This week's portion begins the story of Joseph, the longest (and in my opinion the best) story in the Torah, continuing over four weeks of readings. The story opens in the Land of Israel, where Jacob has finally settled with his family.
Joseph, we are told, is Jacob's favored son, and incurs the jealousy of his brothers. They conspire to kill him, but sell him slavery in Egypt instead. He proves his worth as a slave but is jailed on wrongful claims of sexual misconduct.
In prison, Joseph again excels, and is a natural leader of the inmates. He interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's butler and baker -- one for freedom, the other for death -- and his interpretations are fulfilled in reality.
There are two insights in the portion that I want to highlight. One is in the beginning of the portion, when "a man" (37:15) finds Joseph lost, looking for his brothers. The unnamed man played a key role in the unfolding drama.
This, according to the late UK Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, points to the importance of every individual. This anonymous person was destined to play a key role in the history of the world simply by giving Joseph directions.
The second insight is my own, and concerns Joseph's request of the butler that he remember him when he is freed. Joseph refers to the prison as a "pit" (40:15), which is the same word the Torah uses to describe the hole in which his brothers threw him.
The butler does not remember Joseph, and Jewish tradition teaches that Joseph served another two years because he placed his trust in a man, rather than in God.
However, I think Joseph served two additional years because he saw himself as still in a "pit," as if he had made no progress at all beyond the first pit into which his brothers had thrown him. One can understand why, but he did not see his own growth -- and therefore had more growth to do.
This Saturday also coincides with the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere -- the shortest day, with the least sunlight. It may seem a "pit" of darkness, but from this point forward, the days lengthen and light increases.
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
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An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
