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Rabbi Arthur Segal’s love of people, humanity, and Judaism has him sharing with others “The Wisdom of the Ages” that has been passed on to him. His writings for modern Jews offer Spiritual, Ethical, and eco-Judaic lessons in plain English and with relevance to contemporary lifestyles. He is the author of countless articles, editorials, letters, and blog posts, and he has recently published two books:

The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew

and

A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud

You can learn more about these books at:

www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
ALL ENTRIES ARE (C) AND PUBLISHED BY RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL, INC, AND NOT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEE OF SAID CORPORATION. THIS APPLIES TO 3 OTHER BLOGS (CHUMASH, ECO, SPIRITUALITY) AND WEB SITES PUBLISHED BY SAID CORPORATION.
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Sunday, December 14, 2008

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:Vayeishev:Amos:Rachel

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:Vayeishev:Amos:Rachel

"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

In this fascinating portion, filled with so many events, we read of Joseph's brothers' jealousy and their willingness to kill him (Gen. 37:20). We also read of Reuben's compromise with his brothers' plan to just throw Joseph into the empty pit, as he wished to return later to save his younger brother (Gen. 37:22). We also read of Judah's further compromise with his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery rather than kill him (Gen. 37:27). Judah tried to convince their father Jacob that Joseph was torn apart by wild beasts by bringing Jacob his son's wonderful woolen tunic covered in goat blood (Gen. 37:31).

Traditionally, Reuben and Judah are spoken of as heroes for orchestrating this compromise. And traditionally the brothers are considered to be acting as God's agents to get Joseph sold into slavery in Egypt to set into motion the events that would eventually send Jacob and his family into Egypt, causing the Hebrews to become slaves to Pharaoh. This would lead to our Exodus spearheaded by Moses and our receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai and our eventual conquering of the Promised Land.

Jews need to ask, as we are in the beginning of the third millennium, is compromise when life is at stake a good heroic attribute?

We are taught that the Torah was already known to our patriarchs, and that Jacob and his sons were already in Eretz Israel. Why did we need to leave our land, be made into slaves, be given the Torah which we already had, to return to a land in which we were already living?

We have seen all too clearly in our recent history that compromise, when lives are at stake, leads to eventual disaster. We do not need to be reminded of Chamberlain's well- received compromise of this past century, or of the Missouri compromise of the last century. We do not read of Reuben or Judah arguing for Joseph's freedom. Reuben was the eldest of the brothers. He had the most to lose by Joseph being his father's favorite. If he argued for Joseph's release, could he not have lowered the tension and jealousy? If Judah jumped into the discussion, with two out of the ten brothers (Benjamin was not there) pleading for Joseph's mercy, would not have more bothers leaned toward acquittal? If only three more brothers were convinced, there would be no majority to convict.

As modern Jews who take pride in having the freedom of choice vis a`vis ritual mitzvoth, we have so much more time than our traditional co-religionists. What do we do with the time each day that we are not in shul dovening (praying), or reading labels looking for U's and Ks, or making sure we don't mix up the cutlery in our kitchens? Are we still resigned to walk like Jacob with a limp, as a bird with a broken wing flies, in never- ending circles? Or will we stand upright, uncompromised, like the recovered stronger Israel, who wrestled with the angel when he was Jacob. Will we perform the social action mitzvoth and live the ethics from which our modern Judaic creed did NOT release us?

Each month at Rosh Kodesh we look at the moon's phases and remember David's reign as our people's zenith, symbolized by the full moon. We traditionally pray for the scion of David to come and restore our people's glory. Each of us needs to be uncompromising in performing the mitzvoth of chesed (doing deeds of loving kindness to help others and make a difference in their lives) and continuing to do zaddakah (justice, sometimes translated as charity). We need to be uncompromising in making a stronger effort in our own country and around the globe to do tikun olam (repair of the world) as junior partners with God. We would then find that each of us is a part of that traditionally awaited savior from the Davidic line. And all of these parts of ours, acting as a whole, could really help make a difference in this world and would bring much joy and spirituality to our own lives.

Amos, in this Haftarah, says that God will forgive the Jews of the three cardinal sins of adultery, idolatry, and murder, but He will not forgive them for their greed and perversions of justice, which resulted in their ignoring the poor, the sick and the helpless.

Let us dedicate ourselves to helping keep the moon always full and help rescue the Josephs of this world who are ill, hungry, grieving, and homeless from their empty pit of despair. Let us help give hope to our matriarch Rachel who still "weeps for her children." Amen!

Shabbat Shalom. Happy Hanukah!

 
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
 

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