by Marc Mangel<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 This is the second part\nof a three part drash on how each of us as a conduit for the Abrahamic\ndiscovery. The first part was Toldot and\nthe third part will be VaYigash in two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Today we have the end of\nthe beginning of the transmission of the Abrahamic discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nehama Leibovitz says \u201cThis\nweek\u2019s sidra marks the beginning of the story of Joseph\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 S Ludmir, in Torah Gems<\/em> writes \u201cFrom parsha Vayeishev\nuntil the end of Sefer Bereishit, the focal point transfers from Yaakov to his\nsons, particularly his son Yosef\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 By my count, Joseph is\nmentioned by name 30 times in the sidra, Jacob is mentioned (as\nJacob\/Israel\/the father) 7 times, and the other sons (either as\nsons\/brothers\/by name) 24 times (most of those are because of the story of\nJudah and Tamar).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Nehama also writes \u201cThe\nPatriarchs were three in number \u2013 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The title\nPatriarchs \/\u201cAvot\u201d was reserved for them alone. Their children were called not\nPatriarch but simply tribes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 That is, we are beginning\nto end the transmission of the Abrahamic discovery by one person to the\ntransmission of the Abrahamic discovery by many people \u2013 including us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 A reminder about the\nAbrahamic discovery: there is one God,\nwho created all of us, who does not want human sacrifice, and who can be\nworshipped in many different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Jonathan Sacks makes the\npoint that the Abrahamic discovery is what causes people who think that there\nis only one way to do things to revile the Jews, because by our very existence\nwe challenge that perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Why do we go from a\nsingle person being the conduit of the Abrahamic discovery to multiple people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 One answer comes from the\nSefat Emet who notes that Abraham and Isaac respectively represent\nchesed (kindness\/openness) and gevurah (discipline\/restriction) and that Jacob\nrepresents Tiferet, which is understood to blend chesed and gevurah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Jacob Shochet in Classical Concepts in Chasidism <\/em> gives the acronym ChaGaT to Chesed, Gevurah, and Tiferet and says\n \u201cThese are the three essential Midot<\/em> [characteristics] in relation to\nwhich others are derivatives\u201d. The three\nAvot are ChaGaT and we are all derivatives of the mixture found in Jacob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 With Jacob we have the\nrequisite blending of Chesed and Gevurah necessary for the Abrahamic idea to be\nspread among 12 tribes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 One more point from\nNehama. \u201cBut one of the tribes, and only\none, was awarded the designation of the \u2018righteous one\u2019 (Tzaddik)\u2019\u201d. But of\ncourse, we do not have a tribe called Joseph \u2013 we have Menashe and Ephraim. A\npuzzle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 However, Ludmir also quotes R. Velvele, the Magid of\nVilna, who disagrees with Nehama anf says that every Shabbat in his Torah\nlesson he tries to compare the Rasha vs the Tzaddik \u201c[but] whenever I get to\nthe Parsha or VaYeshev and Yose and this brothers, I am baffled. On whose side\nshall I stand? Both sides are zaddikim,\nthey are both holy and pure\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 With all respect to the\nChazal, I differ. Joseph and his\nbrothers are in fact deeply flawed people. \nThe chance that we could be like Abraham is virtually impossible; we\nknow less about Isaac but it is equally unlikely that we could be like him. But to be like Joseph or the brothers \u2013 that\nwe can do (come back for more of this with VaYigash).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 And this raises a second\npuzzle\u2013 why are we called Jews (after Judah) instead of Josephs\/Joes (after\nJoseph)? Come back in two weeks for the\nanswer to both of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Marc Mangel \u2022 This is the second part of a three part drash on how each of us as a conduit for the Abrahamic discovery. The first part was Toldot and the third part will be VaYigash in two weeks. \u2022 Today we have the end of the beginning of the transmission of the … Continue reading