THEY SAW HIM FROM AFAR, AND BEFORE HE HAD GOTTEN TO THEM, THEY PLOTTED CUNNINGLY AGAINST HIM TO CAUSE HIS DEATH. THEY SAID EACH MAN TO HIS BROTHER: HERE COMES THE MASTER DREAMER! SO NOW, COME, LET US KILL HIM AND THROW HIM INTO ONE OF THESE PITS AND SAY: AN ILL-TEMPERED BEAST HAS DEVOURED HIM! THEN WE WILL SEE WHAT BECOMES OF HIS DREAMS! WHEN RE'UVEN HEARD IT HE TRIED TO RESCUE HIM FROM THEIR HAND, HE SAID:

LET US NOT TAKE HIS LIFE!

AND RE'UVEN SAID TO THEM;

DO NOT SHED BLOOD!

THROW HIM INTO THIS PIT THAT IS IN THE WILDERNESS, BUT DO NOT LAY A HAND UPON HIM! - IN ORDER THAT HE MIGHT SAVE HIM FROM THEIR HAND, TO RETURN HIM TO HIS FATHER.

                                                                                                                        (Bereishit 37)

 

Reuven - COWARD OR TZADDIK?

"He might save him from their hand" - The Holy Spirit testifies that Reuven said this in order to save him, that he should return and pull him out. He said: I am the firstborn and the oldest of them all, I alone will be blamed."

 (Rashi, Bereishit 37:22)

 

This is difficult to understand: What is the basis for Rashi's assumption that this was the reason for his wanting to save him? Perhaps he was a great tzaddik, and did not want to kill?

It may be explained thus: Further on, in Parashat Vayechi, in his blessings to his sons, Yaakov blesses Yehuda who had said: "What gain is there if we kill our brother... Let us sell him...?" Why did he not bless Reuven who wanted to save Yosef completely, i.e., intending to return him to his father? In contrast, Yehudah's advice was to sell him! We must conclude that Reuven's intent was not entirely l'shem Shamayim - for the sake of heaven. It was to prevent him from being blamed: "You are the firstborn..."

                                                                                                                 (Siftei Chachamim, Ibid., ibid.)

 

"But do not lay a hand upon him" - to treat him cruelly, as is written, "Wicked deeds come from wicked men" - let my hand not participate.

                                                                                                                                 (Seforno Ibid., ibid.)

 

 

THESE ARE THE BEGETTINGS OF YAAKOV - YOSEF

Yoram Kirsch

 

The second passage in the parasha reads; "These are the begettings of Yaakov, Yosef, seventeen years old, used to tend the sheep along with his brothers..." The midrash asks, why does it not say: "These are the begettings of Yaakov - Reuven, Shim'on... why is only Yosef mentioned? The answer is: "Every thing that happened to one happened to the other" (Midrash Rabba, Bereishit 84:6) Indeed, there are many similarities between the life stories of Yaakov and of Yosef.

Yaakov was pursued by his brother Esav who plotted to kill him ("Let the days of mourning for my father draw near and then I will kill Yaakov my brother") and Yosef was pursued by his brothers who plotted to kill him ("Come, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits...") In both cases, the animosity resulted from what may be termed "youthful mischief". With dissimulation, Yaakov acquires Yitzchak's blessing; Yosef angers his brothers with his dreams and by informing his father of their misbehaving. Both Yaakov and Yosef had to live far away from their homes because of the hate which sprouted in the family. Both stories have a happy end. The hatred subsides, and once again the brothers maintain fraternal relations.

Despite the similarity, we perceive one important difference between the two struggles. It is much easier for us to understand the struggle between Esav and Yaakov, because it is a clear-cut case of tzaddik and rasha, of 'good guy - bad guy.' Yaakov is a 'ish tam'- a plain man, 'staying among tents', a loyal son who cleaves to his God. Moreover, he is ours, he is our founding father. It is obvious to us that he is the tzaddik. Esav, on the other hand, is a wild man, a hunter, and also the father of Edom - Israel's foe. Therefore, Esav is a 'natural' to fill the role of the rasha. The fact that he desires to kill his brother raises no eyebrows. No wonder that the struggle between Yaakov and Esav grew in time to mythic proportions, becoming symbolic of the conflict between Yehuda and Rome, between Israel and the nations.

The conflict between Yosef and his brothers is not a simple matter; the tzaddik-rasha distinction is problematic. On one side - Yosef, traditionally known as "Yosef the Tzaddik". On the other - his ten brothers, fathers of the nation, who cannot be easily be categorized as wicked persons. Therefore it is so difficult for us to understand the selling of Yosef, and when we read of it in our parasha we ask ourselves: How could such a thing happen?! How could brothers do such a terrible thing to their younger brother, bringing such pain to their old father? Such questions did not arise when we read of Esav's hatred for Yaakov.

 

WHAT DOES THE TORAH WANT TO TEACH US?

The answer to these questions may be that this is exactly what the Torah intended to teach us with the passage "These are the begettings of Yaakov, Yosef..."

Perhaps the aim was to infer that the difference between the two struggles is not really that great. Esav may be a wild man, enemy of Yaakov, but he is also a brother, and he is able to forget the hatred and to make peace with his brother. Yosef's brothers are the sons of Yaakov, and in their home they were certainly educated to charity and good deeds; but they, like all people, are capable of very extreme behavior, behavior which they will some day - in Egypt - come to regret, saying "We are guilty on account of our brother, when we witnessed his suffering as he pleaded with us, and we did not listen. Therefore does this misfortune come upon us."

The distinction we usually make between one of ours and of the other - the stranger, the enemy - receives different proportions when we consider that both are flesh and blood, capable of both acts of kindness and acts of brutality. On the one hand, the foe of yesterday can become the friend of tomorrow. On the other hand, brothers who make no conscious effort to bridge their differences and to preserve unity, can slide into hatred and civil war, the harshest of wars.

Another similarity between the Yaakov and Yosef narratives is noted. Both Yaakov and Yosef are blessed with a talent for emerging victoriously from struggles, without hurting or subjugating the foe. Yaakov hears that Esav is approaching at the head of an army of 400 men. Instead of raising a similar force and going out to do battle, he prefers to send him gifts and emissaries, to mollify him; when they meet, Esav runs towards him, embraces him, and cries.

Yosef, years after his being sold, again meets his brothers; he is now second to the king of Egypt. He has the power to repay them and punish them severely, but he chooses only to frighten them, taking no irreversible action. Therefore, when he finally reveals his identity, there remains no animosity between them.

 

THE HASHMONEAN KINGDOM

The approaching days of Chanukah provide an opportunity to recall the history of the Hashmonean dynasty. Secular Israeli historiography hi-lighted the wars of the Maccabees and their bravery. The songs of Chanukah praise "the courage of the Maccabees", declaring that "no miracles were performed for us", and that "we fought the Greeks, and victory was ours." This is in contrast to the traditional approach expressed in the prayer "Al HaNissim" - "For the Miracles", which sees the success and the victory as acts of God and not accomplishments of the people and its leaders: "And You, in your abundant mercy, stood by them in their period of distress... You gave over the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few... and demons into the hands of those who study Your Torah."

The Jews, according to this prayer, played a passive role in the war and in the victory. Their role was mainly the purification of the Temple and the offering of praise and thanks to God: "And afterwards Your sons entered the sanctuary of Your house, and cleared out Your halls and cleansed Your Mikdash... and set aside these eight days of Hanukkah, to thank and to praise Your great and holy Name..."

The Hashmonean wars and victories are historical facts. It is important, however, to remember another historical fact; the Hashmonean state was the arena of endless struggles within the Jewish people. There were conflicts between various factions: Pharisees, Saducees, Essenes, and others; between the Hashmonean ruler and the Sanhedrin; within the Hashmonean family itself. Some of these struggles, e.g., the Pharisee revolt against Yannai, were bloody. The end of the story tells of civil strife leading to the loss of the dynasty's independence. After the death of Queen Shlomzion, widow of King Yannai, a bitter battle was waged between their two sons, Horkanos and his younger brother, Aristobulos. This enabled the Roman general, Pompey, to gain control of the Hashmonean kingdom, to tear away considerable areas of the state, and to transform it into part of the Roman Empire. In the year 63 BCE, the Temple Mount fell into his hands, and Pompey entered the Holy of Holies.

It is possible that the Roman takeover was inevitable - all of the countries in Mediterranean Basic were gradually swallowed up by the Roman Empire, some willingly, some unwillingly. But were it not for the civil war, the integration into the Empire might have been accomplished under better terms, guaranteeing the borders of the Hashmonean state and preserving its freedom of worship. Who knows, perhaps the Great Rebellion and the ensuing destruction of the Temple could have been avoided.

The thread that ties the story of Yaakov and Yosef to the history of the Hashmonean Kingdom is instructive: How great is the power of unity, and how destructive is controversy which leads to rifts and civil war, blocking the exploitation of unique historical opportunities.

(Yoram Kirsch is Professor of Physics in the Open University, and a member of the moetza of "Ne'emanei Torah VaAvoda", which actively opposes religious extremism in the religious Zionist camp. His book, "Revolutions in Halacha", was recently published by the Maariv Library)

 

 

"YAAKOV SETTLED IN THE LAND OF HIS FATHER'S SOJOURNINGS" - YAAKOV, TOO, HAD THE PATIENCE TO WAIT

Because the previous chapter had told us that his brother Esav inherited Mt. Seir by virtue of his father's merit, Scripture had to inform us of Yaakov's inheritance, saying: "Yaakov settled in the land of his father's sojournings". This is intended to make us aware of his fine quality, that he behaved as a stranger, even though he saw that Esav had already realized his inheritance. And the Lord had been careful to tell him that he alone would inherit this land, as I had explained in the earlier parasha on the passage "I will give it to you" (Bereishit 35:12) even so, he made no sign [of ownership], but dwelt as a stranger as did his father, in the land of Canaan. This means, that he behaved as though he were in a land not his own, but in the land of Canaan. Or, it can be said: Even though the Land of Canaan was given him as an inheritance, even so he was a stranger therein, until events evolved from the begetting of Yosef, as it is written: "These are the begettings of Yaakov, Yosef..." . And he was sold to Egypt, and our fathers went down to Egypt, and they were brought up from Egypt by He who promised to keep His promise regarding the Land, and they inherited their land.

                                 (Ohr HaHayyim of Rabbi Hayyim ben Attar, Bereishit 37:1)

 

 

Reader's write:

(Another answer to Dov Meir's letter in Parashat Toledot issue)

It is difficult to remain apathetic towards Dov Meir's letter. The letter is absolutely infuriating.

In the beginning of his letter, Mr. Meir speaks of the reform movement that began with minor gnawing at the 13 principles of faith formulated by Maimonides. The racist views, which the writer presents without shame (indeed, he is to be congratulated for his honesty), beginning with " . . of course, within the framework of the laws of Torah which forbid murder and commercial discrimination, etc", a seemingly minor erosion, but with unforeseeable consequences. Let us not forget that the doctrine of racism began as a scientific (more accurately, pseudo-scientific) doctrine which in no way espoused murder, but which "was ultimately promoted... by Hitler and his cohorts to the level of a world-view and a religion, and became the basis for the atrocities of the Nazi regime" (quoted from the Hebrew Encyclopedia, entry "Race", Vol. X, p. 576. End of entry composed by Y. Leibowitz. Warmly recommend reading of entire entry).

The racist rationales for certain mitzvot of the Torah offered by the writer are especially infuriating. They seem as though they were lifted directly from the Parashat Shavua flyers "Darka Shel Torah," published by the "Kahana Lives" movement. These explanations are foreign to the Torah of Israel (Dov Meir would have us believe that racism is not foreign to the Torah). The prohibition against Ammon and Moav joining the Jewish community is explained in the Torah itself: "On account that they did not greet you with food and with water on the way, at your going out from Egypt, etc.". And the reason given for the command to eradicate Amalek is: "That which he did to you on the way..." . Regarding Egypt, we are commanded: "You shall not abominate the Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land." And regarding Edom: "You shall not abominate an Edomite, for he is your brother"! The commandment to annihilate the seven nations is part of the general campaign to eliminate idolatry, and this is also the rationale for the prohibition against intermarriage. Even the prohibitions related to the mamzer, the son of the halutza, etc., are reactions to Torah violations, and have no relation whatever to racial improvement. Dov Meir really goes overboard when he quotes the delightful wedding song "Invey ha'geffen b'invey ha'geffen" ("The grapes of the vine with the grapes of the vine"), which appears in the Talmud as referring to the children of scholars who marry each other - again, nothing to do with racial improvement. Are early tests for genetic disorders, in order to prevent human suffering, to be considered racial improvement!? In the Talmud we also find an explanation for the fact that the children of the wise are not always wise themselves - teaching us that Torah is not genetically transmitted; there is no way to guarantee racial enrichment, and Torah can be acquired only by one who exerts effort to do so. According to Mr. Meir, converts who join Israel and observe the entire Torah are liable to contaminate the race. The conception which Mr. Meir presents seems as if it were lifted from a bogus anti-Semitic tract. His view is, in my humble opinion, nothing more than a chilul hashem - a desecration of The Name, blaspheming and disgracing the Almighty. This is certainly not the true Torah; if anything, this is worthy of the term Popolitika.

Let us return to the point around which the argument developed, the "image of God." Rabbi Akiva's famous dictum in Avoth on this matter is divided into two parts. It's first part says: "Precious is man for he was created in the image etc." In the second part Rabbi Akiva says: "Precious is Israel, for they are called children of the Omnipresent etc." Read accurately: If the end of the dictum speaks of Israel, the first part must perforce be speaking of man in general, of the entire human race (how, otherwise, to explain the switch from "man" to "Israel"?) Can there be any greater source of support than Rabbi Akiva?

Eliezer Kamon

Yerushalayim

 

 

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