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.
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 ...
