|
|
December 13, 2002/Tevet 8 5763, Vol. 55, No. 16
Reconsider meaning of brotherhood
Torah study
RABBI MARK BISMAN
Vayigash/Genesis 44:18-47:27
When we participate in the ongoing discussion of what Torah has to teach us about the meaning and purpose of our lives, we join a fellowship than transcends the generations.
We usually start by looking at the peshat, the Torah's contextual meaning. This week's portion opens with Judah standing before the Viceroy of Egypt who has accused Benjamin of stealing the Viceroy's Divining Cup. The reader knows this powerful person is Joseph; Judah does not.
In a passionate speech, Judah pleads with the Viceroy to be allowed to take Benjamin's place as a slave so that Benjamin can return to his father. Judah explains that he has pledged his own life as a guarantor to his father that Benjamin will return home. So bound together are father and son, Judah warns, and if Benjamin does not return home, his father, Jacob, will die.
Joseph cannot control himself any longer and reveals his true identity to his brothers. In his speech, Joseph explains to his brothers that through their selling him to Egypt, God has enabled him to be in a position to save their lives.
If we look at this portion not only as the climax of the extended Joseph narrative (Genesis 37:02-50:24) but also as the climax of the book of Genesis, we see how Judah and Joseph have transformed the meaning of being a brother. At the beginning of the book of Genesis, when Cain responds to God's question, "Where is Abel, your brother," Cain declares, "Am I my brother's keeper!" (Genesis 4:8-9) One brother kills the other and claims that being a brother does not include responsibility for the brother's well being.
The story of Joseph starts out the same way. Joseph's brothers conspire to kill him. All the brothers strip him of the coat their father gave him and throw him into a pit. Reuben plans to return Joseph to his father; Judah suggests selling him to the merchants who are traveling to Egypt.
But as Joseph comes to understand, even when brothers want to hurt us, sometimes God has other plans. At the end of the brothers' saga, Joseph realizes that his mission in life may include ruling over his brothers, but that is only so that he can provide the protection and safety that will enable the children of Jacob to survive the severe famine that threatens their lives.
When Judah tells the Viceroy of Egypt, "Your servant has pledged himself for the boy," (Genesis 44:32) his words become the biblical source for the Jewish value concept, "All of Israel is pledged one for the other." Each of us is responsible for the other.
Normally stated in our tradition as our common responsibility for the survival of the Jewish people, this Jewish value is our people's response to Cain's claim. Judah and Joseph's speeches also offer a universal response to the meaning of "brotherhood." Both Judah and Joseph have grown in their understanding of what it means to "be a brother."
Their lesson is also ours. As the story of our people continues to unfold in the book of Exodus, and throughout the centuries, we come to learn that too many others have not learned that lesson. But Genesis holds out the hope that this people, Israel, can be God's dream for humanity.
This lesson is but one of the many our ancestors have gleaned from the Torah portion of Vayigash. To find others consider "The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis," by Aviva Gottleib Zornberg (Image Books, $18.05 paperback).
Rabbi Mark Bisman is rabbi of Har Zion Congregation. He can be contacted at 480-991-0720.
Jewish News has invited local rabbis to present commentaries on the weekly Torah portion.
|
