רפואה מן התורה
Healing from the Torah
Happy Hanukkah from My wife, Catharine, and I. Speaking of Catharine and I, although we watch very little TV, one of our regular shows is The Blacklist. The Blacklist is a show where Raymond Reddington is an international criminal who is a CI (Confidential Informant) for a division of the FBI where he provides them with leads about big time plots. Reddington works with Agent Elizabeth Keene who finds out that he is her father (well kind of). Elizabeth would also eventually figure out a secret that Reddington had been hiding where he is actually another man who was made to look like her father who died some 30 years earlier.
Elizabeth was so angry that despite his immunity deal she got Reddington arrested, who if convicted, would be put to death for his high crimes. Well, Reddington gets out, and makes it a personal mission to find out who set him up. Elizabeth finally confesses that she was the person who turned Reddington in, putting a bad strain between them. There is then a scene where Elizabeth and Reddington are sitting in some restaurant with her trying to clear the air. In so doing Reddington responds by saying, “I live by a code … and in my world even my closest associates who betray me are eliminated.” Reddington goes on to say that he is conflicted, not over whether he should kill Elizabeth, but that he can’t. In this week’s parasha, Mikaytz from Genesis 44:1-44:17, we find a similar dilemma for Joseph who wants to punish his bothers for what they did, but in the end he can’t.
22 years earlier we recall that Joseph’s brother’s let him be taken captive,
where he eventually was sold into slavery in Egypt, then telling their father
that wild beats killed his son. After a
time in prison, for a crime he did not commit against Potiphar’s wife, Joseph
because he interpreted some dreams while in jail was asked in this parasha to interpret the
dreams of Pharaoh. The dreams where
about the next 14 years that would see great abundance in Egypt to be followed
by famine, which came true. Pharaoh had
Joseph released from jail, and made him his right hand man (meaning the second most powerful person in the entire world), putting him over all food matters in
Egypt. Then when the time of famine came
people from other lands would come to Egypt to buy food from Joseph who made
sure that out of the abundance large amounts of grain were stored for the
future.
So what do we know about Joseph from Mikaytz? First, the Divine was a part of his worldview, so when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams Joseph made sure to say that the ability to do so came from God. Second, Joseph was still hurt and needed to build his own family, thus at the birth of his children he would say “God made me forget all my hardships and my father’s household,” even more saying that he was “fruitful in the land of my sufferings” (cf. Gen. 41:51-52). It is obvious that he was angry at his brothers, but he did not know that his father was not told, so on some level he must have felt as if his father did not love him simply because he did not search for his son. And third, while yeah he would toy with his brothers. Joseph chose the high road and elected to not eliminate his brothers for their wrongs against him. In fact, you have to wonder if he even knew how much his family meant to him, so when he sees his brothers coming to buy food he had to turn away from them because he wept (cf. Gen. 42:24). Therefore, did he weep because they did not recognize him of did he weep because he was overcome with emotions that he forgot he had until he saw them? Last week we touched on Joseph’s two dreams (see Gen. 37:5-9) and when he saw his brothers this week we further read, “Joseph recalled his dreams” as his brothers now stood before him (Gen. 42:9). Rashi simply says that when they bowed to him he realized his dreams, with Sforno adding that Joseph needed his brothers to recognize him so his dreams would be fulfilled. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik claims that once Joseph realized his dreams were being fulfilled before his eyes his real goal became getting his father to come to Egypt and bow before him. And Robert Alter in his modern Torah commentary talks about the “psychological” underpinnings to these dreams, thus the self-gratification of the moment would yield to the agony of the pain experienced. That all seems very myopic of Joseph I think. Why would a man who feels hurt and weeps after so many years need his brothers to bow before him in order to bluster his self-worth? Even more so, this guy was the second most powerful man in the world and he needed affirmation from his brothers who left him? Each view above expressed about Joseph on some level is about a man who was angry, seeking self-gratification at the fulfillment of his dreams, but is that really it?
I think there is another way to read this. We learn in Mikaytz that Joseph was an effectual leader in Egypt, both taking care of the people and allowing Egypt to benefit further financially. We also read that although he did not reveal his identity to his brothers and played the part of a very powerful man, two times in this passage he cannot control his emotions (cf. Gen. 42:24 and 43:30). Sure he was angry, and being human he sure thought of pay back, but I also want to suggest he learned something about his dreams. Maybe Joseph got it wrong, it was not about realizing that his dreams were fulfilled when they bowed before him, but in reality it was about what it meant to be a leader, not lording over others but serving and caring for them. Being a leader of others is not about power, but provision and protection, the hidden meaning of his dreams.
Jacob, in Canaan, heard about the food in Egypt and sent all of his sons but Benjamin to travel there where they came face to face with Joseph although they did not know it. Joseph, on seeing his brothers that betrayed him, now has to stand upon his own code of how to handle it. We can chose to read this as Joseph’s opportunity for revenge or we can read it as a picture of serving others. No doubt Joseph became a leader, a very powerful man that had a code that guided him, but that code also was to take care of his people in need and do them no harm. That being so in this text what we see in that Joseph loved his family, and despite all the pain from the past, he just wanted to make sure his family had food in the present. It is Hanukkah, so maybe we can end by saying that although we saw the darkness of Joseph's hurt, he elected to stand upon a light of love for his brothers, because for him there was no other way. Peace, happiness and hope during this season.
So what do we know about Joseph from Mikaytz? First, the Divine was a part of his worldview, so when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams Joseph made sure to say that the ability to do so came from God. Second, Joseph was still hurt and needed to build his own family, thus at the birth of his children he would say “God made me forget all my hardships and my father’s household,” even more saying that he was “fruitful in the land of my sufferings” (cf. Gen. 41:51-52). It is obvious that he was angry at his brothers, but he did not know that his father was not told, so on some level he must have felt as if his father did not love him simply because he did not search for his son. And third, while yeah he would toy with his brothers. Joseph chose the high road and elected to not eliminate his brothers for their wrongs against him. In fact, you have to wonder if he even knew how much his family meant to him, so when he sees his brothers coming to buy food he had to turn away from them because he wept (cf. Gen. 42:24). Therefore, did he weep because they did not recognize him of did he weep because he was overcome with emotions that he forgot he had until he saw them? Last week we touched on Joseph’s two dreams (see Gen. 37:5-9) and when he saw his brothers this week we further read, “Joseph recalled his dreams” as his brothers now stood before him (Gen. 42:9). Rashi simply says that when they bowed to him he realized his dreams, with Sforno adding that Joseph needed his brothers to recognize him so his dreams would be fulfilled. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik claims that once Joseph realized his dreams were being fulfilled before his eyes his real goal became getting his father to come to Egypt and bow before him. And Robert Alter in his modern Torah commentary talks about the “psychological” underpinnings to these dreams, thus the self-gratification of the moment would yield to the agony of the pain experienced. That all seems very myopic of Joseph I think. Why would a man who feels hurt and weeps after so many years need his brothers to bow before him in order to bluster his self-worth? Even more so, this guy was the second most powerful man in the world and he needed affirmation from his brothers who left him? Each view above expressed about Joseph on some level is about a man who was angry, seeking self-gratification at the fulfillment of his dreams, but is that really it?
I think there is another way to read this. We learn in Mikaytz that Joseph was an effectual leader in Egypt, both taking care of the people and allowing Egypt to benefit further financially. We also read that although he did not reveal his identity to his brothers and played the part of a very powerful man, two times in this passage he cannot control his emotions (cf. Gen. 42:24 and 43:30). Sure he was angry, and being human he sure thought of pay back, but I also want to suggest he learned something about his dreams. Maybe Joseph got it wrong, it was not about realizing that his dreams were fulfilled when they bowed before him, but in reality it was about what it meant to be a leader, not lording over others but serving and caring for them. Being a leader of others is not about power, but provision and protection, the hidden meaning of his dreams.
Jacob, in Canaan, heard about the food in Egypt and sent all of his sons but Benjamin to travel there where they came face to face with Joseph although they did not know it. Joseph, on seeing his brothers that betrayed him, now has to stand upon his own code of how to handle it. We can chose to read this as Joseph’s opportunity for revenge or we can read it as a picture of serving others. No doubt Joseph became a leader, a very powerful man that had a code that guided him, but that code also was to take care of his people in need and do them no harm. That being so in this text what we see in that Joseph loved his family, and despite all the pain from the past, he just wanted to make sure his family had food in the present. It is Hanukkah, so maybe we can end by saying that although we saw the darkness of Joseph's hurt, he elected to stand upon a light of love for his brothers, because for him there was no other way. Peace, happiness and hope during this season.
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