Parashat Vayiggash
Torah: Genesis 44:18 - 47:27
Haftarah: Ezekiel 37:15-28
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Feigel bat Kreina and D'vorah bat Feigel.
Lunch and Learn meets Tuesday at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We’re continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov. A link to the reading is here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jt-NLamlIiAGpBhU7WNrCVZGBYhHHWCN/view?usp=sharing
On December 14, we’ll be continuing from the middle of of page 30, "Amar rav hamnuna" - "Rav Hamnuna said".
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at: https://bnaihayim.org/
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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SAINTLY INSIGHT
"(Joseph said,) 'Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because you sold me here; it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you.'" Gen. 45:5
"As he sent his brothers off on their way, he told them, 'Do not be quarrelsome on the way.'" Gen. 45:24
Immediately upon disclosing himself to his flabbergasted brothers, Joseph tells them not to worry - their selling him into Egyptian slavery was all part of God's plan to save the family of Jacob, and thus the Jewish people. Since God has been seemingly absent, or at least silent, from the Joseph cycle of stories, one must ask how Joseph knows that this is God's plan. Clearly, Joseph is a man of profound faith and saintliness. For all of those years in prison, there is nothing in the Torah to indicate that he plotted revenge against his brothers, complained about his situation or questioned God. The first opportunity he has to build himself up, in interpreting dreams, he says that interpretations come from God, not from himself. Now that he is regent over all Egypt , he makes it clear that not only is he not angry at his brothers, but that they have all been cogs in God's cosmic machine.
"Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers" - Peter von Cornelius (1816-17)
Such a high level of acceptance and forgiveness is something we should all strive for. But another, equally lofty goal is set for us in how he continues the conversation. "Do not reproach yourselves." "Do not be quarrelsome on the way." Joseph knows the ways of man, as well as the ways of God. He has the insight to realize that his brothers might now argue over who was responsible for selling Joseph into slavery, and causing years of grief for Jacob and guilt for themselves. Joseph tells them that they need not concern themselves with this sort of behavior. It is irrelevant in the face of the matter at hand - their survival as a family and our survival as a people.
Joseph teaches us three profound lessons in these two verses. One is that we have to trust and believe that our lives will work out - there are reasons for whatever our situation may be, even though we do not understand them at the time of events, even though we may never understand them – even though there may be no reasons at all. The second is that we ourselves have to do the physical, emotional, and spiritual work necessary to make things happen as we hope. The third is that finger pointing and recriminations serve no useful purpose - they prevent us from getting on with the business of living our lives to the best of our abilities.
Each of us has a Joseph within. But we have to believe it in order to make it real in our lives.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
Send requests for dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
