{"id":8516,"date":"2020-01-07T01:46:55","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T01:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=8516"},"modified":"2020-01-07T01:50:46","modified_gmt":"2020-01-07T01:50:46","slug":"vayigash-5780","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=8516","title":{"rendered":"VaYigash (5780)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drash Cards for VaYigash (5780)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Marc Mangel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 This is the third of a\nthree part drash on how each of us can be the conduit for the Abrahamic idea\n(Toldot)\/discovery (VaYeishev)\/message (VaYigash) that there is one God who\ncreated all of us, but who can be worshipped in different ways. We must seek\nthe Godliness in everyone, no matter how different they appear to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 In Toldot, we discussed\nhow Sarah and Rivka were greater prophets than Abraham and Isaac because they\nsaw that the Abrahamic message was to be continued through one son \u2013in both\ncases the younger sons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 In VaYeishev, we\ndiscussed how Jacob is the last of the Patriarchs, after which the Abrahamic message\nis transmitted by the 12 tribes descended from Jacob.  We are links in this perpetual chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 In his book Torah Ohr, <\/em> Rabbi Schneur Zalman, founder of Chabad\nChassidism, wrote  \u201c Knesset Israel, the\nsource of Jewish souls, is called Menorah, and [like the Menorah] it is a \u201chammered\nbloc,\u201d for all Jews are essentially one, and then branch out\u201d. The seven\nbranches of the menorah is a metaphor \u2013 there are clearly more than seven ways\nto serve God.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Previously, we recognized\ntwo puzzles:  First,  the 12 tribes are 10 sons and two grandsons.\nWe do not have a tribe called Joseph \u2013 rather Menashe and Ephraim. Second, if\nJoseph was the holiest of all the brothers why are we named after Judah (Jews)\ninstead of Joseph? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 In Miketz (next week), we\nwill read (Ch 48, v13ff)  that Joseph\nbrought Ephraim and Manasseh close to Jacob, who said \u201cMay God who has been my\nshepherd from my earliest days until this day and sent the angel who delivers\nme from all harm, bless the lads. May they bear my name, together with the\nnames of my father Abraham and Isaac\u201d\u2026 he blessed them and said \u2018With your\nnames shall the Israelites invoke God\u2019s blessings on their son, saying to them\n\u2018May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh\u201d. We continue do this blessing every\nShabbat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 We have no tribe of\nJoseph because Jacob took Ephraim and Manasseh as his sons.  Why? \nThere are two reasons, I think. Much as with Esau, Jacob may have feared\nresidual hatred and resentment to Joseph from the other brothers, so making the\ngrandsons into two of the tribes diffused those emotions.  Second, Ephraim and Manasseh are the first\ntwo brothers in the Bible who did not fight \u2013 so Jacob has set them up as role\nmodels for all of his descendants. First puzzle solved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 To understand why we are\ncalled after Judah, we need to get to the subplot of VaYigash and to the notion\nof what\u2019s in a name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The main plot is the\nreconciliation of Joseph and his brothers and the reunion of Joseph with his\nfather.  The equally significant subplot\nis the spiritual conflict between Joseph and his brothers, exemplified by\nJudah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The conflict centers\naround whose approach would more effectively spread the Abrahamic message.  Joseph favored engaging in the world\nproactively, utilizing its institutions, culture, technology, and emotional\nenergy for holy purposes.  Judah and the\nbrothers preferred to shun the world and its enticements and pitfalls, to\ndevote themselves to augmenting their own holiness, hoping inspiring the world\nto emulate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 According to the Rebbe\u2019s\nchumash we should seek the synthesize Judah\u2019s selflessness and Joseph\u2019s social\nprowess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Now we need to get into\nnames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  \u2022 When Leah gives birth to her 4th<\/sup>\nson, in parsha VaYeitzei we read (Ch 29, v35) \u201cShe [Leah] said \u2018This time I\nthank [odeh] God\u2019 and she therefore named him Judah (Yehuda)\u201d.  When Rachel gives birth to her first son, Ch\n30, v 24: \u201cShe named him Joseph [\u2018May he add\u2019] saying \u201cMay God add [Yosef]\nanother son for me\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Joseph is named for\nwanting more; Yehuda is named for gratitude. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Next, a riff on Jay\u2019s demonstration from last week. The Arizal (R. Isaac Luria)  noted the following. Start with Yehuda<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Remove the daled<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And see that the name of\nGod is in Yehuda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[\u2022 After I gave the drash,\nTammi Benjamin pointed out that daled also represents the number 4.  This can be interpreted as the physical\nworld, consisting of 3 spatial and 1 time dimension.  Thus, the name Yehuda encompasses both the\nname of God and the physical world. We are the only beings who live both in the\nphysical and spiritual worlds.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 We begin our day saying<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first sentence is: I\ngive thanks to you, living and eternal King, for you have returned my soul to\nme. Like Leah, we have gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The second, two word\nsentence is \u201cYour faith is enormous\u201d.  God\u2019s\nfaith in our ability to make the world better is enormous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Every time you say \u201cI am\nJewish\u201d you are affirming that you are grateful, that God is within you, and\nthat God has great faith in you to make the world better. That is why we are\ncalled Jews and not Joes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 It is in this sense that Jews\nare a chosen people \u2013 chosen to deliver the Abrahamic message, for which everyone\none of us can be a conduit. Whether we are born into a Jewish home or come to\nJudaism later in life \u2013 we must choose to take on being the conduit, through\nour prayer, study, and behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Shabbat shalom and thank\nyou for giving me the opportunity to drash and learn with you over the last\n23.5 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drash Cards for VaYigash (5780) by Marc Mangel \u2022 This is the third of a three part drash on how each of us can be the conduit for the Abrahamic idea (Toldot)\/discovery (VaYeishev)\/message (VaYigash) that there is one God who created all of us, but who can be worshipped in different ways. We must seek … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":51,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8516","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8516"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8523,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8516\/revisions\/8523"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}