It’s
that time of year again. We have weathered “Black Friday”. We have withstood “Cyber
Monday”. It is impossible to find parking at the mall, and I dread running into
pick up one item at stores like Costco or Target because the checkout lines are
absolutely brutal. Thankfully, from this
chaos of Holiday Shopping, our family has engaged in one Holiday Season ritual:
we have watched It’s a Wonderful Life. We will probably watch it two or
three times. For me, it is one of my top five movies (The Godfather I and II,
Cool Hand Luke, The Big Lebowski, and Charade being the
other four). One of the themes of It’s a Wonderful Life is that an
individual’s life touches many other lives. Sometimes we explicitly affect
others lives, sometimes we implicitly affect other lives. Perhaps we may never know
the extent to which we affect and influence others' lives. However, as George
Bailey watches people from his town give a few dollars to help him out of a
difficult financial bind, he becomes acutely aware that everything he did,
every decision he made, every trial and tribulation, every joyous moment and
every difficult moment were necessary parts of his life. All of which allowed
him to arrive at this final moment; a moment in which he was able to experience
the holiness of an act of Loving Kindness.
This week’s Parshah, Vayechi is the conclusion
of the book of Breishit (Genesis). Because this is the last Parshah of the
Sefer B’reishit, we read of the passing of the mantle of power from one
generation to the next. Yaakov is 147 years old and it is time for him to bless
his children and his grandchildren. To each of his twelve sons, he offers a
blessing. To Yosef’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, he not only offers a blessing
but he reserves the blessing of the first born to the younger brother,
Ephraim. This is fitting. Yaakov also
received the blessing reserved for the first born. He also leaves Yosef with
one last mission. Yaakov tells Yosef of the covenant that God made with
Avraham, Yitzchak and himself. He also made Yosef swear an oath that he would
bring him out of Egypt and bury him with his father and grandfather. Yosef
accepts this oath. He and his brothers leave Egypt and bury their father.
Because the famine remains pervasive throughout the land, they return to Egypt.
Now the brothers fear Yosef’s wrath. Although he has not expressed any anger
towards them, the brothers believe now that their father is dead; Yosef’s anger
will not be contained. First they sent servants to Yosef in order to plead on
their behalf. Then the brothers plead to Yosef and prostrate themselves before
Yosef. Yosef’s response indicates his maturity, his spiritual contentment and
his peace with himself and his environment. Vayomer Aleihem Yosef Al Tirau Ki Hatachat Elohim Ani -“But Joseph said to them, ‘Fear not, for am
I instead of God? V’Atem Chashavtem
Alai Ra’ah Elohim Chashava L’Tovah L’Ma’An Asah KaYom HaZeh LHaChayot Am Rav - Although you intended me harm, God
intended it for good: in order to accomplish, it is as clear as this day, that
a vast people be kept alive. V’Atah Al Tirau Anochi Achalkeil Etchem V’et
Tapchem Vayinachem Otam Vayidaber al Libam -So now fear not, I will sustain you and your young ones.’ Thus he
comforted them and spoke to their heart.” (Gen: 19-21) Yosef bears no
animosity towards his brothers. The tears he shed in last week’s Parshah,
VaYigash, were genuine. The joy of re-uniting with his family without rancor
and bitterness overwhelmed any negative or bitter feelings. Yosef understands
and accepts his place. Yosef understands that he had to experience all the
tsuris and all the simcha of his life in order to arrive at that point in time
and in that manner. Yosef arrived at that moment without bitterness. He chose
not to have bitterness. Rather, his faith and sense of self provided enough
strength for him to make peace, achieve contentment, and appreciate the path
that his life had taken.
It
took George Bailey to sink to his lowest point, wishing he “had never been born”
in order to understand that by living life, by working hard, by trying to make
a difference, he ultimately did. Like most of us, we don’t always get to see
how our deeds and actions make a difference to those lives we touch. Like
George Bailey, Yosef understood all this. He too had to go through all kinds of
difficulty, namely an estrangement from his family for more than twenty years,
in order for him to learn the lesson that that everything has to happen in
order for us to arrive at this point in time. Both George Bailey and Yosef teach
us to try hard, to do our best, never lose faith and don’t allow negative
feelings to overwhelm us to the point of becoming embittered souls. Ultimately
we need to learn and eventually accept that everything unfolds the way it does
in order for us to be here at this moment in time.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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