Links in a Chain

Vayeshev 

Genesis 37:1 - 40:23

Précis: The story of Joseph begins with the words, “And Jacob dwelt (vayeshev) in the land of his father’s sojournings.” We learn that Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son. Joseph receives the famous coat of many colors, and dreams strange dreams and relates them to his brothers and father, creating additional concern (jealousy) on their part. The sons conspire to do away with Joseph, but before he dies, they sell him into slavery. Jacob is devastated when the sons present evidence of Joseph’s “death.” 

            We then have an intervening story about Judah. He marries off his first son to Tamar. The son soon dies, and, the next son is married to the widow (“levirate marriage.”) The second son (Onan) dies, and Judah is loath to offer the third son. The widow dresses as a harlot, seduces Judah, becomes pregnant, and reveals herself to Judah as a woman wronged. He acknowledges her as a rightful daughter.

           The scene shifts back to Joseph, who is now a servant in the household of Potiphar, an Egyptian official. Potiphar’s wife attempts to seduce Joseph but he refuses her advances. She accuses him nonetheless of attempted rape, and Joseph is tossed into prison. There, he meets jailed servants of Pharaoh, for whom he interprets dreams successfully. When the chief butler is restored to his post, he promises to “remember” Joseph, but the parasha ends with the words, “but he forgot him.”

Gen. 37:1-2 “Now Jacob was settled in the land of his father’s sojourning, the land of Canaan. At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought bad reports of them to their father.”

            Professor Arnold Eisen, JTS Chancellor, suggests (JTS Torah Commentary 12/12/09) that the text is telling us that Joseph’s story, the lengthiest exposition in the Bible, belongs to Jacob. Jacob’s other children are not mentioned in this genealogy, and as Eisen adds, “Something more than DNA alone is being transmitted from Jacob to Joseph.”

            One lesson we learn from this passage is that our stories don’t begin with us and they don’t end with us. We inhabit a place in a long chain of people, stretching to distant places and times both before and after us, whether through our children or through those we influence during our lifetimes.

            A second lesson we can glean from this parasha is that like Jacob, we who are blessed to live in America are truly settled in the “land of our fathers’ sojourning” a fact which marks our generation as exceptional. Jacob’s descendants had to endure centuries of enslavement in Egypt, where, remarkably, they maintained their cultural and spiritual identity.

            The irony is that there has never been a time nor place where Jews are more free to abandon their heritage than in 21^st century America. Not only do we have the freedom “to” observe our faith and customs; we have (as Jews have rarely ever had) the right to seek freedom “from” what has made us and our ancestors distinct.

            Whether we choose to be part of a chain stretching back to Joseph and Jacob and add to those links in the future is perhaps the greatest test of freedom we face. It is also a challenge to remind ourselves about on the Shabbat just before the beginning of Chanukah.

A Time to Refrain, and a Time to Act

Vayishlach

Gen. 32:4 - 36:43

Précis: As he nears his return to his homeland, Jacob sent (vayishlach) messengers to Esau to ascertain Esau’s state of mind after their 20 year separation. While he awaits a reply, Jacob encounters an “adversary” (most assume an angel) with whom Jacob wrestles through the night. As dawn breaks, the adversary announces that Jacob’s name is to be changed to Israel: “He who wrestles with God.” On the following day, Esau approaches, and despite Jacob’s fears, there is a happy reunion.

            We then read the story of how a local prince rapes Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and then asks to marry her. Jacob agrees on condition that all of the men of the city are circumcised. While the men are recovering, Jacob’s sons Simon and Levi attack the city and kill all of the inhabitants in revenge for the insult to their sister.

           Jacob soon travels to Beth-el (the site of his ladder dream), and on the way, Rachel gives birth to Benjamin and dies following her labor. Thereafter, Isaac’s death is noted, as is his burial by Esau and Jacob. The parasha ends with a genealogy of Esau and his descendants.

Gen. 34:33 “And it happened on the third day, while they were recovering, that Jacob’s two sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brother, took each his sword, and came upon the city unopposed, and they killed every male.”

Given the events of recent weeks, I thought I would revisit and update a  d’var torah I wrote in 2008, at the time of the Mumbai massacres in India. The story of the rape of Dinah is not a Sunday school staple. Dinah is raped by a prince of Shechem, who subsequently seeks her hand in marriage. Jacob and his sons concur, provided that the inhabitants of Shechem agree to be circumcised (converted?). While the men are recovering, Simeon and Levi (Dinah’s full brothers) kill all of the male inhabitants of the town. 

            The issues of revenge and justice have been debated through the history of Torah commentary. Most commentators approve of the slaying of Dinah’s rapist (after all, she was raped!), but many question the propriety of slaying the other men of Shechem. Maimonides suggests that it was justified because the people of Shechem failed to abide by one of the 7 Noachide laws binding on all of humanity: establishing systems of justice. Nachmanides believes that the sons acted brutally and took the law into their own hands. Textual support for his position is found in the deathbed statement by Jacob, who curses the anger of Simeon and Levi.

            In our current war against Islamic terror, this debate among our sages about retribution, justice, and the responsibility for evil strikes a contemporary chord. Do those who harbor terrorists deserve death? What is the responsibility of the community of nations when faced with the kind of terror recently experienced in Paris, in Mali, in Syria, and in Israel?

            There are times when it may be appropriate to withhold one’s full strength in the defeat of evil. But when the opponent is a modern Amalek, intent on our destruction, and devoid of any human compassion, the time to defer is not now. While Simeon and Levi acted rashly, they acted in the cause of justice. So must we.