Torah Portion Exodus 1.1-6.1

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

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.

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.”

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.