Genesis Cycle Six Vayigash

When life gives you lemons…well, you make martinis. You not only make them, you cause them to be made in the present past and future, you serve them, you show others how to make them, you respect the martini-making conventions of other cultures. You lead the way in martini inventions and you step forward to explain your own specific martini habits. If you must you pick yourself up and move to the land of martini abundance, or a land of hopeful martini abundance. You don’t stop. Whoever you are in this process, you move beyond anything holding you back, you believe, you count your blessings and thank God for the lemons. Without them, well the martini would be one tough drink to make.

This is a metaphor of course. It’s a metaphor for anyone who has ever shrugged aside the supposed impermeable boundaries. It's a metaphor for anyone who has (finally) pushed aside caution in order to make life not only better but possible... for oneself and for one’s local and world community. 

This can be hard to do. It’s especially hard when you think it might kill you or even the people you are fighting for. It’s hard when you don’t understand why you are being subjugated to begin with.

As for the Jewish people, here we are with the Holocaust so fresh in our bones we can still feel the marrow of humiliation. How do we move forward if we are still dealing with the past? How do we approach any hope for whole radiance with death in our face? On a personal level I am quite aware that change is almost impossible to embrace after tragedy. Acceptance of change is one more acceptance of the fact that the person you love is deceased. The inability of Judaism to really move forward in rhythm with the changing world… is certainly some-what related to the sediment of shock we still feel. 

How do we (after all) leave behind a good percentage of our people? How do we let go of the hold of past present or future fears? How do we accept the astounding beauty of the offerings made by secular Jews, the application of the mitzvoth to cell phones and inter-marriages, to the very real and sacred call of the gay community, the freeing of women, and communication faster than a single heart beat? It will be nice to see one day how we do accept because (as one people) we haven't made that step forward yet. We have our reasons of course. One (as I have mentioned) is the burden we are born with. But according to Torah, that's not a good enough reason at all.

Judah does it. He moves forward not knowing what will happen to him. He moves forward to free his brother and to save his father from any more loss. He knows he may be hanged. 

Joseph moves forward by claiming his identity. 

Jacob moves foreword by moving from Canaan.

Even the Pharaoh moves forward by offering to Joseph and his family the land of Goshen.

Let’s take a small trip now from the Torah scroll. Mandela also moves forward. Can any of us even imagine what it took on his part to take each step towards the freedom of his people? 

Today Mandela died. I think it’s important that we as Jews learn from him as much as we can. It’s not about lemonade. It’s not even about martinis though we may lovingly call that a first step. It’s about alchemy applied to the essence of humanity’s stupidest actions. It’s about creating bread from famine and connection from separation. It’s about bringing integrity to those enslaved and the medicine of holding hands to the poison of murder and forced poverty.

 It’s about discovering the extraordinary within ourselves waiting to be released. As Mandela has helped to show us, it's time to accept our future discoveries.

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that determines the significance of the life we lead.