Vayigosh: conflicts of culture

This parsha is a study is desperation. There is an undercurrent of famine and the anguish of starvation.  The regional  famine has brought everyone to the Joseph's Egyptian food stores.  Even the family of Israel, in neighboring Canaan, is forced to buy grain from the genius of Egypt. 

Grandfather Abraham, whom Jacob had known, had gone to Egypt during a prior famine.  Abraham had seen Egypt  as a tough place, where men took what they wanted from others, especially from foreigners.  He felt forced to pass his wife, Sarah,  off as his sister, lest he be killed so that some local boss could take her. The (Fascist) hierarchy that was the Egyptian system was already in place in the days of Abraham. The story of Joseph's ascent to viceroy implies the strength of Pharaoh and his chain of command in those times.   Now, that power was backed up by a monopoly on the most precious of resources - food. 

 The Israelite brothers had run afoul of the viceroy, the  צָֽפְנַ֣ת פַּעְנֵחַ֒, the explainer of the hidden.  To keep   his sacred vow to his father,  Judah approaches the viceroy of Egypt to trade himself into bondage instead of his half brother. He explains the special relationship between Benjamin and their father (as if the man in power would care).  Benjamin is the the sole surviving  son of the favored wife ( the heir apparent?).  Judah has pledged personal responsibility for Benjamin.  His explanation is filled with implicit ambivalence,  these tangential details.  Sometimes the truth, with all of its details, is the best reaction to an otherwise hopeless situation. 

The value that Judah gives to his oath is the moving aspect of his actions. He could not know the consequence of his offer.  Offers had already been made: The brothers had suggested death to the thief and slavery for all; slavery for all of the brothers. Now Judah was offering a one for one trade, Judah for Benjamin.  The viceroy had the power to enforce all previous offers...and worse.  Judah took a chance on honesty... and won ... because of a history he did not know. 

Joseph offers to settle the family in the town of Goshen.  The name , Goshen, comes from the same root as Vaigash, "and he approached", the name of the parsaha. The Isrealites will approach, but not enter, Egypt.  They will not integrate into the Egyptian people.  They are excluded. Even Joseph is excluded, as stated in the previous parsha at the feast:  

וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ ל֛וֹ לְבַדּ֖וֹ וְלָהֶ֣ם לְבַדָּ֑ם וְלַמִּצְרִ֞ים הָאֹכְלִ֤ים אִתּוֹ֙ לְבַדָּ֔ם כִּי֩ לֹ֨א יוּכְל֜וּן הַמִּצְרִ֗ים לֶאֱכֹ֤ל אֶת־הָֽעִבְרִים֙ לֶ֔חֶם כִּי־תוֹעֵבָ֥ה הִ֖וא לְמִצְרָֽיִם׃

They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; for the Egyptians could not dine with the Hebrews, since that would be abhorrent to the Egyptians. The  Egygptians despised the Hebrews.  They did not want them close. 

Today is the fast of the Tenth of Teveth. Today is Christmas.  It reminds me that my ancestors were murdered by Christians who claim this date for the birth of their religion.  Although my parents were rescued, in part, because of the purity of the Christianity of those who hid and sustained them, my grandparents were murdered by people who had a tradition of antisemitism that was conflated with their religion.  That merger of antisemitism and Christianity came from a long tradition of the churches, Protestant and Catholic, deriding Jews. 

The Tenth of Teveth  commemorates factors that contributed to the obnoxious fallout of the European diaspora.  It commemorates the beginning of the Exile that leads to the dispersion, as the displaced desperately sought a livelihood and accepted every invitation offered; invitations that would be revoked - often on the basis of religion.  

On the Tenth of Teveth, we mourn the death of Ezra.  Ezra had aspects of an anti-Joseph.  Ezra rose to prominence in the Persian court, the successors of the Babylonians.  Ezra brought a portion of the exiled Jews back to the Promised Land.  He re-established Jewish identity.  That identity was/is a bulwark against persecution. 

On the Tenth of Teveth, we  bemoan the translation of the  Hebrew Bible, at the direction of  Ptolemy (the Greek speaking Egyptian Phaoroah).  The translation exposed  some of the secrets in these volumes:the canonized  antagonisms, the nationalistic hopes.  This was fodder for antipathy.  More importantly, it made  the Hebrew Bible available.  It could be derided by the disrespectful.  The claim that it had been superseded could be made; it could contribute to the rise of the "new" religions; The religion whose destructive aspect we fast for today. 

What would I do without ArtScroll?

 

Mikeitz: Did you pack your own bags?

Mikeitz: Did you pack your own bags? 

When I came to this verse, it took my breath away : 

וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֗יו אֲבָל֮ אֲשֵׁמִ֣ים ׀ אֲנַחְנוּ֮ עַל־אָחִינוּ֒ אֲשֶׁ֨ר רָאִ֜ינוּ צָרַ֥ת נַפְשׁ֛וֹ בְּהִתְחַֽנְנ֥וֹ אֵלֵ֖ינוּ וְלֹ֣א שָׁמָ֑עְנוּ עַל־כֵּן֙ בָּ֣אָה אֵלֵ֔ינוּ הַצָּרָ֖ה הַזֹּֽאת׃

They said to one another, “Alas, we are being punished on account of our brother, because we looked on at his anguish, yet paid no heed as he pleaded with us. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

 I was reminded of the holocaust: the burden it put upon the Jews of the world; no matter how much they did to help their kin in Europe, it was not enough.  They were torn between the desire to help and the fear of raising antisemitism against themselves based upon their claim of kinship to the persecuted of Europe. Can this score ever  be settled?

The sale of Joseph is an eternal wound.  In Mikeitz, when all of the brothers offer to be slaves, to accompany Benjamin into bondage, 

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוּדָ֗ה מַה־נֹּאמַר֙ לַֽאדֹנִ֔י מַה־נְּדַבֵּ֖ר וּמַה־נִּצְטַדָּ֑ק הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים מָצָא֙ אֶת־עֲוֺ֣ן עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ הִנֶּנּ֤וּ עֲבָדִים֙ לַֽאדֹנִ֔י גַּם־אֲנַ֕חְנוּ גַּ֛ם אֲשֶׁר־נִמְצָ֥א הַגָּבִ֖יעַ בְּיָדֽוֹ׃

Judah replied, “What can we say to my lord? How can we plead, how can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered the crime of your servants. Here we are, then, slaves of my lord, the rest of us as much as he in whose possession the goblet was found.”

the Egyptian servitude begins. The brothers who cared so little about Joseph  that they sold him into servitude have now enslaved themselves ( and their descendants).

  It is a  replica of the curse that Jacob placed upon Rachel when the family was fleeing from Lavan. In this parsha, prior to the search, the brothers declare: 

אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִמָּצֵ֥א אִתּ֛וֹ מֵעֲבָדֶ֖יךָ וָמֵ֑ת וְגַם־אֲנַ֕חְנוּ נִֽהְיֶ֥ה לַֽאדֹנִ֖י לַעֲבָדִֽים׃

Whichever of your servants it is found with shall die; the rest of us, moreover, shall become slaves to my lord.”

 Jacob said that whoever had stolen the Trafim, the totem that Lavan used for divination, should die.  he did not know that Rachel (Benjamin and Joseph's mother) had indeed stolen them. 

   ׃עִ֠ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּמְצָ֣א אֶת־אֱ לֹ֣א יִֽחְיֶה֒   ...וְלֹֽא־יָדַ֣ע יַעֲקֹ֔ב כִּ֥י רָחֵ֖ל גְּנָבָֽתַם

"But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not remain alive!.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

 Jacobs curse soon comes to pass; Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin. 

Joseph wanted to make trouble for Benjamin and his brothers. Joseph planted the "evidence",  his chalice, in the Benjamin's sack.  The brothers make the error of Jacob.  They pledge a severe penalty  in their certainty that no one had perpetrated the crime. They misspoke and thus volunteered for servitude. The committed the  error of naivete.  They believed in the honesty of their party, but they had not packed their own bags. They were transporting a bomb and did not know it. 

The haftarah is a selection from the Prophets that is reminiscent of the week's portion, and is thus a commentary on it.  This week we read a rare haftarah, it is usually supplanted by the reading for Chanukah ( which reminds us that the haftarah was  a reaction to edicts that forbade the reading of the Torah).  This haftarah starts with Shlomo waking from his dream.  The dream occasions Shlomo's ascent to the throne of Israel.  The word וַיִּקַ֥ץ is from he same root as the name of our parsha. 

The haftarah tells the famous story of the baby claimed by two women.  One of the women is accused  by the other of infanticide. As a commentary on the parsha,  this story hints at the possibility that Joseph, who had been discarded by his brothers, was trying to rescue Benjamin, Rachel's other son (perhaps the special heir) from those same brothers.  Shlomo devises a test: threaten to kill the baby.  Joseph's test is similar: threaten to enslave Benjamin.  If the brothers protect him ( as they do), all is fine; and if they fail to do so, Joseph has rescued Benjamin  from a fate similar to his own ( or worse).  Joseph is not naive.

We come into the world with a gift basket of our identity, packed by others.  Be careful what you promise.

Vayeshev: Dreams

This is a parsha of dreams. The explicit dreams, the dreams that are stated and interpreted, drive the plot.  But the theme is contained in the unstated dreams, revealed in the consequences of the action. 

Joseph's dreams are remembered as the opening of the parsha.  These dreams of dominance cause the other brothers to hate Joseph.  Actually,  they (doubly) hate him before his vision of lordship is ever stated.  They hate him for dreaming at all;  regardless of  the content. וַיַּחֲלֹ֤ם יוֹסֵף֙ חֲל֔וֹם וַיַּגֵּ֖ד לְאֶחָ֑יו וַיּוֹסִ֥פוּ ע֖וֹד שְׂנֹ֥א אֹתֽוֹ׃

Once Joseph had a dream which he told to his brothers; and they hated him even more. This sentence precedes the recounting of the contents of the dream.  Aspiration, regardless of the goal is a source of envy.  

We see that at the close of parsha.  Joseph has turned the dreams of his fellow prisoners - the royal wine steward and the royal baker - into prophecies that correctly foretell their fates.  He asks the winner, the wine steward, to remember him to Pharaoh. וְלֹֽא־זָכַ֧ר שַֽׂר־הַמַּשְׁקִ֛ים אֶת־יוֹסֵ֖ף וַיִּשְׁכָּחֵֽהוּ׃ (פ)

Yet the chief cupbearer did not mention Joseph; and he forgot him.  The cupbearer was not going to risk his situation for nothing. Talent is best kept dormant until needed. 

In the fifth verse, the brothers hate Joseph "more" because it had been established, in the previous verse, that :   וַיִּרְא֣וּ אֶחָ֗יו כִּֽי־אֹת֞וֹ אָהַ֤ב אֲבִיהֶם֙ מִכָּל־אֶחָ֔יו וַֽיִּשְׂנְא֖וּ אֹת֑וֹ וְלֹ֥א יָכְל֖וּ דַּבְּר֥וֹ לְשָׁלֹֽם׃

And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a civil word to him.The inability to speak  civilly to Joseph is reminiscent of Cain and Abel.  When Cain killed Abel, he had come to speak with him.  The topic of the conversation is not revealed, it isn't important.  Sometimes discussion magnifies anger, and what is said does not matter. 

Envy is a theme of the parsha.  Father Jacob has done things to generate the rivalry: He has made Joseph a supervisor over some of  his brothers and he has given Joseph an ostentatious gift: the striped coat.  Jacob had used gifts to steer his fate before. His tribute to Esau, his brother/rival had allowed him to come to the opening verse: וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּאֶ֖רֶץ מְגוּרֵ֣י אָבִ֑יו בְּאֶ֖רֶץ כְּנָֽעַן׃

Now Jacob was settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan.

Could Jacob have done better? Should we accept Jacob's sentiment?  In the end, this grievous error in child-rearing saves the family from starvation and defines the destiny of the Hebrews by bringing them down to Egypt.  My mother used to say:"Even when I am wrong I am right." Destiny trumps propriety. 

Joseph is sold as a slave.  The brothers he imagined as his vassals become Joseph's masters and degrade him into chattel. From this position, Joseph rises.  He becomes the supervisor of great estates; the administrator of a blind trust.  (I presume he has preserved his self confidence, his early  executive training. ) This is the dangerous under-dream:  The downgraded slave rises to prominence and dominance by  Divine grace. It can happen, but it is the exception.  The fantasy is far more common than the event; and the hope supports  the continuation of the slavery. 

We live in a world  of actualized dreams.  The dreams of Edison that gave us power over darkness, it put "Let there be light" into the hands of humans.  The dreams of  Ford, Gates, Jobs,  Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, etc. define much of our world.  These visionaries commanded armies of dreamers  to actualize devices that deeply impact us all.  Our sheaves bow to them. 

vayishlach: unifying the family

Throughout the action part of this parsha, Jacob is scared. Jacob, the model Jew, is doing what Jews do best: responding  to terror. The response is also characteristic : rescue the family. 

There is an important historical theme in the parsha: the interconnections  among  the perception of a shared threat,  national unification, and territorial claims.  In our parsha, Jacob's perceived threat that continuing  with Lavan in Haran would come to a bad end, drives him back to stake the claim that devolved from his purchase of the birthright from his brother Esau.  He felt forced to return to the Promised Land, but he knew that forced a confrontation of claims with Esau. 

Esau had not fathomed the consequences of  the sale of the birthright when he was an adolescent.  Now, when Jacob arrived with his family, would Esau yield to him?  Jacob had a right to worry. The last he had heard ( 20 years ago), Esau was giong planning on killing him. His scouts now report that he has an allied army of 400 at his side.  Jacob worried harder.  He had come to explore his status; things looked bad. The goal now becomes rescuing the family. 

Jacob considers the likely outcome of a battle with Esau and his army: decimation.  He divides the family into two groups ( Ashkenaz/ Sefard or Old World and New?) He hopes that a portion of the family will be saved.  Perhaps those ignored by the enemy will rescue the attacked- or at least try.

Jacob sends a "tribute" to Esau.   It is a gift, a bribe, a tax to the prevailing authority.  It is a demonstration that there is more to gain from letting these people live and taxing their wealth than there is from wiping them out.  The fortunate result of the gift is Esau's realization that his needs are met; he does not need to take Jacob's wealth, he does not need to take his life, he does not need this land.  The tribute is so enormous that Esau adjusts his perspective. 

The confrontation of the brothers is charged with allusions to the blessing that Isaac bestowed upon Jacob ( the blessing that included the Promised Land) under shady circumstances.  The tribute, the mincha, is the same word as the meal that Isaac desired from Esau, and was brought by Jacob.  Now Jacob asks Esau to accept his mincha (!). 

 Their interaction begins with falling on each others neck.  Esau's hairy neck touches Jacob's now, no longer covered with goat skin, smoothe neck.  

Ultimately, Jacob says to Esau: קַח־נָ֤א אֶת־בִּרְכָתִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֻבָ֣את לָ֔ךְ

Please accept my present  ( bracha/blessing) which has been brought to you,

Jacob says: Whomever the bracha, the entitlement of the birthright, belongs, you, Esau, just take it.  An exercise in frank  subtlety. 

The rape of Dinah by the prince of Shechem drives a decision by her brothers, Shimon and Levi, to decimate the tribe that tolerated this outrage. Jacob recognized that it could bring dangerous hostility from the other surrounding, ensconced tribes.  He could have appeased the situation by separating from these two violent brothers;  sacrificed these tribes  for the peace of the others.  But the unity of the family was overriding value, even when one  erred.  Regardless of the offense: וַיִּשְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵֽ֑ל (פ) וַיִּֽהְי֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יַעֲקֹ֖ב שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָֽׂר   and Israel found out. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve in number.

The legacy of Jacob would not be primogeniture, the estate would be divided among all; the son of Bilha ( Rachel's maidservant; mother of Dan and Naftali) like the son of Rachel ( the woman he designated as his wife) 

The US State Department's  version of world history emphasizes the idea of the war of national unity. 

Germany was ultimately unified ( a resulted  that the Talmud ¹[rightly] dreaded)  by the  Franco-Prussian war.( The third and final act of German unification was the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, orchestrated by Bismarck to draw the western German states into alliance with the North German Confederation. With the French defeat, the German Empire was proclaimed in January 1871 in the Palace at Versailles, France ).  Italy was unified  by the Austro-Prussian War  (In 1866 Italy joined Prussia in a campaign against Austria (the 1866 Austro-Prussian War) and thus won Venetia. In 1870, taking advantage of the fact that France (the country responsible at the time for guarding the Papal States) was distracted by involvement in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), the Italian army entered Rome. That year, Rome and the Papal States were incorporated into Italy and the Risorgimento completed  ). 

The relationship between threat and a unified  national identity is evident in modern Jewish history.  Herzl's dream of a Jewish homeland is born out of the persecution of Jews in lands  that suddenly become not their home in times of trouble. Did he foresee Gremany, Poland, Iraq, Syria, etc.  The land of Israel ultimately unifies ( to a degree) the various camps  that were separated in the spirit of Jacob,  allowing  more to survive. 

Does unity require an enemy?

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אמר יעקב לפני הקב"ה רבונו של עולם אל תתן לעשו הרשע תאות לבו זממו אל תפק זו גרממיא של אדום שאלמלי הן יוצאין מחריבין כל העולם כולו

And Rabbi Yitzḥak also said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; further not his evil device, so that they not exalt themselves. Selah” (Psalms 140:9)? Jacob said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, grant not to the wicked Esau the desires of his heart, as he wishes to destroy us. Further not his evil device [zemamo]; do not remove the muzzle [zamam] that constrains him and prevents him from breaking out and gathering further strength. This is a reference to Germamya of Edom, i.e., Germany, which is near the land of Edom, i.e., Rome. As, if the Germans would go forth, they would destroy the entire world. (Megillah 6a/b