CHASSIDIC PEARLS ON THE PARSHA BY RABBI LAZER BRODY PARSHAS VAYIGASH

"And the men are shepherds, for they've always been herdsmen" (Bereishit 46:32). Yosef (Joseph), when describing his brothers to Pharaoh, tells him that they are "shepherds, for they've always been herdsmen." This passage seems redundant indeed, for if we know that the sons of Yaakov (Jacob) are shepherds, why must we also learn that they're herdsman as well; isn't one term synonymous to the other? Also, why did so many of our most important ancestors and national leaders – Avraham (Abraham), Yitzchak (Isaac), Yaakov (Jacob), Yaakov's sons, Moshe (Moses), Shmuel HaNavi (Samuel the Prophet), and Dovid HaMelech (King David) – choose to be shepherds?