This week's portion begins what I consider the greatest story ever told by human beings: the journey of Joseph. It is the ultimate "prequel," the back story of the liberation of the Jewish people and the giving of the law. But it teaches us so much about faith, and dreams, and destiny, and basic human motivations.
Those familiar with Andrew Lloyd Webber's wonderful "Joseph" musical will recognize the story. But the Biblical text adds another layer of richness.
Toward the end of this week's portion, Joseph finds himself in prison, where he rises to a senior rank among inmates and is sought by others for his advice. He hears the dreams of Pharaoh's butler and baker, and interprets their fates.
When he predicts that the butler will be restored to his position, he asks that he remember Joseph once he is out of prison. The Jewish Sages suggest that Joseph erred by asking for a human favor, rather than trusting in God alone.
But I think Joseph's mistake -- for which, the Sages say, he spent another two years in prison -- had to do with the term he used to describe his prison: a "pit." This is not the only word in Hebrew to describe a jail; but it is is an uglier one.
Interestingly, the word "pit" also describes the place into which Joseph was put when his brothers assaulted him, and before they decided to sell him into slavery. In his own mind, Joseph negates the progress he has made since then.
He is so consumed by his present misfortunes that he forgets, for the moment, that he has grown through his travails -- or that he has the opportunity to do good for those around him. He fails to see the potential in his circumstances.
That is why he spends another two years in prison. It is only when he has the self-awareness and maturity to see the possibilities in every situation that he is ready to emerge -- and to help Pharaoh manage Egypt's coming famine.
This week's show will be slightly different from the norm: we'll focus on clips and topics, rather than guests -- and that, hopefully, will mean more input from the callers (unless you are all watching football on opening weekend).
Topics:
- The state of the economy
- The fight against crime
- The midterm election fight
- The struggle for peace between Russia and Ukraine
- The airstrike on the Venezuelan drug cartel
- The attempt to sink Kennedy
- The war in Gaza
- The case against Harvard
- The Trump presidency
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This week's Torah portion includes several laws about conduct in civic and personal life, the common theme of which is boundaries -- setting bounds to what one may do at home, at work, and even in the battlefield.
One noteworthy passage concerns Amalek, the evil nation that attacked the Children of Israel as they made their Exodus from slavery to freedom. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 commands Jews to obliterate Amalek's memory.
The South African government accused Israel of genocide on the basis of a story about Amalek in the Book of Samuel, in which King Saul was commanded to wipe out the entire evil Amalekite nation.
Because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quoted this week's portion -- "Remember what Amalek did to you" (25:17), the South African government claimed he was commanding soldiers to commit genocide.
It was an absurd and malevolent misreading of the Bible and of Jewish tradition. The commandment, as observed by Jews today, is to remember the evil of Amalek and fight ...
