READING 8 - THE JEWISH READING - CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
Joseph's words to his brothers who had betrayed him in different ways are exceptional: "Do not be saddened or angry that you sold me" [Genesis 45:5]. They had sold him as a slave and he met them when they were hungry and without food. They do not recognize him and we could compare this with the episode when Jesus appears and disappears at Emmaus after having partaken of the bread and feeding His disciples who were not expecting bread but the restoration of the Kingdom! [Luke 24:29]
"Do not be angry that you sold me [into slavery]"! Who can humble himself that much and show such a spirit of love and atonement? And Joseph CRIES. This is also a cry of love for God and his brothers and a petition to achieve something. This is the core of compliance with God's Will, projected on each of us and obedience to the commandments. Joseph explains: "therefore be not grieved, I PRAY YOU... for God did send me before you to preserve life [45:5]... and God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance" [45:7] according to the King James's Version of the Bible.
The Hebrew words are very subtle: in Genesis 45:7: "Lasum lakhem sheerit ba'aretz", i.e. "to make of you not a posterity, but a remnant in the Land [of Canaan] and on earth" and, moreover "lehakhayot lakhem lifleytah gedolah", i.e. "to revive or maintain you alive as a great escape [from destruction]". And Joseph acknowledges that "God has made me a father to Pharoah, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt" [45:8]
"Lifleytah/pleytah" induces an act of escaping from destruction and in the Talmud Tractate Ketubot 112b about every human destiny. Interestingly, the word is connected in the Talmud with "platya" in Aramaic, a Greek root "plateia" connected with the Latin "Platea", i.e. a wide street, highway, open place. When we feel free, we could just jump or run through wide-open spaces...
In Joseph's words there is no rancor or blame, nor hatred but lovingkindness. He feeds his family and sees his father Jacob, who dies outside the Land of Canaan. And then, he humbles himself in the presence of Pharoah. He is the ruler over Egypt, but he comes to Pharoah and says: "If I have found favour in your eyes, allow me to speak to your ears, Pharoah" [50:4]. He will also get the permission to bury his father in the Land of Canaan, so that Jacob-Israel could return to his home and rest into the eternal life.
There is no claim or temptation extorting anything from Pharoah or any other ruler. Joseph shows confidence in God's lovingkindness and real Will to give his servant Jacob to inherit everlasting life.
APPENDIX TO READING 8
THE TENTH OF TEVET AND ITS MEANING FOR THE CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS LIVING IN THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND ABROAD.
The Jewish tradition has chosen four days to commemorate the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. It is said that the First and Second Temples were destroyed on the 9th of Av [usually in August]. The tenth of Tevet recalls that the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and this siege lasted for more than one year and a half. A terrible famine affected the population as described by the Prophet Jeremiah in the Book of Lamentations called in Hebrew "Eykha" - How! What! How is it possible!, the same cry as God called to Adam in the Garden "Eykah" since the man discovers that he is naked [Genesis 3:9]. This is a cry about the "know-how to exist or not to exist.
This destruction of the two Temples is an absolute catasrophe and cataclysm for the Jewish conscience and in its spiritual existence throughout history. The prophetic portion which is read together with the Torah pericope on this shabbat is very significant. This is a reading of the final verses of chapter 37 of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. The Haftarah [prophetic portion] does not quote the whole chapter, which is astounding. It concerns the revival of the dry bones in the valley and the Prophet prophecies in the name of God.
The portion is focusing on the return of the revived bodies and souls to the Land. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel decided that this tenth of Tevet will be a commemoration day and a fast for all the victims who perished during the time of World War II. This period is known in English as "Holocaust", in Greek and Russian as "Katastropha". After a time of hesitation, the Hebrew language adopted the word "Shoah" [annihilation,
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