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December 6, 2002/Tevet 1 5763, Vol. 55, No. 15
Learn to prevent hardness of heart
Torah study
RABBI ELANA KANTER
Miketz/Genesis 41:1-44:17
Parshat Miketz, which is always read on Hanukkah, charts the movement of Joseph from darkness to light, from forgotten prisoner to ruler in Egypt. As Joseph foretold, Pharaoh's dreams become reality, and after seven years of plenty, Joseph helps Egypt deal with a famine that strikes the entire region.
It is in the context that Joseph's reunion with his brothers occurs. The famine is severe in the land of Canaan, and Joseph's brothers travel to Egypt to buy food. Joseph sees his brothers, but they do not recognize him, and Joseph uses the situation to set up a test for his brothers. He gives them an opportunity to sell out another brother, Benjamin, as they had sold him. The portion ends with one of the great cliffhangers of literature, where we don't know whether the brothers will do to Benjamin what they did to Joseph.
Joseph begins testing his brothers by falsely accusing them of being spies. Upon hearing the false accusations, the brothers say to each other: "Alas, we are being punished on account of our brother, because we looked on at his anguish, yet paid no heed as he pleaded with us. That is why this distress has come upon us." (Genesis 42:21) Commenting on this verse, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman writes: "(The) brothers considered their cruelty to Joseph as meriting greater punishment than the sale itself, for their own flesh and blood had implored and begged them, and yet they had remained unmoved."
Ramban's comment points to how the brothers understand their own guilt. In their mind, selling Joseph into slavery takes second place to the fact that he had cried out to them, and they had ignored his cries. They bore guilt because they chose to ignore the suffering of their brother.
During this time of trial for the Jewish people, when Jews are being attacked on a daily and weekly basis, Ramban's comment reminds us of a challenge we face every single day. Our outrage over attacks against fellow Jews should translate itself into definitive and unapologetic action to protect ourselves. And yet if it also hardens our hearts, then we have truly lost this war. What should separate us from those who want to encourage evil in the world is our reverence for life, our decision to hear the cries of those who suffer.
What can we do to prevent ourselves from becoming what we abhor in our enemies? There are small things we can do to preserve the openness of hearts. Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Ostrov of the 16th century teaches that one of the ways to manage anger is to look into the faces of babies. When we remember the fragility that we all share by looking into the face of a child, we can prevent any hardness of the heart from becoming permanent.
Usually we think of our obligation to be involved in the raising of and caring for Jewish children as a way to insure the Jewish future. And yet in this context, we find that involvement with children can be critical for our own spiritual balance and health.
May we understand the insight that Joseph's brothers understood: that the possibility of learning to be cruel poses great danger for us. May we be given the strength to respond to attacks against us with power, but without giving up our capacity for compassion, so that we can be what God wants us to be: "Just as the Holy One is compassionate and kind, so, too, you must be compassionate and kind." (Sifrei D'varim)
Rabbi Elana Kanter is co-rabbi of The New Shul. She can be contacted at 480-515-2272.
Jewish News has invited local rabbis to present commentaries on the weekly Torah portion.
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