Torah Portion Exodus 1.1 - 6.1
Study for this parsha includes the JPS Tanakh and the Sh'mos edition of the book The Midrash Says, edited by Rabbi Moshe Weissman. Also I consulted Aish.com's Advanced Parsha pages. I did not attend TBI's Torah Study group this week.
One of the themes from this parsha is that royalty and wealth do not really matter in this world. The Pharaoh is snubbed over and over by people who would rather do what is right rather than what he orders. These people include slaves, midwives, his own daughter and his adopted son.
This parsha begins with an accounting of the descendants of Jacob, who were very prolific, filling the land of Egypt. Torah says the new Pharaoh did not know Joseph and was threatened by the great number of 'Apiru (later called Hebrews and Israelites), so he enslaved them before they grew so numerous they could overcome the Egyptians. Even under harsh labor, they multiplied.
Midrash says at first Pharaoh rebuked his advisors for trying to convince him to crush the Hebrews. He said, "Fools! If not for their ancestor Yosef, who saved the country in the years of famine, we all would not be alive today. How can you think of harming them?" His advisors ousted him from the throne and humiliated him. When he reclaimed the throne three months later, he had changed his mind and was ready to deal harshly with the Jews and to renounce any belief whatsoever in God.
The Rabbis recorded many reasons God may have allowed the Hebrews to become slaves. Maimonides said it was because Abraham left the Promised Land so soon after settling there rather than trusting that God would provide. (Although there is a record that God told Abraham to journey to the promised land, there is no mention of God telling Abraham to leave during the famine.) Rabbi Abarbanel said it was punishment for Jacob's sons, who treated Joseph so harshly. Because they sold Joseph into slavery, their descendants would all become slaves. Joseph's descendants were included in the punishment because Joseph was too proud. Rabbi Shmuel said it was to punish the descendants of Abraham, who questioned God's promise to make his descendants numerous. There were other reasons given, but these, (from the foreword of The Midrash Says) should serve as warning to us that even small disobediences to God could have an impact on many future generations.
The Torah does make it clear that slavery helped the Hebrews, previously scattered semi-nomads, form into a distinctive nation. Midrash says as long as Jacob's sons lived, the Hebrews were content to associate among themselves and to live honorable lives. However, over time, the Hebrews began to intermarry with the Egyptians and practice idol worship. God had no alternative but to impose harsh labor and discrimination on them to force them to come back together as a united people. Once enslaved, there were no further intermarriages. They began to speak the language of their fathers, dress differently from the Egyptians, practice chesed with each other and only give their children Jewish names.
The sages claimed Egyptian advancements and life of leisure (made possible by the sweat of Hebrews) led them into a life of sorcery, pantheism and immoral behavior. Midrash says most Hebrews abhorred their oppressors' evil ways, and that our ancestors Sarah and Joseph, who both resisted Egyptian advances, imparted all their descendants with this virtuous quality. Midrash also says the requirement to obey God, even while on call to the Egyptians 24 hours a day, has been retained in our genes to this day, proved by the fact that Jews still incorporate service to God in all our waking hours.
All of Israel supported the Levites, who were not enslaved and therefore were not fed by the Egyptians. The Levites engaged in Torah study and proper worship of God to the general population.
Midrash says by removing the men from their wives for hard labor, Pharaoh thought he would stem the "plague" of Hebrew births. To entice the men away, he promised good pay for hard work, but only paid the first month, then placed heavily armed guards to watch over the Jews as they worked without pay except for meager rations. Midrash says that the Hebrew women drew water, God placed numerous little fish in it, so the wives could prepare them to nourish their husbands, who were weary from hard labor. The women disobeyed Pharaoh's commands, endangering themselves in their desire to raise large families. They gave birth to an unprecedented number of healthy offspring, even sextuplets! When the women gave birth while working in the fields and were forced by the Egyptians to abandon their babies, God's angels fed and cleaned the infants. The earth would open to swallow the babies whenever Egyptians searched for them to kill them. The babies miraculously not only sprang up from the earth when the danger was past, but found their way home to their parents! (Midrash sometimes reads like scholarly material and sometimes like a fairy tale, with exaggeration and many hidden meanings, including social commentary.)
Pharaoh ordered Shiphrah and Puah, the midwives who served the Hebrews, to kill all the baby boys, only allowing the girls to live. The midwives, who are not identified clearly in Torah, may or may not have been Hebrews themselves. Midrash says they were none other than Yocheved, Moses' mother, and Miriam, Moses' sister. Regardless of their race, they knew God and feared his wrath. They prayed to God that all the children be born healthy and not disabled in any way so the Hebrews could not blame them for their children's afflictions. When the king summoned them to explain why no baby boys had died, they answered bravely, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, they are vigorous (like animals). Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth." Midrash says the midwives told Pharaoh that the Hebrew ancestor Judah was like a lion, Benjamin, like a wolf, and Naphtali, like a hind. Somehow, Pharaoh believed the midwives and did not put them to death.
Midrash says God rewarded Miriam with a Judean husband and decedents that included the Davidic line. Yocheved became mother not only of Moses, the first Levi, but also Abraham, the first Kohen. Aish.com says Rabbi Moshe Feinstein explained the odd placement in the Torah of "the people multiplied and increased greatly" between "God dealt well with the midwives" and "because the midwives feared God, he established households for them." If the households were the only reward, they would have been mentioned immediately after "God dealt well". The placement of "households" after the "increase" of the people means that the increase was the first and greatest reward.
The Pharaoh, who intended genocide, said, "The final solution seems more complicated than I thought". He called his astrologers and counselors, who according to Midrash, told him that Jews were resistant to all means of death except drowning. Astrologers told himthat the savior of the Jews would soon be born. Pharaoh ordered the Egyptian soldiers to seize every baby boy and throw him into the Nile.
Torah says a Levite couple gave birth to a very beautiful baby boy. Midrash says they named him Tuvyah, Hebrew for "good". (Makes me think of the protagonist in Fiddler on the Roof.) The mother (identified in Midrash and in the following parsha as Yocheved) hid him for three months. We can assume she either shushed his every cry quickly (like America's plains Indians did so others passing near camp would not discover them) or that he was mute. His silence protected him. Eventually the mother felt she could no longer hide him, so she waterproofed a basket and placed the baby in it in the Nile, among the reeds so he could not be swept away. The baby's sister (named Miriam, which means "bitter" because the Egyptians made their lives bitter) stayed within eyesight of him so she could see what happened.
Midrash says Pharaoh's astrologers knew the instant the baby was placed in the water and told Pharaoh he was cast into the Nile. Pharaoh called off the edict to keep killing baby boys. Midrash also says God protected all the babies previously cast into the Nile by commanding the water to spit them out onto dry land. God ordered the rocks on one side of the river to produce honey and the other side to produce oil so the children would not go hungry.
Pharaoh's daughter (named Basya) came to bathe in the Nile. Midrash says she had leprosy. She saw the basket. Her slave girl fetched it for her. Midrash says when Basya touched the basket, her leprosy was healed. When she opened the basket, she SAW the baby boy crying. Torah does not say they heard him, but Midrash says the angel Gabriel made him emit one cry. Pharaoh's daughter pitied him, knowing he must be a Hebrew child. In the third remarkable act of bravery on the part of women, Basya decides to defy her father's order and raise the child. Miriam, in the fourth act of bravery, came forward to ask Basya if she should find a Hebrew nurse to suckle the child. When Basya consented, Miriam ran to get her own mother. The Pharaoh's daughter then offered to pay Yocheved to nurse her own child! When the child was of weaning age, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter. Pharaoh's daughter named the child Moses, which meant she drew him out of the water. Midrash says when Moses grew older, Pharaoh placed him in charge of his household, just as a previous pharaoh did for Joseph.
We know Moses, despite his royal upbringing, thought of himself as a Hebrew and often sympathized with the oppressed. Perhaps Yocheved's brave concern for the Hebrews was passed to him. One day he went out specifically to see the labors forced upon his kin. When he saw an Egyptian mercilessly beating a Hebrew, he looked left and right and thinking no one was watching, killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The following day he saw two Hebrews fighting and admonished the perpetrator, who answered: "Who made you chief and ruler over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses knew he had been seen. He was frightened. Sure enough, Pharaoh found out and tried to kill Moses, but Moses ran away. He ended up in Midian, where he stopped to rest beside a well.
Here the theme of meeting and defending kind women at a well is repeated. In fact, by now, I am beginning to think wells served as matchmakers in ancient times. Perhaps because wells are vessels that sustain life, symbolizing fertility and wombs. The seven daughters of the Midianite priest came to water their flocks, but male shepherds scared them away. "Moses rose to their defense and he watered their flock." When the girls returned home, their father was surprised that they were home so early. Apparently they often had to wait for the shepherds to leave before they could water their animals. They told their father of Moses' behavior. They described him as an Egyptian.
Their father, who we shall see is a virtuous man, was unhappy they did not invite Moses in. He summoned Moses, who accepted their hospitality. The priest gave Moses his daughter Zipporah (which means bird) as his wife. She bore him two sons. Moses, who had been brought up as Egyptian royalty, which despised shepherds, became one for his father in law.
Meanwhile, Pharaoh died, but the Hebrews were still very much enslaved. Their suffering attracted the attention of God, who remembered the Covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Although God had told Abraham his people would be enslaved 400 years, he heard the cries of the Hebrews and decided to intervene after only 210 years. God selected Moses to be his agent.
While Moses was tending sheep, he saw a bush burning but not being consumed. I believe this was a variety of sage called Salvia Judaica, literally Save Jews! It often has seven branches, resembling a menorah. Quite a few websites believe Salvia Judaica is the inspiration for the menorah described to Moses much later, in Exodus 25:31-37. Because the plant has so much natural oil, I wonder if it could burn like a torch, like our Scotch Broom here in Oregon. You can find a very good picture of the plant here: http://www.holidayinisrael.com/ViewPage.asp?lid=1&pid=289.
Moses was fascinated by the burning bush, but realized as he drew close that he should avert his eyes. ( Kabbalah says that Moses was Abel reincarnated. Abel died young (at Cain's hand) because he looked at the Shechinah as he gave his offering. Moses had learned his lesson, humility, from his previous life.) When God called his name, Moses answered as almost all other prophets in the Tanakh would, hinieni, "Here I am!"
God commanded Moses to go to Pharaoh and ask for the release of his people. Moses made it beyond clear that he really did not want to go. (We can imagine, although Torah does not tell it, that he is afraid he would meet certain death since no doubt Pharaoh charged him with murder and treason.) Moses told God that Pharaoh would not obey him, the Israelites wouldn't believe he was their savior and that he was a poor spokesman due to a speech impediment. Finally he asked that someone else be sent in his stead, which angered God. Midrash says that Moses meant that God should send the Messiah instead, but God had reasons for choosing Moses.
The way Moses attempts to protest and bargain with God recalls Abraham's conversations with God, but God deals with Moses more harshly than he ever did with Abraham. Even though God became angry with him, Moses continued to protest all the rest of his life! (Maimonides said that God neither spoke nor had emotions to become angry. Seen through the logic of Maimonides, God's master plan, which Moses was able to perceive, became colored by Moses' own personality.)
Aish.com, quoting Pesikta Rabbasi 15:8, says Moses knew the Israelites expected 400 years of slavery and would doubt him because only 210 had passed. God gave Moses powers to perform three signs to show he was sent by God; later, as we shall see, Pharaoh's sorcerers call these signs mere magic. So I wonder why God would give signs to Moses that could be duplicated by others. Did the Israelites really need these signs? Didn't the righteous among them know the stories of the matriarchs and patriarchs? Is it possible that either they have been so crushed by slavery that they think God has deserted them? Or, as I think, is it possible that God gave these signs to Moses to increase Moses' confidence?
God told Moses He would be with him, the Israelites would believe him and they would come worship Him at this very mountain. The holy ground, where God revealed himself in a burning bush, is the same ground where God, in a cloud of smoke and fire, would give the Commandments and Torah.
Moses returned home and asked his father in law to let him see his kinsmen in Egypt. Jethro said, "Go in peace!" After God told Moses the men who wanted to kill him had died, Moses gathered his wife and sons and began traveling to Egypt. God was still angry, however, and sought to kill Moses while they were encamped. Zipporah, Moses' wife and a convert, knew exactly what to do. She quickly circumcised her son. (How could the liberator of Jews leave his own sons uncircumcised?) God then left Moses alone.
God told Aaron to meet Moses in the wilderness. Moses and Aaron kissed and talked about their instructions, then went on to meet the elders of the Israelites. Aaron did the talking and Moses performed the signs, to the Israelite's satisfaction.
Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh together to ask for permission to take their people to worship God in the wilderness. Pharaoh mocked them, "Who is the Lord that I should heed Him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go." Aaron and Moses said that they had seen God, and that God might smite their people with pestilence or sword if they did not worship and sacrifice to Him.
In spite, the following day, Pharaoh ordered the taskmasters to stop providing straw for the bricks the Israelites were building. Not only were the Israelites to gather their own straw, but also they must still make as many bricks as before. Of course, the Israelites, who could not keep up and were beaten, were angry with Moses and Aaron. Moses called out to God, "Oh, Lord, why did You bring harm upon this people? Why did You send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has dealt worse with this people, and still You have not delivered Your people."
Thus this parsha ends.
Rabbi David Wolpe (the author of In Speech and Silence, which among other subjects, discusses Moses' speech impediment) was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying that the Exodus couldn't have happened. Saying the Exodus didn't happen is almost like saying the reason for the Jews' cohesive peoplehood is a lie, like saying we didn't receive and agree to God's Covenant and did not struggle and support each other during nearly unendurable hardship. It is like denying our martyrs the reason they chose death rather than forced conversion through multiple persecutions.
Aish.com says that for most of ancient history (until Herodotus, the first relatively impartial historian, who lived 800 years after the Exodus), recorded "history" was largely propaganda, meant to support the politics of whoever was in power. Egyptians would not want to admit that escaping Hebrew slaves virtually destroyed Egypt and drowned the Pharaoh himself with God's help. Aish uses to support their argument a war in which both sides claimed to be victorious and also the fact that unlike other ancient documents, Torah presents its heroes as real people, with both strengths and faults.
This objective portrayal lends the Torah great credibility. As the writer Israel Zangwill said: "The Bible is an anti-Semitic book. Israel is the villain, not the hero, of his own story. Alone among the epics, it is out for truth, not heroics."
I have read essays and books that refute that Israelites were ever in Egypt or ever conquered Canaan, and also essays and books that say that everything in the Bible is the word for word truth from God. I am inclined to believe that the Bible contains truth that was edited by the rabbis in exile and suffered occasionally from mistranslations. It appears from archaeological evidence that perhaps the Judges version of the takeover of Canaan (which admits that all the Canaanites were not ousted or killed) is more realistic than the Joshua version. I am not inclined to believe the entire Exodus story is fiction. So I was pleased to find the following in Aish.com:
Egyptologist Sir Alan Gardiner said of Egyptian archaeology: "It must never be forgotten that we are dealing with a civilization thousands of years old and one of which only tiny remnants have survived. What is proudly advertised as Egyptian history is merely a collection of rags and tatters." This sketchy archaeological record makes a document preserved from the Israelite slavery period even more astounding. Known as the Brooklyn Papyrus (because it is in the Brooklyn Museum), this document portrays Israelite names from the Bible as the names of domestic slaves: Asher, Yissachar, and Shifra. The document also includes the term "hapiru" which many scholars agree has clear historical affinity to the biblical term "ivrim," meaning "Hebrews."
The Bible records that Jews built the storage cities of Pitom and Ramses. Austrian archaeologist Manfred Bietak has succeeded in positively identifying the city of Pi-Ramesse. This city he found dates exactly to the period of the sojourn in Egypt, and even contains many Asiatic (of Canaanite origin) remains at the area of the slave residences. Egyptian records also tell how Pharaoh Rameses II built a new capital called Pi-Ramesse (the House of Rameses) on the eastern Nile delta, near the ancient area known as Goshen, the precise geographic area where the Bible places the Israelites.
Further, the Leiden Papyrus (another Egyptian document of that era) reports that an official for the construction of Ramasses II ordered to "distribute grain rations to the soldiers and to the Apiru who transport stones to the great pylon of Ramasses." (Apiru, as we said, is related to Hebrews.) Professor Abraham Malamat of Hebrew University infers from this that the Hebrews were forced to build the city of Ramasses. "This evidence is circumstantial at best," notes Malamat, "but it's as much as a historian can argue."
EXODUS AND DESERT WANDERING
"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land Philistines, although that was near; For God said: "Lest the people repent when they see war and return to Egypt." (Exodus 13:17) Prof. Malamat explains the reason for this detour: At that time in Egyptian history, and lasting for only about 200 years, there was a massive, nearly impenetrable network of fortresses situated along the northern Sinai coastal route to Canaan. Yet these same defenses were absent near Egypt's access to southern Sinai -- because the Egyptians felt the southern route was certain death in the desert. Therefore, when Moses tells the Israelites to encamp at a site that will mislead Pharaoh, the Egyptians will conclude that the Israelites "are entangled in the land, the wilderness has closed in on them" (Exodus 14:3). This, according to Malamat, "reflects a distinctly Egyptian viewpoint that must have been common at the time: In view of the fortresses on the northern coast, anyone seeking to flee Egypt would necessarily make a detour south into the desert, where they might well perish."
...Biblical criticism comes from the late archaeologist Gosta Ahlstrom. He declares: "It is quite clear that the biblical writers knew nothing about events in Palestine before the 10th century BCE, and they certainly didn't know anything of the geography of Palestine in the Late Bronze age," the time of the desert wandering and subsequent conquest of the land of Canaan. Ahlstrom's proof? He cites the biblical listing of cities along the alleged route that the Israelites traveled immediately before reaching the Jordan River -- Iyyim, Divon, Almon-divlatayim, Nevo, and Avel Shittim (Numbers 33:45-50), and reports that most of these locations have not been located, and those that were excavated did not exist at the time the Bible reports.
In the meantime, writings from the walls of Egyptian Temples say differently. It is well known that Egypt had much reason to travel to Canaan in those days; trade, exploitation, military conquest. These routes are recorded in three different Egyptian Temples -- listed in the same order as provided in the Bible, and dated to the exact period of the Israelite conquest of Canaan.
Another piece of outside verification is an ancient inscription housed in the Amman Museum. Dating to the 8th century BCE (at least), it was found in the Jordanian village of Deir Alla, which was Moabite territory in biblical times. This inscription tells of a person by the name of Bilaam ben Beor, known to the locals as a prophet who would receive his prophecies at night. These features match precisely the Bilaam described in the Bible (Numbers 21) -- his full name, occupation, nighttime prophecies. And of course, Bilaam was a Moabite.
CONQUEST OF CANAAN
...Rarely can an archaeologist claim that "this is the very item the Bible spoke about." Yet Dr. Adam Zartal, chairman of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, may have done it. Joshua 8:30-35 tells of the fulfillment of Moses' command to build an altar on Mount Eval (Deut. 27). Zartal reports that his excavation team found this very altar. The place is right, the time is right, and the animal bones are consistent with the biblical offerings. Even the style of the altar is right, in such detail, says Zartal, that it looks nearly identical to the description of the Temple's altar as described in the Talmud -- a uniquely Israelite design that no Canaanite temples used then or later.
Revisionists insist there was no such entity as "Israel" until at least the 9th century BCE. Yet a well known Egyptian inscription dated to about 1210 BCE clearly identifies an Israel in the land of Canaan as a people that had to be reckoned with. The inscription, which depicts the victories of Pharaoh Merneptah in Canaan, reads in part: "Israel is laid waste, his seed is no more." How do revisionists react to this inscription? Dismissively. Says Dever: "They denigrate it as our only known reference. But one unimpeachable witness in the court of history is sufficient. There does exist in Canaan a people calling themselves Israel, who are thus called Israel by the Egyptians -- who after all are hardly biblically biased, and who cannot have invented such a specific and unique people for their own propaganda purposes."
More: In the book of Samuel, the Philistines are reported to be expert metal workers, and in the Book of Jeremiah they are reported to have originated in Crete. Both of these details concerning the Philistines, who were off the political map by the 9th century BCE, are corroborated through archaeology. Furthermore, 1-Samuel 13:19-21 records the Israelites relying on the metal smiths of the Philistines, and a 'pym' used in the tool-sharpening process. But what this 'pym' was has been a mystery. Recent excavations found that an ancient coin weight called a "pym," which was used exclusively during the Israelite settlement period, was apparently the payment for the service of sharpening. Posits Dever: "Is it possible that a writer in the 2nd century BCE could have known of the existence of these pym weights which... would have disappeared for 5 centuries before his time? It is not possible."
Additionally, in the hill regions of Judea and Samaria (the heartland of ancient Israel), approximately 300 small agricultural villages were found, built between the 13-11th centuries BCE, the time period of the Israelite conquest of the land. According to Dever, this represented a large population increase that did not come from the native population. He writes, “Such a dramatic population increase cannot be accounted for by natural increase alone, much less by positing small groups of pastoral nomads settling down. Large numbers of people must have migrated here from somewhere else, strongly motivated to colonize an under populated fringe area of urban Canaan now in decline at the end of the Late Bronze Age.” Also, the type of house structure was unique, and matched descriptions in the books of Judges and Samuel. Additionally, all of the settlements lacked any pig remnants amongst animal bones left in the area; only the Jews had a pigless diet.
There is more; to read it for yourself, go to Aish.com, Archaeology and the Bible, Parts I and II
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Torah portion Genesis 41:1-44:17
Torah portion Genesis 41:1-44:17
Two years later, Pharaoh had dreams in which 7 sturdy, healthy cows came up out of a river were devoured by 7 gaunt cows and also that 7 fat ears of grain growing on a single stalk were eaten by 7 scorched ears. He sent for all the magicians and wise men, but none could interpret the dreams. In the more disturbing dream, seven fat and happy cows come up out of the river, to be followed by seven skinny and ugly cows, who after a small hesitation while they are all side by side, DEVOUR THE FAT COWS ALIVE! Even though the USDA once fed cow parts to cows and still insists it is ok to feeding chicken litter to cows (after the chickens have eaten cow parts themselves), cows are neither carnivores nor cannibals.
There is a subtle anti-idolatry message: the Pharaoh considered himself a diety, the river was also divine AND he called all the magicians in. Then the cupbearer remembered Joseph and they sent for him. Joseph said he did not interpret dreams, but God did through him. Joseph interpreted that there would be seven good years and seven years of famine. He recommended that a man be appointed to oversee the harvest so that food may be stored in advance for the famine years. Pharaoh must have realized by now that his ways weren't working and was ready to seek another way; he saw that God was known to Joseph. He made Joseph this overseer, the second in command over all Egypt. Someone in Torah study asked if this was opportunism or a true turning. It does seem to me that this Pharaoh, presented as a minor hero, did have a true turning; in the very next parsha, it says the next Pharaoh did not know Joseph.
Pharaoh gave Joseph his own signet ring as well as gold chains, linen garments, a chariot and a wife who was the daughter of a priest. (Some say this wife was the daughter of Potiphar, which would be interesting not only on a sexual level, but also because a steward/priest is an unusual combination, but my JPS text shows the names are similar but not the same; this girl is the daughter of Poti-phera. Not being able to read Hebrew, I don't know which is correct.) The children of this union were named Ephraim and Manasseh. Pharaoh also gave Joseph the name of Zaphenath-paneah, which my JPS edition says means "God speaks; he lives." "Joseph" means "increase."
Joseph traveled the country, gathering food during the seven years of plenty, and storing it in the cities closest to the fields that grew it. Joseph gathered grain in such plenty it (echoing the promise of God to his ancestors) was like the grains of the sea, beyond counting.
When the famine came, Joseph rationed out the food. The famine spread throughout the world so all the world came to Joseph to procure ration. Jacob urged his sons to go to Egypt to secure food, also. (Jacob said, "Why do you keep looking at one another!" like they were really slow- witted. Another translation says, "Why are you showing off?" This may be a better translation; it was around during Rashi's time and Rashi said the brothers were acting as if they had plenty to eat when their stores were running low.) Jacob sent all the brothers except Benjamin, the youngest, fearing that he would come to a bad end if he went with the others. He must have understood in his heart that the older brothers were at least somewhat responsible for what happened to Joseph.
Joseph recognized the brothers, but the brothers did not recognize him as they bowed low to him, like the wheat sheaves of Joseph's dream when he was young. Joseph spoke harshly to them, accusing them of being spies. He demanded to know who they were and where they were from. He said he would give them nothing unless they bring the youngest brother to him. He confined them all in the guardhouse for three days to think about it, then came back and said if they left one remaining, the rest could go to bring back the brother. As long as they brought back the brother, they would come to no harm. Reuben chastised the others; he had told them not to do wrong to Joseph and now they were paying the price. Joseph heard and wept.
Joseph took Simeon and bound him. (Why Simeon, the second son, who has already displeased Jacob? Perhaps he remembered that Reuben and Judah, the other two oldest, had both not wanted to kill him.) Joseph then gave orders that the brothers' sacks be filled with grain, that their money be quietly placed within the sacks and they be given provisions for the journey. The brothers were afraid when they saw their money had been returned; they feared being accused of thievery.
The brothers went home and told Jacob what transpired. They said they must return with Benjamin in order to rescue Simeon and ensure they could all move freely about the land. Jacob, of course, answered, "Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more and now you would take away Benjamin!" Reuben offered his father, "You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care and I will return him to you." Jacob refused. He appeared to wallow in self pity: "It is always me that you bereave; these things always happen to me!" He said, in an obvious slight to the other brothers, "My son must not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left."
The famine worsened and the family ran out of rations. Eventually Jacob asked the brothers to go back for more food, but Judah reminded him that they could not return without Benjamin. Jacob (called Israel here) was angry with them for even mentioning they had another brother! (And who can blame him?) Judah said he would himself be surety for Benjamin, and that they must go, they could already have been there and back twice if they had not dawdled. So Jacob asked them to take gifts for the man, as well as double the money. (The gifts included nuts during a time of famine; Jacob was sending what was very precious to him and what was most precious, Benjamin.)
So the brothers took gifts, double the money and Benjamin. Joseph had his house steward bring the brothers into the house and prepare a feast. They were afraid and pleaded with the steward that they did not know how the money got back in their bags the last time. The steward said all was well, that he got their money and God must have gifted them. He returned Simeon to them. The steward brought water for them to bathe their feet and he fed their asses.
The brothers waited for Joseph, gifts laid out conspicuously. They bowed low before Joseph. Joseph saw Benjamin and was so overcome, he had to hurry out of the room to weep. He washed his face, regained control of himself and ordered that the meal be served. Benjamin's serving was three times that of anyone else.
Note here that the Egyptians could not dine with the Hebrews, not even with Joseph, who ate at a table alone. Joseph ate by himself; the brothers ate by themselves and the Egyptians ate by themselves!
Joseph sent all the brothers off with plentiful grain and all the money they came with. He had his silver goblet sneaked into Benjamin's bag. Then he had his steward overtake them, pretending to think they had stolen his silver goblet. The brothers all protested that they would never do such a thing and if anyone among them be found with any silver or gold, let that person die and the rest of them become slaves of Josephs! The steward replied only the one with whom the silver was found would be a slave; the rest would go free. The brothers rent their clothes when Benjamin's bag held the goblet. This story is reminiscent of the one in which Jacob protested to Laban that he did not have the idols, when his favorite wife did, in fact, have them.
The brothers all returned to Joseph and threw themselves on the ground before him. He demanded to know why they would take an object he needed for divination! Judah pleaded that they would all serve as his slaves, but Joseph said he would only keep the younger.
In Torah study, we were fascinated by the psychology of the tale. Could Joseph have sent notice to his father that he was alive and doing well? What if he thought his father were part of the scheme to remove him from the household? After all, his father sent him far away to look for the brothers. My fiance wondered if maybe the living mothers even were responsible. Joseph's mother was long dead. He had no protector at home. We know that Joseph "brought bad reports" of the brothers to his father. We also know his father favored him and would give him a double portion, even though the next in line once Reuben was removed from his position of power would have been a concubine's son, certainly not Joseph, who was born tenth. We know Joseph had good reason to fear his brothers.
It's hard to know why Joseph insisted on framing Benjamin, and there are no clues as to how Benjamin felt about it. Like Dinah earlier, his reactions are deemed unimportant. It is Judah who matters. Two people in Torah study brought up a spiritual reason for Joseph's strange and cruel seeming plan to entrap Benjamin. He was able to orchestrate a similar scenario with taking him from his father and making him a slave in a foreign land. Instead of Joseph being merely spiteful, he is giving the brothers the chance to redeem themselves. And Judah, who by now has grown significantly, does.
Two Torah study members, looking forward to whether Joseph foreshadowed Moses, looked backwards at the previous parsha and discussed whether Joseph was shepherding with the brothers or whether he was shepherding the brothers themselves. Cain said, "Am I my brothers keeper?" In the story of Joseph, the answer clearly is yes, we must be our brothers' keepers.
Another message in this parsha is that we must remember to plan ahead; we may not have the gift of prescience like Joseph did. Joseph's brothers mistreated their own during times of plenty and were unusually blessed that Joseph treated them well during times of scarcity. This is not the way the world usually works. It is much harder (and we see this in the Torah over and over) for people to remember to serve God and their fellows in good times.
Two years later, Pharaoh had dreams in which 7 sturdy, healthy cows came up out of a river were devoured by 7 gaunt cows and also that 7 fat ears of grain growing on a single stalk were eaten by 7 scorched ears. He sent for all the magicians and wise men, but none could interpret the dreams. In the more disturbing dream, seven fat and happy cows come up out of the river, to be followed by seven skinny and ugly cows, who after a small hesitation while they are all side by side, DEVOUR THE FAT COWS ALIVE! Even though the USDA once fed cow parts to cows and still insists it is ok to feeding chicken litter to cows (after the chickens have eaten cow parts themselves), cows are neither carnivores nor cannibals.
There is a subtle anti-idolatry message: the Pharaoh considered himself a diety, the river was also divine AND he called all the magicians in. Then the cupbearer remembered Joseph and they sent for him. Joseph said he did not interpret dreams, but God did through him. Joseph interpreted that there would be seven good years and seven years of famine. He recommended that a man be appointed to oversee the harvest so that food may be stored in advance for the famine years. Pharaoh must have realized by now that his ways weren't working and was ready to seek another way; he saw that God was known to Joseph. He made Joseph this overseer, the second in command over all Egypt. Someone in Torah study asked if this was opportunism or a true turning. It does seem to me that this Pharaoh, presented as a minor hero, did have a true turning; in the very next parsha, it says the next Pharaoh did not know Joseph.
Pharaoh gave Joseph his own signet ring as well as gold chains, linen garments, a chariot and a wife who was the daughter of a priest. (Some say this wife was the daughter of Potiphar, which would be interesting not only on a sexual level, but also because a steward/priest is an unusual combination, but my JPS text shows the names are similar but not the same; this girl is the daughter of Poti-phera. Not being able to read Hebrew, I don't know which is correct.) The children of this union were named Ephraim and Manasseh. Pharaoh also gave Joseph the name of Zaphenath-paneah, which my JPS edition says means "God speaks; he lives." "Joseph" means "increase."
Joseph traveled the country, gathering food during the seven years of plenty, and storing it in the cities closest to the fields that grew it. Joseph gathered grain in such plenty it (echoing the promise of God to his ancestors) was like the grains of the sea, beyond counting.
When the famine came, Joseph rationed out the food. The famine spread throughout the world so all the world came to Joseph to procure ration. Jacob urged his sons to go to Egypt to secure food, also. (Jacob said, "Why do you keep looking at one another!" like they were really slow- witted. Another translation says, "Why are you showing off?" This may be a better translation; it was around during Rashi's time and Rashi said the brothers were acting as if they had plenty to eat when their stores were running low.) Jacob sent all the brothers except Benjamin, the youngest, fearing that he would come to a bad end if he went with the others. He must have understood in his heart that the older brothers were at least somewhat responsible for what happened to Joseph.
Joseph recognized the brothers, but the brothers did not recognize him as they bowed low to him, like the wheat sheaves of Joseph's dream when he was young. Joseph spoke harshly to them, accusing them of being spies. He demanded to know who they were and where they were from. He said he would give them nothing unless they bring the youngest brother to him. He confined them all in the guardhouse for three days to think about it, then came back and said if they left one remaining, the rest could go to bring back the brother. As long as they brought back the brother, they would come to no harm. Reuben chastised the others; he had told them not to do wrong to Joseph and now they were paying the price. Joseph heard and wept.
Joseph took Simeon and bound him. (Why Simeon, the second son, who has already displeased Jacob? Perhaps he remembered that Reuben and Judah, the other two oldest, had both not wanted to kill him.) Joseph then gave orders that the brothers' sacks be filled with grain, that their money be quietly placed within the sacks and they be given provisions for the journey. The brothers were afraid when they saw their money had been returned; they feared being accused of thievery.
The brothers went home and told Jacob what transpired. They said they must return with Benjamin in order to rescue Simeon and ensure they could all move freely about the land. Jacob, of course, answered, "Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more and now you would take away Benjamin!" Reuben offered his father, "You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care and I will return him to you." Jacob refused. He appeared to wallow in self pity: "It is always me that you bereave; these things always happen to me!" He said, in an obvious slight to the other brothers, "My son must not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left."
The famine worsened and the family ran out of rations. Eventually Jacob asked the brothers to go back for more food, but Judah reminded him that they could not return without Benjamin. Jacob (called Israel here) was angry with them for even mentioning they had another brother! (And who can blame him?) Judah said he would himself be surety for Benjamin, and that they must go, they could already have been there and back twice if they had not dawdled. So Jacob asked them to take gifts for the man, as well as double the money. (The gifts included nuts during a time of famine; Jacob was sending what was very precious to him and what was most precious, Benjamin.)
So the brothers took gifts, double the money and Benjamin. Joseph had his house steward bring the brothers into the house and prepare a feast. They were afraid and pleaded with the steward that they did not know how the money got back in their bags the last time. The steward said all was well, that he got their money and God must have gifted them. He returned Simeon to them. The steward brought water for them to bathe their feet and he fed their asses.
The brothers waited for Joseph, gifts laid out conspicuously. They bowed low before Joseph. Joseph saw Benjamin and was so overcome, he had to hurry out of the room to weep. He washed his face, regained control of himself and ordered that the meal be served. Benjamin's serving was three times that of anyone else.
Note here that the Egyptians could not dine with the Hebrews, not even with Joseph, who ate at a table alone. Joseph ate by himself; the brothers ate by themselves and the Egyptians ate by themselves!
Joseph sent all the brothers off with plentiful grain and all the money they came with. He had his silver goblet sneaked into Benjamin's bag. Then he had his steward overtake them, pretending to think they had stolen his silver goblet. The brothers all protested that they would never do such a thing and if anyone among them be found with any silver or gold, let that person die and the rest of them become slaves of Josephs! The steward replied only the one with whom the silver was found would be a slave; the rest would go free. The brothers rent their clothes when Benjamin's bag held the goblet. This story is reminiscent of the one in which Jacob protested to Laban that he did not have the idols, when his favorite wife did, in fact, have them.
The brothers all returned to Joseph and threw themselves on the ground before him. He demanded to know why they would take an object he needed for divination! Judah pleaded that they would all serve as his slaves, but Joseph said he would only keep the younger.
In Torah study, we were fascinated by the psychology of the tale. Could Joseph have sent notice to his father that he was alive and doing well? What if he thought his father were part of the scheme to remove him from the household? After all, his father sent him far away to look for the brothers. My fiance wondered if maybe the living mothers even were responsible. Joseph's mother was long dead. He had no protector at home. We know that Joseph "brought bad reports" of the brothers to his father. We also know his father favored him and would give him a double portion, even though the next in line once Reuben was removed from his position of power would have been a concubine's son, certainly not Joseph, who was born tenth. We know Joseph had good reason to fear his brothers.
It's hard to know why Joseph insisted on framing Benjamin, and there are no clues as to how Benjamin felt about it. Like Dinah earlier, his reactions are deemed unimportant. It is Judah who matters. Two people in Torah study brought up a spiritual reason for Joseph's strange and cruel seeming plan to entrap Benjamin. He was able to orchestrate a similar scenario with taking him from his father and making him a slave in a foreign land. Instead of Joseph being merely spiteful, he is giving the brothers the chance to redeem themselves. And Judah, who by now has grown significantly, does.
Two Torah study members, looking forward to whether Joseph foreshadowed Moses, looked backwards at the previous parsha and discussed whether Joseph was shepherding with the brothers or whether he was shepherding the brothers themselves. Cain said, "Am I my brothers keeper?" In the story of Joseph, the answer clearly is yes, we must be our brothers' keepers.
Another message in this parsha is that we must remember to plan ahead; we may not have the gift of prescience like Joseph did. Joseph's brothers mistreated their own during times of plenty and were unusually blessed that Joseph treated them well during times of scarcity. This is not the way the world usually works. It is much harder (and we see this in the Torah over and over) for people to remember to serve God and their fellows in good times.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Modern Day Wars and Ethnic Struggles
I've been thinking a lot about the Arab-Jewish conflict over the last few months. Since it's Hanukkah (a holiday that appears to be about latkes and candles, but really is about celebrating at least one time when God helped the terrifically outnumbered and outweaponed Jews regain holy ground), others have been thinking about it, too.
In Torah Study this morning, we made a wide detour from talking about Joseph in Egypt to discuss whether Jews, Christians and Muslims were doing enough to break down barriers. All of our holy books speak badly about the other religions. We must learn to see individuals rather than broad classes of human beings to dismiss as lesser beings simply because that is how our ancestors behaved.
Many religious folks are willing to say some of the scriptural teachings do not apply to them, like the Jewish prohibition against eating pork and shrimp or the Muslim and Mormon prohibition against drinking alcohol. Does it make any sense to say that food and alcohol laws are not the word of God, but horrible generalizations about entire other cultures are the word of God? My Torah treats Ishmael with sympathy. When I meet the descendants of Ishmael, should I treat them any differently.
Today alone I watched a movie, attended a class and read an essay that all deal with the barriers between religious groups. The movie was Ishmael, which I watched with my fiance. It was a great movie, both serious and funny. The main character identifies very strongly as a Muslim, then finds out by accident that he was adopted by a Muslim family and that his birth parents were Jewish. This temporarily destroys his life. Eventually, he has made Jewish friends but has reentered Muslim society, so he has the best of both worlds.
The class was the first in a three part series on how we view God and is taught/led by Rabbi Maurice at Temple Beth Israel in Eugene, Oregon. The class included a good cross section of Judaism today. Although there were no ultra-Orthodox present, we had pretty much every other type of Judaism present: from atheists, secular-living-but- wish-they-believed, believers who don't study, non-believers who study a lot, and believers who study a lot. A common theme among the women present was that we are willing to believe that some (or most) of the Torah is the Word of God, but that the exaggerated war scenes feel like the imaginations of men to make the Jewish people, who were is sorry shape during the time the Bible was compiled, seem like a mightier, more glorious nation. As mothers, nurturers, wives and modern women involved in the creation story within our own homes, we have trouble believing God really wanted entire towns slaughtered.
I brought up that archaeology does not support that the Hebrews destroyed and dispossessed all the Canaanites; in fact many of the towns in question were already vacant. During that time period, there were famines and political and economic unrest severe enough to drive hundreds of people out of their homes. Rabbi Maurice reminded the class that also immediately following the stories of Joshua's victories, there were stories of trying to live side by side with Canaanites and skirmishes with Philistines.
Thursday in Speech 111, the teacher brought up the invasion of Kuwait and how it terrified school children in the early 1990's. Although many of them and their parents probably had no idea where Kuwait was, somehow large numbers of American kids were afraid we'd be attacked next. So the military decided to run a letter writing campaign and teachers across the country supervised students writing letters to soldiers. A couple of my classmates remembered writing such letters! By contrast, I remember diving under the table when we heard the air raid siren during Vietnam. (Sigh.)
After coming home, I turned on the computer and found this, from Chabad.org, in my in-box:
Do you know what a Protestant B is? I know what a Protestant is, and I know what a Catholic is, and I know what a Jew is . . . but until recently, I had never heard of a Protestant B.
I learned what a Protestant B is from an essay by Debra Darvick that appeared in an issue of Hadassah Magazine. It is a chapter from a book she is working on about the American Jewish experience. And this essay is about the experience of retired Army Major Mike Neulander, who now lives in Newport News, Virginia, and who is now a Judaic silversmith. This is his story.
Then, as now, Jews were forbidden by Saudi law to enter the countryDog tags. When you get right down to it, the military’s dog tag classification forced me to reclaim my Judaism.
In the fall of 1990, things were heating up in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. I had been an Army captain and a helicopter maintenance test pilot for a decade, and received notice that I would be transferred to the First Cavalry Division, which was on alert for the Persian Gulf War. Consequently, I also got wind of the Department of Defense “dog tag dilemma” vis-à-vis Jewish personnel. Then as now, Jews were forbidden by Saudi law to enter the country. But our Secretary of Defense flat-out told the king of Saudi Arabia, “We have Jews in our military. They’ve trained with their units and they’re going. Blink and look the other way.”
With Kuwait occupied and the Iraqis at his border, King Fahd did the practical thing. We shipped out, but there was still the issue of classification. Normally the dog tags of Jewish servicemen are imprinted with the word “Jewish.” But Defense, fearing that this would put Jewish soldiers at further risk should they be captured on
Iraqi soil, substituted the classification “Protestant B” on the tags. I didn’t like the whole idea of classifying Jews as Protestant-anything, and so I decided to leave my dog tag alone. I figured if I were captured, it was in G d’s hands. Changing my tags was tantamount to denying my religion, and I couldn’t swallow that.
In September 1990 I went off to defend a country that I was prohibited from entering. The “Jewish” on my dog tag remained as clear and unmistakable as the American star on the hood of every Army truck.
A few days after my arrival, the Baptist chaplain approached me. “I just got a secret message through channels,” he said. “There’s going to be a Jewish gathering. A holiday? Simkatoro or something like that. You want to go? It’s at 1800 hours at Dhahran Airbase.”
Simkatoro turned out to be Simchat Torah, a holiday that hadn’t registered on my religious radar in eons. Services were held in absolute secrecy in a windowless room in a cinder block building. The chaplain led a swift and simple service. We couldn’t risk singing or dancing, but Rabbi Ben Romer had managed to smuggle in a bottle of Manischewitz. Normally I can’t stand the stuff, but that night, the wine tasted of Shabbat and family and Seders of long ago. My soul was warmed by the forbidden alcohol and by the memories swirling around me and my fellow soldiers. We were strangers to one another in a land stranger than any of us had ever experienced, but for that brief hour, we were home.
The wind was blowing dry across the tent, but inside there was an incredible feeling of celebrationOnly Americans would have had the chutzpah to celebrate Simchat Torah under the noses of the Saudis. Irony and pride twisted together inside me like barbed wire. Celebrating my Judaism that evening made me even prouder to be an American, thankful once more for the freedoms we have. I had only been in Saudi Arabia a week, but I already had a keen understanding of how restrictive its society was.
Soon after, things began coming to a head. The next time I was able to do anything remotely Jewish was Chanukah. Maybe it was coincidence, or maybe it was G d’s hand that placed a Jewish colonel in charge of our unit. Colonel Lawrence Schneider relayed messages of Jewish gatherings to us immediately. Had a non-Jew been in that position, the information would likely have taken a back seat to a more pressing issue. Like war. But it didn’t.
When notice of the Chanukah party was decoded, we knew about it at once. The first thing we saw when we entered the tent was food, tons of it. Care packages from the States—cookies, latkes, sour cream and applesauce, and cans and cans of gefilte fish. The wind was blowing dry across the tent, but inside there was an incredible feeling of celebration. As Rabbi Romer talked about the theme of Chanukah and the ragtag bunch of Maccabee soldiers fighting Jewry’s oppressors thousands of years ago, it wasn’t hard to make the connection to what lay ahead of us. There, in the middle of the desert, inside an olive green tent, we felt like we were the Maccabees. If we had to go down, we were going to go down fighting, as they did.
We blessed the candles, acknowledging the King of the Universe who commanded us to kindle the Chanukah lights. We said the second prayer, praising G d for the miracles He performed, in those days and now. And we sang the third blessing, the Shehecheyanu, thanking G d for keeping us in life and for enabling us to reach this season.
We knew war was imminent. All week we had received reports of mass destruction, projections of the chemical weapons that were likely to be unleashed. Intelligence estimates put the first rounds of casualties at 12,500 soldiers. I heard those numbers and thought, “That’s my whole division!” I sat back in my chair, my gefilte fish cans at my feet. They were in the desert, about to go to war, singing songs of praise to G d who had saved our ancestors in battle once before.
The feeling of unity was as pervasive as our apprehension, as real as the sand that found its way into everything from our socks to our toothbrushes. I felt more Jewish there on that lonely Saudi plain, our tanks and guns at the ready, than I had ever felt back home in synagogue.
That Chanukah in the desert solidified for me the urge to reconnect with my Judaism. I felt religion welling up inside me. Any soldier will tell you that there are no atheists in foxholes, and I know that part of my feelings were tied to the looming war and my desire to get with G d before the unknown descended in the clouds of battle. It sounds corny, but as we downed the latkes and cookies and wiped the last of the applesauce from our plates, everyone grew quiet, keenly aware of the link with history, thinking of what we were about to do and what had been done by soldiers like us so long ago.
Silently, he withdrew the metal rectangle and its beaded chain from beneath his shirt The trooper beside me stared ahead at nothing in particular, absentmindedly fingering his dog tag. “How’d you classify?” I asked, nodding to my tag. Silently, he withdrew the metal rectangle and its beaded chain from beneath his shirt and held it out for me to read. Like mine, his read, “Jewish.”
Somewhere in a military depot someplace, I am sure that there must be boxes and boxes of dog tags, still in their wrappers, all marked “Protestant B.”
Friday, December 3, 2010
Speech Given About The Spiritual and Emotional Growth of Jacob, Joseph and Judah
The assignment for the last speech of Speech 111 was to deliver a 5 minute speech on any subject we wished, off an outline only, with nearly non-stop eye contact and feeling. My first thought was to do the story of Joseph, and then I thought maybe not, because my classmates are secular or Christian, and nearly all are at least 20 years younger than I and look bored most of the time. Could I interest them in a Biblical story?
I ended up deciding that I could interest others in what interested me, and I loved studying these two parshas. The trick would be to use an opening that would appeal to bored 20 year olds, so when you read my introduction, please do not take offense.
Below is my five minute speech.
Have you ever wondered how Bible stories are supposed to inspire when many characters who did good deeds were punished anyway? And the matriarchs and patriarchs entire lives seemed dominated by jealous, destructive and manipulative behavior? In a sea of soap opera story lines, one dysfunctional family not only grew emotionally and spiritually, but also shared a happy ending! Today I will show how Jacob and his sons Judah and Joseph evolved by telling of their behavior before and after Joseph was sold into slavery.
The patriarch Jacob was the second born twin in a society that gave first born sons a majority of the inheritance. He and his brother were both physically strong, but he was smarter and tricked his brother out of both his birthright and his father’s blessing. Later in his life he remained unable to solve problems without brute strength or trickery. He let his young sons make very poor choices.
Joseph was the tenth born son, but favored because he was the first born of his father’s favorite and most beautiful wife. He was precocious and handsome, but socially inept. He was somehow unaware that his brothers would resent his tattling on them and boasting of dreams in which he became their master. When Jacob gifted him with an expensive multicolored coat, Joseph did not even have the sense to wear it only for special occasions. He wore it everywhere, even out in the fields with his brothers while they herded sheep.
The brothers already proved themselves violent over reactors by previously killing every male in a town because one man violated their sister. They threw Joseph into a pit and sat down to eat their lunch, discussing how to kill him. Judah suggested they sell him as a slave rather than kill him themselves. They smeared the blood of a goat on Joseph’s coat, returned home and asked Jacob, “Please examine this; is it your son’s tunic or not?”
Jacob’s own behavior to his father was being brought back to haunt him. When his father was old and blind, Jacob applied goat kid hair to his skin so his father would think he was his hairy twin Esau.
Years pass, during which it seems that Jacob, Joseph and Judah all reflect on what they have done wrong and how they have hurt others. During this time Judah has trouble with his own sons, two of whom displease God and die young.
Joseph still has growing to do before he has enough wisdom and empathy to save the entire world known to the Israelites at that time. So we shall move on to his life after he was sold into slavery by his brothers.
Joseph was purchased by the chief steward of the Pharaoh, Potiphar, who quickly noticed that everything Joseph did went exceptionally well. He placed Joseph in charge of his entire household.
God was with Joseph, but Joseph was still vain. The rabbis of the Talmud said Joseph slicked down his eyebrows and curled his hair! Joseph’s beauty attracted Potiphar’s wife; she repeatedly tried to seduce him. Finally she commanded him, “Lie with me!” She grabbed him by his coat and tore it. Repeating the behavior of his brothers, she used the coat in a lie, claiming that Joseph had tried to rape her.
Joseph was thrown into another sort of pit, a dungeon. While imprisoned, he was given more management training; he was put in charge of all the other inmates. He noticed that the Pharaoh’s imprisoned baker and wine steward were particularly downcast one day and he asked them why.
They had dreams that no one else could interpret. When Joseph was a child, he did not credit God for his dreams. In jail, however, he learned not only compassion, but also humility. He made it clear that God sent dreams and he, Joseph, was merely interpreting them with God’s help. The Wine Steward would be forgiven by Pharaoh and restored to his post. However, the Baker would be put to death. The dreams came to pass as he said.
But although Joseph gave credit to God for the interpretations, he had not yet learned to admit he needed God’s help. Instead, he asked the Wine Steward to get him out of jail.
The steward forgot him. Joseph languished another two years, giving him ample time to reflect.
Then the Pharaoh himself had two dreams no one could interpret. The steward remembered him and Joseph was brought to the court. Again he gave God credit for both the dreams and his interpretation of them. Seven years of famine in Egypt would follow seven years of plenty. Joseph recommended that food be stored during the years of plenty. His wisdom and direct line to God pleased the Pharaoh, who made Joseph second in command.
Joseph traveled throughout Egypt to gather and store grain. When the famine came, Joseph doled out grain in exchange for money, livestock and human labor. Not only did he ensure the continuance of the Egyptian race, but he also made the Pharaoh very rich.
By the time his own brothers arrived to procure food, they did not even recognize him. Joseph fed them well, taking no payment, but pressing them for information about his father and youngest brother Benjamin. He demanded Benjamin be brought to him.
Judah, who knew how greatly Jacob doted on Benjamin, offered himself as a slave to Joseph rather than taking Benjamin from his father. Judah, who showed only a shred of empathy for Joseph and none for his father when the brothers wanted to kill Joseph, had learned to love and to put his own welfare last.
Joseph finally revealed his identity. He assured the brothers they need not fear retribution, because God intended he be sold into slavery in order to give him the opportunity to save them all from famine. As a child favored only by his father, he was conceited. Favored by the entire known world, he had learned humility.
Jacob, now over 100 years old, had never been a very involved parent. However, when he heard that not only was Joseph alive and well, but forgave his brothers and would guarantee their survival, Jacob rejoiced and finally became a wise leader of his family.
From the most inspirational family story in the Bible, we learn that hardship and time can help teach even the toughest and most self centered characters humility and kindness.
I ended up deciding that I could interest others in what interested me, and I loved studying these two parshas. The trick would be to use an opening that would appeal to bored 20 year olds, so when you read my introduction, please do not take offense.
Below is my five minute speech.
Have you ever wondered how Bible stories are supposed to inspire when many characters who did good deeds were punished anyway? And the matriarchs and patriarchs entire lives seemed dominated by jealous, destructive and manipulative behavior? In a sea of soap opera story lines, one dysfunctional family not only grew emotionally and spiritually, but also shared a happy ending! Today I will show how Jacob and his sons Judah and Joseph evolved by telling of their behavior before and after Joseph was sold into slavery.
The patriarch Jacob was the second born twin in a society that gave first born sons a majority of the inheritance. He and his brother were both physically strong, but he was smarter and tricked his brother out of both his birthright and his father’s blessing. Later in his life he remained unable to solve problems without brute strength or trickery. He let his young sons make very poor choices.
Joseph was the tenth born son, but favored because he was the first born of his father’s favorite and most beautiful wife. He was precocious and handsome, but socially inept. He was somehow unaware that his brothers would resent his tattling on them and boasting of dreams in which he became their master. When Jacob gifted him with an expensive multicolored coat, Joseph did not even have the sense to wear it only for special occasions. He wore it everywhere, even out in the fields with his brothers while they herded sheep.
The brothers already proved themselves violent over reactors by previously killing every male in a town because one man violated their sister. They threw Joseph into a pit and sat down to eat their lunch, discussing how to kill him. Judah suggested they sell him as a slave rather than kill him themselves. They smeared the blood of a goat on Joseph’s coat, returned home and asked Jacob, “Please examine this; is it your son’s tunic or not?”
Jacob’s own behavior to his father was being brought back to haunt him. When his father was old and blind, Jacob applied goat kid hair to his skin so his father would think he was his hairy twin Esau.
Years pass, during which it seems that Jacob, Joseph and Judah all reflect on what they have done wrong and how they have hurt others. During this time Judah has trouble with his own sons, two of whom displease God and die young.
Joseph still has growing to do before he has enough wisdom and empathy to save the entire world known to the Israelites at that time. So we shall move on to his life after he was sold into slavery by his brothers.
Joseph was purchased by the chief steward of the Pharaoh, Potiphar, who quickly noticed that everything Joseph did went exceptionally well. He placed Joseph in charge of his entire household.
God was with Joseph, but Joseph was still vain. The rabbis of the Talmud said Joseph slicked down his eyebrows and curled his hair! Joseph’s beauty attracted Potiphar’s wife; she repeatedly tried to seduce him. Finally she commanded him, “Lie with me!” She grabbed him by his coat and tore it. Repeating the behavior of his brothers, she used the coat in a lie, claiming that Joseph had tried to rape her.
Joseph was thrown into another sort of pit, a dungeon. While imprisoned, he was given more management training; he was put in charge of all the other inmates. He noticed that the Pharaoh’s imprisoned baker and wine steward were particularly downcast one day and he asked them why.
They had dreams that no one else could interpret. When Joseph was a child, he did not credit God for his dreams. In jail, however, he learned not only compassion, but also humility. He made it clear that God sent dreams and he, Joseph, was merely interpreting them with God’s help. The Wine Steward would be forgiven by Pharaoh and restored to his post. However, the Baker would be put to death. The dreams came to pass as he said.
But although Joseph gave credit to God for the interpretations, he had not yet learned to admit he needed God’s help. Instead, he asked the Wine Steward to get him out of jail.
The steward forgot him. Joseph languished another two years, giving him ample time to reflect.
Then the Pharaoh himself had two dreams no one could interpret. The steward remembered him and Joseph was brought to the court. Again he gave God credit for both the dreams and his interpretation of them. Seven years of famine in Egypt would follow seven years of plenty. Joseph recommended that food be stored during the years of plenty. His wisdom and direct line to God pleased the Pharaoh, who made Joseph second in command.
Joseph traveled throughout Egypt to gather and store grain. When the famine came, Joseph doled out grain in exchange for money, livestock and human labor. Not only did he ensure the continuance of the Egyptian race, but he also made the Pharaoh very rich.
By the time his own brothers arrived to procure food, they did not even recognize him. Joseph fed them well, taking no payment, but pressing them for information about his father and youngest brother Benjamin. He demanded Benjamin be brought to him.
Judah, who knew how greatly Jacob doted on Benjamin, offered himself as a slave to Joseph rather than taking Benjamin from his father. Judah, who showed only a shred of empathy for Joseph and none for his father when the brothers wanted to kill Joseph, had learned to love and to put his own welfare last.
Joseph finally revealed his identity. He assured the brothers they need not fear retribution, because God intended he be sold into slavery in order to give him the opportunity to save them all from famine. As a child favored only by his father, he was conceited. Favored by the entire known world, he had learned humility.
Jacob, now over 100 years old, had never been a very involved parent. However, when he heard that not only was Joseph alive and well, but forgave his brothers and would guarantee their survival, Jacob rejoiced and finally became a wise leader of his family.
From the most inspirational family story in the Bible, we learn that hardship and time can help teach even the toughest and most self centered characters humility and kindness.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Torah Portion Genesis 37:1-40:23
Torah Portion Genesis 37:1-40:23
Material for this parsha comes from the JPS Tanakh, Midrash Rabbah and Torah study at Temple Beth Israel in Eugene. As I've mentioned before, this is a very dynamic group. Today both rabbis were present.
The parsha is named Vayeishev, "and he dwelled/settled". In Torah study, we talked about the Hebrew word meaning more that he rested/resided instead of making a permanent home and that there's a negative connotation to it. Rabbi Yitz and another gentleman chanted the opening lines of this parsha together in Hebrew. No doubt the other gentleman had never chanted this passage before, but they sang in unison, note for note. My fiance asked how and Rabbi Yitz said that there were small notations like dots under the letters, called Trope, that showed the musical form of the text, because the entire Torah was intended to be sung aloud. I remembered reading countless tales of how few written copies were available in Jewish schools throughout the ages, and that even four year olds learned by repeating word for word the changing of the school master. This continued into yeshiva (a Jewish school of higher learning). I was very impressed with the gentleman who without any warning, sang along so perfectly. My fiance and I decided in the car later that the ability to do that was one more good reason to learn Hebrew.
The second sentence of this parsha is: "This is the line of Jacob", but instead of naming all the children like the Bible typically does, it plunges right into the story of Joseph, as if Joseph were the only important child, which, of course, is the source of all his troubles.
At age 17, Joseph shepherded along with his brothers. The text is unclear; he may have worked with only the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's concubines, or he may have worked with all the brothers. The text says: "Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought bad reports of them to their father." Perhaps he shepherded with all brothers and reported negative things of all of them. Perhaps they were making fun of him even then. But it could possibly be that he worked only for the sons of the concubines but still brought bad reports of the other brothers. In Torah study, I asked if the Hebrew clarified this. It does not. Rabbi Yitz said one Midrashic story casts Joseph's behavior in a very favorable light, saying that Leah's sons were mistreating the sons of the concubines so Joseph, in attempt to keep the family together, told his father.
It is no surprise that the same brothers who destroyed a town because of one man's behavior with their sister should be unreasonably angry with Joseph for telling on them and for being the favored son. Jacob had given Joseph a gift of an especially fine, colorful tunic with long sleeves. (Rabbi Maurice said that the word for tunic here is the same word used for the cloak of virgin brides. Later there are other references to Joseph's androgynous beauty.)
The brothers' jealousy became worse when Joseph told them of dreams in which it appeared he ruled over them. (The submission of all the brothers' sheaves of wheat to Joseph's is important, since it is for lack of food among the brothers that Joseph actually is able to rule over them. More on this later. It is also significant that the brothers' sheaves are together in a circle and Joseph's is alone.) Jacob does scold him, but apparently takes it seriously; "his father kept the matter in mind." Midrash says that Jacob was able to foresee the ffuture when this would come to pass. Perhaps Jacob, who seemed to lack prophetic visions unless God beat him over the head with them, remembered his own dream of the Stairway to Heaven and considered that dreams could mean much larger things than they seemed to. Rabbi Maurice said that Joseph seemed like an Asperger's child, brilliant but socially lacking, and that someone, Jacob preferably, but possibly Reuben, should have taken him aside and asked him to stop his big talk.
One day Jacob called Joseph, who answered hinieni, which means "I am here" or "I am ready" in Hebrew. This word is repeated throughout the Tanakh when God calls. Jacob told Joseph to go to Shechem, where he believed the brothers were pasturing sheep, but they had actually gone a little father, to Dothan. (Why Shechem again? Does Jacob want Joseph to find them because he believes only evil can come of going back to the town they destroyed?) Midrash says they are also tending to themselves; they did not follow their father's instructions.
Joseph does not find the brothers in Shechem, so he consults a man who tells them they said they were going to Dothan. Rashi and Maimonides both said the man was actually an angel sent by God. (Rashi specifies the angel Gabriel.) We could wish that Gabriel would protect Joseph from what happens next, but eventually everything works out well, as Joseph tells his brothers much later in Egypt. The brothers saw Joseph coming. They scheme to throw him into a pit. Reuben, however, the same one who had sex with his father's concubine, entreated the other brothers not to kill the boy. Reuben actually intended to save the boy himself later from the pit. (Midrash says that he was in sackcloth and repenting, when he was not present for the sale of Joseph, so maybe during his period of repenting having sex with his father's concubine, he learned some empathy.) The men took Joseph's tunic, threw him into a pit without water - and then sat down to eat!!! Judah had the idea of selling Joseph rather than killing him and the others agreed. Thus Joseph was taken to Egypt. Reuben rent his garment when he found Joseph missing. The other brothers slaughtered a kid, smeared it's blood on Joseph's tunic and took the tunic to Jacob, who put on a sackcloth and mourned. It's rather fitting that Jacob, who deceived his own father earlier, is now the deceived father.
Midrash Rabbah says that Jacob suspected Judah of killing Joseph because Judah supposedly brought the torn and bloodied coat to their father.
As we later learn, with Joseph gone, Benjamin, the other son of the departed Rachel, becomes the favorite. It may not be that Joseph was favored for any other reason than his mother. However, the hardship Joseph suffered because his mother died and his brothers hated him may have helped him become wise and strong. Midrash Rabbah says Joseph was lost to his father for 22 years, just as Jacob was lost to his father for 22 years.
The story temporarily leaves Joseph and moves on to Judah, who has apparently assumed leadership of the brothers after Reuben, Simeon and Levi (the first three born) lost the favor of their father for their immoral and/or violent conduct. Judah left home, found a wife and began to begat sons. The first son displeased the Lord and did not live long enough to produce offspring by his wife, Tamar. Judah asked his second son, Onan, to marry the wife, but Onan did not want to produce any children by her because the firstborn would count as his brother's, not his own. So he pulled out. The Lord killed him, also. (Per Monty Python: Every sperm is sacred, every sperm is great! If one sperm gets wasted, God gets quite irate!) Judah asked Tamar to stay as a window in her father's house until the third son Shelah grew up, but he did not really want to give her to Shelah, for fear the third son might also die. (Apparently he considers her the likely reason the first two sons died rather than considering them to be at fault.)
Many years later, Judah came to the town of her father for sheep shearing. She covered herself with a veil and dressed as a harlot. Judah promised her a kid from his flock to pay for his services; she asked for his seal, cord and staff as proof that he would pay her. She conceived by him, put on her widow's garb again and went home. Judah did send a kid but could not find any harlot in town because there wasn't a harlot in town. When she was three months pregnant began to show, Judah was told that his supposedly chaste widow daughter in law was pregnant. He was angry that she should bring shame on the family and declared, "Let her be burned!" But she had his seal, cord and staff. He then admitted that he was at fault because he had promised her his son Shelah but had failed to keep his promise. Remember, this was a time when a woman must have a son in order to be guaranteed a secure future after the death of her husband.
Like Rebekah, Tamar had twins. The midwife tied a crimson thread on the hand that poked out the womb first, to signify that child was first born. But the child withdrew his hand and the other came out first. Peretz, whose name means break-through, one of the sons, was an ancestor in the Davidic line. (As an aside, Midrash Rabbah says that two women covered themselves with veils and had twins; the other being Rebekah.)
The story returns to Joseph. Joseph was purchased by the chief of Pharaoh, Potiphar. Because of Joseph, the Lord blessed Potiphar's household; Potiphar recognized this and made Joseph his personal attendant, in charge of everything he owned. Joseph again got a rather fine linen coat, as well as jewelry. (Midrash says that Potiphar wanted Joseph sexually.) Joseph was handsome, but thought nothing of Potiphar's belongings - or his wife. However, Rashi thought he was vain and that what happens next is punishment for his vanity. (Rashi actually wrote that Joseph curled his hair!)
Potifar's wife became increasingly a pest, bothering Joseph to have sex with her. One day she commanded, "Lay with me!" She grabbed his fine coat and as he ran off, it tore. Like the brothers before her, she used his coat as evidence for a lie. She told everyone, first her servants and then her husband that Joseph tried to rape her, she screamed and he fled. Potiphar believed his wife and threw Joseph in the same prison where the king's prisoners were confined. (Notice how this is the only woman whose desire for sex was stated outright rather than hidden in schemes or subdued while male family members decided whether to give her as a wife.)
The Lord favored Joseph in prison, too, where Joseph was given charge of all the prisoners. The Pharaoh's cup bearer and baker were jailed shortly thereafter. (A fly was found in wine and a stone in a loaf of bread.) Joseph showed concern for their feelings, which is one of the reasons people so love Joseph even today. His life was an exhaustive roller coaster ride, but he was kind, noticing they seemed downcast on one particular day. The cup bearer and baker were distraught because no one could interpret their dreams. Joseph said surely God could! And then he did. (The cup bearer is restored to his position but the baker is executed.) He asked the cupbearer, whose dream was favorable, to remember him when he got out, and to set him free, for he had done no wrong. Even though both of the dreams came true, the cupbearer forgot to set Joseph free. Midrash says that this is punishment for Joseph asking another human being to release him rather than asking God to.
Rabbi Yitz said this story is representative of the Jewish story, that Joseph is aware of his chosenness despite persecution and that he holds onto belief in his destiny as helping to bring the Messianic age. Rabbi Maurice says that Joseph is very accepting of the troubles that come his way. Torah often mentions others crying out, but there is no mention of this from Joseph when he is thrown into the pit, sold, or sent to jail. Rabbi Yitz also said that Midrash said that Jacob could not be comforted because he did not actually believe deep down that Joseph had died. You can not be comforted for the living.
I have to write a speech for my Speech 101 class. I am really impressed by how an event planned with evil intent led to the emotional growth of both Joseph and the brothers. By the end of the next parsha it is clear that they have all learned empathy and kindness.
Material for this parsha comes from the JPS Tanakh, Midrash Rabbah and Torah study at Temple Beth Israel in Eugene. As I've mentioned before, this is a very dynamic group. Today both rabbis were present.
The parsha is named Vayeishev, "and he dwelled/settled". In Torah study, we talked about the Hebrew word meaning more that he rested/resided instead of making a permanent home and that there's a negative connotation to it. Rabbi Yitz and another gentleman chanted the opening lines of this parsha together in Hebrew. No doubt the other gentleman had never chanted this passage before, but they sang in unison, note for note. My fiance asked how and Rabbi Yitz said that there were small notations like dots under the letters, called Trope, that showed the musical form of the text, because the entire Torah was intended to be sung aloud. I remembered reading countless tales of how few written copies were available in Jewish schools throughout the ages, and that even four year olds learned by repeating word for word the changing of the school master. This continued into yeshiva (a Jewish school of higher learning). I was very impressed with the gentleman who without any warning, sang along so perfectly. My fiance and I decided in the car later that the ability to do that was one more good reason to learn Hebrew.
The second sentence of this parsha is: "This is the line of Jacob", but instead of naming all the children like the Bible typically does, it plunges right into the story of Joseph, as if Joseph were the only important child, which, of course, is the source of all his troubles.
At age 17, Joseph shepherded along with his brothers. The text is unclear; he may have worked with only the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's concubines, or he may have worked with all the brothers. The text says: "Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought bad reports of them to their father." Perhaps he shepherded with all brothers and reported negative things of all of them. Perhaps they were making fun of him even then. But it could possibly be that he worked only for the sons of the concubines but still brought bad reports of the other brothers. In Torah study, I asked if the Hebrew clarified this. It does not. Rabbi Yitz said one Midrashic story casts Joseph's behavior in a very favorable light, saying that Leah's sons were mistreating the sons of the concubines so Joseph, in attempt to keep the family together, told his father.
It is no surprise that the same brothers who destroyed a town because of one man's behavior with their sister should be unreasonably angry with Joseph for telling on them and for being the favored son. Jacob had given Joseph a gift of an especially fine, colorful tunic with long sleeves. (Rabbi Maurice said that the word for tunic here is the same word used for the cloak of virgin brides. Later there are other references to Joseph's androgynous beauty.)
The brothers' jealousy became worse when Joseph told them of dreams in which it appeared he ruled over them. (The submission of all the brothers' sheaves of wheat to Joseph's is important, since it is for lack of food among the brothers that Joseph actually is able to rule over them. More on this later. It is also significant that the brothers' sheaves are together in a circle and Joseph's is alone.) Jacob does scold him, but apparently takes it seriously; "his father kept the matter in mind." Midrash says that Jacob was able to foresee the ffuture when this would come to pass. Perhaps Jacob, who seemed to lack prophetic visions unless God beat him over the head with them, remembered his own dream of the Stairway to Heaven and considered that dreams could mean much larger things than they seemed to. Rabbi Maurice said that Joseph seemed like an Asperger's child, brilliant but socially lacking, and that someone, Jacob preferably, but possibly Reuben, should have taken him aside and asked him to stop his big talk.
One day Jacob called Joseph, who answered hinieni, which means "I am here" or "I am ready" in Hebrew. This word is repeated throughout the Tanakh when God calls. Jacob told Joseph to go to Shechem, where he believed the brothers were pasturing sheep, but they had actually gone a little father, to Dothan. (Why Shechem again? Does Jacob want Joseph to find them because he believes only evil can come of going back to the town they destroyed?) Midrash says they are also tending to themselves; they did not follow their father's instructions.
Joseph does not find the brothers in Shechem, so he consults a man who tells them they said they were going to Dothan. Rashi and Maimonides both said the man was actually an angel sent by God. (Rashi specifies the angel Gabriel.) We could wish that Gabriel would protect Joseph from what happens next, but eventually everything works out well, as Joseph tells his brothers much later in Egypt. The brothers saw Joseph coming. They scheme to throw him into a pit. Reuben, however, the same one who had sex with his father's concubine, entreated the other brothers not to kill the boy. Reuben actually intended to save the boy himself later from the pit. (Midrash says that he was in sackcloth and repenting, when he was not present for the sale of Joseph, so maybe during his period of repenting having sex with his father's concubine, he learned some empathy.) The men took Joseph's tunic, threw him into a pit without water - and then sat down to eat!!! Judah had the idea of selling Joseph rather than killing him and the others agreed. Thus Joseph was taken to Egypt. Reuben rent his garment when he found Joseph missing. The other brothers slaughtered a kid, smeared it's blood on Joseph's tunic and took the tunic to Jacob, who put on a sackcloth and mourned. It's rather fitting that Jacob, who deceived his own father earlier, is now the deceived father.
Midrash Rabbah says that Jacob suspected Judah of killing Joseph because Judah supposedly brought the torn and bloodied coat to their father.
As we later learn, with Joseph gone, Benjamin, the other son of the departed Rachel, becomes the favorite. It may not be that Joseph was favored for any other reason than his mother. However, the hardship Joseph suffered because his mother died and his brothers hated him may have helped him become wise and strong. Midrash Rabbah says Joseph was lost to his father for 22 years, just as Jacob was lost to his father for 22 years.
The story temporarily leaves Joseph and moves on to Judah, who has apparently assumed leadership of the brothers after Reuben, Simeon and Levi (the first three born) lost the favor of their father for their immoral and/or violent conduct. Judah left home, found a wife and began to begat sons. The first son displeased the Lord and did not live long enough to produce offspring by his wife, Tamar. Judah asked his second son, Onan, to marry the wife, but Onan did not want to produce any children by her because the firstborn would count as his brother's, not his own. So he pulled out. The Lord killed him, also. (Per Monty Python: Every sperm is sacred, every sperm is great! If one sperm gets wasted, God gets quite irate!) Judah asked Tamar to stay as a window in her father's house until the third son Shelah grew up, but he did not really want to give her to Shelah, for fear the third son might also die. (Apparently he considers her the likely reason the first two sons died rather than considering them to be at fault.)
Many years later, Judah came to the town of her father for sheep shearing. She covered herself with a veil and dressed as a harlot. Judah promised her a kid from his flock to pay for his services; she asked for his seal, cord and staff as proof that he would pay her. She conceived by him, put on her widow's garb again and went home. Judah did send a kid but could not find any harlot in town because there wasn't a harlot in town. When she was three months pregnant began to show, Judah was told that his supposedly chaste widow daughter in law was pregnant. He was angry that she should bring shame on the family and declared, "Let her be burned!" But she had his seal, cord and staff. He then admitted that he was at fault because he had promised her his son Shelah but had failed to keep his promise. Remember, this was a time when a woman must have a son in order to be guaranteed a secure future after the death of her husband.
Like Rebekah, Tamar had twins. The midwife tied a crimson thread on the hand that poked out the womb first, to signify that child was first born. But the child withdrew his hand and the other came out first. Peretz, whose name means break-through, one of the sons, was an ancestor in the Davidic line. (As an aside, Midrash Rabbah says that two women covered themselves with veils and had twins; the other being Rebekah.)
The story returns to Joseph. Joseph was purchased by the chief of Pharaoh, Potiphar. Because of Joseph, the Lord blessed Potiphar's household; Potiphar recognized this and made Joseph his personal attendant, in charge of everything he owned. Joseph again got a rather fine linen coat, as well as jewelry. (Midrash says that Potiphar wanted Joseph sexually.) Joseph was handsome, but thought nothing of Potiphar's belongings - or his wife. However, Rashi thought he was vain and that what happens next is punishment for his vanity. (Rashi actually wrote that Joseph curled his hair!)
Potifar's wife became increasingly a pest, bothering Joseph to have sex with her. One day she commanded, "Lay with me!" She grabbed his fine coat and as he ran off, it tore. Like the brothers before her, she used his coat as evidence for a lie. She told everyone, first her servants and then her husband that Joseph tried to rape her, she screamed and he fled. Potiphar believed his wife and threw Joseph in the same prison where the king's prisoners were confined. (Notice how this is the only woman whose desire for sex was stated outright rather than hidden in schemes or subdued while male family members decided whether to give her as a wife.)
The Lord favored Joseph in prison, too, where Joseph was given charge of all the prisoners. The Pharaoh's cup bearer and baker were jailed shortly thereafter. (A fly was found in wine and a stone in a loaf of bread.) Joseph showed concern for their feelings, which is one of the reasons people so love Joseph even today. His life was an exhaustive roller coaster ride, but he was kind, noticing they seemed downcast on one particular day. The cup bearer and baker were distraught because no one could interpret their dreams. Joseph said surely God could! And then he did. (The cup bearer is restored to his position but the baker is executed.) He asked the cupbearer, whose dream was favorable, to remember him when he got out, and to set him free, for he had done no wrong. Even though both of the dreams came true, the cupbearer forgot to set Joseph free. Midrash says that this is punishment for Joseph asking another human being to release him rather than asking God to.
Rabbi Yitz said this story is representative of the Jewish story, that Joseph is aware of his chosenness despite persecution and that he holds onto belief in his destiny as helping to bring the Messianic age. Rabbi Maurice says that Joseph is very accepting of the troubles that come his way. Torah often mentions others crying out, but there is no mention of this from Joseph when he is thrown into the pit, sold, or sent to jail. Rabbi Yitz also said that Midrash said that Jacob could not be comforted because he did not actually believe deep down that Joseph had died. You can not be comforted for the living.
I have to write a speech for my Speech 101 class. I am really impressed by how an event planned with evil intent led to the emotional growth of both Joseph and the brothers. By the end of the next parsha it is clear that they have all learned empathy and kindness.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Genesis 32.4-36:43
Genesis 32.4-36:43
It did not say at the beginning of this parsha who the messengers were that Jacob sent to meet his brother Esau before travelling further. My first thought was that they were angels, since that was how the previous parsha ended, but they acted in a very human manner, returning to say that Esau was heading their way with 400 men. They did not tell Jacob he had no reason to fear, so of course he was afraid and divided his camp into two, thinking that if Esau attacked one camp, the other might escape. Then he prayed to God, praising him for his steadfast kindness and protection in the past and asking for it again when Esau arrived. He reminded God of the promise to make his progeny too numerous to count!" (This reminding God of His promise in times of trouble seems to be a family trait.)
In Torah study, we discussed the repeated use of the word face in Hebrew; we're not entirely sure of the exact definition. An Israeli in attendance said it was not used like the English losing face. Rabbi Yitz said it was inner essence. There are a couple places where the Hebrew is used to indicate the face or faces of God (Panim = faces) and indicates turning.
Jacob selected a huge number of livestock to give to Esau as a gift and sent them ahead in droves to meet Esau. He intended each time for Esau to be pleased with his gift and think it was the last, then encounter another (and finer) gift. He waited out part of the night, then sent his wives, servants and eleven children plus all his possessions across a stream and remained alone.
A "man," interpreted to be an angel, wrestled with Jacob the rest of the night, leaving Jacob's hip wrenched out of his socket, but undefeated. This is, after all, the same Jacob who rolled the rock apparently several other men usually rolled off the well. The angel actually begged him to let him go at daybreak, but Jacob insisted on a blessing first. The angel said Jacob would be renamed Israel because he fought both human and divine and prevailed. Jacob asked the angel's name, but the angel refused and left. In Israeli society (and also American Indian) one can find out a lot about others by the names they are given. Unlike modern day Americans, who are often named after celebrities or ancestors, or just because the names sound good, Israeli names included a description of the individual. Talmud has two opinions, which are both considered true, that both a man and a god fought with Jacob. The sense is there is a blurred line between man and divine. My fiance and I talked about whether the wrestling is to deal with Esau or to wrestle with himself and that he had to end up crippled because his ego was so tied up in physical strength.
Thereafter, Jacob/Israel limped and therefore, the Bible says we Jews are not to eat the thigh muscle that attaches to the hip socket. (The Rabbis extend this prohibition.)
In Torah study, someone reminded us that God wanted to destroy Moses, too and Zipporah saved the family by circumcising the boys in a hurry. We still struggle with worry over whether God wants to destroy us or let others destroy us. We are not always as quick and bright as Zipporah.
Jacob (the text still calls him so here) divided his children and wives according to their dearness to him; he put the maids and their children first, then Leah and her children, then Rachel and Joseph. He went ahead and bowed low seven times as he approached his brother. When he and Esau met, they embraced and wept. (David said that wrestling with the angel prepared him for this meeting with Esau, since wrestling and embracing are related!) Esau was astonished by the number of wives and children Jacob had and protested about all the gifts Jacob had sent ahead. Esau said he had enough possessions of his own. But Jacob insisted.
From JewishJournal.com:
Esau's response is surprising. He embraces his brother. Kisses him. They weep together. Is 20 years enough time to erase the pain of a stolen birthright? Could a fleet of animals have warmed Esau's heart? To be sure, Esau is overwhelmed. “Looking about, Esau saw the women and the children. ‘Who,’ he asked, ‘are these with you?’ “ (Genesis 33:5). As it turns out, Esau has become a brother-in-law and uncle many times over. “And what do you mean by all this company which I have met?” (Genesis 33:8). He is perplexed by the number of animals representing Yaakov's wealth and prosperity. He might even be stunned by Yaakov's generosity, amazed by all that has transpired since Yaakov ran away.
And in the midst of animals, wives and children, two brothers acknowledge a new reality:
Yesh li rav, Esav says. “I have enough. Let what you have remain yours.”
Yesh li kol, Ya’akov says. “I have plenty. Please accept.”
And suddenly, where once there was only enough for one, it seems there is enough for everyone. Twenty years earlier, a perceived scarcity was the source of great fear and anger, dividing the family. Twenty years later, surrounded by family and livestock, both brothers proclaim, “I have what I need,” and they embrace.
There is something magical about this declaration, “Yesh li kol.” I have enough. I have everything I need. In Parashat Vayishlach, it transforms a scene between brothers.
Pasted from
It appeared that Jacob may have deceived his brother again when he asked that Esau go on home and Jacob would travel at the pace of his children and livestock and meet Esau at his home. JPS says " But Jacob journeyed on to Succoth and built a house for himself and made stalls for his cattle."
In this home, Dinah, Leah's daughter, "went out to visit the daughters of the land." (Rabbi Yitz says dinah/din means judgment.) The Talmudic Rabbis saw this as very unwomanly behavior; no wonder she was raped by Shechem! Rabbi Yitz and the Israeli in Torah study said it was unclear in Hebrew. The same word is used in the relationship between Sarah and Hagar. It might be all of the following: oppressed, responded, humbled, humiliated and defiled, purposely allowing multiple meanings.
Likewise, we don't know what to think about the fact that Shechem wanted his father to get him Dinah as a wife. Was he repentant or just a control freak? So the father, Hamor, went to speak with Jacob. Here Jacob acts like Abraham; he knew what happened, but kept silent until his sons came home. Hamor intended to speak with Jacob, but the sons met him first.
Jacob's sons were very angry and were not impressed by Hamor's entreaties for them to intermarry with his city's daughters in return. Hamor promised them that they could settle in the land. Shechem offered to pay whatever bride price and to ply them with gifts if he could have Dinah for a wife.
Jacob's sons tricked the men by saying they could not agree to let any of their women marry uncircumcised men. But if they and the others in their town would be circumcised, they could settle in peace, intermarry and become like kin. Shechem and Hamor went into town and pleaded with the townspeople to be circumcised so they may live as kindred. The men did so. (There is no record if they knew that Shechem had actually raped Dinah or just wanted her for his wife.) On the third day Simeon and Levi went into town with swords and slew all the men, who were in too much pain to fight. They took Dinah back home. The other sons plundered the town, seizing not only goods and livestock, but also all the women.
In Torah study, my fiance brought up that the men of the town were circumcised but not for religious reasons, but for profit. Rabbi Maurice says it was not done in repugnance of intermarrying because they took the women of the town. Rabbi Maurice also brought up the final blessing in a later parsha - in which the tribal head of the priesthood kills men when he is angry and maims cattle when he is not. This may serve as a warning for later.
Dinah is not treated as a human being here. I think since she is not a matriarch, Torah did not consider it important that she has a personality. Unlike the matriarchs, she was not shown to feel love, jealousy, hurt, anger or joy. She was an extra rather than a character actor; it was more important how Jacob and the sons react to what happened. (Nahmanides, in contrast to all the other sages, said that Dinah was not described, even though all the other women of the Bible are, because the Bible does not want to blame the victim by saying she was pretty, shapely, etc. The other sages assumed she did something to deserve what happened to her.)
Jacob chastised them, saying their actions would make them enemies of all the Canaanites and Perizzites, and that they could be destroyed. The sons answered, "Should our sister be treated like a whore?" This strikes me as harsh, to ruin a town and kill all the men because one behaved badly, especially since that one attempted to make amends. However, this behavior is still fairly common in the Middle East today.
Jacob heard a call from God to go to Bethel and build an altar "to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." Are we to take it that God did not believe Himself adequately thanked? When Jacob dreamed of the stairway to heaven, he turned his pillow stone to become a pillar, poured oil on it, renamed it Bethel and promised that IF God stayed with, fed and clothed and protected him, God would be his God and that he would tithe, Torah records that he built an altar on the land he bought from Hamor in Canaan. It does not record a return to Bethel, tithing or any particular pattern of worship. In fact, Jacob told his people to rid themselves of their idols and the rings in their noses, so we can only assume they worshipped pagan gods rather than the Lord.
Jacob told his family to purify themselves, including changing their clothes and he buried the idols and earrings before they left. God sent a terror to all the cities surrounding them so that no one pursued them. Jacob took his family to the same place where he had laid his head on a stone, formerly called Luz but now renamed Bethel, meaning that God resided there. Jacob built and altar and named it El-bethel. El, again, is the name of the Canaanite God.
Again, the idols are treated in a manner that could almost be humorous: they are so small one can bury them along with earrings!
God appeared and told Jacob he was to be called Jacob no longer, but Israel. God told him "I am El Shaddai." El-Shaddai means God of the mountain. El is the name of the Canaanite highest god. More on this later. He repeated the commandment to be fertile and multiply, promised that nations would be born of him and kings would spring from his loins. Apparently when Jacob ran away from clear and present danger in Canaan and came to build an altar, God forgave him.
Israel and his family continued on their journey. Rachel went into difficult labor and the family had to stop. The midwife tried to comfort her, saying she had another boy, but Rachel died. She named the boy Ben-oni, son of my suffering. Israel called him Benjamin, which means either son of the south of son of the right hand. Rachel died and was buried on the road to what is now Bethlehem.
Reuben had sex with his father's concubine Bilhah and Jacob/Israel found out, but the text does not tell us if he punished Reuben in any way at this point. But Jacob/Israel did not forget, as we will later see.
Israel at last reached his father, Isaac, who made it to 180 years old before he died and was buried by both sons, Esau and Israel. Intereting he made it this long, because when he blessed the sons, he was already blind and weak. Since then at least 35 years have passed in my estimation, based on the sexuality of the children and the fact that Jacob said when he left Laban that he had promised to serve seven years but ended up serving twenty.
Esau took his large family and livestock and moved because Canaan was not fertile enough to support both his family's and Israel's. Esau's descendants were called Edomites. One of his grandchildren by Esau's son Eliphaz and a concubine was Amalek, who would fight with Israelis later.
It did not say at the beginning of this parsha who the messengers were that Jacob sent to meet his brother Esau before travelling further. My first thought was that they were angels, since that was how the previous parsha ended, but they acted in a very human manner, returning to say that Esau was heading their way with 400 men. They did not tell Jacob he had no reason to fear, so of course he was afraid and divided his camp into two, thinking that if Esau attacked one camp, the other might escape. Then he prayed to God, praising him for his steadfast kindness and protection in the past and asking for it again when Esau arrived. He reminded God of the promise to make his progeny too numerous to count!" (This reminding God of His promise in times of trouble seems to be a family trait.)
In Torah study, we discussed the repeated use of the word face in Hebrew; we're not entirely sure of the exact definition. An Israeli in attendance said it was not used like the English losing face. Rabbi Yitz said it was inner essence. There are a couple places where the Hebrew is used to indicate the face or faces of God (Panim = faces) and indicates turning.
Jacob selected a huge number of livestock to give to Esau as a gift and sent them ahead in droves to meet Esau. He intended each time for Esau to be pleased with his gift and think it was the last, then encounter another (and finer) gift. He waited out part of the night, then sent his wives, servants and eleven children plus all his possessions across a stream and remained alone.
A "man," interpreted to be an angel, wrestled with Jacob the rest of the night, leaving Jacob's hip wrenched out of his socket, but undefeated. This is, after all, the same Jacob who rolled the rock apparently several other men usually rolled off the well. The angel actually begged him to let him go at daybreak, but Jacob insisted on a blessing first. The angel said Jacob would be renamed Israel because he fought both human and divine and prevailed. Jacob asked the angel's name, but the angel refused and left. In Israeli society (and also American Indian) one can find out a lot about others by the names they are given. Unlike modern day Americans, who are often named after celebrities or ancestors, or just because the names sound good, Israeli names included a description of the individual. Talmud has two opinions, which are both considered true, that both a man and a god fought with Jacob. The sense is there is a blurred line between man and divine. My fiance and I talked about whether the wrestling is to deal with Esau or to wrestle with himself and that he had to end up crippled because his ego was so tied up in physical strength.
Thereafter, Jacob/Israel limped and therefore, the Bible says we Jews are not to eat the thigh muscle that attaches to the hip socket. (The Rabbis extend this prohibition.)
In Torah study, someone reminded us that God wanted to destroy Moses, too and Zipporah saved the family by circumcising the boys in a hurry. We still struggle with worry over whether God wants to destroy us or let others destroy us. We are not always as quick and bright as Zipporah.
Jacob (the text still calls him so here) divided his children and wives according to their dearness to him; he put the maids and their children first, then Leah and her children, then Rachel and Joseph. He went ahead and bowed low seven times as he approached his brother. When he and Esau met, they embraced and wept. (David said that wrestling with the angel prepared him for this meeting with Esau, since wrestling and embracing are related!) Esau was astonished by the number of wives and children Jacob had and protested about all the gifts Jacob had sent ahead. Esau said he had enough possessions of his own. But Jacob insisted.
From JewishJournal.com:
Esau's response is surprising. He embraces his brother. Kisses him. They weep together. Is 20 years enough time to erase the pain of a stolen birthright? Could a fleet of animals have warmed Esau's heart? To be sure, Esau is overwhelmed. “Looking about, Esau saw the women and the children. ‘Who,’ he asked, ‘are these with you?’ “ (Genesis 33:5). As it turns out, Esau has become a brother-in-law and uncle many times over. “And what do you mean by all this company which I have met?” (Genesis 33:8). He is perplexed by the number of animals representing Yaakov's wealth and prosperity. He might even be stunned by Yaakov's generosity, amazed by all that has transpired since Yaakov ran away.
And in the midst of animals, wives and children, two brothers acknowledge a new reality:
Yesh li rav, Esav says. “I have enough. Let what you have remain yours.”
Yesh li kol, Ya’akov says. “I have plenty. Please accept.”
And suddenly, where once there was only enough for one, it seems there is enough for everyone. Twenty years earlier, a perceived scarcity was the source of great fear and anger, dividing the family. Twenty years later, surrounded by family and livestock, both brothers proclaim, “I have what I need,” and they embrace.
There is something magical about this declaration, “Yesh li kol.” I have enough. I have everything I need. In Parashat Vayishlach, it transforms a scene between brothers.
Pasted from
It appeared that Jacob may have deceived his brother again when he asked that Esau go on home and Jacob would travel at the pace of his children and livestock and meet Esau at his home. JPS says " But Jacob journeyed on to Succoth and built a house for himself and made stalls for his cattle."
In this home, Dinah, Leah's daughter, "went out to visit the daughters of the land." (Rabbi Yitz says dinah/din means judgment.) The Talmudic Rabbis saw this as very unwomanly behavior; no wonder she was raped by Shechem! Rabbi Yitz and the Israeli in Torah study said it was unclear in Hebrew. The same word is used in the relationship between Sarah and Hagar. It might be all of the following: oppressed, responded, humbled, humiliated and defiled, purposely allowing multiple meanings.
Likewise, we don't know what to think about the fact that Shechem wanted his father to get him Dinah as a wife. Was he repentant or just a control freak? So the father, Hamor, went to speak with Jacob. Here Jacob acts like Abraham; he knew what happened, but kept silent until his sons came home. Hamor intended to speak with Jacob, but the sons met him first.
Jacob's sons were very angry and were not impressed by Hamor's entreaties for them to intermarry with his city's daughters in return. Hamor promised them that they could settle in the land. Shechem offered to pay whatever bride price and to ply them with gifts if he could have Dinah for a wife.
Jacob's sons tricked the men by saying they could not agree to let any of their women marry uncircumcised men. But if they and the others in their town would be circumcised, they could settle in peace, intermarry and become like kin. Shechem and Hamor went into town and pleaded with the townspeople to be circumcised so they may live as kindred. The men did so. (There is no record if they knew that Shechem had actually raped Dinah or just wanted her for his wife.) On the third day Simeon and Levi went into town with swords and slew all the men, who were in too much pain to fight. They took Dinah back home. The other sons plundered the town, seizing not only goods and livestock, but also all the women.
In Torah study, my fiance brought up that the men of the town were circumcised but not for religious reasons, but for profit. Rabbi Maurice says it was not done in repugnance of intermarrying because they took the women of the town. Rabbi Maurice also brought up the final blessing in a later parsha - in which the tribal head of the priesthood kills men when he is angry and maims cattle when he is not. This may serve as a warning for later.
Dinah is not treated as a human being here. I think since she is not a matriarch, Torah did not consider it important that she has a personality. Unlike the matriarchs, she was not shown to feel love, jealousy, hurt, anger or joy. She was an extra rather than a character actor; it was more important how Jacob and the sons react to what happened. (Nahmanides, in contrast to all the other sages, said that Dinah was not described, even though all the other women of the Bible are, because the Bible does not want to blame the victim by saying she was pretty, shapely, etc. The other sages assumed she did something to deserve what happened to her.)
Jacob chastised them, saying their actions would make them enemies of all the Canaanites and Perizzites, and that they could be destroyed. The sons answered, "Should our sister be treated like a whore?" This strikes me as harsh, to ruin a town and kill all the men because one behaved badly, especially since that one attempted to make amends. However, this behavior is still fairly common in the Middle East today.
Jacob heard a call from God to go to Bethel and build an altar "to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." Are we to take it that God did not believe Himself adequately thanked? When Jacob dreamed of the stairway to heaven, he turned his pillow stone to become a pillar, poured oil on it, renamed it Bethel and promised that IF God stayed with, fed and clothed and protected him, God would be his God and that he would tithe, Torah records that he built an altar on the land he bought from Hamor in Canaan. It does not record a return to Bethel, tithing or any particular pattern of worship. In fact, Jacob told his people to rid themselves of their idols and the rings in their noses, so we can only assume they worshipped pagan gods rather than the Lord.
Jacob told his family to purify themselves, including changing their clothes and he buried the idols and earrings before they left. God sent a terror to all the cities surrounding them so that no one pursued them. Jacob took his family to the same place where he had laid his head on a stone, formerly called Luz but now renamed Bethel, meaning that God resided there. Jacob built and altar and named it El-bethel. El, again, is the name of the Canaanite God.
Again, the idols are treated in a manner that could almost be humorous: they are so small one can bury them along with earrings!
God appeared and told Jacob he was to be called Jacob no longer, but Israel. God told him "I am El Shaddai." El-Shaddai means God of the mountain. El is the name of the Canaanite highest god. More on this later. He repeated the commandment to be fertile and multiply, promised that nations would be born of him and kings would spring from his loins. Apparently when Jacob ran away from clear and present danger in Canaan and came to build an altar, God forgave him.
Israel and his family continued on their journey. Rachel went into difficult labor and the family had to stop. The midwife tried to comfort her, saying she had another boy, but Rachel died. She named the boy Ben-oni, son of my suffering. Israel called him Benjamin, which means either son of the south of son of the right hand. Rachel died and was buried on the road to what is now Bethlehem.
Reuben had sex with his father's concubine Bilhah and Jacob/Israel found out, but the text does not tell us if he punished Reuben in any way at this point. But Jacob/Israel did not forget, as we will later see.
Israel at last reached his father, Isaac, who made it to 180 years old before he died and was buried by both sons, Esau and Israel. Intereting he made it this long, because when he blessed the sons, he was already blind and weak. Since then at least 35 years have passed in my estimation, based on the sexuality of the children and the fact that Jacob said when he left Laban that he had promised to serve seven years but ended up serving twenty.
Esau took his large family and livestock and moved because Canaan was not fertile enough to support both his family's and Israel's. Esau's descendants were called Edomites. One of his grandchildren by Esau's son Eliphaz and a concubine was Amalek, who would fight with Israelis later.
Thoughts and Concerns About Conversion
Thoughts and Concerns About Conversion
Friday, November 12, I met with my rabbi about the progress of my conversion activities. As I mentioned before, I brought along my laptop, in which I have probably a hundred pages of my notes from Jewish studies. I didn’t bring it to try to convince him I’m brilliant; but to show my dedication because I am not. Unlike my paternal grandmother, I cannot look at a page and literally memorize it. About six months into my studies I realized how much I had already forgotten. I had two choices: slow down the reading or make an organized system of notes. I am too enthusiastic to do the former.
Despite my serious study, I have been concerned that people might misunderstand my reason for converting. Since I didn’t know anyone in Eugene before moving here June 1st, no one knows how many times I considered converting before I actually worked up the nerve to register for a class and begin attending services. I met my fiancé in Torah study. A few weeks later we had one conversation alone. That was all it took to make us inseparable! We became engaged on October 3rd.
The Talmudic Rabbis said that God Himself arranged marriages at birth; “This one is intended for that one.” A year ago I would have said that was hogwash. But how else can I explain the peace, happiness and certainty we feel together?
My rabbi said he knew I would convert even if I weren’t engaged, that I studied hard and often came to synagogue even before I met my fiancé. However, he did not feel inclined to choose the date I chose, January 3rd, which was the day I first checked a stack of Jewish books out of the library. He wanted to give it another month or so for me to think about it and until the year anniversary of when I actually began classes, so the conversion is more likely to be the middle of February.
I have read in several books and websites that some women felt like they were treated as lesser Jews because they converted right before marriage. Does it matter what brings one originally to Judaism? Isn’t it more important that the convert feel a deep desire to be Jewish?
By the time I was 21, I had been church-hopping for years, dissatisfied. Is it somehow more honorable that I, who had only met one Jewish person before that year, was driving by a synagogue and literally changed lanes to pull into the parking lot and go inside? I didn’t know what I was doing – and they refused me. If I had met an honorable, kind and studious man like my fiancé first, I doubt so many years would have passed before I set foot in a Temple again.
After we discussed my engagement, we I moved on to discuss my spiritual beliefs and how far I followed laws of kashrut. I said I am comfortable with Biblical kashrut except that women may not even be touched during their periods, but I am not comfortable with Rabbinical kashrut, which not only extends the time women are “unclean,” but also makes food preparation, storage and clean up a tremendous chore. He asked why Biblical and not Rabbinical; I answered (and one of the four people who reads this blog might object) that I am far more inclined to believe that the Torah is the word of God (except for some editorializing) than I am inclined to believe all commentaries are the word of God. Therefore, I am more inclined to willingly obey Biblical kashrut laws rather than be so grudging and halfhearted in my obedience to Rabbinical kashrut laws that I may as well not try.
We discussed various books of the Tanakh. I said Ezekiel would be locked up as crazy if he roamed the streets today… but women in ponytails and workout clothes buy bread named after him, Ezekiel 4:9 bread! The rabbi immediately laughed, knowing exactly what I meant. The recipe for this bread is given in Ezekiel 4:9: wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and emmer. But the instructions for baking it on human excrement are given in Ezekiel 4:12!
We got serious about the conversion itself. He, the Senior Rabbi and a third knowledgeable person, usually a woman, would meet with me and ask me to talk about my spiritual journey. They would ask a few questions. He said they rarely turned anyone away who got that far, but sometimes if there was too much stress in an applicant’s life, they would ask for a little more time before they proceeded with the conversion. After the session with the three (the Bet Din), I would go to the mikveh for my ritual immersion. I would need to find two women to be my witnesses. Once that was done, I would be considered a legal member of the Jewish community. They do not charge for the conversion itself, but it is traditional to give a donation to the couple that operates the mikveh.
I didn’t tell the rabbi this, but I am a little uncomfortable about the mikveh. I will have to undress and dunk myself in front of others.
The rabbi and I stood and shook hands in parting.
Later, cooking dinner with my fiance, I was stressing a little over whether the other two in the Bet Din might confuse my wish to marry with my wish to convert. My fiancé reminded me that the Senior Rabbi not only approved, but was very excited to hear about our engagement. (And he was! We went up to him after service and told him. His eyes opened wide, he laughed and threw back his head and exclaimed, “It’s what the world NEEDS!” He laughed again and hugged us both and wished us mazel tov!)
My fiancé took my hand and gave me a look I have never seen on anyone’s face but his, a look that says he believes in me wholeheartedly. “Once you begin speaking with them, you will relax and do beautifully because you know in your head and heart that you don’t want to be Jewish – you are Jewish.”
Friday, November 12, I met with my rabbi about the progress of my conversion activities. As I mentioned before, I brought along my laptop, in which I have probably a hundred pages of my notes from Jewish studies. I didn’t bring it to try to convince him I’m brilliant; but to show my dedication because I am not. Unlike my paternal grandmother, I cannot look at a page and literally memorize it. About six months into my studies I realized how much I had already forgotten. I had two choices: slow down the reading or make an organized system of notes. I am too enthusiastic to do the former.
Despite my serious study, I have been concerned that people might misunderstand my reason for converting. Since I didn’t know anyone in Eugene before moving here June 1st, no one knows how many times I considered converting before I actually worked up the nerve to register for a class and begin attending services. I met my fiancé in Torah study. A few weeks later we had one conversation alone. That was all it took to make us inseparable! We became engaged on October 3rd.
The Talmudic Rabbis said that God Himself arranged marriages at birth; “This one is intended for that one.” A year ago I would have said that was hogwash. But how else can I explain the peace, happiness and certainty we feel together?
My rabbi said he knew I would convert even if I weren’t engaged, that I studied hard and often came to synagogue even before I met my fiancé. However, he did not feel inclined to choose the date I chose, January 3rd, which was the day I first checked a stack of Jewish books out of the library. He wanted to give it another month or so for me to think about it and until the year anniversary of when I actually began classes, so the conversion is more likely to be the middle of February.
I have read in several books and websites that some women felt like they were treated as lesser Jews because they converted right before marriage. Does it matter what brings one originally to Judaism? Isn’t it more important that the convert feel a deep desire to be Jewish?
By the time I was 21, I had been church-hopping for years, dissatisfied. Is it somehow more honorable that I, who had only met one Jewish person before that year, was driving by a synagogue and literally changed lanes to pull into the parking lot and go inside? I didn’t know what I was doing – and they refused me. If I had met an honorable, kind and studious man like my fiancé first, I doubt so many years would have passed before I set foot in a Temple again.
After we discussed my engagement, we I moved on to discuss my spiritual beliefs and how far I followed laws of kashrut. I said I am comfortable with Biblical kashrut except that women may not even be touched during their periods, but I am not comfortable with Rabbinical kashrut, which not only extends the time women are “unclean,” but also makes food preparation, storage and clean up a tremendous chore. He asked why Biblical and not Rabbinical; I answered (and one of the four people who reads this blog might object) that I am far more inclined to believe that the Torah is the word of God (except for some editorializing) than I am inclined to believe all commentaries are the word of God. Therefore, I am more inclined to willingly obey Biblical kashrut laws rather than be so grudging and halfhearted in my obedience to Rabbinical kashrut laws that I may as well not try.
We discussed various books of the Tanakh. I said Ezekiel would be locked up as crazy if he roamed the streets today… but women in ponytails and workout clothes buy bread named after him, Ezekiel 4:9 bread! The rabbi immediately laughed, knowing exactly what I meant. The recipe for this bread is given in Ezekiel 4:9: wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and emmer. But the instructions for baking it on human excrement are given in Ezekiel 4:12!
We got serious about the conversion itself. He, the Senior Rabbi and a third knowledgeable person, usually a woman, would meet with me and ask me to talk about my spiritual journey. They would ask a few questions. He said they rarely turned anyone away who got that far, but sometimes if there was too much stress in an applicant’s life, they would ask for a little more time before they proceeded with the conversion. After the session with the three (the Bet Din), I would go to the mikveh for my ritual immersion. I would need to find two women to be my witnesses. Once that was done, I would be considered a legal member of the Jewish community. They do not charge for the conversion itself, but it is traditional to give a donation to the couple that operates the mikveh.
I didn’t tell the rabbi this, but I am a little uncomfortable about the mikveh. I will have to undress and dunk myself in front of others.
The rabbi and I stood and shook hands in parting.
Later, cooking dinner with my fiance, I was stressing a little over whether the other two in the Bet Din might confuse my wish to marry with my wish to convert. My fiancé reminded me that the Senior Rabbi not only approved, but was very excited to hear about our engagement. (And he was! We went up to him after service and told him. His eyes opened wide, he laughed and threw back his head and exclaimed, “It’s what the world NEEDS!” He laughed again and hugged us both and wished us mazel tov!)
My fiancé took my hand and gave me a look I have never seen on anyone’s face but his, a look that says he believes in me wholeheartedly. “Once you begin speaking with them, you will relax and do beautifully because you know in your head and heart that you don’t want to be Jewish – you are Jewish.”
Genesis 28:10 - 32:3
Genesis 28:10 - 32:3
Collected from my thoughts, Midrash (usually Genesis Rabbah), TBI’s Torah study group and Midrashic Women by Judith Baskin. I blame no one but myself for all my negative thoughts about the behaviors of our patriarchs and matriarchs.
In previous parsha, Jacob has already received the birthright blessing of his father Isaac through trickery that was Rebekah's idea. Jacob did not protest that that was dishonest, just that his father would recognize his smooth, hairless skin and would curse him as a trickster. (Esau must have been very, very hairy if Rebekah had to affix goat kid skin to him!)
Jacob left his home before Esau could kill him because Rebekah has persuaded (through negativity) Isaac to make sure Jacob found a wife from among their kin. Isaac told Jacob to go choose a wife from Laban's daughters. (Laban is Rebekah's brother, so all these girls would be his nieces.) Isaac says, "May El Shaddai bless you..."
This parsha begins with "Jacob left Beer-sheba and set out for Haran." The place where he first stopped for the night was a holy place, actually Mount Moriah according to the Rabbis, although Jacob did not know it. He placed his head on a stone for a pillow. Rabbi Eliezer said Jacob "met" this place; other rabbis said that the word for his arrival could also mean "prayer", though it was not the usual expression for prayer. Somehow it connotes that the earth, or even the mountain, sprang forward to meet him there. I am afraid I don’t yet know Hebrew, so I can not explain how this is. In Genesis Rabbah, the Rabbis also said the sun set suddenly, forcing him to stop there in this holy place. Genesis Rabbah further goes on to say that "he lay down in that place" implied a restrictiveness, that he never laid down to rest during all his service with Laban, because he was so engaged in Torah study!!!
And is this the inspiration for the Eagles' Stairway to Heaven? "He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky and angels of God were going up and down on it." God appeared to him in the dream, saying, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac..." Here, although it is a little early, we can use Martin Buber's idea:
Martin Buber - "Why do we say: 'our God and the God of our fathers'? There are two kinds of people who believe in God. One believes because he has taken over the faith of his fathers, and his faith is strong. The other has arrived at faith through thinking and studying... The advantage of the first is that, no matter what arguments may be brought against it, his faith cannot be shaken; his faith is firm because it was taken over from his fathers. But there is one flaw in it: he has faith only in response to the command of man and he has acquired it without studying and thinking for himself. The advantage of the second is that, because he found God through much thinking, he has arrived at a faith of his own. But here too there is a flaw: it is easy to shake his faith by refuting it through evidence. But he who unites both kinds of faith is invincible. And so we say 'our God' with reference to our studies and 'God of our fathers' with an eye to tradition. The same interpretation has been given to our saying 'God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob' and not 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob', for this indicates that Isaac and Jacob did not merely take over the tradition of Abraham; they themselves searched for God."
God also made the promise to Jacob that his offspring will be the "dust of the earth", which I read as uncountable, essential to living, frequently overlooked and mortal, as in we will return to dust. God said "all the families of the earth" (which could mean of the dust of the earth rather than literally everyone on the earth, since that would not be true) "shall bless themselves by you and your descendants." And still today, we Jews do. God promised he would not leave Jacob until he brought him back to the land and did what he promised. This is a better promise than Abraham got! But Jacob, although shaken and awed, still says "If God remains with me and protects me on this journey... and gives me bread... and clothing... (then) the Lord shall be my God... And I will set aside a tithe." Would you or I, if God spoke with us so, be so bold as to bargain and express disbelief? I hope not.
There's an unusual amount of detail about the well, Gen 29: how large the stone was that covered the well and that flocks of sheep had to wait for someone to roll the stone off the well before they could drink. It says there were three flocks of sheep waiting, but does not mention the shepherds; we are supposed to know that Jacob addresses them when he says, "My friends, where are you from?" In an amazing coincidence when he asked if the shepherds know Laban, they replied that his daughter Rachel was coming now with her father's flock. Jacob urged them to uncover the well but they said they have to wait for all the flocks. I supposed he is showing eagerness to get them off so he might speak with her. The Rabbis explained he thought they are loafing and should be working for their masters, so that is why he says they should water their sheep and go back to pasture.
Rachel was a shepherdess, a working girl! Jacob was so impressed by her; she was beautiful and shapely. He was filled with strength and rolled the stone off the well, ignoring what the others had said so she could water her sheep immediately. Then he KISSED! And he started crying and told her he was kin. The Rabbis thought he cried because he foresaw that they will not be buried together. Alternately, they thought it was because he came bearing no gifts. Even though kissing in welcome is a middle eastern thing, it must have still seemed overwhelming. She ran off to tell Laban, who ran up to greet him. Genesis Rabbah says Laban remembered how Abraham's servant brought many gifts and that is why he came running. The Rabbis so dislike Laban they say he hugged because he thought Jacob might have gold in his bosom and kissed because he thought Jacob might have pearls in his mouth!
Is this Laban the inspiration for Elton John’s Lebon, who liked his money and spent his days counting?
Jacob told Laban he was running from his brother and was penniless. He worked for Laban a month before Laban offered him wages. Jacob offered to serve Laban seven years for Rachel's hand in marriage. He specified Rachel, the younger daughter, lest there be any confusion. Although he wanted her and may have suspected Laban already, he had no gifts. Only his muscle.
The seven years passed very quickly. He asked for Rachel's hand so he "may cohabit with her!"
Laban made a big feast and Jacob must have gotten a little drunk. We are not told if Rachel knew what was happening (Megillot thinks she did and wished to spare her sister shame) but Laban gave Jacob Leah instead and somehow Jacob did not notice the difference until morning. Jacob complained to Laban, who said they marry the older girls first, but he can have the younger one also if he agreed to wait one week before taking possession of her and if he served another 7 years. It occurs to me here that the time for observing the wedding and sitting shiva are the same, 7 days.
The bitterness between these two sisters must have been great; jealousy from Leah and from Rachel, anger at the trickery and Jacob's enforced servitude.
In the Prayer class on the Jewish Day of Learning, Professor Deborah Greene said that it is possible that Leah prayed, because "The Lord saw that Leah was unloved and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren." The first actual recorded prayer is later, from Samuel's mother, Hannah. But it seems likely that Leah cried out, at least.
Rachel, as we know from her later theft of idols, was an idolater. She went to Jacob and said, "Give me children or I shall die." "Jacob was incensed at Rachel and said, 'Can I take the place of God, who has denied you fruit of the womb?'" (Is this where the underwear company got their name?) So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a concubine. Unlike Sarah, Rachel was delighted to have children she could raise as her own, even if she had to find a surrogate. She said God had "vindicated her" and given her a son. When her maid bore a second son, she said she had waged "a fateful contest" against her sister and "prevailed." But I think unlike Sarah’s maid Hagar, Bilhah actually gave up her child.
Leah had already borne 4 sons before Rachel gave her maid as concubines. With the third son, Leah knew she had more than fulfilled the strongest interpretation of the commandment to be fruitful and multiply, which was to bear two sons. She named the first two. The third "was named" Levi, either by Jacob or by God. She realized how great the gift of the 4th son was; she named Judah and promised to praised the Lord. Leah clearly believed in God.
God had not withheld children from Jacob and Leah, but from Rachel. Maybe it was because of Rachel's idols? Or because she, as the more beautiful sister, was vain? Also, she seems to take her hold over Jacob for granted... See the mandrakes, below. When the maid's children are born, Rachel offers no praise, only an indignant sense that she is getting her due.
Leah, who was previously content, became unhappy that she has not borne any more children! So she gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob! Zilpah bears two sons.
Regarding my earlier comment that if I had to give my husband my maid as a concubine, I'd find a hairy and smelly maid, I suspect these women were not great beauties. After all, Laban, who was a greedy fellow, gave them up!
So far:
Leah's own children: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, all sons.
Leah's sons by her maid Zilpah: Gad and Asher
Rachel's sons by Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
And there is this bizarre scene, where Rachel wanted a few of the mandrakes Leah's son brought home, and Leah answered, "Was it not enough for you to take away my husband, that you would also take my son's mandrakes?" I really must try some mandrakes, because I can't imagine equating the two... And then Rachel answered that she will let Leah have Jacob for the night in exchange for mandrakes! Then Leah went out and met Jacob as he came back from the fields. She actually told him he was to sleep with her because she purchased him with mandrakes. Whoa!!!! What could Jacob have thought over being sold so cheaply by his favorite wife? Upon reading this, I texted my fiancé, "May our lovemaking and cuddling remain priceless, no matter how many years pass."
In fact, the Rabbis thought that Rachel's and Leah's assumption that they could choose who Jacob slept with was worthy of big punishment. Therefore, Rachel died younger and was not buried with her husband. And Leah's actions were disdained; her daughter Dinah was considered as just above a harlot.
Although Rachel is often called our mother, really Leah is, because all the tribes but Judah and Levi were wiped out or disappeared; thus we are also related to Laban. In Torah study, a lady read aloud: Rachel, who was Jacob's intended for the spiritual world, bore Joseph, who saved Israel, Leah, his intended for this world, bore Levi and Judah.
God "heeded Leah and she conceived, and bore him a fifth son." Leah seems to clearly understand the precedent mentioned above; when she becomes pregnant, she says that God honored her giving of her maid to Jacob. Leah bears Issachar and Zebulun before finally bearing Jacob's only daughter, Dinah. The Rabbis thought that while in utero, Dinah was turned from a boy into a girl because Leah realized that one more son would expose her sister to ridicule.
God finally "remembered Rachel." She bore Joseph. The Rabbis thought that Esau, who strangely had not yet seen Rachel, somehow lusted for her. If a couple had been married 10 years, the man was expected to divorce her just because she was barren. So not only must her joy have been great, but also her relief.
At this point, Jacob asked Laban for permission to leave with his wives and children. Laban knew that he has been blessed with livestock and sons because of Jacob; he tried to strike a deal so as not to lose his good fortune. Jacob answered, "When shall I make a provision for my own household?" (which of course has now grown very large!) They agreed to Jacob's suggestion that he remove all the dark, spotted and speckled sheep and goats. Jacob said this way Laban will be able to easily see that Jacob is not stealing from him. Laban agreed, no doubt thinking these are less worthy animals and also more rare. But just in case, Laban took all the speckled, dark and spotted animals and had his sons pasture them three days' journey away from Jacob. Laban must not have cared one iota for the welfare of his daughters or grandchildren! Jacob answered this with magic: he peeled strips of bark off sticks of poplar, almond and plane (or hazelnut) and put them in the water troughs so when the flocks came to drink, they would see the rods, come into heat, mate and bring forth speckled, spotted and dark offspring. Jacob also ensured he had sturdy offspring by judicious placement of the rods; if sturdy animals came to drink, he placed the rods in and if weak animals came, he did not. Of course I can't miss the symbolism of placing a rod in a trough to ensure fertility!
Laban's sons started speaking badly of Jacob, as if he were stealing from them. Jacob called his wives out to the field and told them that he had served their father with all his might, but their father had cheated him time and time again. He told his wives the reason for his prosperity was not dishonesty, but because God would not let Laban harm him. He told them that God told him it was time to go home to his family. His wives sided with him.
Rachel then stole her father's idols. Jacob sent his wives, children and livestock on towards his homeland first, while continuing to serve Laban, presumably to give his wives a fair chance against being pursued. Then Jacob left. It was three days before Laban knew. Laban pursued them for seven days, finally catching them in Gilead. God appeared to Laban in a dream and warned against doing anything, good or bad, with Jacob. Laban said Jacob should not have run off without saying goodbye. He admitted that God warned him not to attempt anything with Jacob, but then he asked Jacob why he stole his gods!!! Jacob did not know Rachel stole idols so he said if anyone did indeed take Laban's gods, that person could die! I don't think that Jacob didn't think anyone stole it, but that he didn't want a thief in his midst.
Rachel places the idols, which must have been very small, in a camel cushion and sat on them, pretending to have her period. This brings up some "how could people be so blind" questions: If Rachel and Laban knew that God made Jacob prosperous and had heard the voice of God, why would they want these silly little idols that could be hidden in a cushion? In fact, Jacob calls the household goods. (or objects or utensils)
There are a few other possible interpretations. In Torah study a Hebrew scholar pointed out that the word for idols is singular. Laban knew that God would leave with Jacob. The "you have outwitted me" means you have stolen my heart, which could mean stealing his daughters. Someone in Torah study said we should not interpret Laban as bad; he is our ancestor. Laban means white.
My fiancé pointed out another theme in this parsha, that of leaving fathers. Jacob left his and now Rachel, leaving hers, takes mementoes with her. Jacob was confronted with his actions towards his father when he accused Leah of deceiving him that first night in bed and she answered that he was the original deceiver.
Jacob became quite angry at Laban for rummaging through his things as if he were a criminal. Instead of 7 years, he has spent 20 years in Laban's service. It's about time he got angry. And during this time not one of Laban's flock miscarried. Jacob did not eat any of his rams. He served in both scorching and frosty weather, even when unable to sleep. And if it weren't for God's help, Jacob would now be empty handed because Laban had not willingly paid him what he promised.
Laban conceded, ungracefully, although "all Jacob has is really his, what can he do about it now?" So they made a pact not to harm each other, built a mound of stones and made a sacrifice. Laban also said Jacob better not take any wives besides his daughters - I guess he has noted Jacob's randiness.
Laban kissed his family goodbye, then left. Jacob continued on until he encountered angels of the Lord.
Supplementary Readings:
In Hosea 12:3-7, Jacob is criticized for trying to supplant his brother and for fighting a divine being until the being wept. Summarized so, it sounds as if Jacob was proud to a fault. Hosea said that we (like Jacob) had to return to our God, like Jacob did at Bethel, and practice goodness, justice and trust in the Lord. Micah’s book ends in 7:18 -20 with “Who is a God like You, forgiving iniquity and remitting transgression…You will keep faith with Jacob, Loyalty to Abraham, as You promised on oath to our fathers in days gone by.”
Collected from my thoughts, Midrash (usually Genesis Rabbah), TBI’s Torah study group and Midrashic Women by Judith Baskin. I blame no one but myself for all my negative thoughts about the behaviors of our patriarchs and matriarchs.
In previous parsha, Jacob has already received the birthright blessing of his father Isaac through trickery that was Rebekah's idea. Jacob did not protest that that was dishonest, just that his father would recognize his smooth, hairless skin and would curse him as a trickster. (Esau must have been very, very hairy if Rebekah had to affix goat kid skin to him!)
Jacob left his home before Esau could kill him because Rebekah has persuaded (through negativity) Isaac to make sure Jacob found a wife from among their kin. Isaac told Jacob to go choose a wife from Laban's daughters. (Laban is Rebekah's brother, so all these girls would be his nieces.) Isaac says, "May El Shaddai bless you..."
This parsha begins with "Jacob left Beer-sheba and set out for Haran." The place where he first stopped for the night was a holy place, actually Mount Moriah according to the Rabbis, although Jacob did not know it. He placed his head on a stone for a pillow. Rabbi Eliezer said Jacob "met" this place; other rabbis said that the word for his arrival could also mean "prayer", though it was not the usual expression for prayer. Somehow it connotes that the earth, or even the mountain, sprang forward to meet him there. I am afraid I don’t yet know Hebrew, so I can not explain how this is. In Genesis Rabbah, the Rabbis also said the sun set suddenly, forcing him to stop there in this holy place. Genesis Rabbah further goes on to say that "he lay down in that place" implied a restrictiveness, that he never laid down to rest during all his service with Laban, because he was so engaged in Torah study!!!
And is this the inspiration for the Eagles' Stairway to Heaven? "He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky and angels of God were going up and down on it." God appeared to him in the dream, saying, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac..." Here, although it is a little early, we can use Martin Buber's idea:
Martin Buber - "Why do we say: 'our God and the God of our fathers'? There are two kinds of people who believe in God. One believes because he has taken over the faith of his fathers, and his faith is strong. The other has arrived at faith through thinking and studying... The advantage of the first is that, no matter what arguments may be brought against it, his faith cannot be shaken; his faith is firm because it was taken over from his fathers. But there is one flaw in it: he has faith only in response to the command of man and he has acquired it without studying and thinking for himself. The advantage of the second is that, because he found God through much thinking, he has arrived at a faith of his own. But here too there is a flaw: it is easy to shake his faith by refuting it through evidence. But he who unites both kinds of faith is invincible. And so we say 'our God' with reference to our studies and 'God of our fathers' with an eye to tradition. The same interpretation has been given to our saying 'God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob' and not 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob', for this indicates that Isaac and Jacob did not merely take over the tradition of Abraham; they themselves searched for God."
God also made the promise to Jacob that his offspring will be the "dust of the earth", which I read as uncountable, essential to living, frequently overlooked and mortal, as in we will return to dust. God said "all the families of the earth" (which could mean of the dust of the earth rather than literally everyone on the earth, since that would not be true) "shall bless themselves by you and your descendants." And still today, we Jews do. God promised he would not leave Jacob until he brought him back to the land and did what he promised. This is a better promise than Abraham got! But Jacob, although shaken and awed, still says "If God remains with me and protects me on this journey... and gives me bread... and clothing... (then) the Lord shall be my God... And I will set aside a tithe." Would you or I, if God spoke with us so, be so bold as to bargain and express disbelief? I hope not.
There's an unusual amount of detail about the well, Gen 29: how large the stone was that covered the well and that flocks of sheep had to wait for someone to roll the stone off the well before they could drink. It says there were three flocks of sheep waiting, but does not mention the shepherds; we are supposed to know that Jacob addresses them when he says, "My friends, where are you from?" In an amazing coincidence when he asked if the shepherds know Laban, they replied that his daughter Rachel was coming now with her father's flock. Jacob urged them to uncover the well but they said they have to wait for all the flocks. I supposed he is showing eagerness to get them off so he might speak with her. The Rabbis explained he thought they are loafing and should be working for their masters, so that is why he says they should water their sheep and go back to pasture.
Rachel was a shepherdess, a working girl! Jacob was so impressed by her; she was beautiful and shapely. He was filled with strength and rolled the stone off the well, ignoring what the others had said so she could water her sheep immediately. Then he KISSED! And he started crying and told her he was kin. The Rabbis thought he cried because he foresaw that they will not be buried together. Alternately, they thought it was because he came bearing no gifts. Even though kissing in welcome is a middle eastern thing, it must have still seemed overwhelming. She ran off to tell Laban, who ran up to greet him. Genesis Rabbah says Laban remembered how Abraham's servant brought many gifts and that is why he came running. The Rabbis so dislike Laban they say he hugged because he thought Jacob might have gold in his bosom and kissed because he thought Jacob might have pearls in his mouth!
Is this Laban the inspiration for Elton John’s Lebon, who liked his money and spent his days counting?
Jacob told Laban he was running from his brother and was penniless. He worked for Laban a month before Laban offered him wages. Jacob offered to serve Laban seven years for Rachel's hand in marriage. He specified Rachel, the younger daughter, lest there be any confusion. Although he wanted her and may have suspected Laban already, he had no gifts. Only his muscle.
The seven years passed very quickly. He asked for Rachel's hand so he "may cohabit with her!"
Laban made a big feast and Jacob must have gotten a little drunk. We are not told if Rachel knew what was happening (Megillot thinks she did and wished to spare her sister shame) but Laban gave Jacob Leah instead and somehow Jacob did not notice the difference until morning. Jacob complained to Laban, who said they marry the older girls first, but he can have the younger one also if he agreed to wait one week before taking possession of her and if he served another 7 years. It occurs to me here that the time for observing the wedding and sitting shiva are the same, 7 days.
The bitterness between these two sisters must have been great; jealousy from Leah and from Rachel, anger at the trickery and Jacob's enforced servitude.
In the Prayer class on the Jewish Day of Learning, Professor Deborah Greene said that it is possible that Leah prayed, because "The Lord saw that Leah was unloved and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren." The first actual recorded prayer is later, from Samuel's mother, Hannah. But it seems likely that Leah cried out, at least.
Rachel, as we know from her later theft of idols, was an idolater. She went to Jacob and said, "Give me children or I shall die." "Jacob was incensed at Rachel and said, 'Can I take the place of God, who has denied you fruit of the womb?'" (Is this where the underwear company got their name?) So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a concubine. Unlike Sarah, Rachel was delighted to have children she could raise as her own, even if she had to find a surrogate. She said God had "vindicated her" and given her a son. When her maid bore a second son, she said she had waged "a fateful contest" against her sister and "prevailed." But I think unlike Sarah’s maid Hagar, Bilhah actually gave up her child.
Leah had already borne 4 sons before Rachel gave her maid as concubines. With the third son, Leah knew she had more than fulfilled the strongest interpretation of the commandment to be fruitful and multiply, which was to bear two sons. She named the first two. The third "was named" Levi, either by Jacob or by God. She realized how great the gift of the 4th son was; she named Judah and promised to praised the Lord. Leah clearly believed in God.
God had not withheld children from Jacob and Leah, but from Rachel. Maybe it was because of Rachel's idols? Or because she, as the more beautiful sister, was vain? Also, she seems to take her hold over Jacob for granted... See the mandrakes, below. When the maid's children are born, Rachel offers no praise, only an indignant sense that she is getting her due.
Leah, who was previously content, became unhappy that she has not borne any more children! So she gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob! Zilpah bears two sons.
Regarding my earlier comment that if I had to give my husband my maid as a concubine, I'd find a hairy and smelly maid, I suspect these women were not great beauties. After all, Laban, who was a greedy fellow, gave them up!
So far:
Leah's own children: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, all sons.
Leah's sons by her maid Zilpah: Gad and Asher
Rachel's sons by Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
And there is this bizarre scene, where Rachel wanted a few of the mandrakes Leah's son brought home, and Leah answered, "Was it not enough for you to take away my husband, that you would also take my son's mandrakes?" I really must try some mandrakes, because I can't imagine equating the two... And then Rachel answered that she will let Leah have Jacob for the night in exchange for mandrakes! Then Leah went out and met Jacob as he came back from the fields. She actually told him he was to sleep with her because she purchased him with mandrakes. Whoa!!!! What could Jacob have thought over being sold so cheaply by his favorite wife? Upon reading this, I texted my fiancé, "May our lovemaking and cuddling remain priceless, no matter how many years pass."
In fact, the Rabbis thought that Rachel's and Leah's assumption that they could choose who Jacob slept with was worthy of big punishment. Therefore, Rachel died younger and was not buried with her husband. And Leah's actions were disdained; her daughter Dinah was considered as just above a harlot.
Although Rachel is often called our mother, really Leah is, because all the tribes but Judah and Levi were wiped out or disappeared; thus we are also related to Laban. In Torah study, a lady read aloud: Rachel, who was Jacob's intended for the spiritual world, bore Joseph, who saved Israel, Leah, his intended for this world, bore Levi and Judah.
God "heeded Leah and she conceived, and bore him a fifth son." Leah seems to clearly understand the precedent mentioned above; when she becomes pregnant, she says that God honored her giving of her maid to Jacob. Leah bears Issachar and Zebulun before finally bearing Jacob's only daughter, Dinah. The Rabbis thought that while in utero, Dinah was turned from a boy into a girl because Leah realized that one more son would expose her sister to ridicule.
God finally "remembered Rachel." She bore Joseph. The Rabbis thought that Esau, who strangely had not yet seen Rachel, somehow lusted for her. If a couple had been married 10 years, the man was expected to divorce her just because she was barren. So not only must her joy have been great, but also her relief.
At this point, Jacob asked Laban for permission to leave with his wives and children. Laban knew that he has been blessed with livestock and sons because of Jacob; he tried to strike a deal so as not to lose his good fortune. Jacob answered, "When shall I make a provision for my own household?" (which of course has now grown very large!) They agreed to Jacob's suggestion that he remove all the dark, spotted and speckled sheep and goats. Jacob said this way Laban will be able to easily see that Jacob is not stealing from him. Laban agreed, no doubt thinking these are less worthy animals and also more rare. But just in case, Laban took all the speckled, dark and spotted animals and had his sons pasture them three days' journey away from Jacob. Laban must not have cared one iota for the welfare of his daughters or grandchildren! Jacob answered this with magic: he peeled strips of bark off sticks of poplar, almond and plane (or hazelnut) and put them in the water troughs so when the flocks came to drink, they would see the rods, come into heat, mate and bring forth speckled, spotted and dark offspring. Jacob also ensured he had sturdy offspring by judicious placement of the rods; if sturdy animals came to drink, he placed the rods in and if weak animals came, he did not. Of course I can't miss the symbolism of placing a rod in a trough to ensure fertility!
Laban's sons started speaking badly of Jacob, as if he were stealing from them. Jacob called his wives out to the field and told them that he had served their father with all his might, but their father had cheated him time and time again. He told his wives the reason for his prosperity was not dishonesty, but because God would not let Laban harm him. He told them that God told him it was time to go home to his family. His wives sided with him.
Rachel then stole her father's idols. Jacob sent his wives, children and livestock on towards his homeland first, while continuing to serve Laban, presumably to give his wives a fair chance against being pursued. Then Jacob left. It was three days before Laban knew. Laban pursued them for seven days, finally catching them in Gilead. God appeared to Laban in a dream and warned against doing anything, good or bad, with Jacob. Laban said Jacob should not have run off without saying goodbye. He admitted that God warned him not to attempt anything with Jacob, but then he asked Jacob why he stole his gods!!! Jacob did not know Rachel stole idols so he said if anyone did indeed take Laban's gods, that person could die! I don't think that Jacob didn't think anyone stole it, but that he didn't want a thief in his midst.
Rachel places the idols, which must have been very small, in a camel cushion and sat on them, pretending to have her period. This brings up some "how could people be so blind" questions: If Rachel and Laban knew that God made Jacob prosperous and had heard the voice of God, why would they want these silly little idols that could be hidden in a cushion? In fact, Jacob calls the household goods. (or objects or utensils)
There are a few other possible interpretations. In Torah study a Hebrew scholar pointed out that the word for idols is singular. Laban knew that God would leave with Jacob. The "you have outwitted me" means you have stolen my heart, which could mean stealing his daughters. Someone in Torah study said we should not interpret Laban as bad; he is our ancestor. Laban means white.
My fiancé pointed out another theme in this parsha, that of leaving fathers. Jacob left his and now Rachel, leaving hers, takes mementoes with her. Jacob was confronted with his actions towards his father when he accused Leah of deceiving him that first night in bed and she answered that he was the original deceiver.
Jacob became quite angry at Laban for rummaging through his things as if he were a criminal. Instead of 7 years, he has spent 20 years in Laban's service. It's about time he got angry. And during this time not one of Laban's flock miscarried. Jacob did not eat any of his rams. He served in both scorching and frosty weather, even when unable to sleep. And if it weren't for God's help, Jacob would now be empty handed because Laban had not willingly paid him what he promised.
Laban conceded, ungracefully, although "all Jacob has is really his, what can he do about it now?" So they made a pact not to harm each other, built a mound of stones and made a sacrifice. Laban also said Jacob better not take any wives besides his daughters - I guess he has noted Jacob's randiness.
Laban kissed his family goodbye, then left. Jacob continued on until he encountered angels of the Lord.
Supplementary Readings:
In Hosea 12:3-7, Jacob is criticized for trying to supplant his brother and for fighting a divine being until the being wept. Summarized so, it sounds as if Jacob was proud to a fault. Hosea said that we (like Jacob) had to return to our God, like Jacob did at Bethel, and practice goodness, justice and trust in the Lord. Micah’s book ends in 7:18 -20 with “Who is a God like You, forgiving iniquity and remitting transgression…You will keep faith with Jacob, Loyalty to Abraham, as You promised on oath to our fathers in days gone by.”
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