Mindful Torah...and more

This week's Torah portion, Vayigash (Genesis 44:18), begins with the words "Vayigash aylav Yehudah...." "And Judah drew near" to Joseph to plead for his brother Benjamin's freedom. Judah volunteered to be taken as a slave in Benjamin's stead, so that his father Jacob would not 'lose' another son. Judah's pleads with Joseph to keep him instead of his youngest broth Benjamin, who is the only other son of Joseph's mother, Rachel and, therefore, dearest to their father. Moved by Judah's appeal, Joseph decides at that moment to reveal himself to his brothers. Moved to tears, he orders his servants to leave them alone so that he may reveal his true identity. He told them not to feel guilty for having left him in the pit. It was God's plan that Joseph should end up in Egypt, where he could predict the famine, become Pharaoh's administrator, and save his own family from starvation. Joseph told his brothers to ret...

[This is a corrected version of the midrash I sent out two days ago. I have fixed some formatting issues and changed one of the details that I realized conflicted with the actual bibilical account of Joseph.] This week’s parashah is Miketz (Genesis/ Bereshit 41:1-44:17). The saga of Joseph and his brothers continues in this parashah . We read in the narrative of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, being made vizier of Egypt and then of his brothers coming to seek food during the famine. Below is a midrash that I wrote focusing on an imagined dream Joseph had and what it might have taught him about the nature of identity and the need to mindful of who we are at any given moment. Some of you may have read this before, but this is a newly edited version. Comments and questions are always welcome! Shabbat Shalom and Happy Last Day of Hanukkah, Steven The Dreamer's Other Dream It had been more than almost a quarter of a century ...

When I sent out my midrash on Judith and Tamar for Hanukkah yesterday I wrote in the subject heading "A Little Extra for Hanukkah." I wrote that because I thought I had already sent out my d'var Torah commentary for this week. I just realized that this was not the case. So here it is. Better late than never! Shabbat Shalom and Chag Urim Sameakh (Happy Festival of Lights), Steven ----------------------- This week's parashah is Va'yeishev (Genesis/ Bereshit 37:1 – 39:23)and it is the beginning of the story of Joseph. Though Joseph is not technically one of the patriarchs (that designation is limited to Abraham,Isaac and Jacob) his story is significantly longer and more detailed than the narratives describing the lives of his predecessors. Joseph's story also serves as a transition from the Patriarchal/Matriarchal period to the nation-building period that begins with the slavery and redemption narrative in the book of Shemot /Exodus. But the Joseph na...

This week's parashah is Va'yeishev (Bereshit/Genesis 37:1 – 40:23). This is the beginning of the Joseph story and includes Joseph's dreams of his brothers serving him, his father giving him the multi-colored coat and his brothers' decision to kill him and then selling him into slavery instead. Then the story of Judah and Tamar is seemingly interjected in Joseph's story. In this story (which will be explained further in the midrash below) Tamar tricks her former father in-law Judah into sleeping with her in order to have the child that she believes is her right after the death of her first two husbands (Judah's eldest two sons). Judah learns that Tamar is pregnant and accuses her of 'harlotry,' but when he finds out that he is the father he admits his wrong and states that she is in the right. The Joseph story then continues. I would like to juxtapose this with the fact that tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. And in addition to Judah Macc...

This week's parashah is Vayishlakh ( Bereshit /Genesis 32:4-36:4) in which Jacob prepares to be reunited with his brother Esau. As Jacob waits for the reunion and ponders whether his brother still wishes to kill him, he encounters a stranger in the darkness besides the river Jabok. They wrestle all night long, with neither of them the clear victor. As the sun begins to rise, the stranger realizes that he is unable to prevail over Jacob, he then wrenches Jacob's hip from its socket and tells him that he must leave for the sun is rising. Jacob demands a blessing from the stranger. The stranger asks Jacob his name. After Jacob responds, the stranger tells him that he will no longer be called Jacob, but he will instead be known as Israel, for he has struggled with beings divine and human ( Yisrael , meaning "one who has struggled with God"). Then Jacob asks the stranger his name, to which he replies, "why do you ask my name?" The stranger then disappear...