This weeks Torah/Bible portion is full of intrigue and emotion. Below are some brief commentary’s from a few prominent Torah scholars. Every year reading Genesis and this particular segment reminds me of my own reconciliation with my brother. Separated by family intrigue we now share a close warm relationship that has added an amazing blessing to my life and an enrichment that I never dreamed possible. And so we follow the family, our family, in this segment as they come together and cry in reconciliation. The warmth of union is one of the most profound life experiences.
” The reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers is one of the great scenes in all of literature. It is preceded by a deeply moving speech by Judah, who uses the word “father” 14 times in 17 verses. Joseph is moved to tears and to self-revelation by Judah’s words. He realizes that his keeping Benjamin in prison would be doing to his brother and father what the brothers had done to him and their father years ago.” (Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, Jewish Publication Society)
” It appears that the tribe of Judah on the one hand, and the ten tribes on the other, never really merged into a single state. Even during the days of David and Soloman, they appear to have been two separate kingdoms under a joint king who ruled both. And immediately after Solomon came the partition, a decisive event in the history of Israel; and one of the most active in this partition was the prophet Achiah the Shilonite. It was that division which determined the historical course of the Israelite nation, which was later known as the Jewish people of our day, because all that remained of that nation was the tribe of Judah (hence”Jewish”), whose descendants we all are.” (Accepting the Yoke of Heaven: Commentary on the Weekly Portion, Yeshayahu Leibowitz,) Urim Publications.
“…The great leaders of the Jewish people in ancient times were shepherds. As Joseph’s brothers informed Pharaoh, “Like our fathers before us, we are shepherds” (Gen.47:5) Moses and David also worked in this profession. There must be a reason that our ancestors chose to herd goats and sheep.
Shepherding is a lifestyle that allows for reflection and innercontemplation. The labor is not intensive. Unlike farming, one does not need to immerse all of one’s energies in physical matters. At the same time, the shepherd remains in constant contact with the real world. His reflections are sound, based on life experiences. He does not delve in artificial philospies detached from reality. For this reason, our forefathers, the great thinkers of their rime, worked as shepherds.”
As Rabbi Yehudah pointed out, this order is inherent to the nature of the world. The light in the universe was created out of the darkness. this phenomenon is also true on a personal level. We cannot completely dismiss the illusory aspects of our minds, for they inspire us to originality of thought. Our imagination dominates our thought processes; it is only through its fuzzy insights that we can arrive at the path of enlightened wisdom.” (Gold: From the Land of Israel, A new light on the weekly Torah portion from the writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaKohen Kook by Rabbi Chanan Morrison, Urim Publications
The quote from the Torah/bible refers to the illustration appearing on Israelseen courtesy of international artist Phillip Ratner ratnermuseum.com
Yehuda and his brithers came into Yosef’s hpus- he was still there-
and flung themselves down before him to the ground.( 44:14)
Now Yehuda came closer to him and said:
Please, my lord,
pray let your servant speak a word in the ears of my lord,
and do not let your anger flare up against your servant,
for you are like Pharaoh! (44:18)
Yosef could no longer restrain himself in the presence of all who were stationed around him,
he called out:
Have everyone leave me!
So no one tood (in attendance upon) him when Yosef made
himself known to his brothers. (45:1-2)
(The Five Books of Moses. The Schocken Bible:Volume I, commentary and notes by Everett Fox.)
