Over the past few weeks, we have
witnessed a human tragedy unfold in Aleppo. Actually what is happening in
Aleppo has been going on in Syria for the past five years. Only now has it
become starker, crueler, and more brutal and with more callousness and hatred
that what previously existed as hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been
killed, wounded or displaced. Now, not only has it been the Syrian army and air
force indiscriminately killing its own. We have witnessed several attempted
ceasefires in order to evacuate the innocent civilians from the wanton
death and destruction. We have witnessed
tens of thousands killed. We have watched as the some countries, Russia,
explicitly aid and abet the Assad loyalists. We have watch as the other
countries, like the rest of the world remain silent as this Assad does to Aleppo
what his father did to Hama in the 1980’s. As we watch the evening news, as we
see the footage, our children admit to confusion. They understand a leader
putting down a rebellion and they understand a civil war. What they don’t
understand and what I can’t comprehend is a leader so focused on putting down a
rebellion that he doesn’t care how many of his own innocent civilians are part
of the “collateral damage” or are actual targets. I told our children to google Stalin, Mao, and Pol
Pot as they all turned on their own civilian populations and killed hundreds of thousands of their own. Just
when it seems that a leader can’t be filled with any more hate; the leader
manages to find even more in order to engage in such heinous behavior.
This Shabbat we read from Parsha
VaYeishev. We begin the Joseph story. Loved more than his brothers, Joseph is
eventually sold into slavery by his brothers. He works for a powerful Egyptian
only to wind up in prison. While in prison, he helps the warden and the prison
becomes very profitable. The Parsha begins with Joseph interpreting dreams and
the Parsha ends with Joseph interpreting dreams. In between, we read about Yehuda who
presented with an opportunity to engage in public repentance.
For the first time in narrative in Book of Genesis, we encounter hatred.
Regarding Joseph’s brother’s feelings towards Joseph, the Torah is clear. They
are not jealous nor angry. V’Yavei Yosef
et Dibata Ra’ah el Avihem – Joseph brought
and evil report of them (this might mean only Leah’s son’s or it might
refer to all the brothers). V’Yisroel
Ahav et Yosef Mikol Banav Ki Ven Zekunim Hu Lo V’Asah Lo KeTonet Pasim – Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his
sons because he was the son of his old age and he made him a coat of many colors.
Va’Yiru Echav Ki Oto Ahav Avihem MiKol
Echav VaYisnu Oto V’ Lo Yachlu Dabro L’Shalom
– And when his brothers saw that
their father loved him more than all the brothers, they hated him and could not
speak peacefully to him. VaYachalom
Yosef Chalom VaYaGeid L’Echav VaYosifu
Od Sno Oto – and Joseph dreamed a
dream and he told it to his brothers and they hated him even more (Gen.27:2-5). Normally one goes through a
series of emotions before arriving at hatred. We might have assumed that the
brothers were at first angry or jealous before we learn that they hate Joseph. However,
not only do these brothers hate Joseph they couldn’t speak civilly to him. They
had to avoid speaking to him for fear that they might hurt him. That seems like
a lot of hatred. Yet they managed to find even more hatred in their souls after
Joseph told them about his dream of their bowing down to him. What is the
difference between the first hatred that the brothers felt prior to hearing of
the dream and the hatred they felt after hearing about the dream? Perhaps the
first hatred really was the culmination of emotions. That the normal anger and jealousy,
over time, evolved into a hatred for Joseph. Certainly that “hatred” seems to
be justified as the Torah text offers reasons for their hatred. It seems that
by trying to ignore Joseph, the brothers are aware that their hatred is
passionate based upon jealousy, anger and rage. The second hatred is more than
the first. This hatred seems like a cold calculating hatred where they stop
seeing Joseph as a brother. Hinei Ba’al
Chalomot HaLaZeh Ba – Behold the
dreamer comes (Gen. 27:19). How much do the brothers hate their brother?
They hate him so much that they don’t see him as a brother but as something
else. Because he is seen as and considered to be something else, something
other than a part of their family, they see Joseph as threat. Without passion
but rather with a cool hatred they can coolly, calmly and rationally discuss
killing him and leaving him in a pit.
The
Torah narrative almost seems to acknowledge that the human soul has a large
capacity for hatred. However as large a capacity for hatred we may have, that
doesn’t mean we should act upon it. The brother’s discuss killing Joseph but
they don’t. They sell him to Midianites on their way to Egypt. Hatred is one of
the seven basic emotions. We are not supposed to succumb to our emotions, no
matter how justified, no matter how cool and calculated those emotions may be.
They are still emotions. The narrative reminds us and we see it with the
development of Joseph and Judah. We are supposed to be governed by something
more than our emotions. We are supposed to be governed by our desire to be holy
and sacred. Leave it to an Israeli youth group to understand and appreciate
that lesson, a lesson that they understood and anticipated two years ago. Two
years ago they asked the Chief Rabbi who told them to recite Psalms 37 and 120.
Hopefully the rest of the world can
catch up and pray for the civilians of Aleppo and the victims of this horrible
civil war.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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