Vayechi: Blessings, Identity, Personal Responsibility and Social Justice

Blessings, Identity, Personal Responsibility and Social Justice

1/10/20

This week’s Torah portion/ parasha – Vayechi (Genesis 47:28 - 50:26) – is the last in the book of Genesis/Beresheit. It seems almost fitting that it’s the final portion as it is about the deaths of two of our main historical and religious figures – Jacob and Joseph. What I want to discuss tonight is the actions of just one of those men – Jacob.

Jacob was blessed – or gifted- with knowing that his death was imminent thereby giving him the opportunity to say goodbye to his family. In this case, with blessings. He is the first person in the Torah to have warning of his impending death. Joseph does as well at the very end of this portion – but he uses his time a bit differently than Jacob.

What spoke to me in this parasha was the concept of blessings. Jacob blesses not only his 12 children but also Joseph’s children in the very last chapters of Genesis. The blessings to his sons are in fact a mix of blessing and prediction. The blessings to Efraim and Menashe, Joseph’s sons, where Jacob claims these 2 grandchildren as HIS OWN sons, is something quite different.

First Jacob then called over his two grandchildren, and in what I just read in the Torah, places his hands on their heads, and starts blessing JOSEPH -- giving him the famous "Hamalach" blessing (48:16), that the angel that protected Jacob from evil should also protect Joseph's sons, and that Jacob's name should be associated with them, along with Avraham and Yitzchak, and they should multiply in the land. 

All these events seem inconsistent, unless we understand what they all mean...

This is why, when Jacob claimed the sons as his own, he made sure to stress that it was those two sons that were born in EGYPT (48:5). Their greatness and Joseph's greatness was that they were Jews DESPITE living in Egypt. And finally, although his hands were on the two sons, Jacob's blessing was that Joseph's children, and anyone who has to live in a non-Jewish world, should be protected throughout history so that we can all be proudly called the children of Avraham and Yitzchak.  The blessing that is given is: Y’simcha Elohim k’Efraim v’Menashe,
 “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasheh."

This is the same blessing that parents all over the Jewish world give their children on Friday nights. What is special about Efraim and Menashe? Firstly, we are taugt that they are the first pair of siblings in the Torah who do not see each other as competitors. They actually get along! So we bestow upon our children the legacy of peace and harmony between brothers.

Also, they didn’t lose their identity. They were the sons of an important man in Egypt, living for much of their lives apart from any kind Jewish community, yet they kept to their heritage. This is a blessing to forestall complete assimilation. To learn how to live completely and fully in multiple civilizations. This is a blessing that says you can be successful and fulfilled regardless of where you live and what’s going on around you – and still remain Jewish.

Girls, by the way, are also blessed every Shabbat but with a different blessing – Yisemech Elohim k’Sarah, Rivka, Rachel v’Leah

May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah

Each of these women possessed unique qualities that played essential roles in the strength and future of our people. The Torah is filled with accounts of these women, recording their insight, their strong and giving nature, and their sensitivity, leadership, and special ability to inspire others. Beyond this, all of the matriarchs were great, righteous women, who hailed from the homes of wicked people – what we call today " a bad environment." These women are all examples of people who recognize what needs to be done in order for good to prevail and they DO what needs doing, regardless of the personal price.

So where are we today?

Today we, as our ancestors, live in a world that presents us with many challenges – some personal, some tribal, some global.

It is hard to have a discussion with anyone in a minority group these days without the subjects of anti-Semitism, racism, gender harassment and too many other types of discrimination being raised.

Dr Jonathan Sarna, one of the most prominent historians of American Judaism, wrote that “Historically, hate-mongers and conspiracy theorists have repeatedly targeted out-groups during times of intense social and cultural stress in the United States.”  I’m sure this statement doesn’t surprise anyone. He cites examples in his writings of acts of hatred, public suspicion and outright acts of prejudice and violence throughout the centuries here in the United States against not only Jews but African Americans, Mormons, Catholics, the Irish… I could go on. Against those who act different, look different, pray differently, speak differently.

He concludes an article titled: Anti-Semitism is a Symptom (https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/anti-semitism-is-a-symptom/) … as follows:

“… with anti-Semitism back on the front page, [these] many historical examples of Americans targeting Jews and other out-groups during eras of intense social and cultural strain demonstrate the importance of distinguishing symptoms from diseases. America has experienced eras of crisis before, and Jews in America have been victimized before. In each case, anti-Semitism has been the symptom of larger social maladies, revealing more about the parlous [precarious] state of American society than about Jews.

“There are ways of mitigating symptoms of social stress: policing, education, vigilance, and the like. To repair the fabric of American society for the long-term, however, will require fresh leadership and a renewed commitment to shared values.”

So what can we do as individuals? We can act – participate in social discourse and social change. We can recognize that prejudice stems from – among other things – fear and ignorance. We can be, as all of my late grandmothers would say – Civil, polite, friendly. We can remember to smile. We can and must teach and share ideas freely and generously and listen to othersi, particularly those we disagree with, with respect and openness.

I know I am asking us to do what sometimes feels like an impossibility.  But that is one of the reasons I’m asking us to do this on the Shabbat of the Torah portion Vayechi. Where we, today, received a blessing thousands of years ago in the name of two brothers who were said to love each other, to get along, to treat each other with respect, kindness and love. After all, are not we all created B’Tzelem Elohim, in God’s image. Are we not all family – for all that means?

I will end tonight by doing something I rarely do. I would like to bless you all. I bless my children every Shabbat – in fact I did so just a few hours ago by phone. But I rarely bless large groups. But tonight it feels right.

Please rise.

Y’simcha Elohim k’Efraim v’Menashe

May God make you like Ephraim and Menashe

Yisemech Elohim k’Sarah, Rivka, Rachel v’Leah

May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah

Y’varech’cha Adonai V’yismeracha

May Adonai bless you, and guard you

Ya’ehr Adonai panav elecha v’chunecha

 May the Eternal’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you

Yissa Adonai panav elecha, v’yasem l’cha Shalom

May the Awesome One’s face be lifted up unto you, and give to you peace

Shabbat Shalom

Living in multiple civilizations

Parshat Vayigash Genesis 44:18–47:27

In Vayigash we meet Jacob and sons as they go down to Egypt to escape a famine. When they arrive in Egypt they reunite with Joseph and the family is made complete again. They were given a new home, a land, and a future.  We learn this from the final verse in Vayigash: Thus Israel settled in the country of Egypt, in the region of Goshen; vaye’achazu va, and were fertile and increased greatly (Genesis 47:27).

What is the meaning of vaye’achazu va? Some, Rashi (12^th century, France) included, translate it to simply mean that they acquired something material: land or possessions. Others, including the Or HaChaim (18^th century, Morocco), interpret vaye’achazu va to mean that they were not the possessors of the land, but were possessed by it.

Rabbeynu Bachya (14^th century, Spain) translates vaye’achazu va as meaning that “they acquired property in it.” He notes that the word vaye’achazu suggests “the acquisition of permanent, hereditary property.” He says that the passive form of the word vaye’achazu means that “instead of becoming masters of that soil they became enslaved to it. The word is reminiscent of something taking root.”

He concludes that the reason that the Torah earlier had written:  “these are the names of the Israelites who came to Egypt, [46:8]” is because only that generation was still “master” of its destiny. Later generations became “possessed” by the land instead of actively possessing it.”

‎The Hassidic master Kedushat Levi (18th century, Eastern Europe) takes an opposing view to Rabbeynu Bachya.  He teaches an alternate meaning of veye'achazu, namely that it means that the Israelites ‎"adopted," i.e. were taken captive by, the prevailing ‎cultural values of the Egyptians. But here, the meaning is that they were ‎able to sublimate these values and yet remain Yisrael at the ‎same time.

What Rabbeynu Bachya describes is a process of assimilation. Kedushat Levi describes a process that is a form of acculturation, of choosing which cultural traits or social patterns of those around us that we want to adopt and make uniquely Jewish.  This is one of the tactics that has enabled Judaism to survive over time. With each country a Jew lives in, with each move a Jew makes, they must decide what path they will walk.

The relevance of this teaching is clear, especially in this time of year when many deal with different variations of the “December dilemma,” though in reality the dilemma for some is never ending. How do we walk as Jews in a society that is overtly not-Jewish? What does being Jewish mean to each of us and how can we sit comfortably with the understanding that we don’t all think, feel, believe in the same way? How do we act like our ancestors in Egypt and, as Kedushat Levi taught, analyze and pick among the prevailing values to yet remain part of the Jewish Project?

One way to begin is to know our history and the foundations of our people. Our sages gave us a great gift in having us read a weekly Torah portion year after year. Whether or not one believes in all the Torah says is not at issue. What is at issue is that we learn from the examples of our ancestors (like the Israelites in Egypt) and the stories of tradition and use this knowledge as a basis for our personal ethics and values. By doing this we can strive to live fully and completely in multiple civilizations, as Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan taught when writing about living as both Jews and Americans.

Also published in WJW 1/2/20