Happy Thanksgivukah and Shabbat Shalom

Mikketz

Gen. 41:1-44:17

Précis: At the end (mikketz) of two years of Joseph’s imprisonment, Pharaoh dreams of cows and ears of corn. The butler who had shared Joseph’s cell now remembers him and calls him from prison. Joseph predicts seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh is so impressed that he appoints Joseph as his chief vizier and Joseph goes about storing grain during the times of plenty.

            Joseph marries Asenath and they have two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. When the famine comes, Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to purchase food. Joseph has them brought in while he remains in cognito. Joseph accuses the brothers of spying, and sends them home after they leave one brother hostage and promise to return with their youngest brother, Benjamin.        Upon their return, the brothers (including Benjamin) meet again with the still-unrevealed Joseph. Joseph has their bags filled not only with grain but also with the money used to purchase the grain, and has a gold cup hidden in Benjamin’s belongings. When they are “caught” by Joseph’s men, they learn that whoever stole the cup would become Joseph’s slave, while the others return to their homeland. On this cliffhanger, the parasha ends.

             

As we all know, this year we have an unprecedented overlap between Chanukah and Thanksgiving, with the first candle being lit on the Wednesday night prior to the national American holiday. (This is giving rise to something called “Thanksgivukah” and I continue to wonder why Adam Sandler has not yet issued a new recording to celebrate this “new holiday!) For many, Chanukah resonates with American traditions of rebellion against the oppressors, of success of the weak against the strong, and the restoration of a nation, based on tolerance and liberty. There’s another side to this story.

            New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote (12/10/09) about the historical facts of Chanukah which are usually overlooked in our annual telling of the story. He suggests that while we usually think of this holiday as primarily one for children, it is in fact a most adult observance. He notes that it is an occasion when we celebrate terrible actions by the “good guys,” (violence by the Maccabees against their fellow Jews) and positive acts by the “bad guys” (the beneficial impact of Hellenist culture on the development of rabbinic Judaism).

            Chanukah is not simply about a revolt against the Greek/Syrian rulers. It is a story of a Jewish civil war between, on the one hand, “reformers” who wanted to incorporate the Greek traditions of logic, reasoned argument, and scholarly debate into the Jewish faith and, on the other hand, what we might call “fundamentalists” who saw any deviation from the existing traditions as a threat to the survival of their faith. It was a fight between those in favor of pluralism and those who abhorred diversity. (Additionally, it was a fight about which family would serve as the High Priests of the Temple.)

            From this point of view, there is an uncanny parallel with the tensions existing today in the Jewish world. Different constituencies of the 21st century Jewish people have distinctly different points of view about Chanukah. The West Bank settlers see the Maccabees as a heroic minority fighting against a corrupt and collaborationist establishment. As Brooks suggests, other see the Maccabees as the first of “a bunch of angry, bearded religious guys [out] to win an insurgency campaign against a great power in the Middle East.” The success of the Maccabees, and their ascendancy to both the civil and the religious leadership of the time, led very quickly to a corrupt regime. The Hasmoneans would soon invite the Romans into Jerusalem to restore the civil order they were unable to maintain in a divided society, and this was the beginning of the end of the Jewish state. 

            From a religious perspective, deep divides remain between traditionalist-fundamentalist Jews on the one hand and those who perceive the need to reconcile tradition with the modern world in which we live. As we bring light into our homes with the chanukiah kindling, it’s my hope we can bring the light of tolerance and understanding to ourselves and all of k’lal Yisrael, the People of Israel. Happy Chanukah, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Speaking Peaceably

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 (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. 37:4   “And when his [Joseph's] brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.”

As we all know, the Book of Genesis is filled with stories of sibling rivalry (Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and here among the sons of Jacob). Joseph is given a special coat by his doting father, and is sent out to report on (spy on?) his brothers. The phrase here which merits closer inspection is the Hebrew “lo yachlu” (they could not speak peaceably with him). What does this mean?

               Rashi suggests that they simply held their silence. Other commentators state that they spoke to him roughly and angrily.  But the phrase certainly means that the brothers were agitated with Joseph and his favored status with their father. Joseph has not helped his own case by acting in a condescending and prideful manner (as he tells them of his dreams of dominance over them). This barely-contained emotional hatred by the brothers is an appropriate prerequisite for their subsequent plot to kill him, although they wind up selling him into slavery instead.

               Our text speaks to the pressures and strife of familial relationships. When we give in to our anger (even when justified) we reject our ability to see or act peaceably. The brothers could not speak peaceably to Joseph, and allowed their hatred to rule their actions. Even though the story works out well in the end (when Joseph says, in effect, “it was all God’s plan”), the family experiences grief, pain, and guilt. All could have been avoided by thoughtful and peaceable communications. But such communications were largely impossible in the context of antagonism which had its roots in familial favoritism.

               We need to be on guard at all times to avoid taking actions which interfere with or prevent our ability to communicate with others openly, freely and without fear of reprisal.