Vayechi

Genesis 47:28–50:26

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Seeing The Bigger Picture

Joseph reminds us that our perspective of reality is limited compared to the ultimate meaning that God perceives.

Remember the Midrash of the blind people and the elephant? Each one touched a different part of the animal and then described the elephant based on their own particular perceptions.

One compared the elephant to a long, powerful tube.

A second portrayed the elephant as an enormous barrel. A third, feeling the elephant’s ears, depicted it as resembling large drapes. Each person described what they knew--accurate as a characterization of part of the elephant, but completely misleading as a representation of the entire animal.

That same discrepancy between individual perception and objective reality recurs every day. All of us view the world through our own eyes, listen to its sounds through our own ears, and analyze what we see and hear through our own blend of personality, culture and training. The world we live with--a filtering of external fact through subjective perception and collective history--is literally one of our own making.

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Vayigash

Genesis 44:18−47:27 

Joseph's Moment of Truth

Revealing his true identity, the viceroy cannot control his emotions.

By Rabbi Charles Savenor., Director of Congregational Education at Park Avenue Synagogue. Provided by the Jewish Theological Seminary, a Conservative rabbinical seminary and university of Jewish studies.for MyJewishLearning.com

The moment of truth has arrived.

With Benjamin framed for stealing and sentenced to enslavement, Joseph waits to see how Jacob's other sons will respond. Joseph believes that his well-orchestrated ruse will finally expose his brothers' true colors.

Judah's Appeal

This week's parsahah opens with Judah appealing to his brother Joseph, the Egyptian viceroy, to free Benjamin and to enslave Judah in his place. Judah's eloquent petition recounts his brothers' interaction with this Egyptian official as well as the familial circumstances of Jacob's household. Benjamin, the youngest son in the family, occupies a valued place in their father's eyes, Judah says, because he is the last living remnant of Jacob's deceased wife, Rachel. In conclusion, Judah asserts that if he were to return home to Canaan without Benjamin, he could not bear to see his father's immediate and long-term pain and suffering.

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Shabbat Hanukkah, Mikeitz

Genesis 41:1−44:17

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Pharaoh has endured a night of terrible dreams.

To make matters worse, neither he nor any of his ministers understood what the dreams were about. The only person able to interpret those dreams is a Hebrew prisoner in an Egyptian jail. That person is Joseph.

Seven Years & Seven Years

After hearing the dreams described, Joseph announced that Egypt would enjoy seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of universal famine. In advance, Joseph argues that Pharaoh should appoint someone "navon ve-hakham," discerning and sage, who will store enough food to ensure the survival of the population.

Why did Joseph use both words, discerning and sage? Wouldn't either one have sufficed to describe what type of person was needed? Our traditions regard each word of the Torah as necessary. Any apparent redundancy must be there to teach a specific lesson. Each of these words, our Rabbis taught, refers to two different kinds of knowledge.

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Vayeishev

Genesis 37:1−40:23

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

In the development of Joseph's character and the events of his life, the Torah portrays a bittersweet lesson about the loneliness of pride.

On the surface, there is no reason for Joseph to be lonely. He is, after all, the favorite child of his father, surrounded by 11 brothers, in the midst of a bustling and energetic family.

Joseph has the potential to fill his life with friendship, family and love. Yet his need to be preeminent, his need to belittle the gifts and experiences of this family in order to glorify his own talents, isolate him from his own kin. We get a clue about the extent of Joseph's pride from the very start.

Still Young

The Torah tells us that "Joseph, being seventeen years old, was still a lad." The Rabbis of Bereshit Rabbah, the ancient midrash on the Book of Genesis, struggle with that sentence. After all, if he is seventeen, he is no longer a mere lad! They suggest that the Torah is telling us that "he behaved like a boy, penciling his eyes, curling his hair and lifting his heel."

Like many people today, Joseph thinks he must invent a false and glamorous image in order to show his worth to himself and the world. As if that weren't sufficiently pitiful, he also feels compelled to put others down in order to be noticed and appreciated.

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Vayishlach

Genesis 32:4-36:43

Truly Present To God And People

We can learn from Jacob's encounter with Esau to meet others as we would meet God.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Religious thinkers throughout the ages have pondered the question, "How do people have the audacity to stand in the presence of God?"  Finite in power, wisdom and longevity, human beings are paltry and insignificant when compared to a supernova or to a galaxy, let alone to the eternal Creator who fashioned those marvels.  How, then, do we have the temerity to place ourselves before God, to address God, and to argue with God?

The same question might also be leveled toward the paradox of standing in the presence of another human being.  Each of us is a universe in miniature--replete with our own depths and eddies, our hidden doubts and fears and talents.  None can ever fully know themselves, let alone claim to truly know another person.  So how do we summon the nerve to  address each other with intimacy and familiarity?

The inexpressible depth of one human soul exposed to the unfathomable profundity of another, the encounter of unknown meeting ought to silence the entire universe.  It is a marvel that we can reach each other at all.  It is a paradox that the finite creatures, humanity, presume to call to God with hope.

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