BECOMING DISTINCT – “Bo” – Ex.10-13:16 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Baruch

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BECOMING DISTINCT – “Bo” – Ex.10-13:16 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

One Torah reading – this one — brings us our transition into nationhood, our distinctive calendar, and the very trademark of our homes. Warning the people that a destroying angel will descend on Egypt and kill the firstborn human and animal in every household, Moses delivers the Divine commandment to take a lamb for every Israelite household, and slaughter the lamb for a sacrifice to celebrate what will become the first Jewish festival – Passover. And why is it called Passover? Because before eating that lamb the Israelite must put some of its blood on the doorpost to signal that this is an Israelite home, so the destroyer will pass over it. That doorpost signal would later become the Mezuzah that decorates and identifies our homes today.

Passover is not just the first Jewish festival – the festival of freedom – but also marks the beginning of the Jewish calendar. This week’s reading tells us: “This month for you is the head of the months, first of all the months of the year.”

Now wait a minute. Are we talking about Passover or Rosh Hashanah?

In a way, both. The Talmud reminds us that our calendar contains no less than four New Years days including one in Nisan for kings and festivals and one in Tishri for numbering the years. The other two are for ancient tithes. Any Hebrew school student who can repeat the names of the months will start this way: Nisan Iyyar Sivan Tamuz – always starting with Nisan, the month of Passover.

Of course Passover does not begin the month of Nisan. It starts in the middle of the month, on the 15th. Our ancestors had two weeks to prepare for the first Seder, and we all know it takes at least two weeks to prepare for that event now – finding the “khometz” and getting rid of it, shopping for the Pesach food, inviting the guests, polishing the cup for Elijah the Prophet – and we don’t even have to smear blood on the doorpost. Still, Passover remains a favorite family festival, the first Jewish holiday.

An interesting sidelight to this week’s reading would be to compare Passover with Shabat. Since the seventh day is mentioned as a day of rest in the story of Creation, we must consider it the first Jewish sacred day. Yet we find no reference to it in the lives of the Patriarchs. We don’t find Abraham making Kiddush. Not until the Israelites leave Egypt does the Sabbath appear in the Torah narrative. The manna that sustains the people in their trek through the desert comes to them six days a week, and they are warned to collect double manna on Friday. When they do that, it does not spoil and they can eat at leisure on Saturday. Slaves have no Sabbath, but free people do. Or they should. Maybe the Patriarchs kept the Sabbath without a special ceremony, since those Mitzvos came later. And in fact, no ceremony is mentioned for the Israelites in the desert either. But the Passover ceremony is defined quite practically: “If the household is too small to use a lamb, let them share one with their neighbor… Each according to what he eats, so shall you count for the lamb.” This mitzvah should not prove prohibitive. As Rashi points out, the standard “each according to what he eats” is understood to exclude the old and infirm who cannot eat a full morsel. Thus both families can celebrate. And both will mark their homes. And both will taste freedom.

Can we do less? Today it’s not lamb, since animal sacrifice ceased with the destruction of the Temple. So maybe we share chicken. But the principle remains. Celebrate our freedom. Revel in our tradition. Sing “Had Gadyo.” Welcome Eliyahu – and feel that you, too, were redeemed.

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CHALLENGE AND CHOICE – “Va-eyra” – Ex. 6:2-9:35 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Baruch

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CHALLENGE AND CHOICE – “Va-eyra” – Ex. 6:2-9:35 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

This week’s Torah reading ranks among the most famous and most spectacular accounts of all the ancient adventures of our people. Here we will read about seven of the famous Ten Plagues of Egypt. Blood, Frogs, Gnats, Beetles, Murrain, Boils, Hail – each one is announced in advance. And G-d tells Moses what answer to expect from Pharaoh every time.

Can we learn anything for today from this story?

Indeed we can. In fact, our rabbis learned something important from it long ago. All human beings have free choice. Challenged by Moses, Pharaoh could certainly agree to keep his word and let the people go if the plague stops. But he doesn’t. And G-d knows he won’t, because that is his character. Yes, we all have free choice, within our individual limits. But G-d knows what choice we will make. Pharaoh the king had virtually no limits, so in his case, the Torah calls it “hardening his heart.” While Egypt is suffering from a plague, Pharaoh promises to release his slaves if Moses will pray to remove it. As soon as the plague stops, Pharaoh hardens his heart and breaks his promise.

Looking at these plagues, we see that they increase in severity. The first plagues have at least a nuisance effect and at most a scare effect – water that turns to blood, frogs all over the country, gnats filling the air, etc. – while the later plagues start with boils affecting both humans and animals, followed by a violent hailstorm threatening life itself. The rabbinic comment on this sequence states that for the first five plagues Pharaoh retained his freedom of choice, so his evil decisions were his own and he risked the retribution they involved. But the last five plagues left him no alternative; in fact Moses brings him the Divine message: “This time I send all my plagues to your heart, to your servants and to your people, so that you will know that there is none like Me in all of Earth.” Next week, of course, come the last three plagues, culminating in the death of the firstborn, causing Pharaoh not just to release his Hebrew slaves but to chase them out of the country. Having chosen to reject the first challenges, say the rabbis, Pharaoh now must reject the last ones. His destruction is inevitable.

Make wrong decisions a habit, and inevitably we run the risk of feeling compelled to make more and more of them. Challenges we face in daily life can seem like plagues that we could not predict, punishments we feel we did not deserve. How we face them, how we adapt our behavior to meet them, can betray or fulfill us. We have free choice. Let’s hope it lasts for at least five challenges.

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BURY ME NOT– Va-y’khi – Gen.47:28-50:26 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Baruch

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BURY ME NOT– Va-y’khi – Gen.47:28-50:26 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Remember this one?

Oh bury me not on the lone prairie,

These words come low and mournfully

From the pallid lips of a youth who lay

On his dyin’ bed at the close of day….

By my father’s grave oh let me be

And bury me not on the lone prairie.

That sad young cowboy had good company. None other than the patriarch Jacob. In this week’s Torah reading, he calls in his favorite son Joseph and makes him swear not to bury his father in Egypt. His last request is to be buried in the Cave of Machpelah where his parents and his wife Leah lie. Like so many other mortals facing the end of life, he wants to go home.

Our commentators cite a few other reasons not to bury Jacob in Egypt, not even in a pyramid. After his years in Egypt, Jacob evidently became well respected, and might rate a distinguished tomb. But he does not want one, not there. Rashi and the Klee Yokor detail three factors behind this oath that Jacob requires of Joseph. One concerns lice, which inhabit Egyptian soil and would attack the body. Worms are bad enough, but lice?? (Actually tradition states that there were seven people whose bodies the worms could not devour, and Jacob was one of them. No word about lice.) A second one concerns the Egyptian custom of gathering at the tomb of an honored man and conducting pagan worship. Jacob’s grave should not prompt idolatry. And the third consideration is the tradition that when the Messiah comes, those buried outside the Land of Israel will have to roll underground all the way there to be revived. All things considered, Jacob says “take me out of Egypt, let me lie with my fathers, and bury me in their burying-place.”

Jacob then proceeds to give his last message to his sons. Not really a blessing, this message is more of a judgment on their characters, based on their behavior. Some show promise, some are plodders, others get specific charges from their father. Reuben loses the privilege of the firstborn because he once bedded his father’s wife. Judah, by contrast, proved himself a leader and gets acknowledged as such. No mention of his little intrigue with Tamar. The commentators link this praise of Judah to the future, for he will be the ancestor of King David. But of course it is Joseph who gets Jacob’s greatest love and favor. And Joseph’s two sons got blessed as equal to Reuben and Simeon, effectively giving Joseph the double portion of the firstborn which Reuben is denied. As Jacob completes his message, he puts his legs back in bed and breathes his last. It is Joseph who weeps over him, kisses him, and then orders his body embalmed.

Commentators point out that the embalming process will take 40 days, to prepare for the journey to Hebron. Joseph leads that trek. And the rest of Jacob’s family goes with him – the entire people. When they stop in Atad, east of the Jordan en route to Machpelah, they observe seven days of deep mourning, the same week of shiv’a that Jewish families still sit, although now we do so after the burial. When Jacob’s family does it, the local population sees them and concludes that this must be a very sad day for Egypt. Actually we read here that Egypt mourned Jacob for 70 days. Almost the same importance as the Pharaohs, since royalty received just 72 days. Flags at half-staff.

And maybe something more.

Jacob the foreigner earned Egypt’s respect. Now he has every right to go home.

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WORDS FROM THE HEART – “Vayigash”—Gen. 44:18-47:27 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Baruch

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WORDS FROM THE HEART – “Vayigash”—Gen. 44:18-47:27 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

It is told of the sage called the Chofetz Chaim (“Desirer of Life”) that he once had to go to a Czarist official and plead for relief from a particularly harsh decree against the Jewish people. Since the Chofetz Chaim spoke no Russian and the aristocratic official spoke no Yiddish, an interpreter stood waiting. Once permitted to speak, the Chofetz Chaim delivered his message with all the feeling and sincerity that emanated from a heart as pure as his. When he finished, a pregnant silence filled the room. Then the interpreter started to speak: “Your honor, the Jew claims…” Whereupon the Russian official raised his hand and said: “No translation will be necessary. I understood.” As a result of this meeting, the decree was revoked.

Words from the heart, we are taught, enter the heart. A classic example of such an effort colors this week’s Torah reading. Joseph’s brothers stand before him, still unaware of who he is, while he knows them very well. This is the second of three trips these men make from Canaan to Egypt. One of the brothers, Simeon, was in custody as Joseph’s prisoner taken to make sure they came back. Now he is free. But Joseph could not resist using his power and his anonymity to them and played a cat–and-mouse game, ordering his servants to place his goblet in Benjamin’s bag and create an excuse to hold onto his little brother – the only full brother he has. Last week’s reading ended with Joseph demanding that they leave Benjamin in his custody and they go back to their father.

Now we witness the development of Judah’s character, as he steps forward to plead with the man whom he knows only as the Viceroy of Egypt who of course speaks no Hebrew. Emerging as family leader – even though he is not the firstborn – Judah describes his father’s dismay at losing the first son of his beloved Rachel, and now the dread of losing her other son. “His soul is bound up with the lad’s soul,” says Judah. He offers to stay in Benjamin’s place, and voices the awful thought that the old man will die when he sees his other sons return without Benjamin.

No interpreter gets a chance to speak. Joseph cannot control himself. He sends out the interpreters, the courtiers, all the attendants who surround him, and he faces his brothers in tears. In fact he cries loud enough that he is heard throughout Pharaoh’s house. But his message is for his brothers alone. His Hebrew is heartfelt: “A-nee Yosef — I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” Predictably, we learn that the brothers are nonplussed. They cannot even answer him , even though now they are all speaking the same language. So he asks them to come close to him, as he makes his true identity known to them.

Why come close? Commentators give interesting answers. The Klee Yokor says he had to show them he was circumcised, as proof positive that he was one of them. Speaking Hebrew was not enough. After all, the Egyptian interpreter also spoke Hebrew.

The Or haHayyim says he needed them close enough to whisper to them, aware that his Egyptian advisors would be listening through the keyholes. Certainly Joseph has plenty to tell his brothers, about how he is dealing with the famine, about the Land of Goshen where he plans to settle them, maybe even why he had to shave off his beard. What he says here, however, concerns them directly: “Don’t think it was you who sent me here. G-d sent me to prepare a refuge for our family.”

Those words come from the heart. How many discounted or ignored younger brothers crossed half a world to prepare a refuge for their families! Courage like Joseph’s build Jewish history.

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DID JOSEPH MARRY A “SHIKSA?” – “Miketz” Gen. 41:1 – 44:17 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Baruch

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DID JOSEPH MARRY A “SHIKSA?” – “Miketz” Gen. 41:1 – 44:17 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

The Story of Joseph continues in this week’s reading through his sudden rise from prison to be Viceroy of Egypt. Along the way it raises interesting religious questions.

Last week we saw his brothers sell him to the caravan of Ishmaelites who proceeded to resell him into slavery in Egypt. There he works for a “sarees” named Potiphar. Frequently translated “courtier,” the word “sarees” literally means a eunuch, as indeed Pharaoh’s courtiers generally were emasculated to safeguard the women in the royal harem. Officially, however, Potiphar has a wife. She takes a good look at the handsome 17-year-old Hebrew slave, and sets out to seduce him. He refuses her once, but she tries again, grabbing his cloak, which he leaves in her hand and runs out. Furious, she calls out to other servants and accuses Joseph of trying to rape her. So her official husband has Joseph thrown in prison.

Immediately preceding this dramatic event, came the story of Judah and Tamar. Apparently unrelated to the Joseph story, it recounts Judah’s dallying with his daughter-in-law, who was widowed young and whose brothers-in-law were not claiming her in the customary levirate marriage, for the purpose of raising a child to carry on the dead brother’s name – a custom which later became Torah law. In despair, Tamar dresses as a harlot and traps Judah, becoming pregnant. She bears him twin sons who are named in the Torah. The Midrash adds a third child, a girl named Osnat whose name will come up in this week’s reading.

While in prison, Joseph the dreamer interprets dreams for two of his fellow prisoners. Both of his predictions are fulfilled, as three days later one of the prisoners is executed and the other one is returned to service as wine steward — read “bartender” — in Pharaoh’s palace. Joseph urges him to “remember me, for I did nothing to deserve prison.” But he forgets.

Our reading opens two years later. Now it is Pharaoh who has two disturbing dreams that all his palace magicians cannot interpret. Up steps the bartender and confesses his failing. He tells the king about Joseph. So Pharaoh has Joseph released from the dungeon, cleaned up and brought to the throne room, where Joseph proceeds to astound Pharaoh by not only interpreting the dreams but suggesting a plan to take advantage of the warning that these dreams contain – a warning of impending famine. “Let Pharaoh take a man who is discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt…” to gather the food of the good years and store it for the lean years that will follow. Totally impressed, Pharaoh gives Joseph the position he has just described. To go with his new job, Joseph gets Pharaoh’s signet ring, a fine suit of clothes, a gold chain and a festive chariot ride through the city with everyone bowing to him. He also gets a new name. And a wife. Her name is – guess what? — Osnat, and she is listed as the daughter of Poti Phera. The commentaries identify Poti Phera as none other than Potiphar, Joseph’s former owner. So she is an Egyptian girl, not an Israelite, right?

Now hold on. If Poti Phera is Potiphar, he was a eunuch. He couldn’t be a father to Osnat or anyone else. Just ask his wife. And this is where the Midrash supplies a definitely plausible answer: Judah and Tamar’s daughter Osnat was miraculously transported to Egypt to marry her uncle Joseph. A perfectly kosher wedding, made even more practical by the fact that Judah and Joseph were only half-brothers. Both being Jacob’s sons, Judah’s mother was Leah and Joseph’s was Rachel. Of course, what the Midrash is doing here is totally academic, since the Israelites will not receive the Torah for a couple of centuries. But in the mean time it removes any doubt of the purity of our lineage. Mazal Tov!

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