Monday, December 29, 2014

Vayechi

Genesis 47:28–50:26

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Birthright and Brotherhood


This week's parashah, Vayhi, brings to a close the book of Bereshit/Genesis. In this chapter all that has been wrong is made right. Or has it?

Yes, Joseph and his brothers all reunite. Yes, Joseph and his beloved father Jacob are also reunited. But the reunion is all too short, for soon thereafter Jacob is on his deathbed. He has seen his beloved Joseph and now he can die in peace - or as much in peace as is possible for a man who has lived as he has. For Jacob has spent his whole life either running from a brother whom he had wronged, working in order to finally marry the woman he loved or mourning the loss of his favorite son. The days of peace and tranquility in Jacob's life have been few and fleeting. And yet, the name of this parashah - Vayhi - means "and he lived." True, the name is simply taken from the first word of the parashah, but perhaps it is meant to teach us something.

Perhaps contained in this simple word is a core truth of Jacob's life - and all of our lives. For in spite of all that had happened to Jacob he did live. His life may have been filled with much sorrow, deceit, trickery, sadness, anger, frustration and dejection. Yet, in the end he lived and was able to see his beloved son again and bless all of his sons before his death.

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Monday, December 22, 2014

Vayigash

Genesis 44:18−47:27

Rabbi Lewis Eron for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Prophets and Sages


The difference between a prophet and a sage is where they discover God working in our lives. The prophet studies the future and points out the opportunities for righteousness and goodness that we may encounter in our life's journey. The sage looks into the past and shows us how we made way for God's healing presence and loving power in the choices we made and the paths we followed. The prophet fortifies us with the gift of hope. The sage strengthens us with the gift of meaning.

We need both prophets and sages. We need to hear both voices. Yet, the task of the sage is harder and greater than that of the prophet. The prophet helps us find purpose and significance in the open-ended future. The sage guides us in the search for value and meaning in our already closed past.

Joseph's great gift was that he was both a prophet and a sage. He was by nature a visionary. Through the window of dreams he could peer into the future. Although he could not see all the details, he could picture what life could be like. He was, however, not born wise. He had to learn how to be a sage. He needed the insight and wisdom he earned through the challenges and trials of his life.

When we encounter Joseph in this week's Torah portion, Va-Yigash, he is no longer the obnoxious young visionary whom his brothers sold into slavery some twenty years earlier. His experiences as a slave, as a prisoner and as the highest official of the Egyptian court taught him to understand the human heart. He learned that it was necessary to let go of the burden of the past to be able to receive the promise of the future.

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Monday, December 15, 2014

Shabbat Hanukkah, Mikeitz

Genesis 41:1−44:17

Rabbi Lewis Eron for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Jews-By-Choice: Asenath and Ruth


Throughout our history, and particularly in our times, the Jewish people have been enriched by converts, people who have chosen to cast their lot with ours, to make our history and destiny their own. We benefit from their enthusiasm, their insight and their mature understanding of Judaism. We honor their new commitments by calling them "gerei tzedek" ("those who have chosen to dwell with us through righteousness") and by declaring them to be the direct descendants of our ancestors, Abraham and Sarah. They, in turn, compliment us by accepting our sacred heritage and remind us of the life-changing, life-enhancing power of our traditions.

Our ancient traditions present us with two powerful visions of the conversion process. One, represented by the story of Ruth, focuses on the convert's significant relationships with Jewish people. We all know many people who have chosen to join us because of their involvement with their Jewish spouse, their Jewish friends, and the Jewish community. The other, characterized by ancient legends concerning Joseph's Egyptian born wife, Asenath, stresses the convert's spiritual journey towards Jewish faith.

The story of the Moabite woman, Ruth, who after the deaths of her husband and father-in-law, followed her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Naomi's hometown of Bethlehem in Judah, is found in the biblical Book of Ruth. The story focuses on Jewish values of peoplehood and community, which still play a central role in modern Jewish life.

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Monday, December 8, 2014

Vayeishev

Genesis 37:1−40:23

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Joseph, Part 1


This week's parasha, Vayeshev, begins the Joseph saga. This amazing story comprises a full four Torah portions -- more than the stories of any of the prior patriarchs or matriarchs. This seems strange at first because Joseph is not even considered a patriarch in our tradition. He is merely the favorite son of our namesake Jacob/Israel who behaves in this parasha like a spoiled brat, telling on his brothers and then informing them of his dreams that he will someday rule over them and who often flaunts his special relationship with his father.

Of course, Jacob is not innocent in this, as he clearly shows favoritism to Joseph by giving him the famous coat of many colors. After all that happened to Jacob due to the favoritism showed to him by his mother and the rivalry that he experienced with his brother Esau one has to wonder how he could let the same thing happen to his son Joseph. It never ceases to amaze how familial patterns of deception continue from generation to generation, not only in the Torah, but in "real life" as well.

Commentators throughout the ages have criticized Joseph for the way he behaved towards his brothers. Yet Elie Wiesel has sympathy for Joseph. He states that Jacob's other sons should have shown compassion for their younger brother who lost his beloved mother while she was giving birth to his brother Benjamin. Instead, they treated him as an outsider, and so he used his father's natural favoritism (based on the fact that his was Jacob's beloved Rachel's son) to taunt his brothers. This eventually backfired and caused his brothers to decide to sell him to a caravan of Ishmaelites (though at first they were going to kill him), his coat then torn and dipped in goat's blood in order to convince Jacob that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast.

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Monday, December 1, 2014

Vayishlach

Genesis 32:4−36:43

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities


The Legacy of Yisrael


In this week's parashah, Vayishlah, Jacob is reunited with his brother Esau some 20 years after stealing their father Isaac's blessing. As he spends the night alone in preparation for the fateful meeting he encounters a man/angel who wrestles with him through the night. As the sun begins to rise the angel begs Jacob to let him go, but he will do so only if the man/angel blesses him. And so he is blessed with a new name Yisrael, meaning "one who struggles with God. From then on Ya'akov is also Yisrael and his descendants become B'nai Yisrael, the Children of Israel.

On that life-changing evening our ancestor becomes not merely Ya'akov, the one who held on to the "heel" (akev) of his twin brother at birth, but Yisrael, the God-wrestler (to borrow a term from Rabbi Arthur Waskow). He is no longer simply the one who hangs on to his big brother trying to prevent him from getting what is rightfully his (the blessing and the birthright), but the one who is ready to forge a new path for himself and his descendants.

And so here we are today, the Jewish people, named after his son Yehudah/ Judah. The line of tradition continues. And yet will it always be that way? Will be able to continue the tradition of God-wrestling that has sustained us through the years or will we instead become more like Ya'akov, the one desperately trying to hang on and hold back the other from superseding us?

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