Vayigash- From Out of the Darkness

Dabeir aleihem ko-amar Adonai Ehlohim hinei ani lokei’ach et-eitz Yoseif asher b’yad-Efrayim v’shivtei Yisrael chaveirav v’natati otam alav et-eitz Y’hudah va’asitim l’eitz echad v’hayu echad b’yadi.

Say to them, “Thus says Adonai God, ‘Behold I will take the tree of Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will put them together with the tree of Judah, and I will make them one tree, and they will be one tree in my hand.’” (Ezekiel 37:19)

In Egypt, Judah becomes the force behind the reunion with Joseph. As Benjamin is to be taken from them, Judah steps forward, emotionally pleading with the disguised Joseph to keep what is left of his family together. However, Joseph reveals that it was God’s plan behind their split, “Ki l’michya sh’lachani Elohim lifneikhem.” “For God sent me before you to preserve life.”

The Haftarah for Vayigash is attributed to Ezekiel, who was part of the Babylonian exile. His vision sees a reunification of the tribes of Israel. Just as in our parasha, the tribe of Joseph has been separated from the Judah. Like Joseph he was torn from his home in painful circumstances. His vision seeks to understand and provide a context for his suffering and the suffering of our people.

It’s a difficult idea- that everything happens for a reason. We know this not always to be true. Bad things happen to good people. Suffering does not always serve a purpose. What we can learn from Ezekiel’s research is an eternal optimism. Jews have always been ready to move. We have been forced from so many countries, and endured such horrors, that, when difficulties arise, we can no longer afford to sit back and wait for them to pass. Instead we are ready to mobilize. Some would say that this makes us a pessimistic people, controlled by fear from the past. I prefer to see it as that eternal optimism. Even in the shadow of the Babylonian exile, Ezekiel looked toward a better time. Jews had been spread throughout the Babylonian Empire. We had lost our country and our unity. Somehow in that horrible time we built a new religion. Our leaders looked past the confines of the destroyed Temple to see our homes as the new focus. They built synagogues and the great yeshivot, out of which came the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud, the foundation for our modern Judaism. They were not immobilized by fear. They were mobilized with hope.

Our darkest times have obviously produced our darkest memories, memories that are burned into our collective consciousness. They have also produced our shining stars and our heroes. We should always remember that.

Miketz- Forgiveness is Not Forgetting

Ul’Yoseif yulad shnei vanim b’terem tavo shnat hara’av asher yaldah-lo Asnat bat-Poti Fara kohein On. Vayikra Yoseif et-sheim ha’b’khor M’nasheh ki-nashani Elohim et-kol-amali v’et kol-beit avi. V’et sheim hasheini kara Efrayim ki-hif’rani Elohim b’eretz anyi.

And Joseph bore two sons in the year before the famine arrived that Asnat, daughter of Poti Fara, priest of On, bore to him. And he called the name of the oldest Menasheh, because Elohim made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house. And the second he called Ephraim, because Elohim has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. (Breishit 41:50-52)

Joseph’s experiences in Egypt are interesting. He arrives as a slave, seemingly the lowest of the low. Bought by Potiphar, he quickly rises to a privileged state in his household; only to be thrown even lower than when he arrived by unfounded accusations made by Potiphar’s wife. In jail he again rises to favoured status, not only among the prisoners, but among the guards as well. When Pharaoh’s butler leaves the jail, Joseph seems forgotten. Then come Pharaoh’s dreams, and Joseph finds himself in royal attire, wearing Pharaoh’s own ring. In all this he acquires a wife and has two sons.

Joseph’s story in Egypt seems the stuff of epic fairytales. He has gone from being hated brother and a slave to Pharaoh’s right hand. Under his administration so much grain is collected for Egypt that he stops counting. He is blessed in Egypt. So much so that Joseph says, “I have forgotten my toil and my father’s house.”

Joseph has always been praised for his righteousness in realizing his tribulations were necessary. He was able to perceive a purpose for his suffering. How is it then that he could “forget his father’s house?” I believe this forgetting was what allowed him to discern the need in the negative. It’s not that he truly forgot. It’s that he forgave. He forgot the hurt and the anger, the frustration and the envy, not the familial connection or obligations. Perhaps he forgot the haughty attitude that he was meant for more, and instead recognized he was no better than others. Whatever it is, Joseph remains connected. His children bear Hebrew names. Although he leads Egypt just under Pharaoh, he recognizes that he is still a slave. While blessed, he is still in the “land of my affliction.”

Joseph’s righteousness comes from his ability to put his past behind him. He is blessed in his ability to pull himself out of the depths, and to recognize blessing even within the suffering he must bear. May we all be blessed with the gift of perspective.

You Know You're In Texas When...

Keren & I just spent a long weekend in Texas for a bat mitzvah. It was a wonderful visit. We left Toronto just ahead to the snow, and arrived in Houston in weather much warmer than we expected. There's much I want to write about this experience, and I will, later. But, as it is late, I want to get just a few thoughts down. So here goes.

You know you're in Texas when...

• at the airport, staff keep calling you "hon"
• you see cattle when driving from the airport to your hosts' home
• Texas Longhorns are walking next to the rockets at NASA
• your tour guide is talking about the Attwater Prairie Chicken

and finally...

You know you're in Texas when someone at synagogue has a glock in his holster, and offers it to you for protection.

More on this later.

Laila tov.

Vayeshev- Rebirth Through Struggle

Vayomer Yehudah el ehchav mah betza ki naharog et achinu v’chisinu et damo. L’chu v’nim’ch’renu laYish’m’eilim v’yadeinu al t’hi vo ki achinu b’sareinu hu vayish’m’u ehchaiv.

And Judah said to his brothers, “what do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, his is our flesh, our brother.”

Of all of our ancestors, Judah goes through the most struggle and change. He has not always been the stellar example of a role model. He sleeps with his father’s concubine. He sells his brother into slavery. He keeps his son from marrying Tamar, leaving her as an agunah, neither able to marry nor to be free. He then fathers a child with her, in the guise of a prostitute, and accuses her of the wrongdoing. This is the final straw. Judah, realizing he is not only mistaken in his accusation, but the one at fault, begins the struggle to rise from the depths and achieve his potential. For this reason we are known as Jews, Yehudim. “Vayomer Yehudah… and Judah said…” “Jews” from the name Judah. We are known by our ancestors- b’nei Avraham, the sons of Avraham, b’nei Yisrael, Israelites, and Yehudim, the descendents of Judah.

It can be said that the best mentors are those who have been where we stand, and have come out positively. Avraham, Jacob/Israel, and Judah, none were perfect, yet from all we have much to admire. It may be difficult to accept this from the verses above.  Just prior to this the brothers had thrown Joseph into a pit and sat down to eat. Their anger at Joseph was so great that they were indifferent to his needs or cries.  Just beyond is the story of Judah and Tamar, the point of rock bottom. But this is also a turning point. Perhaps Judah acts in this way because he does hear Joseph’s cries. Maybe he is not as indifferent as he seems. Perhaps he feels he could not live with the sure knowledge of Joseph’s death. We could focus upon “what do we gain…” or upon “let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, he is our flesh, our brother.” 

Frederick Douglass said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” In parashat Vayeshev Judah is struggling, but out of the struggle comes great progress. Judah is growing.  He is emerging as the leader, moving beyond the influence of anger and hatred, working to become better.  The path to righteousness is never a straight line.  There are bumps and mistakes. If we seek to move ever forward, to improve ourselves, and to help others where we can, perhaps we too will be lucky enough to live on through the righteousness of our descendents.

Why Can't I Skip to the End?

I love stories, any kind of stories. They can be in books, movies, or on television. I love short, sappy stories portrayed in Hallmark commercials. I love to read or watch them again and again and again. I examine them. I scrutinize word choice, characterization, setting, costume, and, when possible (in the case of movies or television), direction, soundtrack, lighting, and more.

Something I love to do when reading is to skip to the end. Just as I get emotionally involved with a book, I flip to the end. I check on characters. I want to know that the characters I love make it through. I want to know the characters I think are good, really are good. I get so emotionally invested that i just can't wait. I don't read it all. I skim, checking to be sure. And then, I go back to where I was, relieved or disappointed, to discover how it all happened.

But you can't do that with a movie or a television show. I have to wait, sometimes for months, to make sure my people will continue to be my people. Writers love people like me. Every episode is a cliff hanger. Every story makes we ache for the next one.

It's the end of the fall season. My shows are ending until spring. I'm frustrated and lost, pining for the characters and the stories. In some shows I have a few more episodes, but in the end it's always the same? What will happen to Monroe and Rosalie? What about Emma? When will she discover Rumplestilskin took Hook's heart? Will Barry find the right girl for him? What will happen with Oliver and Felicity? How will Sherlock deal with life when Kitty moves on? What will happen not that Moloch seems defeated? And so much more.

For now I'll have to wait. I'll have to accept that television doesn't satisfy. I'll have to settle with my books. I've recently reread the Harry Potter series. Yes Sean; I know "Voldemort buys it in the end." I don't care. I'm reading The Maze Runner now. I'm on page 204/374. I had to jump to the end. I had to know if Thomas is bad. But I don't. Unless I read in detail, I cannot figure it out. But it doesn't matter. The book is a cliff hanger. I believe I'll have to read the next one to really know, and I am not happy. I want to know NOW!

There are others like me. There must be, for God has given us Netflix. On Netflix I can watch a whole season. Even better, I can watch season after season after season. I can watch it all, and I can skip to the end, not just the end of a book or an episode, but the end of the series.

While I wait for the spring season to start, Netflix will have to suffice- movies and television where I can watch the end. It's like eating dessert first.

And, of course, I always have my books.