Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 4 Tevet, 5784
Parsha Mikketz (Genesis 41:1 -44:17)
Seventh Portion: Genesis 43:30 – 44:17

Shabbat Shalom! Hopefully we are all resting after the light and energy of Hanukkah! As we gear up towards the full moon of Tevet – where we will balance chaos and repair in harmony and alignment.

Remembering that Mikketz means “At the end” – today’s close is a little fascinating to be honest.  I’ll talk more about that in a bit.  But let’s remember where we left off; Joseph has arrived and sees Benjamin.  He asks the brothers if this was their youngest brother and then blesses Benjamin.  With that – let’s dig in and see if we come to the end of the tension between Joseph and his brothers:

30And Joseph hastened, for his mercy was stirred toward his brother, and he wanted to weep; so he went into the room and wept there.

31And he washed his face and came out, and he restrained himself and said, “Serve the food.”

So the Torah is clear. Joseph’s heart broke for Benjamin. I wonder if that is because of the plan Joseph had to bring this to a full resolution. I know two years ago I wrote about commentary from the sages. But this year reading it, I am left with a different thought.

I wonder; Joseph likely knew the plan to frame Benjamin. He knew that had a critical purpose to heal the family. And he knew how hard this was going to be.

Imagine a parent having to tell their child they need a cavity drilled. Or worse; a chemo treatment. Or heart surgery. Looking at that child would bring tears. Our heart would break – because we know the experience they are about to have – and although we know it is for their good – we must allow the experience to unfold as much as we want to shelter them from it. I believe this is Joseph’s heart. He knew what needed to be done today.  He knew this was all coming to an end – but this was “at the end.”  Let’s keep going –

32And they set for him separately and for them separately, and for the Egyptians who ate with him separately, because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, because it is an abomination to the Egyptians.

33They sat before him, the firstborn according to his age, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at each other in astonishment.

34And he had portions brought to them from before him, and Benjamin’s portion was five times as large as the portions of any of them, and they drank and became intoxicated with him.

So we see Joseph laying out this meal – he is setting the table for him separately from his brothers. And setting the table for the Egyptians separately because in Egyptian culture, that would have been an “abomination.”

Verse 33 tells us. Although Joseph’s settings were separated from the brothers, he sat with his brothers. Why else would they be astonished? Joseph would have been sitting with Benjamin on one side of him, and the other brothers on the other.

Then. The portions were all in front of Joseph – and he took a 5x portion and gave it to Benjamin and everyone drank and got drunk.

Joseph was preparing more for the reconciliation: first – to see if the brothers would react in jealousy, Benjamin got 5x more than any other brother. Second – getting them drunk would have lowered inhibitions to see if there was anything they were keeping.

We turn the page to Chapter 44 and this is what happens next:

1Then he commanded the overseer of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money into the mouth of his sack.

2And my goblet, the silver goblet, put into the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his purchase money.” And he did according to Joseph’s word, which he had spoken.

This is why Joseph likely cried when seeing Benjamin.  He knew this was the plan. At the end, Joseph wanted reconciliation to happen.  He was committed to a path towards reconciliation and trust – but allowed for things to not go as planned either. He wanted to see where this would go.

3The morning became light, and the men were sent [on their way] they and their donkeys.

4They had exited the city, but had not gone far when Joseph said to the overseer of his house, “Get up, pursue the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?

5Is not this the one my master drinks from? Why, he even divines with it! You have done evil by the way you have acted.’ “

At the end – Joseph sets up a final test for the brothers. To see if he can reconcile. Benjamin is going to be put to the test if this goes well.

Because keep in mind, Joseph REALLY didn’t know what would happen here. Joseph cried likely because he BELIEVED his brothers would have defended their honor and protected Benjamin – which is why he knew how this would go.

6He overtook them, and he said these words to them.

7And they said to him, “Why should my master say such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do a thing like this!

8Behold, the money we found in the mouth of our sacks we returned to you from the land of Canaan; so how could we steal from your master’s house silver or gold?

9Whichever one of your servants with whom it is found shall die, and also we will be slaves to my master.”

This.  Joseph couldn’t be sure – that the brothers would believed so strongly – they would make such a statement.

Keep in mind. The brothers ALREADY experienced money in their sacks without them knowing. And. They trusted their own honor to the point they would all take a stand together.  Joseph’s guard let’s them off the hook:

10And he said, “Now indeed, so it is as you have spoken. [But] the one with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be cleared.”

11So they hastened, and each one lowered his sack to the ground, and each one opened his sack.

12He searched; he started with the eldest and finished with the youngest, and the goblet was found in Benjamin’s sack.

Just imagine. This is NOT what you are expecting.  You just want to go home. You accomplished what you set out to do. You were ready to bring Benjamin home to his dad. And it was like the wool got pulled out from under them. Shock. Just shock. At the end – they were likely in shock. Their future and the look on Jacob’s face must have been so real to them. How did they react?

13So they rent their garments, and each one loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

14And Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there, and they fell before him upon the ground.

“The rent their garments” is a deep custom that was all about grief. The lessons we’ve been learning about how to release ourselves from being stuck have been centered around grief. It is quite interesting – at the end – grief is where we see the brothers. They fell on the ground.

15And Joseph said to them, “What is this deed that you have committed? Don’t you know that a person like me practices divination?”

16And Judah said, “What shall we say to my master? What shall we speak, and how shall we exonerate ourselves? God has found your servants’ iniquity, behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and the one in whose possession the goblet has been found.”

And Judah speaks up. He knows. He sees Hashem the one doing this. He doesn’t try to fight. He received the reality. He likely believed all of his past sins were now caught up with him.  There was nothing to argue.  He was just grieved. Probably shamed. Probably embarrassed. At the end – he just was. How is Joseph going to respond?

17But he said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose possession the goblet was found he shall be my slave, but as for you go up in peace to your father.”

Joseph KNEW.  He knew there would be no peace if the brothers returned to Jacob without Benjamin.  Simeon (who they came to claim) was going to be NO consolation.  At the end – the brothers were grieved. Joseph was grieved (he had grieved what was going to happen to Benjamin earlier).

At the end.

Grief.

That is the takeaway.

Grief.

The power of grief.

Abundance comes from grief.

Emotional grief. Physical grief. Spiritual grief.

Each one of those is at the end.

The question for next week’s parsha?

What is at the beginning?

Every story has a beginning, middle, and an end.

In the Torah – every ending is a beginning. We turn the chapter of the book. We should be looking expectantly on tomorrow with a new beginning.

Our takeaway? What are we grieving now? What do we need to release fully. To say to the Universe (I’m paraphrasing)

“What shall we say to the Universe? What shall we speak, and how shall we exonerate ourselves? The Universe knows our iniquity, behold, we are the servants of the Universe, both us and those who the evidence shows is guilty.”

We await judgment.

But what if?

What if instead of awaiting judgment? We look with curiosity?

What if Judah – after his grief was apparent internally said to himself:

“I am not in charge of this. I have done everything in my power – what is Hashem doing here? What is Hashem teaching all of us? What can I learn in this moment? What can I do here?”

That might change his perspective, wouldn’t it?

Those are my thoughts at the end. And at the beginning. What are yours?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years;

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Kislev 30, 5783

Shabbat Shalom! Sorry this is getting out late today. I’ve been in some deep meditation and reflection today as we finish up Kislev- the month of Harmony, and enter into Tevet; a month of contradictions and the tension between Chaos and Repair. The new moon is tonight.

As I read todays portion, I’m struck by how injustice is being dealt with here. Joseph is manipulating the situation to determine the hearts of his brothers. Is he? Or is he getting revenge for what they did to him?

I reflect on; it’s all about our hearts and framing. We have the power to choose, don’t we?

We can read this passage and reflect on Joseph getting retribution for what his brothers did to him. Or we can read this passage and reflect that Joseph was being careful and wanting to determine the heart of his brothers.

What we bring to this passage will likely help us frame it a certain way.

And how we frame it alters our reality, doesn’t it?

And how do we do this in our lives? How do we frame our realities and the motives of others? How often do we assign motives based on OUR lenses and not someone else’s?

Just some things I’m reflecting on today.

Shabbat Shalom!

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Kislev 30, 5782

Today is the last day of the month of Kislev; and the sixth day of Hanukkah!

We left the Parsha with the brothers in Joseph’s presence. Rashi points out that Joseph asked Benjamin about his family;

Joseph asked of Benjamin; “do you have a brother from your mother’s side?” To which the conversation unfolded as follows;

Benjamin replies; “I had a brother, but I don’t know where he is”

Joseph asks “do you have any sons?”

“I have ten” Benjamin replies

“What are their names” Joseph asks

And then Benjamin proceeds to tell him, and every name of Benjamin’s sons connects to Joseph in a meaningful way. This is why verse 30 tells us Joseph turned away quickly and went to a different room to cry. He was moved so much by Benjamin he could not contain his emotions.

Joseph cleans himself up and then has the food brought out so they could eat together. The Egyptians are separately because the Hebrew are animals that were considered Gods to the Egyptians.

Joseph has food brought out, and Benjamin gets not a double, triple or quadruple portion; his portion is five times what his brothers get. They all eat together (for the first time since Joseph was sold) and the Torah says they got drunk.

Rabbi Obadiah Sforno concludes that Joseph gives Benjamin more to test out the brothers and their jealousy.

Then it was time to send the brothers on their way; Joseph tells the supervisor of the house to pack their gear; give them food, and put the money they used to pay on top of each sack. He had the supervisor place Joseph’s silver goblet in Benjamin’s sack.

Now let’s stop here. Why? Why does Joseph do this? It seems like he has reconciled already with the brothers. He’s tested them. He’s moved to tears. But why do this one last test?

Rabbi Hayyim ibn Attar writes this and it rings true for me; “he possibly had three goals;

First, to atone for their sin of kidnapping him, he rendered them suspects in a theft. In this way, they might also begin to feel shameful for their prior misdeed to him, which would lead to contrition and forgiveness.

Second, Joseph wanted to see if the brothers would be willing to defend Benjamin, even at risk to their lives. This display of extreme brotherly love would atone for their prior hatred towards Joseph

Third, Joseph wanted to hint he was aware of their identity, just as hen he had seated them at the lunch table in order of their ages.”

So the story comes to a crescendo when the brothers all set out on their way. They hadn’t gotten very far when Joseph told the supervisor and to chase them down. He tells the supervisor to confront the brothers in taking Joseph’s gauntlet.

The supervisor does this; tells them the message and they respond with a denial and some logic: “look we were honest enough to bring back the money from before; why would we take a goblet?” They said if anyone among them had the goblet, they shall die and the brothers will be slaves to Joseph of the goblet is found.

The supervisor acknowledges the collective guilt and the individual guilt; and says he will have mercy and only hold the one with the goblet accountable and will be the supervisor’s slave. Everyone else will be cleared.

All the brothers lowered their sack to the ground and they finished with the youngest. The Goblet was found in Benjamin’s sack.

They tore their garments (which was a Jewish practice for grief) and loaded up to return to the city.

They threw themselves on the ground in front of Joseph.

Joseph confronts them. They say they have no defense (even though they’ve done nothing wrong). They tell Joseph they will all become Joseph’s slaves.

Joseph tells them that only Benjamin will be his slave; everyone else can go in peace to their father. This is where the Parsha ends this week.

It’s a fascinating story; and the tension is ripe. The brothers can’t really go back without Benjamin. You can only imagine how the brothers felt; they must have doubted whether Benjamin took the goblet or not; they must have questioned why this was happening. The despair they felt. And yet, they were on the cusp of something amazing!

This is a good takeaway. Sometimes it feels like injustice. That things happen to us that cause us to struggle. The “spiritual vitamin” of the day is this;

“Whenever you feel very broken and fall into despair, it is really a product of your imagination. It is not that the cause does not exist – it may indeed have some foundation. But as a reason for depression – it is false.”

Now; this is a critical passage to chew on. And let me be clear; I’m not saying depression is fake. It’s very real. As someone who is diagnosed with Agitated Depression, I know it’s real. But I think the message is when something in particular happens to us, we don’t know “why” it’s happening; and the story we tell ourselves will lead us in a direction or not; how we frame what happens to us is something we can navigate and have some choice about.

Good thoughts for today! The Haftorah will come in the comments.

I’d love your thoughts on today’s portion!

Todays Haftorah is relatively short and comes from 1 Kings 3:15-4:1

The Haftorah begins similarly to the Parsha this week; with a dream. Solomon wakes up abruptly from his dream. The dream he had (which precedes the Haftorah) describes how Hashem revealed Himself to Solomon and offered to grant anything Solomon wanted. Solomon asks for something for the people he is leading; he wants wisdom to lead the people, which pleases Hashem.

Solomon goes to Jerusalem and stands before the Ark of the Covenant; he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and made a feast for all his servants.

Then two harlots came to the king and stood before him; and we get the familiar story of two women fighting over a child because one of the women had their child die while sleeping (because the mom slept on the baby and crushed him) and then stole the other baby while the mom was sleeping.

Both claim the other woman is guilty. There are no other witnesses.

Solomon then provides us the wisdom we’ve learned since childhood: he proposes splitting the child in half and giving each to a mother.

Immediately the woman whose child it was told Solomon to give the child to the other woman. The other woman said “let the child be neither mine nor yours, cut him!”

Solomon knew which was the mother at that point; and Gave the child to the woman who was ready to sacrifice her motherhood to save the child’s life.

I think of this initial sacrifice; the mother was willing to sacrifice her position and connection and relationship if it meant the child would live. That is a significant sacrifice!!

Because it is Chanukah, we get a BONUS Haftorah; Zechariah 2:14-4:7

This Haftorah begins with the discussion of Hashem dwelling in our midst.

“Many nations will attach themselves to God on that day, and they will become My people too and believe in Me, but nevertheless I will dwell only in your midst.”

Then you will know that the God of Hosts sent me only to you.

God will let Judah take possession of his position in the Holy Land, never to be exiled again, and God will once again choose to have Jerusalem to have His presence dwell there.

Then; we get a warning; “Be silent before God, all you nations! Never again speak badly of the Jewish people, for them He will be roused from His holy abode to exact retribution on the nations.”

It’s hard not to connect this to the church to be honest. If the church believed Jesus was Hashem dwelling as referred to in Zechariah, The church was NOT silent. They added scriptures and set off on not only speaking badly of the Jewish people, but also persecuting them as well!

The next part of the Haftorah is about Joshua failing to rebuke his sons for marrying non-Jewish women.

Zechariah mentions that God will bring his servant Zemah, the Messiah.

Zechariah then gives Information about the third temple; the foundation stone; Joshua’s descendant will be the High Priest.

“There will be seven eyes guarding a single stone of the Temple, from Above. I will participate in the construction of the Temple by engraving inscriptions on its stones,” says the God of Hosts, “and I will remove the sin of that land in one day. On that day,” says the God of Hosts, “you will invite each other to come and take shade under the vines and under the fig trees to enjoy the bountiful goodness which will then exist.”

We then see the angel describe in a prophetic vision the candelabra (Menorah). It is interesting at Hanukkah we use a special edition of the Menorah described here;

Zechariah asks “what is the menorah alluding to?”

And he gets an answer; “this is the word of God about the Messiah, a descendant of Zerubbabel; “Not by his might, nor by his power will the nations become subservient to the Messiah; but rather it will be effortless, like the kindling of a candelabrum, through My spirit by which I will subdue the nations,’ says the God of Hosts.

This passage seems to not be in line with what is laid out in the New Testament to me; and what happens in the church beyond. If Jesus was a messiah, you’d think there wouldn’t need to be things like Pogroms or Crusades given this passage.

And, given this next line, seems more ominous; “who are you Gog and Magog to appear as a great mountain in Zerubbabel’s path, when in truth you will be easily flattened. The Messiah will produce the precious stone, the foundation of the Temple, amid Cheers of “Beautiful Stone! Beautiful Stone!”

Is the church possibly Gog and Magog? Given what has happened to Judaism since Jesus lived, I’m not sure there is an easy answer here.

I imagine Christians believe the “third temple” is our bodies; but that temple existed before the first physical temple was event built.

As we have been studying the Torah so far from genesis, it is something Jews have believed long before Jesus came; that our bodies are the vessel for Hashem’s Neshama in us. The idea of the body being a temple would not have been new; and honestly I can’t see how the third temple is anything but physical.