וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם
וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם
When I was a student at AJR, I was fortunate to take an elective entitled Bibliodrama with Dr. Peter Pitzele. We were told that the class would expand how we would view Torah, by making a parashah come alive by making it into a drama.
We learn about Serah bat Asher (daughter of Asher) in our Torah portion, as she is listed with the names of the children of Israel who went down to Egypt with Jacob to reconnect with Joseph and to find a safe place with access to food during famine. (Gen. 46:17) We hear about her again when her name is listed with those who are making their way into the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for forty years. (Numbers 26:44-47) Wait! Just how much time has elapsed from going down into Egypt and entering the Promised Land… Four hundred years?
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
Anti-Shemitism: The Power of Names to Turn Us Into an Abomination
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayigash
By Rabbi Mitchell Blank (’21)
In a recent notorious SNL monologue, Dave Chappelle proclaims: “There are two words in the English language you should never say together, in sequence, and those words are “the” and “Jews”.” As per Chappelle, this would violate the “show business rules of perception: If they’re Black it’s a gang, if they’re Italian, it’s a mob but if they’re Jewish; it’s a coincidence and you should never speak about it.” Each group receives its own racial or ethnic epithet. As for the Jews, they control Hollywood. In Chappelle’s opinion, Jewish control is so pervasive that even naming “the Jews” will unleash a severe backlash against anyone who tries. Jews are uniquely noxious in that epithets are insufficient to dirty our name. In addition, Jews are allegedly so Read More >
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayigash
By Rabbi Doug Alpert (’12)
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
In this week’s Parasha Joseph acts upon his interpretation of Pharoah’s dream predicting the famine to come. His administrative and problem solving acumen in devising a national plan to provide food during the famine leads him to a position of power in Egypt. He is second Read More >
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
|
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayigash
By Rabbi Heidi Hoover
In this week’s Torah portion, Vayigash, Joseph reveals who he is to his brothers, in an awkward and fraught family reunion. It could hardly be otherwise. His brothers, when they were more powerful than Joseph due to age and numbers, sold him into slavery years ago and let their father believe his favorite son was dead. Now, he is the powerful one—the Egyptian official second only to Pharaoh—and they have come begging to buy food in the famine.
They never had much in common with each other, Joseph and his brothers, and they never got along. Joseph insulted his brothers and reported on their behavior to their father. They, of course, rejected him in the most extreme way, just short of murdering him.
Still, the bond of family remains. Times are hard now, during this great famine. Joseph forgives his brothers and helps them, because they Read More >
Reconciliation is Difficult
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayiggash
by Rabbi Len Levin
“Then Judah went up to him and said, Please, my lord…” (Gen. 44:18)
“And Joseph could no longer refrain before all those standing before him…” (Gen. 45:1)
Reconciliation is difficult.
This week’s Torah reading provides the climax to a narrative that has been unfolding for the past several weeks. This narrative begs to be read on two levels—on the level of a specific family, and on the level of social groups.
On the specific level, there is a clash of personalities, such as we experience in many families. The personalities are sharply different, and the sharp personal differences generate conflicts that escalate to critical proportions. In a family of strong personalities, Joseph is extraordinary, and he demands to be treated as special. The brothers resent his superiority attitude and find dubious ways to be rid of him, at great cost to their integrity and Read More >
|
This week’s parashah includes a detailed reckoning of all of the Israelites who went down to Egypt. In the midst of this list the following is written: “These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; in all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.” (Genesis 46:15) This seemingly innocent verse was the cause for much exegetical discussion.
Before we speak about this verse, how about the following verse that also raised some eyebrows: “And Joseph’s sons who were born to him in Egypt were two in number. Thus the total of Jacob’s household who came to Egypt was seventy persons.” (Genesis 46:27) It was simple mathematics, or maybe not so simple mathematics, that was the catalyst for so many comments on these verses. In his Hagut be-Parshiyot ha-Torah, Yehudah Gershuni brings a number of commentators who Read More >
by Rabbi Jill Hammer
“Your servant my father said to us: As you know, my wife bore me two sons…”
Genesis 45:27
Every year when Parashat Vayigash arrives, my breath is taken away by the same small moment. Judah approaches Joseph’s throne and makes the speech that convinces Joseph that it is safe to reveal himself to his brothers. It seems that it is the sight of Judah pleading on behalf of one of Rachel’s sons–Benjamin–that opens Joseph’s heart. Yet there’s another moment that shows the power of role reversal to create empathy–the moment where Judah quotes his father Jacob and thereby erases himself.
“My wife bore me two sons,” Judah quotes his father. In this statement, Jacob erases his other three wives and their total of eleven children, focusing solely on his wife Rachel and the two sons he and Rachel had together. This is surely the core of the rage the brothers have felt Read More >
©2023 Academy for Jewish Religion
