רפואה מן התורה
Healing from the Torah
This
week we not only conclude the saga of Joseph but we also finish the book of
Genesis. Likewise while we end with the story of one particular family we
begin a new story of one particular people. What we also find is that
Genesis ends, humanly speaking, the same way it began by standing on the
pillars of love and fear. When Adam and Eve became fearful at their nakedness God’s
love provided through the creation the fig leaf’s to cover them up, hence we
pray daily as our reminder of provision, “Blessed
are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who, מַלְבִּישׁ עֲרֻמִּים (malbeesh ah’roomim), clothes
the naked.” In the same way, after
the death of their father Jacob the siblings of Joseph are fearful that their
brother will exact his revenge although he has done his best to show his
brothers love with the tears of forgiveness.
Love and fear are powerful emotions that are not only book ends to the entire
Genesis story but going forward are encountered over and over again. I think with all that is going right now
specifically with regards to this virus there is a great deal of fear that owns
many of us, not that we should not be smart and recognize the gravity of the
situation, feeling deeply for those who have been directly impacted or have died
because of it, but if fear leads instead of love it will create other problems
that a vaccine cannot help. Looking at this
week’s Torah sidrah (reading order), Parashat Vayechi, I see the
converging paths of love and fear as well.
We can see them in the lives of Jacob and Joseph but also Judah, and while all
different stories, they are supported by the same pillars. Jacob after leaving home as a wild child learned
some tough lessons along the way about the good and bad of human nature only to
be lied to regarding the fictious death of his child. After learning 22 years later that his son
was still alive he comes to Egypt and lives another 17 years in joy, comfort
and honor before he peacefully dies in the presence of all his children and
their families. Jacob is the voice of
the tomorrow, Ibn Ezra teaching דִבֵּר הַנָבִיא לָעַתִיד,
“the word of the prophet of the future,” the final patriarch who carries the
name of Israel as part of his identity, speaking words of blessing and wisdom. Joseph, the unwieldy teenager that lacked
wisdom who was rejected by his brothers and falsely accused, being sent to
prison as a slave before becoming the recipient of providence, showered with
power, wealth and ultimately a restored family.
But let’s keep it in mind that when faced with his own pit of emotions
upon seeing his brothers again Joseph chose to raise above the human need for
revenge and treated them well, electing to be a blessing to his siblings, which
is why he is called a tzedek, a righteous one. Then there was Judah, the 4th
eldest son who participated in the ruse to tell their father that his son
Joseph died because of their hate for him. But Judah would become a symbol of strength
and humility, followed by his brothers.
In Targum Yonathan and in the
Pseudepigraphal Book of Jubilees we learn that when Judah made his
confession regarding Tamar (see Genesis 38) his stock rose in the eyes of those
around him, being confirmed in the blessing he received from his father Jacob
that said, “יְהוּדָ֗ה אַתָּה֙ יוֹד֣וּךָ אַחֶ֔יךָ
יָדְךָ֖, “your brothers shall praise you.” Each seemed to reach a happy conclusion in
life.
In this parsha
we also note that all three die relatively close to one another. Here, while the deaths of Jacob (Genesis 49:33) and Joseph (Genesis 50:26) are recorded in Torah itself, the death of
Judah is recorded in the Midrashic Book of Yashar. Why? Judah
was blessed by his father as the one whose seed would produce Israel’s monarchy
and eventually the Messiah according to tradition, something that you might
think would have been important enough to record Judah’s death. Maybe Judah’s death is not mentioned because we supposed to learn from his life? Judah
is not directly a part of the story until his sin with Tamar (Genesis 38), also
becoming a major voice as the spokesman for his brothers before Joseph (Genesis44:16) as well as intervening for his brother Benjamin (Genesis 44:33-34),
showing us that t’shuvah (repentance) and hitchad’shut (renewal)
are achievable. But we also learn that his
confession and courage is embraced not only by his brothers, but later generations
who say,כִּי יְהוּדָה גָּבַר בְּאֶחָיו לְנָגִיד
מִמֶּנּוּ, “Judah became more powerful than his
brothers and a leader came from him” (1 Chronicles 5:2).
Rabbi
David Kimchi teaches that Judah became more powerful over Jacob’s firstborn
Reuven, perhaps because of his ineffectiveness to save his brother Joseph (see
Genesis 37:21-22) unlike Judah who literally became his brother’s keeper by advocating
for Benjamin, the Sfrono writing therefore of Judah, “you are the one who is
fit to fill the position of royalty.” But as Zohar teaches this blessing will
only be fulfilled in generations to come, summoning the words of Talmud that
says, “May it be God’s will that your offspring be like you” (Ta'anit
6a), Rashi connecting Judah’s scepter of royalty to King David and his seed.
Yet even though Judah received such
merit he became caught up in the fear of his brothers after the death of their
father Jacob, saying amongst themselves, “What if Joseph still bears a
grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrong that we did him” (Genesis 50:15). After Joseph weeps yet again with the regret
that his love is just not good enough to assure them, he says “Have
no fear! (אַל-תִּירָאו, al ti’rahoo) Am I a substitute for God?” Joseph also says, “what you meant evil against me; God meant it for
good” (Genesis 50:20), which
we can interpret to mean that living in fear (which caused evil acts) only
robbed them of the goodness of love instead (the blessings of life). Elisabeth Kübler-Ross notes that love breeds
positive emotions like joy, peace, and satisfaction whereas fear breeds
negative emotions like anger, guilt, and sadness. We also pray daily, “Blessed are You, Adonai
our God, King of the Universe, Who מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים
(ma’tir a’soo’rim), releases the imprisoned.” Fear is a part of life and awakens courage,
but the power of fear is something that we must be released from since it is
not disposable or seemingly will just disappear, only then allowing the seeker
to call and relay upon the goodness of love.
Each of us are at different stages in life and have our own narrative, but
what we learn from Judah is that when love and faith converge, even if on the
outside we seem to have everything, it is always better to be led by the
energies of love as opposed to the voices of fear. As we end Genesis we say, Chazak, chazak,
v'nitchazeik, which means "Be strong, be strong, and
we will strengthen one another," in this case by our love for each
other.
Shabbat
Shalom
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