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January 2, 2004/Tevet 8 5764, Vol. 56, No. 15
The Jewish dream of familial harmony
Torah study
RABBI MARK BISMAN
Vayigash/Genesis 44:18-47:27
The greatest dream of our popular American culture, even greater than the dreams of success or of power, is the dream that each of us will find true love. The American celebration of New Year's often focuses on a romantic dinner or dance when the loving couple kiss at the stroke of midnight. Romance novels and Hollywood movies fantasize about the man and the woman who find happiness when they find each other.
The Book of Genesis also has a dream. Judah and Joseph give eloquent expression in Vayigash to this Jewish cultural dream dreamt by Jews throughout Jewish history. And Ezekiel echoes that dream in the prophetic portion designated for this week.
Genesis dreams that a human being's most basic quest for love can, over one's lifetime, mature into a sense of responsibility for others. Genesis dreams that children can mature and become parents, that those who crave love in their youth can one day give love and care to others.
Genesis dreams not of romance but of human responsibility for those who need our care and concern.
Human beings have a deep need to be loved and appreciated by their parents. Cain's killing Abel or Joseph's brothers' plotting to kill him or sell him into slavery expresses the seemingly inevitable degeneration of sibling rivalry into violence within a family. Judah's pleading with the viceroy of Egypt for the freedom of his youngest brother Benjamin so that his father Jacob will not suffer more loss and pain is the fulfillment of the Jewish cultural dream. A mature Judah would surrender his own freedom to ensure the safety of his brother and to protect his father from a pain Judah had once conspired to inflict upon his father.
And at the height of his power and glory in Egypt, Joseph explains to his brothers, now at his mercy, that his attainment of power was only for the sake of providing for their care and sustenance as famine threatens their survival.
Ezekiel expresses the dreams of a later generation that familial loyalty could be restored on a national basis. Spoken at a time of defeat, when the descendents of Joseph in the north and the descendents of Judah in the south had lost their independence to external enemies, Ezekiel dreams an amazing dream. He dreams that one day, north and south would lay to rest their competition for political dominance that had led to their separate destruction. Ezekiel dreams that one day, just as he can bind two sticks together, that Israel in the north and Judea in the south would reunite. A future unity would echo a past unity achieved in Joseph's day. A day would come when the Children of Israel would feel bound together and when God would help them achieve independence and freedom symbolized by the future rule of a descendent of King David. Thus, a central part of the dream of a messianic time is a dream of harmony in the family and in the nation that leads to care and concern for the weakest members of the community.
In our own community, may the famine of philanthropy not bring us to fight with one another over scarce resources. May our leaders model the ways of the mature Judah and the mature Joseph who took responsibility for caring for those who needed support. Whether it is our frail elderly, our own father Jacobs who need us or our youngest brother Benjamins, may we, in the coming year, use the resources, talents and wisdom with which we have been blessed to provide for the material and spiritual well-being of our Jewish communal family.
Rabbi Mark Bisman is spiritual leader of Har Zion Congregation in Scottsdale.
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