Parshah Summary – P’shat
Jacob lives the final seventeen years of his life in Egypt. Before his passing, he asks Joseph to take an oath that he will bury him in the Holy Land. He blesses Joseph’s two sons, Menasheh and Ephraim, elevating them to the status of his own sons as progenitors of tribes within the people of Israel. Jacob blesses his twelve sons, assigning to each his role as a tribe, and Reuven, Shimon and Levi, are rebuked. Among the blessings, Naphtali is granted the swiftness of a deer, Benjamin the ferociousness of a wolf, and Joseph is blessed with beauty and fertility.
Jacob/Israel then dies. A large funeral procession consisting of Jacob’s descendants, Pharaoh’s ministers, the leading citizens of Egypt and the Egyptian cavalry accompanies Jacob on his final journey to the Holy Land, where he is buried in the Cave of Makhpelah in Hebron. Joseph dies in Egypt, at the age of one hundred and ten. He, too, instructs that his bones be taken out of Egypt and buried in the Holy Land, but this would happen only with the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt many years later. Before he dies, Joseph tells the Children of Israel: “Hashem will surely remember you, and bring you up out of this land, to the land of your ancestors…”
Torah of Awakening: Jewish Meditation Teaching
וַיְחִ֤י יַעֲקֹב֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם שְׁבַ֥ע עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה שָׁנָ֑ה וַיְהִ֤י יְמֵֽי־יַעֲקֹב֙ שְׁנֵ֣י חַיָּ֔יו שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֔ים וְאַרְבָּעִ֥ים וּמְאַ֖ת שָׁנָֽה׃ Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt, and it was that the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred and forty-seven years… - Bereisheet (Genesis) 47:28, Parshat Vayekhi
The Maggid of Mezritch taught on this verse:
צַדִּיק כַּתָּמָר יִפְרָח כְּאֶרֶז בַּלְּבָנון יִשגֶּה – The righteous will blossom like a date palm, like a cedar in Lebanon, they will grow tall… The Maggid said, “There are two types of tzaddikim. Some spend their time with people – with teaching and counselling them, while others are concerned only with the teachings themselves. The first bear nourishing fruit, like the date palm; the second are like the cedar: lofty but unfruitful.” On the surface, this teaching of the Maggid is probably a critique of the elitist rabbinate that Hasidism came to counter by making Jewish spirituality accessible to the common person. But on a deeper level, the “date-palm” and the “cedar” represent two different answers to the core question we must each ask ourselves: “How shall I live?” וַיְחִ֤י יַעֲקֹב֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם שְׁבַ֥ע עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה שָׁנָ֑ה – Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt… The first mention of “seventeen years” was back in Parshat Vayeishev, where Joseph is described as a na’ar – a seventeen-year-old youth. Seventeen, then, hints at youthfulness, and Joseph is the embodiment of youthfulness: he is both beloved and hated, he has big and unrealistic seeming dreams, and he has no common sense about how to get along with his brothers. בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם – in the land of Egypt… Egypt, on the other hand, means limitation, suffering, constricted-ness: Egypt is מִצְרַיִם Mitzrayim, from צַר tzar, which means “narrow.” The immature Joseph must first get enslaved in Egypt before his eventual ascent to Egyptian royalty. In this parshah, Jacob, who represents all of Israel, parallels this journey – the youthful family goes down into Egypt in order to mature into a people through the suffering of slavery which begins in the next book of Shemot. Similarly, the youthfulness in each of us gets constricted by the limitations and conditioning of our physical bodies, families and culture. But the purpose of this life’s suffering is to learn and practice not being burdened by the temporary challenges of life. Like Joseph, we can become like cream – always “rising to the top,” no matter how much life beats us down. The key is Presence: being the awareness of whatever arises in the moment, and not identifying with the judgements of the mind: וּמֵעֵ֗ץ הַדַּ֙עַת֙ ט֣וֹב וָרָ֔ע לֹ֥א תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ כִּ֗י בְּי֛וֹם אֲכׇלְךָ֥ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מ֥וֹת תָּמֽוּת׃ “From the Tree of Knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for on the day you eat of it, you shall die.” - Bereisheet 2:17 מוֹת תָּמֽוּת – literally: dead, you shall die… Meaning: the process of identifying with the judgements of the mind leads us to a kind of inner deadness. The message is, don’t die dead! Instead… וַיְחִ֤י יַעֲקֹב֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם – Jacob lived in the land of Egypt… Learn to embrace the moment as it is, so that you may live, even in “Egypt,” and become fruitful, even in constriction and suffering – that is meditation. But how do we do that? וַיְהִ֤י יְמֵֽי־יַעֲקֹב֙ שְׁנֵ֣י חַיָּ֔יו שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֔ים וְאַרְבָּעִ֥ים וּמְאַ֖ת שָׁנָֽה׃ – And it was that the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred and forty-seven years… The message is that, like most things that are worthwhile, it takes time; we can achieve spiritual maturity only by practicing over time. After all, Presence in the face of suffering is definitely not a quality of youthfulness, but of age and maturity. This is partly because it takes lifetime of experience with suffering to learn how to really let go. But also, as we get older and approach the ultimate Letting Go, it is natural for attachments to fall away on their own to some degree. This is hinted at in the blessing Jacob gives to Joseph’s two sons, Menasheh and Ephraim. Menasheh is named such by Joseph because, “The Divine has made me forget (Nashani) my troubles,” hinting at old age, which is fitting since Menasheh is the elder. Ephraim is named such because “The Divine has made me fruitful (Hifrani) in the land of my suffering,” which is fitting for the younger brother. But Jacob deliberately switches his hands, giving the blessing of the elder to the younger, which is why the traditional blessing for boys on Erev Shabbat is that they should be like Ephraim and Menasheh, and not the other way around, as if to say: Let go of your troubles while you are still fruitful. In other words, die before you die! מוֹת תָּמֽוּת – dead, you shall die… But this teaching is not the death of the spirit which comes from “eating” of the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad,” this is the death of ego – that is, of identification with the impulsive self of youth, and the blossoming of the mature spirit. We can taste the mature spirit while we live, before the moment of physical death, if we use our suffering, our “Egypt,” as Joseph did: to practicing letting go and accepting the moment as it is, while holding the intention of the bigger vision, of the spiritual maturity we are becoming. To do this, we of course need to stay with the process, neither pulling away nor pushing for something other than this moment; this is the Path of ח Het, the middah of Patience. In this week of Shabbat Vayekhi, the Sabbath of Life, may we recognize the precious opportunity we have in this life, to “die before we die,” to embrace life in its bitter and sweet, and through this practice to give birth to the “fruit” of mature consciousness.
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Parshah Summary – P’shat
Judah approaches (Vayigash) Joseph to plead for the release of Benjamin, offering himself as a slave to the Egyptian ruler in Benjamin’s stead. Upon witnessing his brothers’ loyalty to one another, Joseph breaks down and reveals his identity to them. “I am Joseph,” he declares. “Is my father still alive?” The brothers are overcome by shame and remorse, but Joseph comforts them. “It was not you who sent me here,” he says to them, “it was all part of the Divine plan, to save us from famine.” The brothers rush back to Canaan with the news. Jacob comes to Egypt with his sons and their families—seventy souls in all—and is reunited with his beloved son after 22 years. On his way to Egypt he receives the Divine promise: “Fear not to go down to Egypt; for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.” Joseph gathers the wealth of Egypt by selling food and seed during the famine. Pharaoh gives Jacob’s family the fertile region of Goshen to settle, and the children of Israel prosper in their Egyptian exile…
Torah of Awakening
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יוֹסֵ֤ף אֶל־אֶחָיו֙ אֲנִ֣י יוֹסֵ֔ף הַע֥וֹד אָבִ֖י חָ֑י וְלֹֽא־יָכְל֤וּ אֶחָיו֙ לַעֲנ֣וֹת אֹת֔וֹ כִּ֥י נִבְהֲל֖וּ מִפָּנָֽיו׃ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dumbfounded were they on account of him. - Bereisheet (Genesis) 45:3, Parshat Vayigash
A disciple asked Rabbi Yisakhar Baer of Radoshitz: “How are we to interpret the passage in the Talmud where Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai says to his son, בְּנִי, דַּי לָעוֹלָם אֲנִי וְאַתָּה – ‘My son, you and I are enough for the world.’” He replied, “In the Tosefta we read: ‘The meaning which underlies the creation of the world is that the creature says: You are our God, and the Holy Blessed One says, I Am the Divine.’ This ‘You’ and this ‘I’ are enough for the world.”
The radical teaching of this story is that God, and the recognition of God, is enough. What does this mean? What tendency do we have that this teaching comes to counter? And what does it mean to think that God is not enough? It means to place special importance not the underlying Reality of Being, but on finite form; particularly, the finite form of identity. Names and roles become central; “You” and “I” are forgotten. Nowadays, it is rare to believe that that “God is enough.” Rather, belief in the central importance of identity is often taken for granted. Much of our “cultural war” issues are based on identity, not to mention the pervasive tendency for today’s actual war to expand into social conflicts of left vs. right, as well as increasing antisemitic and anti-Muslim violence. And yet, even though there is rarely conversation about the transcending of identity, as individuals we take breaks from our identities all the time, though usually unconsciously. A moment of appreciation, of empathy, of gratitude – a genuine smile in which the “light” behind the identity shines forth – these are not uncommon; they are part of the natural rhythm between assuming roles and being authentic. But too often we can become trapped by identity, unconsciously bearing its burden of conflict and misery. The question is: can we become free? Can we learn to put aside identity on purpose? Can we discover who we are at a level deeper than identity? And in that discovery, can we come to recognize our authentic beingness that transcends words and labels: the light of consciousness that we are beneath it all? After all, while living in a house is a wonderful thing, if we could never leave our house, it would no longer be a house; it would be a prison. Similarly, identity is not a bad thing, but we should not be trapped by it. But how do we get beneath identity, to our deeper light of consciousness, to our authentic beingness? The truth is, we don’t have to “get” to It – all we need do is stop and turn toward It. בְּנִי, דַּי לָעוֹלָם אֲנִי וְאַתָּה – ‘My son, you and I are enough for the world/the Eternal.’” The mind constantly generates this whole noisy drama of life, but there is a Center. The Center is vast silence, and that Center is none other than our own beingness, which is not separate from the One Being. But also, we shouldn’t think that the noisy drama and the vast, silent Center are two different things. Rather, all the movement of our life drama is nothing but the Vastness, dressed up in different costumes. We need not turn away from life, we need only to turn more completely toward it. Beneath the costume, the Divine is whispering to us… אֲנִ֣י יֹוסֵ֔ף – I am Joseph! The name Yosef (Joseph) means “increase,” so on the deepest level, this is the Divine message to us: whatever we are relating with in the moment, its deepest identity is the Mystery from which all emerges. Things are not merely their surface appearance; potential is infinite… גְּשׁוּ־נָ֥א אֵלַ֖י – Approach me please! In other words, don’t be fooled by the masks – come to the Heart, come to the vast and silent Center behind all the actors playing out the drama. That Vastness is home, that Vastness is peace, that Vastness is the Divine, and it was Here all along. But this realization of the Center is not the end of the drama – not at all! Because once we’ve tasted the Real Thing, we want more – we want to stay there. We want It all the time. But, life pulls us back into its chaos again and again – what to do? אַל־תִּירָא֙ מֵֽרְדָ֣ה מִצְרַ֔יְמָה כִּֽי־לְג֥וֹי גָּד֖וֹל אֲשִֽׂימְךָ֥ שָֽׁם – Don’t be afraid of descending into Egypt, because I will make you into a great nation there… Egypt is Mitzrayim – narrowness, constriction. God’s words to Jacob mean: don’t be afraid to get pulled back into a constricted state, because it is through your descent that your ascent will become more mature and stable. You can only grow spiritually through the learning that comes through failure. אָֽנֹכִ֗י אֵרֵ֤ד עִמְּךָ֙ מִצְרַ֔יְמָה וְאָֽנֹכִ֖י אַֽעַלְךָ֣ – I will descend with you into Egypt and I will surely cause you to ascend… Even in the depths of separation, there is nothing but the Divine, so the power to return is always inherent within every experience, no matter how far you seem to fall. וְיוֹסֵ֕ף יָשִׁ֥ית יָד֖וֹ עַל־עֵינֶֽיךָ – and Joseph will place his hand on your eyes… The eyes are a symbol for awareness. As we’ve seen, Yosef means “increase,” and the hand is a symbol of action: It is through your descent and subsequent ascent that you will gain the power to increase your own awareness, to be free from the tremendous pull of Mitzrayim, to awaken out of the seduction of life’s noisy dramas… אָמ֣וּתָה – Amutah – I will die… This is a kind of “death” of identity, of our role-based egos. The “me” that is dependent on the Mitzrayim of life’s dramas can die, because… רְאוֹתִ֣י אֶת־פָּנֶ֔יךָ כִּ֥י עֽוֹדְךָ֖ חָֽי – I have seen Your Face, that it lives forever! Every form we encounter is the Nothing but the Face of the Living, Eternal Presence. This recognition is represented by the sefirah of Malkhut, the Living Presence behind all things…
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Parshah Summary – P’shat
Joseph’s imprisonment finally ends when Pharaoh dreams of seven fat cows that are swallowed up by seven lean cows, and then of seven fat ears of grain swallowed by seven lean ears. Joseph interprets the dreams to mean that seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of hunger, and advises Pharaoh to store grain during the plentiful years. Pharaoh is pleased with Joseph’s advice and appoints him governor of Egypt. Joseph marries Asenath, daughter of Potiphar, and they have two sons, Manasheh and Ephraim.
In time, as the famine spreads throughout the region, food can be obtained only in Egypt. Ten of Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to purchase grain, but the youngest, Benjamin, stays home, for Jacob fears for his safety. Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they do not recognize him; he accuses them of being spies, insists that they bring Benjamin to prove that they are who they say they are, and imprisons Shimon as a hostage. Later, they discover that the money they paid for their provisions has been mysteriously returned to them. Jacob agrees to send Benjamin only after Judah assumes personal responsibility for him. This time Joseph receives them kindly, releases Shimon, and invites them to dinner at his home. But then he plants his special silver goblet in Benjamin’s sack. When the brothers set out for home the next morning, they are pursued, searched, and arrested when the goblet is discovered. Joseph offers to set them free and retain only Benjamin as his slave
Torah of Awakening
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר פַּרְעֹה֙ אֶל־יוֹסֵ֔ף אַחֲרֵ֨י הוֹדִ֧יעַ אֱלֹהִ֛ים אוֹתְךָ֖ אֶת־כׇּל־זֹ֑את אֵין־נָב֥וֹן וְחָכָ֖ם כָּמֽוֹךָ׃ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed to you all of this, there can be no one as understanding and wise as you.” - Bereisheet (Genesis) 41:39, Parshat Mikeitz
A disciple asked Rabbi Simkha Bunam a question on this verse about the curse of the serpent in the Creation story: עַל־גְּחֹנְךָ֣ תֵלֵ֔ךְ וְעָפָ֥ר תֹּאכַ֖ל כׇּל־יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃ – On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat, All the days of your life… - Bereisheet (Genesis) 3:14
The disciple asked, “Why did God put such a strange curse upon the serpent, that it should have to eat dust? Being able to eat dust, I think, would be a blessing, not a curse. If you could eat dust, you could find what you need to live anywhere you go!” Rabbi Bunam replied, “God told humans that that they must eat their bread by the sweat of their face, and if they have no bread, they can pray to God for help. Thus, human beings are bound to God and can find a way to God. But to the serpent, which was the source of evil, God gave everything it requires, so that it might never have to pray for anything at all. Thus, God supplies the wicked with an abundance of riches.” This remarkable teaching works on two different levels. On a simple level, it functions as a consolation to the impoverished disciple, giving an answer to the angst they must feel that for all their efforts in Torah, God continues to make them poor, while “wicked” Polish noblemen live in luxury. But on a deeper level, it gives voice to a profound paradox in spiritual practice: that it is precisely the experience of lack, of not having enough, that is necessary for the experience of true Wholeness to unfold. This is because both Wholeness and Incompleteness are constant dimensions of experience that live on two different and complementary levels of consciousness. The level of Wholeness needs the level of Incompleteness to be grasped and felt… אֵין־נָב֥וֹן וְחָכָ֖ם כָּמֽוֹךָ׃ – there are none as understanding and wise as you… “Understanding and wise” are the two levels of consciousness from which Wholeness and Incompleteness derive, called Hokhmah and Binah on the Tree of Life – Wisdom and Understanding. Binah, Understanding, refers to the function of thought: the capacity to create images of reality in one’s mind, then manipulate the images so as to comprehend and predict things that wouldn’t otherwise be apparent in one’s immediate, present moment experience. We can and must do this in order to deal with the reality of lack. For example, if my refrigerator is full in my immediate experience, I can nevertheless predict that it will eventually become empty in the future, and that I will starve unless I fill it with more food. At the moment I perceive the refrigerator as full, the empty refrigerator is just a thought, a mental image, not a reality. But, it allows me to navigate the objective world into the future, to work and earn a livelihood so that I can buy food, so that I can eat and survive. That is Binah, Understanding. Hokhmah, on the other hand, is the space of consciousness within which thought, as well as the perception of whatever is happening, arises – in this case, the perception of a full refrigerator, along with the thought that soon it will become empty. On the level of Hokhmah, there is a sense of Wholeness, Fullness, Completeness, because it is the boundless openness of the field of awareness. Awareness perceives: “There is the refrigerator, and there is the thought about how the refrigerator will be empty in the future.” Awareness is “above” or “transcendent” of all of it; it is beyond thought, as well as feeling and sensory perceptions – the entire spectrum of experience. Awareness is the “space” within which all experience lives. But ordinarily, we are only barely aware of awareness, barely aware of the Wholeness within which experience lives; it glows faintly in the background, while our thoughts and feelings tend to dominate in the foreground. If we are worried that we might not be able to replenish our stores of food, as the hasidim probably did, we would likely be siezed by worry and anxiety… וַתֹּאכַ֙לְנָה֙ הַפָּר֔וֹת הָרַקּ֖וֹת וְהָרָע֑וֹת אֵ֣ת שֶׁ֧בַע הַפָּר֛וֹת הָרִאשֹׁנ֖וֹת הַבְּרִיאֹֽת׃ – And the seven lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven cows, the healthy ones… Like the cows in Pharaoh’s dream, the Wholeness of awareness is “swallowed up” by the neediness generated by thought, the natural desire to understand and control things. The Wholeness is always there as the ground of our experience, but we fixate on the objects of experience, rather than the ground. This causes the experience of lack and incompleteness to dominate, and the “lean” and “ugly cows” win. But, when we allow the present to come into the foreground, seeing our thoughts come and go within the open space of the awareness, then Hokhmah and Binah can function freely: recognizing that all experience arises and is perceived within that boundless field of awareness which is already whole and complete, we need not be trapped by our thoughts; we can perceive the uncertainty of the future without being gripped by worry and anxiety. After all, we are Hokhmah – spacious awareness – and from that realization, the mind can explore in its pathways of thought without becoming entangled by them – that is Binah operating properly. And from here, a bigger understanding can unfold… הוֹדִ֧יעַ אֱלֹהִ֛ים אוֹתְךָ֖ אֶת־כׇּל־זֹ֑את – The Divine has revealed to you all of this… These words of Pharaoh to Joseph are ordinarily taken to mean that God revealed some special knowledge to Joseph. But it can also be read as kol zot – “all of this,” hodia Elohim – is “revealed” as “God!” Meaning: when we are present to whatever arises, it becomes apparent that kol zot, the full and rich tapestry of experience as it arises in this moment – from sensory awareness of the outer world, to the rising and falling of feelings and thoughts, to the open space of consciousness itself – “all of this” is Elohim; everything is nothing but forms of the One Divine Reality. There is nothing but the Divine, always and only…
כִּי יהוה הוּא הָאֱלהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת אֵין עוד
For Existence Itself is the Divine In the Heavens Above And Upon the Earth Below, there is Nothing Else! - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 4:39
How do we accomplish this realization? How do we know ourselves as Hokhmah, as spacious awareness? The key is to embrace the truth of our experience in the moment; this is Presence. As long as we resist or are in denial, we are identified with and dragged down by thought and the reality of lack. But, the key to stop resisting and get out of denial is Prayer; Prayer is the alchemy that transforms the dross of dissatisfaction into the precious metal of closeness to the Divine, opening up the possibility of knowing ourselves at this deepest level.
Thus, the dual practice of Presence and Prayer form the path of this realization. Presence and Prayer are represented by the sefirah of Malkhut, the vision of the world as the “Kingdom of God” – the way of the spirit in the world of form...
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Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with Jacob/Israel and his family settling in Hebron. Joseph is his most beloved son, so he makes Joseph a special multi-colored coat, which sparks jealousy in the other brothers. Joseph then tells his brothers of his dreams which foretell that he is destined to rule over them, increasing their envy and hatred toward him even more. Shimon and Levi plot to kill him, but Reuben suggests that they throw him into a pit instead, intending to come back later and save him. The brothers strip Joseph of his special coat and throw him into the pit. Later, Judah convinces the other brothers to sell him to a band of passing Ishmaelites. The brothers then smear Joseph’s special coat with the blood of a goat and show it to their father, misleading him to believe that his most beloved son was devoured by a wild beast.
The text then shifts to Judah, who marries and has three sons. The eldest, Er, marries a woman named Tamar, but then he dies. So, Tamar then marries the second son, Onan, but Onan also dies. Judah is reluctant for his third son to marry Tamar, so she disguises herself as a prostitute and seduces Judah instead. Judah hears that his daughter-in-law has become pregnant and accuses her of harlotry, but when Tamar produces the personal objects he left with her as a pledge for payment, he publicly admits that he is the father. Tamar gives birth to twin sons, Peretz (an ancestor of King David) and Zerach. Joseph is taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, the minister in charge of Pharaoh’s slaughterhouses. God blesses everything Joseph does, and soon he is made overseer of all his master’s property. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph, and when Joseph rejects her advances, she tells her husband that the Hebrew slave tried to force himself upon her, and has him thrown Into prison. Joseph gains the trust and admiration of his jailers, who appoint him to a position of authority over the other prisoners. During this time, Joseph meets Pharaoh’s chief butler and baker, who were both imprisoned for some offense. They tell Joseph about some disturbing dreams they have been having, which Joseph interprets: in three days, he tells them, the butler will be released and the baker hanged. Joseph asks the butler to intercede on his behalf with Pharaoh. When the predictions are fulfilled, the butler forgets all about Joseph and does nothing for him.
Torah of Awakening
יוֹסֵ֞ף בֶּן־שְׁבַֽע־עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה שָׁנָה֙ הָיָ֨ה רֹעֶ֤ה אֶת־אֶחָיו֙ בַּצֹּ֔אן וְה֣וּא נַ֗עַר אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י בִלְהָ֛ה וְאֶת־בְּנֵ֥י זִלְפָּ֖ה נְשֵׁ֣י אָבִ֑יו וַיָּבֵ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֶת־דִּבָּתָ֥ם רָעָ֖ה אֶל־אֲבִיהֶֽם׃ Joseph was seventeen years old, a shepherd with his brothers of the flocks, and he was a youth with the sons of Bilha and Zilpah, the wives of his father, and Joseph brought evil reports of them to their father … - Bereisheet (Genesis) 37:2, Parshat Vayeishev
A disciple asked Rabbi Mendel of Kotsk, “When the Children of Israel stood at Mt. Sinai, they said to Moses:
דַּבֵּר־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּ֖נוּ וְנִשְׁמָ֑עָה וְאַל־יְדַבֵּ֥ר עִמָּ֛נוּ אֱלֹהִ֖ים פֶּן־נָמֽוּת׃ – ‘'You speak to us and we will listen; but let God not speak to us, lest we die!’” “Moses then answered, אַל־תִּירָ֒אוּ֒ ‘Do not be afraid,’ but then he goes on to say that God had come so that תִּהְיֶ֧ה יִרְאָת֛וֹ עַל־פְּנֵיכֶ֖ם ‘the fear of God be upon you.’ This makes no sense – they should have no fear because they should have fear? Rabbi Mendel answered, “The first fear, אַל־תִּירָ֒אוּ֒ do not be afraid, means that they should not be afraid of death. Rather, they should “fear” God only – meaning, they should have יִראָה yirah – reverence, respect, and awe – so that they don’t come to think that the wisdom they are receiving is their own creation, thereby separating themselves from God. This teaching of the Kotzker Rebbe is a reminder about right relationship with wisdom. True wisdom is “death” to the ego, but the ego fears death. In order to avoid receiving the true message of wisdom, the ego wants to claim it for itself, to see oneself as a “wise person.” When this happens, the content of the “wisdom” might be good and true, but the teacher has become corrupted. The teacher feels superior, above their students; the “shepherd” has become “evil.” הָיָ֨ה רֹעֶ֤ה... וַיָּבֵ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֶת־דִּבָּתָ֥ם רָעָ֖ה – he was a shepherd… and Joseph brought evil reports… The words רֹעֶה ro’eh, “shepherd,” and רָעָה “evil,” have exactly the same letters; they are just voweled a little differently, hinting at a connection between his shepherding the sheep and bringing “evil reports.” This is also reflected in the wording. It doesn’t literally say that he was a shepherd with his brothers, which would be “hayah ro’eh im akhav” – but rather “hayah ro’eh et akhav” – as if to say that he’s being a shepherd at his brothers: judging them, criticizing them. This hints at two different levels of meaning. On the surface, Joseph and his brothers are out shepherding the sheep. But at the same time, Joseph sees himself as shepherding his own brothers. He feels that he is above them, judging them and tattling on them to their father. וְה֣וּא נַ֗עַר – and he was a youth… His vision of himself as “above” the rest of his family is, of course, prophetic – he eventually becomes an actual ruler with Pharaoh in Egypt. But at this point in the story, his leadership is immature. This dynamic of being “above” things, on one hand, but also becoming corrupted, on the other, is something we can find within our experience. There is a level of our being that really is above everything, in the sense that it sees the fullness of whatever arises in our experience, but remains free from it, unencumbered by whatever our situation is. That level of our being is spacious awareness. Another name for it is חָכמָה hokhmah, wisdom, because from that place of awareness, wisdom naturally flows and can guide us in our actions. These qualities of חָכמָה hokhmah are also those of a רֹעֶ֤ה ro’eh – a shepherd; the shepherd guides the flock, but is not itself a sheep. The thinking mind, however, loves to claim the wisdom of awareness for itself in order to feed the ego. The ego thinks, this is my wisdom, and then gets gratification from believing itself to be “above” others. That is Joseph as the נַעַר na’ar – the youth – who brings evil reports. As long as the immature mind coopts the wisdom of awareness, the ro’eh becomes ra’ah – an evil shepherd. What is the remedy? The remedy is hidden within the letters. The words ro’eh and ra’ah, “shepherd” and “evil,” are ר–ע–ה reish-ayin-hei. The middle letter, ע ayin, literally means “eye,” hinting at awareness as the deepest identity of the shepherd. The ר reish literally means “head,” hinting that as long as the “head” is ruling the “eye” – as long as the thinking mind claims awareness for itself, the “shepherd” is “evil.” But if you change the ע ayin to an א alef, the letter of Oneness, then the word becomes רְאֵה re’eh, “see.” Hinting: when you simply see, not in the literal visual sense but in the sense of direct perception, the thinking mind that divides the world into “me” as superior to “them” is subdued and collected into the Oneness of that simple awareness. This happens in meditation, and from this can eventually come mature leadership, where the wisdom that pours into the mind is not coopted or claimed, but is humbly received as a responsibility. This sense of reverence, respect and responsibility, stemming from the recognition of receiving wisdom, is represented by the letter ר reish. So in this week Parshat Vayeyshev, the Sabbath of Dwelling, may we practice dwelling in the simple Presence of receptivity, receiving the gift of guidance from the Good Shepherd with reverence and respect for That which is beyond us. May we be guided by this inner wisdom on a path of love, renewal and healing, and may these higher human potentials become manifest swiftly in our species, freeing us all from the plagues of war and violence.
Read past teachings on Vayeishev HERE.
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