Genesis Cycle Six Vayechi

In Talmud (Yoma 86) we read that the saving of a human life suspends the laws of Shabbat. That’s a huge statement. The fact that life has precedence over Shabbat means that our very humanness, our beings, our vessels, our bodies, the mitzvah to love God and therefore ourselves here on earth...these are all necessary actions that are  foundational. If you can't live you can't pray or feel much at all. If you aren't alive you can't be in Shabbat-space knowingly. And if you can't be they can't be and he or she can't be. We can't be.  

We can apply this teaching metaphorically to Joseph’s path in releasing his brothers from their past actions. This path of Joseph is sewn elegantly into the weaving of Torah as we study the end of Genesis and even Exodus. 

First, let’s look at the story again. Let’s go into rewind: Joseph’s brothers throw him into a pit. They then sell him to some travelers on their way to Egypt. They show their father (Jacob) Joseph’s coat…torn and blood-strewn. So Jacob thinks that Joseph is dead and Joseph is forced into a whole new place and name at ground level. In other words, he’s slammed: He becomes a slave in a foreign land. He bounces back with the same force. He rises within this strange culture.  He rises fast in terms of Torah narrative. You might say he is a hard worker, that he has the savvy to adapt and attract success. No doubt, he does earn the support of the Pharaoh. I personally like to believe that the rise of Joseph is due to the simple fact that specs of light are easily seen in the darkness. Joseph is not only holy but Mitzrayim is holy to be able to see. 

To continue,  Joseph becomes second to Pharaoh and (in his position) saves Mitzrayim from starvation during a long drought. When Joseph’s brothers…the whole motley crew…come from Canaan to buy wheat Joseph elicits teshuvah from them. In other words, one simple trip from their home (and heart) is not nearly enough to make up for the damage they intended. In their interests, Joseph creates their forgiveness beyond their very knowledge. To Joseph, the whole is clear. He (Joseph) was meant to go to Mitzrayim. God wanted him there to save the family (from starvation). He explains this way-of-thinking to his brothers.

Once a motley crew though (almost) always a motley crew. They clearly don’t get it. We know this because 17 years later their father Jacob dies and there’s the funeral procession to the cave of burial and the beautiful blessings and the mourning. Then, after all of this…the brothers approach Joseph again. They think that now that their father is dead that Joseph will finally seek revenge. After all, they would seek revenge so this is what they expect of him.

 Joseph has to explain to them (once again) not to be scared for he is not in the place of God. This is the same thing that Jacob says to Rachel by the way in 30:2.  He comforts them and speaks to their hearts. Then after Joseph witnesses the birth of his grandchildren…Manassah’s son Makhir is born on his lap….he says to his brothers that God will visit and enlighten them and bring them out of Mitzrayim to the land sworn to their ancestors.

      

Joseph is still quite aware that his brothers are lost souls. He knows that they don’t understand the miracle of the workings of God yet they have grown. They have (after all) done teshuvah (as Joseph directs in an earlier parasha).

 Therefore, they aren’t as good as dead. They are however living men whose spiritual lives are at stake. And there in the Shabbat of life in which there are a million more Shabbats Joseph knows one thing. If the lives of his brothers are at stake…and given their continued fears and misconceptions they are….then even the most basic rules of the day need to be changed. The whole system needs to be changed in order to save them.

 What is the basic rule at the time? Well, the Israelites have power. They have been rising. So now, if the Israelites are rising… they must fall. If the Israelites are settled… now they must leave. To seek-out their very salvation from among themselves, the Israelites must experience a complete reversal in their human and holy experience. 

There’s a great story in Talmud Yoma 87a.

In it Rab is lecturing. Rab is the founder of the yeshivah at Sura (Babylonia) in the 3^rd century. It isn’t complicated. His teacher HaNasi had compiled the Mishnah (rabbinic teachings based on Torah) in the 2^nd century and now he (Rab) wanted to do a systematic study of the Mishnah and apply those teachings to his era.  The result was the compilation of the Talmud .

Anyway, it seems Rab was giving a lecture. Well  Rabbi Hiyya entered late and Rab started the lecture all over again.  Then Bar Kappara entered and Rab started all over again one more time. Then Rabbi Simeon entered and Rab started all over  again. That was three times. Then Rabbi Hanina entered and Rab did not begin again. Rabbi Hanina was very upset and Rab (it seemed) had to go to great lengths to earn his forgiveness.

What does this Talmudic story have to do with anything in this parasha? It’s the three- times rule.  Joseph’s brothers fall (to beg forgiveness) before Joseph twice in Torah. There’s one more chance. Just one. Something big has to happen to stop the falling. Something has to happen that will bring God right to us, just like Rabbi Hanina brings Rab right to him. Something has to happen that will metaphorically save their lives.

Of course Rab was a brilliant and great rabbi. He knew exactly what he was doing. The point is that if people don’t get it we don’t judge or  turn them away…or we do if it will elicit a return and a yearning for more knowledge or closeness.

 Finally, if people are dying (spiritually or intellectually) near you…and often they are…then go ahead and change the rules. Do it in some human way.  Do it for God. Do it to use alchemy to create a great situation from a dark one. Do it. Yes, it is frustrating. We are not Joseph or Rab. But we must stand strong and know that we can sew a seed of transformation. Just don’t forget why. Do it for God. Do it to save lives.