Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Inside You're Burning, I Can See Clear Through (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Feel Like A Stranger")




I happened to be at the supermarket this week. That in it of itself is not so unusual, as I usually get the list from my wife and stop on the way home from work. So the other day happened to be the Pre-Chanukah list consisting of oil, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and something healthy to offset all the starch and oil. Frequently, I will see congregants and friends and friend’s wives. So the other day I happened to see one of my wife’s book group friends.  After the standard chit chat, she asks me where our son will be attending High School because she heard from her son that he will be attending a particular school. It’s not every day that I have to verify or deny a rumor about our son’s life. For the next ten minutes, in the cereal aisle, we began discussing Jewish high schools. She spoke about why her son attended one high school as opposed to another. Then she made an interesting comment.  As she, her husband and her son went through the process of making a choice they all realized that if they were considering school on the basis of which one would protect and shield their son from all the shmutz of modern society, all the hedonistic behavior, the drugs, and all the difficult things that teenagers have to deal with; then they were going to be greatly disappointed. She said that no Jewish High School could protect her son from all the negative aspects of secularism, of hedonistic western culture. Rather, part of their decision was based upon which school offered the tools to deal with, and not deny the negative aspects of secularism in our everyday culture. Ultimately, she explained it came down to how assimilated their home would be in behavior, in attitude, and in the acknowledgment of the world around them. She wished me luck with our son’s choice and I continued with my Chanukah food shopping.
This Shabbat we read from Parsha Mikeitz. Mikeitz always coincides with Chanukah.  The Parsha begins two years from when VaYeishev concluded. Pharaoh has a dream. He is unsatisfied with all attempts to interpret it. Pharaoh's wine chamberlain remembers that Yosef accurately interpreted his dream while in prison. Yosef is released from prison and brought before Pharaoh. He interprets that soon will begin seven years of abundance followed by seven years of severe famine. Pharaoh appoints him as viceroy to oversee the project. Egypt becomes the granary of the world. Yaakov sends his sons to Egypt to buy food. The brothers come before Yosef and bow to him. Yosef recognizes them but they do not recognize him. Without disclosing his identity, Yosef sells food and grain to his brothers[G1] [G2] [G3]  but keeps Shimon hostage until they bring their brother Binyamin to him as proof that they are who they say they are. Yaakov refuses to let Binyamin go to Egypt, but when the famine grows unbearable, he accedes. Yehuda guarantees Binyamin's safety, and the brothers go to Egypt. Yosef welcomes the brothers lavishly as honored guests. When he sees Binyamin he rushes from the room and weeps. Yosef instructs his servants to put his goblet inside Binyamin's sack. When the goblet is discovered, Yosef demands Binyamin become his slave as punishment. Yehuda interposes and offers himself instead, but Yosef refuses. [G4] [G5] [G6] 
For the first time, beginning in last week’s Torah portion, VaYeishev and again in Mikeitz, we read about an individual encounter a dominant culture while still retaining his sense of code and morality. Avraham left the dominant culture and encountered it periodically but did so accompanied by his wife. Yitzchak encountered a different culture but had never left home in a spiritual nor a physical sense (he always remained in the land). Even Yaakov never had to confront a dominant culture. Yes, his uncle Lavan was an idol worshipper, but it was family and besides Uncle Lavan's was a tribal culture. When Yaakov encountered Shechem, he did so accompanied by his sons. However, Yosef was in his late teens, early twenties when arrived in Egypt. He worked for Potiphar. He had to stave off the sexual harassment of Potiphar's wife and accept the injustice of prison. At the beginning of Mikeitz, we find Yosef in prison, still referred to as [G7] [G8] [G9] [G10] Naar Ivri- Hebrew Youth even though he is 30 (Gen. 41:46).  Even after interpreting Pharaohs’ dreams, becoming a Viceroy, wearing Egyptian clothes, looking Egyptian, being clean shaven like an Egyptian, speaking Egyptian, marrying an Egyptian woman (Asnat) and receiving an Egyptian name (Zaphenat Paneah), and essentially living an Egyptian lifestyle; Yosef somehow manages to maintain his tribal loyalty, his Jewishness, his sense of morality and code. When Pharaoh tells Yosef about his dream and is asked to interpret it; VaYa’An Yosef et Paroh Leimor, Biladai Elohim Ya’Eneh et Shlom ParohJoseph answered Pharaoh saying, That is beyond me; it is God who will respond with Pharaoh’s welfare.   The Or HaChaim comments that Biladai is not only a humble expression “that is beyond me”. Biladai means “this does not depend on me”. This is not only an indication of Yosef giving credit for his “Dream Telling Gift” to God. Yosef subtly indicates that his code and his theology will not waver within this overbearing and all-encompassing culture. Yosef adds the words Shlom Paroh- literally, the peace of Pharaoh. Yosef is merely a vessel, and he isn't so much interpreting a dream, instead, he is providing a prophecy. As a result, Yosef must speak truth to power and cannot bend or interpret the meaning to satisfy some other agenda or plan except God's plan.[G11] [G12] [G13] [G14] [G15] [G16] 
Yosef, at the relatively young age of 30 has accepted the fact that his path, although his choosing, is part of God's plan. Yes, some people are lucky to sense that a plan has been revealed to them. Yosef's spiritual strength, his unwavering sense of belonging to a [G17] covenantal relationship means that no matter the name, no matter the clothes, no matter the culture, he is acutely aware that certain constants will keep him grounded in his relationship with God.  No, I don't know the path our son or any of our children are supposed to take. We can offer them guidance as they make their way along the path of their lives. Eventually, they will need to make those decisions for themselves. While we light the [G18] Chanukah candles, we are reminded Judaism’s survival within a powerful Hellenistic culture, we are reminded of Yosef surviving within a powerful Egyptian culture. We only hope that we have provided them enough tools, enough education and enough grounding in values that we deem important so that their decisions are an expression of a moral code and covenant to which they belong.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

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