Weekly Parashah-VaYigash
VaYigash translates to ‘draw near, and/or ‘approached’. Sir Walter Scott called this opening of our Parashah the most beautiful prose he had ever read. Judah approaches and draws near to Joseph to let him know, in my opinion, that he, Judah, realizes the set up that Joseph did. He begins by speaking into Joseph’s ears so the words can reach his soul, not his brain. He recounts their meetings and says that he cannot abide by Joseph’s trickery and he will not break his word to his father. I believe Judah was ready to kill Joseph if necessary to save Benjamin. This is the outcome of Judah’s transformation from his T’Shuvah with Tamar. I am always in awe of his courage and his leadership. He made a pledge and he does not want to go back on this pledge. He is honoring his father, knowing that his father is more connected to Rachel’s children than he is to the rest of his brothers. How painful for him and, yet, he is able to leave any and all resentments so he can still honor his father and take the next right action. I am in awe of Judah and his transformation. I know how hard it is to transform and then grow from the “new” person one becomes after T’Shuvah. I realize how far I have come and so many people I know have come and accept my imperfections as well as theirs. I see how society is ready to pounce on the imperfections and flaws of me and other people in recovery (and out of recovery) if it suits their purpose. I have erred in areas that I erred previously, not as bad usually and the same is true for most of us. I believe we have to cease and desist from allowing others to use our foibles against us, Dr. M. Scott Peck calls this evil. Judah was not going to let Joseph use the vulnerabilities of he and his brothers against them and against their father. He stood up and approached Joseph with such passion, power and truth that Joseph could not keep the ruse up. This is the power of approaching and speaking to the soul of another. And, as we all know it doesn’t work all the time. We are living in a moment where the people in power want to keep their power, wield their power and enslave others. This is not just in the political realm, this is in business, for profit and non-profit, in families, at country clubs and even in medicine. I have heard stories about people with wealth trying to buy their way into the top tier to get the Covid-19 vaccine! We all need to be Judah, we need to say NO, in a forceful, spiritual, and truthful manner. We need to say YES to freedom, obligation, and kindness. Judah is leading the way this week. Will people of faith follow? I pray we will. I am recommitting to this way of being and staying grounded in it.
After Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and they get over the shock, and he sets it up for them to get their father and bring the families to live in Egypt for the duration of the famine, he says to them: “Don’t quarrel on the way” (Gen.45:24). What a direction! I read this over 3 or 4 times this year, I don’t remember being taken by this phrase before. The verb used means: be agitated, quiver, quake, perturbed, be excited. So what is Torah teaching us? When we get good news and/or bad news don’t respond from a place of agitation, etc. I know this is hard and I have not mastered this by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, when we are present for a miracle, like finding a long lost brother, being immersed in it is excitement enough, we don’t have to cause more because of our agitation, fear, etc. When we ‘ragez’ appropriately, we are in awe and appreciation. When we are not appropriate in our ‘ragez’, we are in anger, fear and blame. I think of the miracles I have witnessed and the awe and appreciation I have experienced. I also know that bad news has made me agitated more often than not. I see that I have become less agitated in certain areas, yet I know that my agitation comes from my own being unsettled in myself, my own need for perfection. I also know that the agitation comes from righteous indignation that is prophetic in nature. I hear the agitation in the words and teachings of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel as a call to our souls and to our prophetic natures. I also know that, like many, I sometimes mix up the agitation I am experiencing as one or the other. I am agitated now, I can’t stop quarreling with others when life is on the line. I can’t stop quarreling with others when democracy is on the line. I can’t stop quarreling with others when our humanity is on the line. I can’t stop quarreling with others when my family is on the line (like Judah). I can and commit to stop quarreling with others when it is about my ego. I can and commit to stop quarreling with others when it is about my need to be right. What principles are you going to quarrel for? What quarrels are you going to let go of? Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark