strength of faith (a strength that is found in revealed form particularly in women, as our sages say: "through the merit of the holy women of that time, our fathers were redeemed from Egypt"), through which all the difficulties of exile can be overcome.
In other words, the strength of the Jewish people can arise from the study of the Torah, which means that an external, superior force raises them to God, or it can arise from the revelation of the internal potential of each and every one of them, which is achieved through the power of Teshuvah, repentance and return to God.
Adapted from Shulchan Shabbat.