|
Chassidut on the Torah |
| Chassidut Archives |
The week of VaYeisheiv, 5762 This Dvar Torah is dedicated in memory of R’ Dovid ben Shmuel HaLevy, A”H, by his son, Dr. Lindsay Rosenwald, YLCT”VOverview VaYeisheiv (Genesis 37:1-40:23)
describes how Yosef shepherded with his brothers and brought bad reports of
them to Yaacov. Yosef was Yaacov’s favorite son, to whom he gave a colorful
coat, but this favoritism bred jealousy towards Yosef. By reporting in detail
two dreams he had, Yosef provoked even more jealousy. One day, the brothers
went to shepherd in Shechem, and Yaacov asked Yosef to go to them. Seeing Yosef
approach, the brothers plot to kill the ‘dreamer’, but Reuven stopped them and
suggested throwing Yosef into a pit instead, in the secret hope of saving Yosef
later. After removing his coat, the brothers threw Yosef into the pit. In
Reuven’s absence the remaining brothers sold Yosef to merchants who were on
their way to Egypt. To hide their deed, the brothers dipped Yosef’s coat in
goat blood. Believing his son killed by wild animals, Yaacov grieved
inconsolably. Yosef was sold to Potifar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard. Meanwhile,
Yehuda married and had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shela. Er married Tamar. When
Er died in consequence of a sin, Yehuda told Onan to marry Tamar and have a
child to carry on Er’s name. Onan died as well due to his sins. Yehuda was
reluctant to let her marry his third son. When Yehuda went to shear sheep,
Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute and became pregnant from Yehuda. As
payment to the ‘prostitute’ he doesn’t recognize, Yehuda promised a goat, and
as collateral temporarily gave her his seal, wrap, and staff. Sentenced to
death for unlawful pregnancy, Tamar cleverly sent Yehuda his seal, wrap and
staff, hinting to her innocence but protecting him from embarrassment. Yehuda
declared Tamar’s righteousness. Tamar gave birth to twin boys, Peretz and
Zerach. In Egypt, Yosef became manager of Potifar’s house, but gained the
attention of Potifar’s wife. Because Yosef evaded her advances, she became
angry and accused Yosef of trying
to rape her. Yosef was subsequently imprisoned where he supervised the other
prisoners. Pharaoh’s butler and baker were imprisoned in the same dungeon after
serving contaminated food. Each dreamt a dream which Yosef interpreted
correctly. The baker was to be sentenced to death, but the butler would be
returned to his position. Yosef asked the butler to mention him to Pharaoh
hoping this would free him. Yet when the butler was released, he forgot his
promise to Yosef. Overview I often bring my 3 volume Alkelai Hebrew-English/English-Hebrew Dictionary to teach my classes. ‘Why 3 volumes?’ I ask my students. Because it takes two books to translate English words into Hebrew, while only one book of Hebrew to English. There are not so many Hebrew words, but each one has many meanings. We find such a verse in this week’s Torah portion. The exile to Egypt begins with the verse, “Yosef hurad to Egypt”. According to the Midrash (Bereishis 6/b), the word hu-rad has three different meanings: A) From the word yerida, going down, because Yosef first went as a slave and later as a prisoner. B) From the word r’diyah which means control because ultimately he became a leader in Egypt. C) From the word horeed, or lowering something else—that Yosef brought the Shechinah (the indwelling of G-d in the world) into Egypt. These three
explanations describe Yosef’s dealing with his exile. So too, they describe how
the Jewish people dealt with their life in Egypt, as well as how each of us
deals with our own environment in this current exile. Let us look at them
little more closely: According to the first explanation, we experience life’s challenges as an exile and down-turning. The exile is perceived as an obstacle to the fulfillment of goals and therefore one is constantly at battle to conquer and overcome. The problem with this perspective is that the exile becomes a force of its own to be constantly dealt with. Even if victorious, the battle leaves its impact on the person—his or her clothes are war-torn, even bloodied. Alternately, according to the second perspective a person sees him or herself as always moving up, someone in control. There are no obstacles, only steps to achieve goals. In fact, this perspective makes reality conform, the exile bends before us, and we move ahead! Obviously, the advantage of this view is that there is no battle. The obstacles retreat before us. Unfortunately, the problem is the exile has not been conquered, and in one false move, a person can slip from that high spiritual consciousness only to be overwhelmed by these challenges. The third possibility is to bring the Shechinah with us. It is with the strength of the Shechinah that we transform the exile, until the exile itself helps us to reach our destination. This is the highest level because the exile is transformed into something positive. This was the achievement of Yosef HaTzadik. From one perspective, Yosef was ripped from his nurturing, spiritually elevated environment—the protection and teachings of his father, Yaacov—and forced against his will to deal with the lowliness of Egypt. Nevertheless, the Shechinah was with him, helping him to become Egypt’s leader and make the exile serve him and his family to achieve their goals. The Torah speaks about this because this is a strength that Yosef shares with all of the Jewish people. Do not become depressed from the harshness of the exile in which we live. Rather, remember that you have brought the Shechinah with you. Let the Shechinah bring Divinity around you. This is the strength through which we will merit to bring the final and lasting redemption immediately. Shabbat Shalom, Shaul |
 |
Ascent of Safed
|
|