Arabian Nights Our Gods Pursue Their Fights; What Fatal Flowers of Darkness Bloom From Seeds Of Light - Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Blues for Allah"

           This week was the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entrance into WWII when the world was divided between the forces of fascism/authoritarianism and democracy. Ironically, this week President Biden met with the largest democracies in Europe prior to his meeting with Europe’s most authoritarian regime: Russia. Russia has amassed approximately 100,000 soldiers and equipment along its border with Ukraine. It seemed that the President wanted to confront Putin using the language of sanctions and diplomacy, so he needed to know the position of Europe’s largest economies regarding any such diplomatic response. Also, the President responded to another authoritarian regime by announcing a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming winter Olympics in China. On a global diplomatic scale, we witnessed the confrontation or a clash between liberty/democracy and suppression/authoritarianism.

          This week’s Torah portion is VaYigash.  The confrontation between Yosef and his brothers is about to occur. The Parshah begins with Yehudah approaching his brother Yosef, whom he does not recognize, and pleads for Benjamin’s freedom.  Yosef reveals his identity. Then Yosef and his brothers hug and kiss each other. They cry and they forgive each other. Yosef asks about his father’s welfare. The brothers return to their father, Yaakov, and tell him that Yosef is alive. The brothers explain that everyone, the entire clan, should go down to Egypt. So this clan, including Jacob, the brothers, their wives, and children, heads down to Egypt. Yaakov meets Pharaoh. Yosef’s family is given a parcel of land outside of Egypt in a place called Goshen, where they can tend to their flocks. Yaakov is reunited with his beloved Yosef in the land of Goshen.

          For the ChaZaL, the Sages of Blessed Memory, the Sages of the Talmud, the confrontation between Yosef, the second most powerful man in Egypt, and Yehudah, the leader of Yaakov’s sons; the confrontation is much more than just two brothers meeting up after a couple of decades. For ChaZaL, the word VaYiGaSh refers to Yehudah girding himself for war. Remember, Yehudah does not yet know the identity of the man standing before him. For all Yehudah knows, this man, who looks Egyptian, dresses Egyptian, and speaks Egyptian embodies the most powerful empire and the most dominant culture in the world. However, according to the Or HaChayim that is not the plain meaning of the word. The Or HaChayim, Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar an early 16th Century Moroccan Kabbalist and Talmudist,  explains that if Yehudah was “girding himself for war” then he would not have spoken so respectfully and politely to Yosef: Bi Adoni “if it pleases my lord”. Nor would Yehudah be concerned with antagonizing Yosef’s anger. Instead, Yehudah approached  Egypt’s second in command diplomatically, not girded for war with his sword unsheathed or his gun drawn so to speak,  but confidently,  striding powerfully towards Yosef bypassing guards and advisors, and then quietly and privately speaking into the minister’s ear. Make no mistake, when Yehudah tells the minister that he is just like Pharaoh he is not paying the Minister a compliment. Yehuda speaks truth to power,  without subtleties, coldly and brutally honest. However, Yehudah confronts the minister in a  whisper, privately, without causing embarrassment to the second most powerful man in the Egyptian empire.

          For the Talmudic Sages, Yehuda’s approach to this representative of Egypt was not an approach between two men but a clash between two cultures, a clash between idolatry and monotheism, a clash between two diametrically opposite worlds. Most of history, at least European History is a similar clash albeit, between religions or between sects of the same religion. This week, we are reminded that these powerful clashes are not solely confined between religions. These “cosmic” sorts of clashes also occur between the force of democracy and the forces of authoritarianism and tyranny. In either case,  depending on the diplomatic skills of both sides, such “cosmic” clashes can either exacerbate tensions or diminish tensions.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

I Guess That Can't Revoke Your Soul For Trying; Get Out Of The Door, Light Out, and Look All Around (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, & Bob Weir- "Truckin'")

           Frequently, our 17-year-old son confides that he can’t wait to finish high school, spend a gap year in Israel and then head off to university preferably out of town. When he tells me this, I smile since I felt the same way many years before. Lately, when we sit down to Shabbat dinner, he will say “this is my last  Shabbat of Parsha such and such before I leave home.” His mother immediately states that she cannot believe it and urges him not to rush away her time with him.  Although he says it in a kind and loving way, he clearly looks forward to moving on to the next chapter of his life. While we would love for our son to remain close by, intellectually we understand the importance of a child leaving home and making his/her way in the world. We find it reassuring that for years now, universities such as Harvard and Yale to name a few, preferred that their incoming freshman take a gap year in order for the student to mature and be more prepared for living away from home.  

          This Shabbat we read from Parsha VaYeitze. The narrative focuses upon Yaakov. For the first time, Yaakov will find out what it means to be alone in the world.  He has left his mother, Rivkah, and his father, Yitzchak, for the first time. In fleeing his brother Esav, Yaakov now embarks on a new phase of his life. For the first time, but certainly not the last time, he will contend with being alone. He will learn to be an independent individual. Yes, Yaakov will meet his future wives, his cousins Leah and Rachel. He will work for his father-in-law, Lavan, and he will have children. The narrative will focus upon Yaakov’s life from young adulthood to becoming a responsible father, earning a living, and all the trials, tribulations, and tensions of career and family. As Yaakov makes his way in life, eventually, he will learn more about himself. With each event, with each adventure, Yaakov has an opportunity to become better connected to himself, and better connected to a covenant that his father bequeathed to him. Through trial and error, Yaakov will figure out to whom he should spiritually cling: Esav, his parents, Lavan, his wives, and God.

          At the conclusion of the previous Parsha, Parsha Toldot, we read that Yitzchak and Rivkah instructed Yaakov to go to Padan- Aram, to the house of Bethuel (Rivkah’s father’s home) and take a wife from there. We would expect Parsha VaYeitze to begin with Yaakov heading to Padan- Aram. Instead, VaYeitze begins: VaYeitze Yaakov M’Beer Sheva VaYeilech Charana – Yaakov departed from Beer Sheva and went toward Charan.  VaYifga BaMakom and he experienced and encounter (Gen 28:10-11) If Yaakov’s ultimate destination is Padan Aram and Rebecca’s family of origin, why does the Torah explain that Yaakov stopped at Charan and experienced an encounter? Did Yaakov stop in Charan intentionally in order to have an “encounter”? Or was his stopover in Charan and the ensuing “encounter”  unintentional. Clearly, if the Torah is taking the time to explain Yaakov’s itinerary and the resulting “encounter” during his stopover, then it must be important. Yaakov has never been away from home. He was supposed to head toward his mother’s family, the same family that Rivkah knew enough to leave when she was younger.  Like his mother, Yaakov must leave his family of origin in order to preserve his life.  However, the reason for Rebecca’s departure and the reason  Yaakov’s departure were very different. In Toldot, Yaakov was described as Ish Tam  Yoshev Ohalim – a simple man [of faith] who dwells in tents (Gen. 19;27) The Talmudic Sages explain that Yaakov’s dwelling in the tent meant that he spent time in his parent’s tents studying and learning. However, no amount of learning would prepare him for what he would contend with when dealing with Rivka’s family and particularly his uncle Lavan.  Rabbi Kamenetsky, (1891-1986), explained that prior to arriving in Paddan Aram, Yaakov stopped in Charan to learn from Shem and Eber. Shem was Noah’s son and Eber from the generation of the Tower of Bavel. Both were considered righteous and wise men who lived in unsavory environments and managed to retain their sense of righteousness. Yaakov sought their practical wisdom prior to his encounter with Lavan, becoming independent, and maturing in an unsavory environment.   As a result of Yaakov’s diversion, Yaakov understands that he must maintain a relationship with God, and he understands that he will need to find his way home when the time is right.

          For Yaakov, he needed to leave his physical home for fear of his physical safety. He was heading towards a place that would test his values and test his ethical code.  Certainly, he took with him the values and the learning that he acquired from his family.  By making a stopover in Haran, by taking time to put into practice the wisdom and the book learning he acquired at home; he had  “an encounter”, that steeled himself for what he would experience with Uncle Lavan.  After the stopover and after the “encounter”, Yaakov took God with him as well as the sense of the land, covenant and a sense of purpose. Certainly, our son has acquired a moral code, a sense of ethics as well as “book learning”. Prior to heading off to four years of university, he understands, appreciates, and looks forward to a gap year, a stopover, to put into practice what he has learned. He looks forward to the “encounter” of studying in Israel, in order to give him a deeper sense of purpose as he continues his intellectual, emotional, and spiritual journey in life. Certainly, our son looks forward to his upcoming departure and I think both my wife and I are comforted knowing that his gap year in Israel will give him the self-confidence and the added focus for dealing with university life.

Peace
Rav Yitz.