------------------------------------------------
1. Parsha Details
------------------------------------------------
1. Parsha details: Gen 37:1-40:23 (tri 39:1-40:23) Maftir Num 7:18-23 [Haftorah Zekhariah 2:14-4:7] NOTE: Torah reading occurs each day of Hanuka (see Holiday observation)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Questions and a few observations
Summary: Joseph and his dreams, being "sold into Egypt", Judah and Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Joseph in Egypt with Potiphar and interpreting dreams for the butler and baker in prison. Maftir: the daily offerings for the dedication of the Tabernacle.
Once again, Torah shares with us the realities of the lives of our ancestors, the good with the bad. When we look back, it is almost amazing how candid Torah is about their shortcomings -- but then that is what teaching is all about. And such lessons in this parsha.
Lessons for parents and siblings and gifted people. Lessons for leaders and more. Joseph, the mere lad of seventeen -- brash, spoiled, vain, immature and gifted. What a combination!
How did he get that way? Was it all Jacob's fault. Not all of it, but he certainly contributed. He showed specialy favors to the 'child of his old age' -- wasn't Joseph's younger brother, Benjamin even more so? Yes, but Jacob may have looked at Benjamin as having 'killed' Rachel, his favorite wife and ruler of his household. And Joseph was her firstborn -- probably somewhat trained by her (before her death) in the skills of household operations, just from being with her and being bright.
We can only guess that Leah is running the household now -- the 'wife-in-charge'. We hear nothing about her, but that is typical of Leah -- she is quiet and efficient if not as striking and business savvy as her younger sister. And she is not a key player in the development of Joseph -- he appears to spend much his time with Bilhah, his mother's servant and Jacob's wife. What an interesting social structure they must have had, with many tiers and strata of people. The time and energy it must have taken just to learn all of that and maintain it!
And Joseph -- no real mother to curb his brashness and to teach him the tact she obviously knew. Jacob certainly didn't teach him much of it -- just one rebuke long after his brothers already hated him and envied him. And it probably wasn't even in front of them so that they knew he was also aware of Joseph's style. And Jacob probably didn't care. To him, Joseph was a favorite son and he actually encouraged Joseph by accepting the 'evil reports' and of course by the gift of the famous coat.
But the coat was probably the least of the issues. Jacob obviously showed Joseph favoritism and that would not sit well with the brothers. But Torah tells us that Jacob's favoritism was only the start. It is Joseph's dreams and his words that cause the brothers' hatred to grow. And the words probably even more than the dreams, which cause them envy as much as hatred. Midrash tells us that he was also quite vain -- carrying a mirror and probably strutting about. Not hard to see why he would not win a popularity contest with his brothers.
Now let's take a close look at the story usually told as "Joseph's brothers selling him to be a slave" -- let's read carefully. The brothers want to kill him, Reuben turns that into the empty pit. The brothers sit down to eat (it's famishing work to strip your brother of his coat and throw him in a pit -- more on this shortly...) and decide, at Judah's urging, to sell him to the Ishmaelites (their cousins....). In the meantime, some Midianites (also cousins -- from Abraham's son) come by, hear him, lift him out of the pit and sell him to the Ishmaelites, who carry him to Egypt. Reuben goes to the pit and it is empty and the bothers cover their actions with the bloody coat which they send to Jacob. Torah concludes by saying that, in essence, it was the Midianites who sold him to Egypt (by way of the Ishmaelites -- all 'in the family', as it were). And this is supported by Joseph's words reported in 40:15 that he "was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews."
Are these two or three different stories braided somewhat awkwardly together. Unlikely. More likely it is a summary of details the audience would have known from their oral tradition, which has since been lost to us. To capture years of life and events and distill it down to a few verses is not easy and requires a lot of summarizing and picking and choosing. So the redactor would most likely have had a phenomenal wealth of material to deal with and we get the essence and the key features we need to learn from what Torah has to tell us. Does this minimize or trivialize Torah -- not at all -- quite the contrary. It demonstrates the strength and power of the message that IS in the words -- and in the white spaces.
What did not get included? What can we read clearly between AND around the words that are there? Ahhhhhhhhhhh. That is why we must all read Torah and why we are enjoined to understand it, too. It is not enough to read a bunch of Semitic syllables -- we are obligated to learn from Torah, to study it at all of its levels.
So let's look at the detail on Judah. He takes a Canaanite wife who is never named. She does not play a key part except to give Judah three sons and die herself. There is no echo of parental displeasure anymore at marrying among the Canaanites. Of course, since the split with Laban, no more wives from there. In fact, the heritage/background of the wives becomes less significant. We do not know for sure where Tamar comes from, just that it is somewhere local. And the name will be seen again among David's children.... in the tribe of Judah.
Her actions and those of Judah are the key events here. There is an interesting interplay between the words zonah (whore) and kedisha (holy?-- how about priestess of a local practice -- traditionally Astarte). Judah never refers to her as anything other than zona, but his friend does. His friend only uses kedisha and Judah appears to treat these words as synonyms, even if he himself does not use both terms. Ahh -- Judah seeks comfort (to use Torah's words), perhaps partaking in local activities which might not have been purely Jewish? Are we getting a glimpse of assimilation, even then?
Perhaps this is why he did not see that the reason his sons died was of their own doings? Is this Torah's way of saying that perhaps Judah was not teaching his children all that he should have? Perhaps because he was more focused on his own comforts and desires?
And Tamar (and his Adullamite friend) appear to recognize this aspect of his character. Tamar uses it to seduce Judah into fulfilling the levirite responsibilities to her (which, obviously, even one's father-in-law could fulfill then). She knows him well and plans things carefully, making sure she has from him those things that he would recognize without doubt as his own. We also, by the way, get that he is a man of honor. On two counts -- one that he does attempt to live up to his deal with her for her favors and two that he admits his error when confronted with the evidence. Tamar obviously becomes part of his household after this to raise Judah's sons (Er's sons in name), but they do not live as husband and wife. We do not hear of Judah taking any other wives, and the sons Tamar gives birth to and the three from Judah's first wife are all we hear about as his children when they will go to Egypt (only the youngest of the three is alive for the trip).
Financially, the levirite marriage was very important to Tamar and it was Judah's responsibility to see that it happened. Tamar's status in Judah's household would have been much better as the mother of his grandchildren than it could ever have been as a widow in her father's household. And she was entitled to this status, that was clearly part of the culture in those days -- part of righteousness. So Judah says, even though she has obviously tricked me in this (and I am very angry about that and that I did not recognize her as the harlot), she is more righteous than I was, because my son's name will be preserved. What a wonderful vignette into daily life and the character of Judah.
Regardless of when we live, we are products of our environment, but we can raise ourselves up. In the end we chose how and at what level we live our lives and what we teach our children -- not only by our words, but by our actions and by how we treat them and others. Perhaps if he had practiced a little 'tough love' when his sons were younger, things might have been totally different -- but 'tough love' was no easier for our ancestors than it is for today's parents.
So what about Joseph in Egypt? Has the tactless, favored son learned much from his adventures to date. Perhaps. Her certainly knows how to run an efficient household for Potiphar -- Rachel's or Leah's teaching? Probably heard them complaining about the lack of good help from their household slaves and knew what would impress Potiphar. So at least, Joseph demonstrates a cleverness often seen in our ancestors.
However, Joseph still prides himself on his appearance. Could he have avoided the scene with Potiphar's unnamed wife? Surely as the overseer of the household, he would know when she was about. Perhaps he thought of her actions as flattering and didn't see the danger in the flirting, thinking that she was unlikely to want more with a 'lowly Hebrew'? What a ticklish situation that turned into.
And would Potiphar be surprised that his wife would try for Joseph. Probably not. Did he think that Joseph really went after his wife? Also probably not. So what made him angry? Perhaps that Joseph let the situation get out of hand and that the scene was an embarrassment to Potiphar. He had to do something. If he really thought Joseph went after his wife, he would have probably had him executed. Putting him in prison, when Potiphar was in charge of the prison, kept Joseph where Potiphar could benefit from his work and diligence, but where Potiphar's wife could/would no longer chase the Hebrew and cause further embarrassment.
Actually, this story, like the Judah story, is about honor and family dynamics. How many things are still done for these causes and do we ever hurt someone for these reasons? Ahh, ego and pride, family and personal, ever present, then as now.
------------------------------
3. Some Observations
An interesting looking parsha -- has four distinct parts: Joseph the dreamer, Judah and Tamar, Joseph at Potiphar's and the dream interpretation sequence.
The Judah events are certainly apart from the rest of the theme of the parsha and almost look inserted into the text. One might even ask why is it included here? Perhaps because Judah will play some significant roles in Egypt and we are to understand what type of man he is? Certainly, chronologically this story occurs before they go down into Egypt and the death of his first two sons will be mentioned then, almost as a gloss. But Torah deals more in content than in chronology, more in concept than in time sequence.
We are told what we need to know to understand what comes next. Torah builds our history with care and intention. These are not accidental glimpses into the times and characters. It is only that we must dig a little deeper to get the nuances and the contemporary intentions of the text since we no longer have the wealth of surrounding information that the original hearers of these words would have had. And so we must listen to the words, the nuances, the words not spoken, the white spaces. It is in this swirling that we can glean the essence.
We teach by many levels. Obviously by what we say and more by what we do. And even more by what we do not say and by what we do not do. Judah's 'crime' was one of inaction out of fear from not learning himself the real cause of his sons' deaths.
I used to teach (there's that word...), when I was a flight instructor, that accidents were never the result of one thing -- usually at least three, one of which would often be poor judgement. And Judah and Joseph seem to be victims of a similar dynamic. For Joseph -- a favoring father, jealous and impulsive brothers, and his own attitude and tact (or lack). For Judah, not teaching his children their duties and not recognizing their failings, inaction out of fear and allowing himself to be comforted by the 'simple' pleasures of those around him.
An interesting sidebar on Joseph. Joseph wanders the countryside alone and is helped by 'a certain man' who knows his brothers. He comes to no harm as he does this alone (and surely a band of Midianites could capture and sell him then). However, before the brothers fling him into the pit, they remove his distinctive coat -- his protection from his father. My intuitive hit here is that the Midianites would not have done anything to Joseph if he was obviously Jacob's son, especially his favored one, wearing that coat, for fear of retribution. Plus we hear that the fear of Adonai is on the people and they do not bother Jacob or his family. And the family is obviously well known, perhaps by clothing or some other identifying features.
Was the brother's real sin making Joseph helpless in this hostile world?
-----------------------------
4. Holiday Observations:
We are entering one our longer holidays and as I look back at it, I see that it is a reclamation holiday. Always has been, not just recently. The book of Maccabees tells us that the holiday was instituted on the anniversary of the day that the "abomination of desolation" first occurred on the Temple altar, namely pagan sacrifices. That was in the year "145 of the Greek Era" and the rededication was in 171, 26 years later.
Twenty six years of seeing pagan sacrifices and celebrations -- and having Judaic practices suppressed. Simon, Judah Maccabee's brother, declares the eight day holiday of rededication, patterned after Succot, when the earlier dedications had taken place, also for eight days (with Sh'mini Atzeret).
And this is what the extra Torah reading is to remind us about -- the Maftir comes from the daily offerings for the dedication of the Tabernacle. Each day is from a different tribe, and each day's offerings are identical. But they mean and therefore represent different things to each tribe. This is a great way to view the rededication of the Temple 'in those days'. It probably meant very different things to the people participating. And that is a key part of Judaism. It means and represents different things to each of us, even if outwardly it might appear the same or similar. Each of us has our own relationship with God -- and this is as it should be.
Chanukah occurs at the darkest time of the year -- new moon on the shortest day (in our hemisphere). The time of many other celebrations in other religions and for pagan rituals as well. Simon was consciously bringing Jews back to Jewish practices, just as we in America, particularly, need to help ourselves and our children focus on our Jewishness amidst other non-Jewish festivities. And there is something to wanting a little celebration in the cold and the dark -- a little candle light to help us remember that the Divine is just a flick of an eyelash, a glimmer of light away -- at any time.
And the selection of the haftorah -- what a choice! Starting with "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, behold, I come, and I will dwell in your midst, says the Lord." and ending with "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts." Actually this prophet makes for very interesting reading.
Much of what we know about Chanukah comes to us from the tractate in Talmud called Shabbat. The Rabbis diverge from a discussion about candles into Chanukah and different aspects of it. It is from this source, and this source only, that we hear about the one bottle of oil lasting for the eight days. It is introduced by "And our Rabbis taught". While the holiday is mentioned and the eight days detailed in Maccabees, the oil is not mentioned there, only in Talmud as a subset of Shabbat.
A final note -- the book of Maccabees (I and II) are not part of the Tanach and we do not have the Hebrew in which I Maccabees was written any more. II Maccabees is believed to have been originally written in the Greek we now have. These books were not accepted by the Rabbis. They are part of what is sometimes called Intertestamental or Apocryphal books. They were not canonized into Tanach and not into the New Testament -- but thanks to some early Christians who considered them Jewish, they have survived at least in their Greek form. All in all, an interesting holiday. A Feast of Lights. And things round.
Torah portions for each day: Fri (1): Num 7:1-17 ; Sat (2): Shabbat + Maftir Num 7:18-23; Sun (3): Num 7:24-35 ; Mon (4): Num 7:30-41 ; Tues (5): Num 7:36-47 ; Wed (6) [Rosh Khodesh]: Num 28:1-15 and Num 7:42-47 ; Thurs (7): Num 7:48-59 ; Fri (8): Num 7:54-8:4 . KHAG S'MEY'AKH!
-----------------------------
5. Exercises
1. Flame: Look at the flame on one of the Chanukah candles as it burns. Watch it move and flicker. Think of the Khanukiot on display through the ages to testify that homes were Jewish and celebrated their Jewishness, proclaiming the Jewish holiday through the ages. See the Ner Tamid in that flame, the eternal light in our synagogues today and back then and in the Temple.
2. Nes(miracle): timing. Miracles are often a function of timing. Be perfectly quiet for three minutes. Find an old sand egg timer. Watch the sand flow, count the time. Think about how much we can do in three minutes, how close can you come to God in three minutes? Watch the sand again. Timing.
3. Sh'khina: Glowing Light, Warmth, Energy. The nurturing part of God, the Feminine. Sit quietly and feel Her Presence surround us, nurture us, fill us with energy. As a plant basks in sunlight, Bask in Her Light.
------------------------------------
I have noticed that as soon as I press the 'send' button, several things that I would like to talk about come to my mind, almost screaming at me, why didn't you include this? I really am trying to keep these short and offer what I hope to be some different and thought provoking items. It is the wonder and marvel of Torah that there is so much here that in the rest of my life -- if I do this every week, I will only scratch the surface of the material here. And then there is the Haftorah material. If you get a chance, do read the parsha and the Haftorah -- you will see something new and different every time you read it.
There are many traditional interpretations of the parsha that I neither talk about nor mention. That is done from a position of space. I trust that the average reader is either familiar with these or can find many of them easily in other commentaries readily available.
Thanks for reading this. If I have offended you, please forgive me -- that was not my intention. If you found some joy or happiness in reading this, thank you for allowing me to be a part. If you found a reason to think about something more deeply - kol hakavod and thank you!
And to the people giving me feedback thank you so much! I enjoy all of it. (Including the typos) You have made this weekly practice wonderful.
b'v'rakha,
Candy
(c) 2000 Candy Lobb All rights reserved
