Accountability

Vayeshev

Gen. 37:1 - 40:23

 

Précis: The story of Joseph (the longest narrative in the Five Books) begins with the words, “And Jacob dwelt (vayeshev) in the land of his father’s travels.” Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son and receives the famous coat of many colors. He dreams and relates them to his brothers and father, creating additional concern and jealousy on their parts. 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, who marries off his first son to Tamar. The son soon dies, and the next son, Onan, is married to the widow (“levirate marriage.”) He too dies, and Judah is loath to offer another 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 of attempted rape, and Joseph is tossed into prison. There, he meets jailed servants of Pharaoh, for whom he interprets dreams. 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. 40:20-22 “On the third day – his birthday – Pharoah made a banquet for all his officials, and he singled out his chief cupbearer and his chief baker from among the officials. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand, but the chief baker he impaled, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.”

 

Why are the two officials treated differently? A clue appears in Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah, 88:2) which states that the cupbearer and the baker were in jail because they didn't do their jobs properly. The cupbearer served Pharaoh wine with a fly in it. The baker made bread that contained splinters of wood. The cupbearer was eventually pardoned and allowed to return to his work because Pharaoh’s counselors determined that he could not have prevented the fly from landing in the Pharaoh’s goblet. The baker, however, was put to death because the splinters could only have gotten into the bread through his own carelessness.

This offers an insight which remains applicable today. One who acts wrongly (though innocently) is not to be held responsible for his error. On the other hand, one who acts wrongly through carelessness or intentionality is responsible for his actions. This we call “accountability.”

Revenge or justice?

 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 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 in childbirth. 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, each took his sword, and came upon the city unopposed, and they killed every male.”

            Whether or not the brothers acted properly in seeking revenge for the harm done to their sister has been debated for centuries. Most traditional commentators see it as​ ​permitted. Maimonides sees justification in the slaying of Dinah’s rapist (after all, she was raped!) but is not quite as certain about killing the other men of Shechem. He comes down on the side of the brothers, noting that the townsmen failed to bring the rapist to justice. Under his view, all human beings are obligated to obey the Seven Laws of Noah, one of which is to establish legal systems of justice. When the men of Shechem failed to do this, he concludes that their deaths were justified.
            It is an important principle. A society is obligated to create a system of justice. Those who attempt to undercut an established justice system may not merit extermination but do certainly merit condemnation. As is noted in Lev.19, we cannot stand by idly when justice is perverted.