Tevet 16, 5773 ~ December 29, 2012
By Robin Gluck
Much of this week's Parsha, Vayechi, the
concluding chapter in Bereishit, is devoted to the final years of Jacob’s life.
He asks Joseph to promise to bury him in the holy land. He gives blessings to Joseph's children,
Ephraim and Menasha and to his own twelve sons.
Following Jacob’s death, Joseph leads an elaborate funeral procession
back to Canaan to bury his father. In
the closing pasukim, Joseph dies at the age of 110.
Though this Parsha marks the end of one
of our forefather’s lives, I felt a deeper loss from Joseph’s passing than from
his father’s.
Joseph is a complicated figure. A brief household survey revealed that two
out of three Glucks consider Joseph arrogant (one Gluck declined to comment). He
is the apple of his father’s eye, yet he makes mistakes. He enrages his brothers by telling them about
his dream. Instead of leading his people
out of Egypt, he delivers them into slavery.
To me, Joseph’s endearing quality is
his radical trust in Hashem. Regardless of the hardship or challenge, Joseph
believes the events in his life are part of G-d’s plan for him. When Joseph reveals to his brothers that he
is alive, he tells them that “It was not you who sent me here, but God.” (45:8)
After Jacob dies, the brothers fear Joseph will “repay” them for the evil they
did to them. (50:15) Again, Joseph
assures them that they were not responsible for bringing him to Egypt.
“Although you intended me for harm, God intended it for good: in order to
accomplish—it is as clear as day—that a vast people be kept alive.”
(50:20)
Jacob recognizes Joseph’s qualities and
confers upon him a special blessing.
However, even though he has this special blessing, the text suggests
that Joseph is equal to his brothers. "All these are the tribes of
Israel-twelve-and this is what their father spoke to them and he blessed them;
he blessed them each according to his appropriate blessing." (49:28) Each
son had a destiny to fulfill and all of them together became the people of
Israel. Since Joseph is among this
group, he cannot be singled out. Even
though Joseph is special, he cannot carry the people by himself. All the brothers are the future of the
people, not an individual.
Joseph occupies an interesting place of
belonging to a group and standing out from them at the same time. He walks the line between being different and
being the same. As Jews, we also walk a
line between being different and being the same. We can enjoy the benefits of sameness, but we
have chosen to be different. Walking
this line requires our faith in Hashem. We
must remind ourselves, as Joseph did, that we are put in this role for a
reason, and that while being different, we will not be put in harm’s way.
Thanks to Rabbis Davies and Dardik,
Naomi Dardik and Danielle Elkins for their contributions.
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