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 travels.” 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 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.”
Genesis 39:7-8 “After a time, his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused…..”
Rabbi Evan Moffic, writing in 10 Minutes of Torah (12/12/09) describes how we can learn important lessons from a single repeated word in this week’s reading. The story of Potiphar’s wife and Joseph provides the background for this analysis.
When Joseph refuses the advances of Potiphar’s wife, she grabs an article of his clothing, which is used as evidence of rape, and Joseph goes to prison. The Hebrew word for the clothing is “beged” and it appears six times during the 10 verses which set forth the story. As we know, Torah does not waste words, and repetition of words or phrases have much to teach us.
The word “beged” has the Hebrew root of bet-gimel-dalet. Another word with this root is “begidah”, usually translated as “treachery" or "deception." What is the connection between clothing and deception?
In this story, the clothing is used as false evidence by Potiphar’s wife. It reminds us of a previous episode in Joseph’s life, when his brothers brought Jacob the famous coat of colors stained with blood as false evidence of Joseph’s death. Twice in Joseph’s life, clothing provides the vehicle for treachery. (And perhaps a third time, later on, when Joseph, dressed in Egyptian royal garb, hides his identity from his brothers when they reunite.)
Taking this a step further, we can see that the truth may often be concealed by layers of deception. While in these cases clothing was the vehicle of deception, we know that there are many of ways of concealing the truth.
In public discourse, we are often deceived by elaborate deception based on a narrow explanation or point of view (Fox News or MSNBC), by outright falsehoods given provenance because of email circulation (University of Kentucky (or maybe the United Kingdom) dropping Holocaust studies because of Muslim pressure), or based on political motivation (Obama is a Muslim!). This parasha reminds us of the need to cut through the pretense and volume of “facts” we are bombarded with and touch base with truth.
The concealment of truth reaches its nadir when we engage in self-deception, deliberately (or unthinkingly) telling ourselves that what is black is white and what is white is black. Just as deception is a leitmotif of Joseph’s life (from the bloody cloak to Potiphar’s wife, to Joseph’s own identity concealment), self-deception is an all-too-common trait in our modern lives. Facing the truth as it is - rather than as we’d like it to be - is a challenge for us to overcome.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Contingency Planning
Vayishlach
Genesis 32:4 - 36:43
Précis: As he nears a 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.
Genesis 32:4 “And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the field of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, ‘Thus shall you say unto my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob...’"
After 20 years, Jacob fearfully returns for a reunion with his twin brother Esau – with the person whom he deprived of the primary parental blessing. Fearful about Esau’s reactions, Jacob sends gifts and separates his people into two camps before the planned meeting. These actions are demonstrations of subservience and of defensive preparation.
According to Nachmanides, Jacob chose not to rely solely on God's protection. A hesitancy to place all of his faith in God is not a new mode of behavior for Jacob: last week, following a dream in which he was promised to be a great nation and to be returned safely, Jacob questioned whether God would actually provide the security he needed (Jacob says, essentially, “If God will provide protection, I will return and build an alter on this spot.” Gen 28:20). Jacob is a person who might be comfortable with Ronald Regan’s famous misquotation of a Russian proverb: “Trust, but verify.” On the eve of his reunion with Esau, Jacob took detailed, practical steps to protect himself and his family from anticipated dangers and the potential of reprisal.
What is the lesson for us? One might say that it is "God helps those who help themselves." Or perhaps it is the Boy Scout motto of “Be prepared!” There is a second level we might consider: Jacob was not assuming that the protection he had been provided in the past would continue. From this we can learn that we should never assume that because we prevailed in the past, that we will do well again in the future. The past is not always prologue.
Like Jacob, Executive Directors, other Jewish professionals, parents and every individual must plan for all eventualities. Such contingency planning may be exhausting or even depressing. Nevertheless, I believe that a lesson of this story is that such planning is necessary if we are to succeed in life.
Genesis 32:4 - 36:43
Précis: As he nears a 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.
Genesis 32:4 “And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the field of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, ‘Thus shall you say unto my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob...’"
After 20 years, Jacob fearfully returns for a reunion with his twin brother Esau – with the person whom he deprived of the primary parental blessing. Fearful about Esau’s reactions, Jacob sends gifts and separates his people into two camps before the planned meeting. These actions are demonstrations of subservience and of defensive preparation.
According to Nachmanides, Jacob chose not to rely solely on God's protection. A hesitancy to place all of his faith in God is not a new mode of behavior for Jacob: last week, following a dream in which he was promised to be a great nation and to be returned safely, Jacob questioned whether God would actually provide the security he needed (Jacob says, essentially, “If God will provide protection, I will return and build an alter on this spot.” Gen 28:20). Jacob is a person who might be comfortable with Ronald Regan’s famous misquotation of a Russian proverb: “Trust, but verify.” On the eve of his reunion with Esau, Jacob took detailed, practical steps to protect himself and his family from anticipated dangers and the potential of reprisal.
What is the lesson for us? One might say that it is "God helps those who help themselves." Or perhaps it is the Boy Scout motto of “Be prepared!” There is a second level we might consider: Jacob was not assuming that the protection he had been provided in the past would continue. From this we can learn that we should never assume that because we prevailed in the past, that we will do well again in the future. The past is not always prologue.
Like Jacob, Executive Directors, other Jewish professionals, parents and every individual must plan for all eventualities. Such contingency planning may be exhausting or even depressing. Nevertheless, I believe that a lesson of this story is that such planning is necessary if we are to succeed in life.
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