Reb Jeff
  • Blog
  • About
  • Favorites
  • Resources
    • Counting of the Omer
  • Wedding Officiation
  • Contact Me
  • Temple Sinai

A Mystical City and the Benefit of the Doubt

12/24/2012

 
While on my visit to Israel this week, I had an opportunity to consider the city of Tzfat and its connection to this week's Torah portion (Vayechi).

Those ten brothers who sold their younger brother Joseph into slavery must have been worried to death from the day they found out that he had become the second most powerful man in Egypt. They must have wondered how long it would be before he took revenge on them. They thought Joseph was just waiting for their father to die before having them all thrown in prison or executed. After all, his word was law in Egypt. He could do it with a gesture of his hand.
Picture
One of the many narrow streets in the city of Tzfat, a center of Jewish mysticism.
That is why, when Jacob died, the brothers went to Joseph and told him:

"Before his death your father left this instruction: So shall you say to Joseph, 'Please forgive, I urge you, the offense and guilt of your brothers who treated you so harshly.' And now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father." 

The Torah tells us that Joseph cried when he heard these words (Genesis 50:15-17). 

Why should Joseph have cried? He already forgave his brothers when he told them that it was not they, but God, who had determined that he be sold into slavery (Genesis 45:8). Perhaps his tears were in recognition of the fear that his brothers experienced because of his power over them.

Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765-1827) had a different interpretation, one that is fitting to the brand of loving and forgiving Chasidism that he taught. He observed that Joseph's brothers knew about their family's legacy. In previous generations, there always was one son who was the appointed successor and the other brothers were cast away and rejected. Isaac, their grandfather, had been chosen as Abraham's successor and his brother Ishmael had been cast out into the wilderness. Their father, Jacob, succeeded Isaac as God's treasure, and his brother, Esau, was rejected and regarded as a villain. Jacob's first ten sons thought they would share Ishmael and Esau's fate when they recognized that Joseph would be the successor of Jacob.

This is why they came to Joseph with a plea that can be divided into two parts, each introduced by the words, "Please forgive." First they acknowledge how wrong it had been for them to throw Joseph into the pit and to sell him into slavery. They offer no excuses or rationalization for their behavior, and so Rabbi Simcha Bunim regards their apology as sincere. It is only after this that they again say, "Please forgive," and ask Joseph to recognize them, too, as "servants of the God of your father." They were pleading not to be rejected or left out of the story of the Jewish people.

According to the teaching, this is why Joseph cried when he heard the words of his brothers. He recognized what they were asking for. He recognized that, at this point in their lives, all they wanted was not to be discarded and to be given a place as inheritors of the covenant with God. Since this was exactly what Joseph, too wanted, he cried to hear their righteous words.

It is interesting that Simcha Bunim sees no hint of deception or self-serving motives in the words of Joseph's brothers. That would be the obvious interpretation of brothers who made up a deathbed plea from their father to save their skins. Simcha Bunim would rather give the brothers the greatest possible benefit of the doubt and see them as motivated by the highest, not by the lowest.

This loving and forgiving approach was the hallmark of Simcha Bunim's approach and it continues to have resonance in the branches of Chasidic Judaism. I was reminded of that today as I walked through Tzfat (also called Safed in English), which is regarded as one of the four holy cities of Judaism (along with Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tiberias) and it is the city most identified with Jewish mysticism. 

In the 16th century, Tzfat was the city where Rabbi Isaac Luria reignited Kabbalism and transformed Judaism in ways that are still with us. (The Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat service, including the song L'cha Dodi, was an invention of Luria's followers). Today, some of his spiritual successors continue to make Tzfat a city that takes pride in being a center of Kabbalah and Chasidism.

But we sometimes lose sight of the fact that the heart of Chasidism in its original form was not just mystical introspection, it was about loving people. The primary energy of Jewish mysticism is outward, not inward. Rabbi Simcha Bunim taught a foundational teaching of Jewish mysticism, that we are to search for the holiness that exists in each person, not to judge them or to assume the worst about them. Joseph cried, he says, cried for joy when he recognized that spark even in the men who had sold him into slavery.

The Jewish people need to embrace this truth. We often appear to be a people divided into conflicting segments, more and more removed from each other by our harsh judgment, distrust and 
resentments. Imagine the tears of joy that would flow if we could see the holy spark within each other.


Other Posts on This Topic: 
Vayechi: Repair of the Dysfunctional Family
Tu BiShvat: The Tree and the Renewal of Creation

Comments are closed.

    Welcome

    This blog is about living a joyful Jewish life and bringing joy to synagogues and the Jewish community. Join the conversation by commenting on posts and sharing your experiences. For more on the topic, read the First Post.
    "Like" Reb Jeff on FB

    RSS Feed

    Enter your email address to subscribe to Reb Jeff posts by email

    Follow Reb Jeff's Tweets

    Recent Posts

    Purim & COVID-19
    ​The Honor of Heaven
    Chasing Our Own Tails
    Drilling Under Your Seat
    Change the World
    Self-Righteousness
    Where We Came From
    What We Must Believe
    ​Is Passover 7 or 8 Days?Origin Story
    Va'eira: Leadership​

    Jeff's Favorites

    • First Post
    • Searching for How the Bible Defines Marriage 
    • The Difference between God and Religion
    • In the Beginning of What?
    • Rape, Abortion and Judaism
    • Ten Thoughts about Being a Rabbi
    • Temple Dues and Don'ts
    • A Pesach Lesson from Yoga
    • The Purpose of the Torah

    Torah Portions

    Genesis
    Bereshit
    Noach
    Lech Lecha
    Vayera
    Chayei Sarah
    Toledot
    Vayetze
    Vayishlach
    Vayeshev
    Miketz
    Vayigash
    Vayechi

    Exodus
    Shemot
    Va'eira
    Bo
    Beshalach
    Yitro
    Mishpatim
    Terumah
    Tetzaveh
    Ki Tisa
    Vayakhel
    Pekudei

    Leviticus
    Vayikra
    Tzav
    Shemini
    Tazria
    Metzora
    Acharei Mot
    Kedoshim
    Emor
    Behar
    Bechukotai

    Numbers
    Bamidbar
    Naso
    Beha'alotecha
    Shelach
    Korach
    Chukat
    Balak
    Pinchas
    Matot
    Masei

    Deuteronomy
    Devarim
    Va'etchanan
    Ekev
    Re'eh
    Shoftim
    Ki Tetze
    Ki Tavo
    Nitzavim
    Vayelech
    Ha'azinu
    Vezot Haberachah

    Holidays
    Shabbat
    Rosh Chodesh
    Pesach/Passover
    Omer Period
    Yom HaShoah
    Yom HaZikaron
    Yom Ha'atzma'ut
    Pesach Sheini
    Lag B'Omer
    Yom Yerushalayim
    Shavuot
    Fast of Tammuz
    Tisha B'Av
    Tu B'Av
    Rosh Hashanah
    Days of Awe
    Yom Kippur
    Sukkot
    Hoshanah Rabbah
    Shmini Atzeret/
    Simchat Torah
    Chanukah
    Tu BiShvat
    Adar (Joy Increases!)
    Purim

    Archives

    November 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    September 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    Loading
    Jewish Bloggers
    Powered By Ringsurf
    Picture