As I have been taking a journey through the Torah since we started a new annual cycle, my initial reaction to chapters of the Torah has been composed of many parts:
- Wow… The language used in the Torah is something that, even in English translation, is so deep. There is sense behind the words that they are more than mere words. It is, nonetheless, just a sense but a sense that has indeed been backed up throughout the centuries and attributes to the “eternality of the Torah.”
- But… Even though this sounds nice, it is quite problematic. Is it really true that our forefathers acted without consideration of their wives? How does one who sleeps with a harlot produce the Moshiach?
- Huh? Why is this laid out like this? Why did Yosef’s dreams take place in this order? Why did Ya’akov bless his sons in that order? Why did Avraham call Sarah his sister? And on and on.
- Wait a second…this is familiar to something else we already saw. Vayishlach – Eliezer, Isaac, Yitzchak, Yosef and others were all sent out as shluchim, messengers, using the same language. Isaac and Avraham (twice) call their wives their sisters in the lands of foreign royalty. Jealousy leads to horrendous acts, from Cain and Abel to Eisav and Yitchak to Yosef and his brothers.
It is clear from both a simple reading of the text and an in-depth study of the history of the Torah pashiyot, that the whole story is not revealed. Parts are missing, years are missing, things are left unsaid. Trying to uncover what is “lost” in between the lines, in between the words even, has been the most intriguing part. Sometimes I feel as if I can fill in the blanks myself, or with a concept – Jewish or otherwise – that I came across elsewhere. Other times I need to dig for answers, sometimes going through many explanations before finding one suitable, sometimes never finding one suitable, and sometimes find them all suitable.
What I really found surprising though was a major theme occurring throughout: challenge of God and the divisiveness of man. The challenge of God’s supremacy begins with the first human beings, when Adam and Chava eat of the one forbidden tree. Their children create the divisiveness of man that carries on throughout Bereishit, as Cain murders his brother Abel. I believe this carries on throughout the entire Torah, but viewing Bereishit as its own book we can see the unity of man under God that results in ultimate success. Where Adam and Chava, Noach, Avraham and Sarah, and many others failed, Joseph and his brothers succeeded. Not without many bumps in the road, the sons of Yitzchak were able to find unity amongst each other and sovereignty under God. But Moshiach does not come and the world moves on. The brothers – the Jewish people of the time – come to practice ahavat yisrael and lead Godly lives in Egypt. But the world is not complete until the verse: “Hallelu et Hashem kol goyim – praise God, all you nations” has come true; only then can the messianic era be reached. That is something we are still working for today, while also working to regain both the ahavat yisrael and recognition of God that b’nei Yitzchak achieved.
I think one positive step in the right direction would be to begin with a focus on ahavat yisrael and v’ahavta l’reyacha camocha – love of your fellow Jew and love your neighbor as yourself. Both Jewish concepts, I interpret the first as necessary to create a harmonious and cohesive Jewish people and the later as a way of creating not just a functioning, but an ideal society. Judaism places a strong emphasis on both our internal strengths and the necessity of being a part of the functioning world. Joseph and his brothers show this when they cry over their reunion, lament their past misdeeds, and come together as a family in Egypt. They live as a large Jewish family able to be successful in a foreign land, with a clear difference between them but no sense of disdain or disparagement of the “other” society in which they live.
A look at Yosef and his brother’s lives in Egypt would benefit Jews from across the spectrum. One the one hand we have the increasingly insular Orthodox communities that are out-of-touch with the world in which we live, unable to interact in secular society, disrespectful of religious differences, loathsome of those outside of their narrow world. B’nei Yitzchak is just the opposite. The sons of Isaac live in their own area for ease of keeping their customs, traditions, and beliefs strong, and raising their families with the values they want to emphasize. But they interact with the Egyptians, they have functioning business and social relationships with them as necessary. The Egyptians look down upon the Hebrews, but there is no indication of the Jews returning this enmity in Bereishit. An ability to interact with others in a positive way is important for us and integral in our mission to perfect the world – as we are in this world for our tikkun olam (repair of the world), not tikkun am Yisrael (repair of the Jewish nation).
But there are Jews on the other side of the spectrum that are just as out-of-touch with the world. The secular, Reform, and other types of Jews don’t understand the importance of spirit and soul, God and religion. Without this there is nothing, but there is a pervasive arrogance that so many people today show in the face of religious Jews and Christians. They disregard the yoke of Heaven and live as if God’s existence – if they even recognize His existence – is a matter of no importance, a matter that has no relevance to their life. This also is not the way of B’nei Yitzchak. The sons of Isaac are deeply devoted to God. They interact with the Egyptians but live separately because of the importance of their family structure, Jewish learning, traditional observance, and recognition of God everywhere. Interaction with the “other” is important in Judaism in order to help instill morals, integrity and recognition of God into everyone. This interaction is meaningless if, instead of showing others the beauty of living a life of God, we adopt the path of the secular and it makes us lose our way of life, lose connection to our Source of existence.
The 3rd Lubavitcher Rebbe said: “He who does not see God in every place, does not see God anywhere.” This is a lesson for those on the right and those on the left. While the ultra-Orthodox live an insular life with extreme emphasis on modesty and limitations on Western advancement, they must recognize that God is also in those who don’t dress the way they do, are educated different then they are, or advocate for different issues. Those to the left, however, must also see God in the world, must recognize that He has a role in their lives and the lives of those they view as backward because of their faith. And those of us in the middle; we too must see God in the life of those more religious than us and those less religious than us. We must see God in our fellow Jew and in those who subscribe to another or no set of beliefs. Seeing God in every place, in every action, might be the hardest thing to strive towards in life but it is an admirable aspiration to have. To see God in every person, in every action, in every thought, in every culture. To see the goodness that rests at the core of everything, the spirit that weaves together everything in existence…to that, I strive.
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