If ever there was drama in a Biblical tale, it can be found in the life of Joseph and his brothers; and if one wants to look for the high point, the point of climax and tension and grandeur and the quintessence of the drama of the human situation, in this absorbing story of Joseph and his brothers, it is to be found in this morning’s Scriptural Reading.BACKGROUND MATERIAL. Joseph, was the son of Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, who died young. He was the ben zekunim, the son of Jacob’s old age. He was also a dreamer, naïve and uninhibited, which ultimately resulted in the jealousy of his brothers. They decided to sell him into slavery to Egypt. The brothers dipped Joseph’s coat (Jacob’s gift to him) into goat blood and told Jacob that Joseph was killed by a wild beast. As fate had it, Joseph, after a series of adventures, became second-in-command to Pharaoh, and was given absolute powers over this greatest of ancient kingdoms. After a period of famine hit Canaan, the brothers came to Egypt to purchase food. When they came before Joseph, none of them recognized him, and yet he recognized them. He took the opportunity to taunt them. At opening this Sidra, there is a terrific tension. Judah addresses Joseph, telling him that his father, Jacob, is still alive and still grieving for his lost son (Joseph). One feels Judah’s anger welling up and showing through his words of deference and pleas to Joseph. One feels that Judah will soon attack him. Just then, Joseph reveals himself and the brothers can hardly believe him. Soon, he hurries them off to Canaan, and the brothers, humble yet happy, penitent but somewhat frightened, go forth to fetch their father and tell him that Joseph lives and is the second most powerful person in the world. Jacob’s heart skips a beat. The news can’t be true. Yet it is. With tears in his eyes he offers sacrifices to G-d, and in complete bewilderment and incredulity asks for Divine guidance. And G-d tells him to go down to Egypt, for He will acc…

If ever there was drama in a Biblical tale, it can be found in the life of Joseph and his brothers; and if one wants to look for the high point, the point of climax and tension and grandeur and the quintessence of the drama of the human situation, in this absorbing story of Joseph and his brothers, it is to be found in this morning’s Scriptural reading. (1) BACKGROUND. Joseph, son of Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, dies young. BEN ZEKUNIM. Dreamer, naive, and uninhibited. Jealousy of brothers. Decide to sell into slavery Egypt... coat (Jacob’s gift) in goat blood, tell Father killed by wild beast... Fate: Joseph, after series of adventures, becomes second to Pharaoh alone, given absolute powers over this greatest of ancient Kingdoms... Hunger in Canaan, brothers come to Egypt, do not recognize him; he recognizes them. Taunts them.At opening this Sidra, terrific tension. Judah addresses Joseph, tells him Father still alive and still grieving for lost son (Jos). One feels Judah’s anger welling up and showing through his words of deference and pleas to Joseph. Feel he will soon attack him. Just then, Joseph reveals self. They can hardly believe him. Soon, he hurries them off to Canaan, and the brothers, humble yet happy, penitent but somewhat frightened, go forth and fetch their father and tell him that Joseph lives and is the second most powerful person in the world. Jacob’s heart skips a beat. Can’t be true. Yet it is. With tears in his eyes he offers sacrifices to G-d, and in complete bewilderment and incredulity asks the Divine guidance. And G-d tells him go down to Egypt, for He will accompany him there, and meet his beloved son, son of his beloved Rachel, and find happiness again ere he dies.THE MEETING. Jacob goes down to Egypt. Joseph comes to see his aged father, whom he had thought he would never see again. They espy each other. Joseph runs towards the aged patriarch, VAYIPOL AL TZAVARAV, VAYEVK AL TZAVARAV OD. Joseph embraces his father, kisses him, and crie…

After Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers, he sends them back to fetch their father, Jacob, and gives them three words of advice which our tradition regarded as most significant: Al tirgezu ba-derekh – “do not fall out by the way.” Our rabbis were fascinated by this counsel, and tried to read into Joseph’s words a number of ideas they think he had in mind. One of the most meaningful interpretations of Joseph’s words can be found in the Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah, where the sages enumerate three specific instructions that Joseph gave his brothers when he said, Al tirgezu ba-derekh.The first of these is Al tifse’u pesiah gassah – ”do not take large steps, do not speed too quickly.” What is true in modern days was true in ancient years as well; speed is the greatest cause of fatal accidents. You are going to give our father some great and marvelous news, Joseph told his brothers, but do not endanger your lives by hurrying too quickly. The second instruction he gave them was: Hikansu be-chammah le’ir – ”Whilst traveling, when you find you must turn in for the night, enter the city where you will be spending that night during the daytime. Do not enter it furtively and surreptitiously, lest the inhabitants suspect you of some evil designs. Finally, his third piece of advice was: Al taamidu atzmekhem mi-divrei torah – “Although you are on your way for an exciting and intensely personal mission, do not during this time fail to continue your study of Torah.”I have no doubt that this sage counsel that Joseph gave his brothers, as our rabbis expounded it, has a significance that transcends the particular incident described in the Torah. I believe that Joseph’s advice has relevance for all those who travel on the highway of life. For life itself is indeed a pilgrimage, a journey on a way. We speak of religion as a “way of life.” In the Jewish tradition we describe worldly conduct as Derekh Eretz – the way of the land – and religious conduct as Halakhah – a way, or …

After the dramatic reunion of Joseph and his brothers, we read that Joseph gave gifts to each of them and to his father. לכולם נתן לאיש חליפות שמלות ולבנימין נתן שלש מאות כסף וחמש חליפות שמלות, “to all of them he gave, each man, changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of raiment” (Gen. 45:22). What does the Torah mean to teach us when it relates this story of Joseph’s gifts to his brothers? Furthermore, our Rabbis of the Talmud ask: וכי אפשר דבר שנצטער בו אותו צדיק יכשל בו, is it possible that Joseph, who himself suffered so grievously because of the favoritism his father showed him, would now repeat the same error and show favoritism to his full brother Benjamin over his other half-brothers? They answer רמז רמז לו שעתיד לצאת ממנו בן שיצא מלפני המלך בחמשה לבושי מלכות שנאמר ומרדכי יצא מלפני המלך בלבוש מלכות תכלת וחור ועטרת זהב גדולה ותכריך בוץ וארגמן, “Joseph singled out Benjamin for five changes of clothing as a sign that he, Benjamin, would become the ancestor of one who would be endowed by the king with five kinds of royal garments, as it is written: and Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple (Esther 8:15).”Yet is this really an answer to our question? Are we not merely shifting the problem ahead by several centuries and remaining as unclear as we were before? And how does Mordecai fit into the picture of Joseph’s gifts? Surely there must be some significant meaning in the words of the Sages of the Talmud that is not immediately apparent to us.May I suggest that the chalifot semalot, the changes of clothing in the biblical story, are an important symbol. Clothing is something you choose for yourself, but which remains external to the self. It is a way of appearing, not a way of being. Clothing, as the Torah intended the symbol and as the Rabbis interpreted it, stands for an idea of the most pro…

Joseph has always been a natural target of much criticism, some of it quite bitter. Not only was he personally hated by his brothers, and envied by the Egyptian courtiers in Pharaoh’s palace who begrudged him his meteoric rise to power, but the historic figure of Joseph and what it represents has also been subjected to serious animadversions.Joseph is the prototype of the Jew who is, at one and the same time, loyal to his Jewishness and thoroughly conversant with the modern world. Joseph anticipated the modern Orthodox Jew, especially the modern American Orthodox Jew. Substitute the word “American” for the word “Egyptian” in the verbal picture of Joseph, and you have a succinct, composite image of today’s Orthodox Jew – his promises and dangers, hopes and fears, tensions and dreams, successes and failures.Joseph was, first and foremost, a good Jew. The Bible tells of his exemplary moral self-control. The Rabbis maintain that he never defiled himself with what is forbidden to a Jew; he was demonstrative in his observance of Kashruth. Before his eyes at all times he kept the demut diyukno shel abba, the image of his old father’s face, the ideals instilled in him by Jacob. His children were thoroughly Egyptianized, yet they spoke the Holy Tongue. He himself had an Egyptian name, Tzafnat Pa’aneiaḥ, yet he never forgot his Hebrew name and identity. He was an ish matzliaḥ, a worldly success, and at the same time he remained true to what had been taught to him in his father’s home. If he was consumed by a burning ambition to outdo his forbears, as in his dream of his parents as well as his brothers bowing to him, he nevertheless understood his deep responsibility both to provide for and respect them. Joseph straddled two worlds – that of Israel and its moral and religious heritage, and that of Egypt, with its technology and wealth and its promise of power. If Joseph’s character is sometimes paradoxical, it is because these two elements in his whole make-up, the Egyptian a…

By now everyone knows of the efforts of the Catholic Church to rectify certain ancient wrongs it has perpetrated against the Jewish people. The Ecumenical Council, called to discuss various internal problems in Christianity, was presented with a proposal concerning the Jews. In the schema on Christian unity, Chapter 4 urged that the Church retract the old charge of deicide of which Christians had accused Jews for ages. It asked that the Jews be absolved of guilt for killing the central figure of the Christian religion. This proposal, as we also know, was not voted upon; it may possibly be brought up for consideration again next September. My purpose this morning is not to speak about the Catholic action as such, but rather about the reactions of certain Jews, perhaps very many of them. And it is concerning these reactions, which in many cases are quite disturbing, and in some cases outrageous and scandalous, that I wish to register a complaint, and to offer several suggestions.The complaint is that we have over-reacted, occasionally to the point of compromising our principles and our dignity. And my suggestions are that we be cautious; that we exercise our critical faculties; that we not be overwhelmed by the torrents of publicity; that we strive for a historical perspective; and, above all, that we judge men and events not by the shifting standards and ephemeral moods of the moment, but by authentic Jewish criteria – the eternal values of Torah and Tradition.We Jews are a grateful people. The very name “Jew” implies gratitude: it comes from “Judah,” and that name – in Hebrew, Yehudah – was given to her son by Leah because “this time shall I thank the Lord” (Gen. 29:35). It is this element of gratefulness that has made Jews so loyal, throughout these many years of our dispersion, to those countries which have offered us safety and freedom. It accounts as well for the many lasting contributions we have made to the science and the literature, the finances and the sec…

The theme suggested to us by the readings of this week is that of the unity of the Jewish people. Our Sidra speaks of the reconciliation of Joseph and his brothers. Our Haftorah, from the prophet Ezekiel, speaks of the future reunion of the two halves of the Jewish people. I confess that the theme of Jewish unity is not always particularly exciting; old cliches seem to cluster about this subject like iron filings around the pole of a magnet. Like mother, love, and country, it commands universal assent, but few people feel they want to do much about it. And yet, the problem is urgent. If we think clearly, not sentimentally, we will see that there are highly complex issues involved, that it is not simple at all, that we must learn to distinguish a number of subtle nuances. There is a desperate need for lucid, perhaps new, formulations. Of course, it cannot be expected that a sermon on the subject be definitive, yet the theme deserves treatment not only from the lectern but also from the pulpit. The congregation deserves a suggestion of guidelines, even if not all questions will be answered; even, indeed, if answers are not available for many questions.The problem today is both old and new. It is old because ever since the brothers looked askance at Joseph, Jews have been disunited. And it is new, because for the first time since the destruction of the Temple in the year 70, Jews who are completely loyal to the totality of the Jewish tradition – Orthodox Jews – are in the minority within the Jewish community. I address myself, therefore, especially to the questions of the relation here in the United States between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews.Let me begin by mentioning two approaches which I reject. The first of these is the idea of complete separation, the demand that Orthodoxy go its own way, ignoring the majority of the Jewish community, except for an occasional ad hoc cooperative venture. Modern separationism has its roots in the Frankfurt school of German Jewis…

The drama of Joseph and his brothers, which draws to a climax in this morning’s Sidra, is a source of endless fascination. One significant aspect of this strange narrative is that Joseph’s actions towards his brothers are incomprehensible, both to the brothers who do not recognize him and to us who already know who he is. To the very end, both they the brothers and we the readers are perplexed: they, by the Egyptian prince who seems irrationally bent upon tormenting them, and we by the anomalous and mysterious motives of Joseph in continuing to conceal his identity from them and carrying out this elaborate spiel. Then, suddenly, all becomes clear. Joseph’s revelation of his identity is also the revelation of a master plan, conceived by a master-mind, a marvelous and beautifully consistent course of action. The purpose of this program is to help them to achieve teshuva, repentance or rehabilitation, to regain their sense of dignity and purge themselves of their shame. For this is the grand goal of Joseph, to which all his actions are inclined and aimed. Their sin was that of hatred for their half-brother Joseph, the son of Rachel, a hatred which resulted in endangering his life. Now, Judah was willing to endanger his own life for the remaining half-brother, the other son of Rachel, Benjamin. The brothers thus fulfilled the requirements of teshuva. How beautifully everything falls into place and pattern! How symmetrical, how apropos! And how aptly does all this mesh with Joseph’s earlier plan, which came to the fore in the two great dreams about their sheaves bowing to his sheaves, and about the sun and the moon and the stars bowing to him, Joseph. No wonder that Pharaoh was so impressed by this young Hebrew lad. He is indeed wise beyond words, the tzophnat paaneiah, the one who has all the answers and solves all the problems. Moreover, his plan for his brothers’ teshuva is right, it is moral. That is why the Rabbis were moved to declare that hanun ve’rahum, zeh Yos…

This week’s historic telecast of the moon’s surface by the astronauts who orbited it, the telecast which concluded with the recitation of the first words of Genesis, no doubt brought great satisfaction to religious earth-dwellers. Most especially, religious Jews were delighted that the first verses of the Hebrew Bible were chosen for this memorable message transmitted across one quarter of a million miles of the great void. But for those of us sensitive to history, this was more than just an occasion for understandable pride by religious folk. For the Jewish tradition teaches that Abraham emerged from a family and society who were ovdei kokhavim u-mazalot, pagans and heathen who worshiped the stars and the planets. Modern archeology has not only corroborated this tradition, but has pinpointed more accurately the exact idols worshiped by the pagans of that time and place. We know today that the great metropolitan centers of Ur and Haran, cities well known to us from the biblical narratives about Abraham, were centers of moon worship, a religion which left its imprints even on the names of early biblical personalities. Thus, the similarity of the name of Abraham’s father Terah to yerah (month) and yareiah (moon), and that of Laban, Lavan, which is the masculine form of levanah (moon). It is from this background of moon-cult that Abraham emerged to proclaim to the world the message of one God.What a divine irony, therefore, what a singular historic vindication, that 3500 years later, the first men to approach the vicinity of that celestial body once worshiped as a deity, should call out the words Bereshit barah Elokim et ha-shamayim v’et ha-aretz, one God – as Abraham taught – created both heaven and earth, this globe and its natural satellite. Girdling the lifeless carcass of that forlorn heavenly body, like some ancient gladiator with his foot on the neck of his enemy, mankind has thus proclaimed through those three American astronauts the final triumph of monothei…

The change of the natural seasons often induces a retrospective mood in people. Therefore, at this time of the year, when we have just ushered Autumn out and Winter in, we tend to look back upon the past and contemplate our own lives. We survey where we are, what has happened to us, and how all this has come to be. And it happens that we wonder: could I have done things differently? And if I had, would it have made a difference?Sometimes we see ourselves now as a product of all our past decisions. We recognize that both our failures and our successes are the results of specific actions that we have taken – or that we have failed to undertake. As a result, we feel satisfied or dissatisfied, as the case may be, because we recognize that we were ourselves responsible for what we have done and what we have become. At other times, we tend to feel that the facts of life are so insurmountable, that the direction of events so ineluctable, the tide of life is so irreversible, that we are what we are almost despite ourselves, and that we had and have very little to say about it. No matter what we did or did not do in the past, we would be in approximately the same position today. In asking such questions, we confront one of the great problems in life, which has been of concern to philosophers, theologians, and ordinary people in all walks of life, from the days of antiquity down to our own times. Secular thinkers often view this question largely in the course of their interpretations of history. There are many who are determinists, such as Marx, who believe that we are propelled by massive, impersonal forces of history, and that individual men and women have little influence on the course of events. Others, however, believe that individual men play crucial roles at specific points in history. We know, for instance, of the theory of Carlyle who believed that “heroes” or outstanding men and women are the ones who by force of their personalities determine the direction of event…