SHMOT 5777
ALAS THE NEW KING DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH
January 19, 2017
21 Tevet 5777
The new king didn't know Joseph? Is it possible that the brilliant Viceroy who shepherded Egypt through the years of the intense famine would be unknown? Could it be that the Joseph, who created the program that enriched the wealth of the new king's predecessor, had lost his identity? The verse flies in the face of reality.
The traditional commentators interpret the verse that the new king just acted as if he didn't know Joseph. The Yiddish expression is "macht zich nisht visiduk" – act as if you just don't know. In essence this means "just act dumb". This, however, begs the question why would the new ruler dismiss Joseph and his contribution?
Another commentator merely interprets the text that he didn't love Joseph without offering any reasons for this lack of love. One suggestion is that the Egyptians knew him as Tsafnat Pane'ach, an Egyptian name. His identity as the Hebrew Joseph was swallowed up by this new identity. The new King, however, knowing of his background chose to dismiss him as just another Hebrew foreigner who had successfully managed to push himself into a position of power. Joseph was now perceived as successfully ingratiating himself to the former Pharaoh.
The text is clear that following the death of Joseph and his generation, there was a rapid expansion of the Hebrew population – and possibly power. This rapid growth concerned and disturbed the Egyptian ruling class. It wasn't only that the newly identified Children of Israel were a demographic threat to the native Egyptians, the "newcomers" embraced and projected a lifestyle and a value system that ran against the grain of Egypt. Thus, the decision to blunt the impact of the Israelites was symbolized and carried out by the purge of Joseph. He was posthumously stripped of his identity of Tzafnat Pane'ach and dismissed as just another Hebrew by the name of Joseph.
This sad rewriting of history has been sadly repeated throughout the ages. Time and again there have been instances when a change in government has led to devaluing and dismissing Jewish contributions to society. To not "know" the "Joseph" benefactors of their era has been a recurring and all too familiar refrain in Jewish history.
The phenomenon of not "knowing" Joseph is also descriptive of Jews who have sought – and continue to seek – ways to mask their Jewish identity and roots. A contemporary example is Bernie Sanders who in his recent Presidential campaign identified himself as being born into a Polish family. He carefully avoided mentioning his Jewish roots. Thus, it's not only the outer world that seeks to dismiss its "Josephs"; all too often it's the "Josephs" themselves who seek to launder their Jewish identity.
Laundering one's Jewish identity was no simple matter in lands where anti-Semitism was the norm and enthusiastically embraced by the rulers and the population. Sam was the Jew doctor; Abe was the Jew lawyer; Moe was the Jew storekeeper. Jews, regardless of their status and contribution, was always labeled as the "other."
Contrast with the United States with its open society, Here there are few, if any, barriers to prevent a "Joseph" to reinvent himself. At times this involves shedding a jewishly identifiable name. At times it is a factor of the ease which Jews can and do intermarry. It's a process whereby Jews seek to remove the hyphen from their identity. It's the desire be simply known as an American rather than as an American Jew or a Jewish American.
Referring to the commentator that the new King did not like Joseph, we are only too well aware that there are still many who simply do not like Jews – often hate them. This is particularly worrisome when this anti-Jewish stance bleeds into public policy. While we often have little control over the attitude of those hostile to us, instances of Jewish self-loathing should concern us.
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From Newton, best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach– a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
VAYECHI 5777
JACOB'S CONFUSION AND DECISION
January 12, 2017
4 Tevet 6777
And Israel (Jacob) saw Joseph's two sons and asked, "who are they?" And Joseph said, "These are my sons that God has given me bazeh (in this) place and he (Jacob) said, "Bring them to me that I may bless them." [Genesis 48: 8-9]
The above verses pose two questions:
- Why didn't Jacob recognize his grandsons, Manasseh and Ephraim?
- Why did he choose to give these two grandsons a special blessing?
Seventeen years have passed since Jacob relocated his family to Egypt. Joseph had wisely made provisions for his father, his brothers and their families to reside in Goshen, the province furthest from the capital. In Goshen, with minimum contact with the native Egyptian population, the family continued its own way of life. There, Jacob's ever growing clan carried on its life with minimum influence from the greater culture. They undoubtedly had their own dress code, their own worship sites and their own traditions.
Not surprisingly, Goshen has been called the first Jewish ghetto. This phenomenon of being apart from the general society was repeated through the ages. It continues to this day with the determination of the Haredim, the ultra Orthodox, to isolate themselves in their own self-contained communities, thereby minimizing contact with – and "contamination" from the "outside" world.
Joseph and his family, however, were located in the capital where he served as Egypt's Viceroy. It was in this elite Egyptian setting that he raised his sons whose outer dress and appearance stamped them as Egyptian. It is in this context that we can understand why Jacob didn't recognize Joseph's sons, and why they were the recipients of a special blessing from their grandfather.
Most commentators interpret Jacob's query of "who are they" as a function of his limited vision. With his aged eyes he could not see their faces, and hence his confusion.
There is another view, however, that what Jacob saw before him were two grandsons bedecked as Egyptian princes, rather than in the garments favored by the family in Goshen. Jacob, concerned that Manasseh and Ephraim would be lost to the family, chose to bestow upon them a special blessing. It was his way to embrace them in the hope that they would identify with the family not with the Egyptian elite.
Jacob's angst has remained a concern of Jews who long that their grandchildren would remain or even be Jewish. In this day and age we are aware of, and sensitive to, the temptation before many to minimize, if not totally remove, outer signs that differentiate them from their Gentile peers. Add to this his desire to fit in plus their coming of age in the modern open world has spurred inter-dating and, of course, inter-marriage.
Contemporary surveys report the increasing high percentage of intermarriages in which each partner retains his/her own religious affiliation. At times, there is a commitment to raise their children as Jews, at times as Christians, and at times to let each child choose for him/her self. I would venture that many contemporary Jewish grandparents fully empathize with Jacob's desire to draw these foreign dressed grandchildren into the bosom of the family.
This, however, is a formidable challenge. One commentator seized upon Joseph's comment to Jacob that "these are my sons that that God has given me bazeh (in this) "The emphasis on bazeh was interpreted as his way of telling his father that it was God's decision that he, Joseph, was located in this place, Egypt. Therefore, God has a role to play in his sons' appearance. Joseph also assured his father that they were aware of, and truly familiar with, the family's traditions. He affirmed that at their core Manasseh and Ephraim were one with the family.
Similarly, God, destiny or whatever other force has located us in this blessed land of America with its highly mobile culture. While we strive to maintain our unique Jewish identity, the process of acculturation inevitably leads to many accommodations with the outer host culture. We and our children and grandchildren dress as do the majority of our neighbors, and young Jews on campus tend to behave as do their fellow students.
This is the reality. The question is whether through our personal example, effective Jewish education, participation in Jewish programs such as Ramah (Jewish camping), USY and Birthright we will have a positive impact on our next generation. Will young Jews, despite the similar outer appearance and dress, acquire and nurse within themselves a Jewish soul? Joseph obviously succeeded in raising his sons to be true grandsons of Jacob. What about us?
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From the holy city of Jerusalem my best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach– a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
