Parashat Vayigash

“And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear

I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon ”

R. Waters/Pink Floyd

When I was a young boy in elementary school in the late 60’s I lived for a while right outside of Washington, DC. The father of one of my childhood friends was a scientist for NASA, and supplied us with a lot of colorful memorabilia about the space program.

I was soon obsessed with the Apollo program, knowing the names and backgrounds of all the astronauts, and with much of the jargon and space-speak that accompanied these activities. We would follow each mission from start to finish, as the entire proceedings were usually broadcast on television. We saw each blast off, traced the trajectory of the rocket ship, and delighted in the broadcast of communications between heaven and earth.

One thing that sticks out is the occasional LOS (Loss of Signal) when the Apollo capsule would pass behind the dark side of the moon, temporarily losing radio contact with Mission Control in Houston, and the 45 minutes the astronauts were incommunicado seemed like an eternity, or maybe like…..210 years?

In Parashat Vayigash, after the joy of learning that his son Joseph (Yosef) is alive, well, and ruling an entire country, Jacob (Yaakov) has a revival of spirit, and sets out to go down (leaving the holy land is always going ‘down’) to Egypt. He makes an offering to “The G-d of his father”, referring to Isaac (Yitzchak)who was not allowed to leave the holy land during his lifetime. Yaakov is treated to his last prophetic experience, and this time the dream seems to be taking place during the day, as it is called a “Night Vision”.

Yaakov is frightened because he knows that this will be the exile that was revealed to his grandfather Avraham after the Brit Bein ha Bitarim, the “Covenant of the Pieces” (Gen. 15:7-16), and that he and his children would be subject to LOS- an exile without regular contact with Mission Control-the G-d of Israel.

Yaakov had already proved his mettle by living without “radio contact” for the 22 years he was separated from Yosef, and after passing that test he was to be reunited with his favored son, and given one more opportunity to reestablish the signal “….and the spirit of their father Yaakov was revived” (Gen. 45:27).

This pending exile would serve to condition Yaakov’s descendants, by having them experience a life predicated on faith- in the teachings of their foremothers and fathers, in a G-d just outside signal range, and most importantly, in the establishment of a national identity based on these beliefs.

Yaakov earned the name Israel during his struggle against secularism upon returning from his personal exile, after planting the seeds of his extended family. That entire family, now collectively known as Israel, would be together at the end of his life, as they enter the crucible of Egypt, with only the torch of divine destiny to illuminate their dark days in Egypt.

“All that is now

All that’s to come

And everything under the sun is in tune

But the sun is eclipsed by the moon”.

R. Waters/Pink Floyd

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Greg

Parashat Miketz

During the darkest part of the year the dream state seems to be readily available to all of us. Whether dreaming about warmer days to come, or decompressing from the sensory overload we all suffer from during the holiday season, we welcome a chance to transport ourselves out of the material world, if only for a few winks..

Last weeks Parsha began with a dream, ended with two, and now we begin Parashat Miketz with two dreams from Pharaoh, which we learn are one and the same.

The literary flow of this section of the torah is sublime. After the famous story of the ascension of Yosef (Joseph) from prisoner to powerful government minister there is a dissolve to 8 years hence, and Yosef’s prophetic interpretation of Pharoah’s dream has beome reality, and famine spread out past the Egyptian borders, causing a swarm of nations to approach Joseph to buy food.

We now cut to Yaakov, in the beginning of chapter 42, and have some dialogue that begs for interpretation, just as the previous dreams.

וַיַּרְא יַעֲקֹב, כִּי יֶשׁ-שֶׁבֶר בְּמִצְרָיִם; וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב לְבָנָיו, לָמָּה תִּתְרָאו?וּ.

“Jacob saw that there was food in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons: Why do you TITRA’U ..??”

The question marks are there because there doesn’t seem to be a clear way to translate תִּתְרָאוײַײַוּ(titra’u). It is a plural reflexive verb formation, some are doing something to themselves.

Rashi first translates it as “Why do you make yourselves seen?”, and the Talmud in tractate Taanit comments that Yaakov’s family did in fact have food, but by not going to Egypt to buy more they would attract attention from the families of Ishmael and Esau. (Why they would be hanging around in that neighborhood is another story..). Perhaps there is a larger point here- do not, when in times of hardship, flaunt your own personal success, rather, be sensitive to the greater population, and to the fact that most are suffering. Certainly a good message in these difficult economic times.

Rashi then mentions that others translate this as, “Why should you make yourselves lean through hunger?”.

The RaMBaN (Nachmonedes) does not like that last translation, and offers another, and is supported by the Sforno (a 15th century commentator). They say it means, “Don’t look at each other”, meaning, don’t just stand there, do something!. The Sforno brings a saying from the Talmud (Eruvin 3A), which states, “a pot belonging to partners is neither hot nor cold”- If you assume that someone else will take care of it, nothing will get done.

This message seems right in line with the story of Hanukah. The Maccabees were not content to stand there looking at each other, they instead sprung into action, and ultimately prevailed.

People of faith, when highly motivated, and proactive, enter into a partnership with the Almighty, and the possibilities are limitless.

That’s the stuff dreams are made of..

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Greg

Parashat Vayeishev

This week’s parasha continues to present a glimpse of the evolution of spiritual consciousness and prophecy through the dream state. In the book of Numbers (12:6) the Torah tells us that all prophecies except those of Moses will be revealed in dreams. (The dreams of Abimelech and Lavan we read about a few weeks ago were merely explicit warnings, a manifestation of the Divine protection promised to our fore parents).

This week’s first reading details two prophetic dreams of Joseph (Yosef), the first regarding sheaves of wheat, and the second: He had another dream and told it to his brothers. He said, “Behold! I dreamed another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were prostrating themselves to me.” (Gen. 37:9)

The next verse tells us his family’s response: He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you dreamed? Shall I, your mother and your brothers come and prostrate themselves on the ground to you?”(Gen. 37:10)

Rashi’s comment on this verse reminds us that Yosef’s mother Rachel had already passed away (right after the birth of her second son Benjamin)!
He goes on to tell us that although some commentators have no problem with this fact (as he was raised by his stepmother) Rashi concludes by telling us that our sages believe that no dream is without meaningless parts.

Yet we know that dreams, whether experienced in a deep sleep, or during a few fleeting moments of our waking hours, are crucial to our very being. But, without a spiritual context for our dreams they can serve to disillusion us.

In her famous poem “Ve’ulai” the popular pre state Israeli poet Rachel asks if, “perhaps”, the return of Jews to the Galilee, working its fields, and immersing in its waters is only a dream. Centuries of persecution had taken its toll on the Jewish dreamer, and all dreams were inherently suspect. Pinch me, am I dreaming?

But without taking them seriously, how can any dreams, whether of Joseph, Martin Luther King, or the dream we can barely remember each morning, sustain us, and guide us towards realizing our potential?

How much can we rely on our dreams to inform us, and what parts are suspect, and ultimately meaningless?

One of the results of living a committed Jewish life is the constant opportunity for self reflection, affirmation of core values, and a continuous re-aiming towards the spiritual targets we hope to hit during our lives. Ayn Rand, in her Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology writes, “Consciousness is the faculty of awareness— the faculty of perceiving that which exists….It is only in relation to the external world that the various actions of a consciousness can be experienced, grasped, defined or communicated.”

Any dream that reflects these values is one that is worth pursuing-no matter how outrageous or unconventional. Those of us who choose to live a Jewish life in the midst of a secular world will constantly be challenged to determine what is valuable, and what is merely “noise”.

Wishing you a peaceful Shabbat, and joyous Hanukah,
Rabbi Greg