Va-Yechi: What Did You Say?

When do you suppose the exact moment was when we shifted from, "Hey, I just talked to God." "Wow! That's amazing!! What did God say???" to "Hey, I just talked to God." "What kind of medications are you currently taking?" Was it the Enlightenment? Did it start as a

jaded 20th Century thing? Somewhere along the way, we gave up believing. Not only did conversations with God become improbable, they became cause for bringing in straight-jackets and nice, young men in clean, white coats. Part of the problem, I would say, is the set of attributes we've ascribed to God. We imagine that, if God spoke to you, God probably told you what to do, and you obviously have to follow it blindly; so now you're a danger to society, because you aren't thinking for yourself, AND you're hearing voices. But what if that isn't how God operates? What if the problem isn't THAT God speaks, it's how we assume God would HAVE TO speak. When in reality, that isn't God's style at all. What might that mean for our ability to listen... or just do more of the talking?

This week's parashah is the final section of the Book of Genesis. We have reached the conclusion of a long family story, and we're now reading about the deaths of Jacob and his son, Joseph. And in this moment, we have the opportunity to learn something from each of them, as we're invited to compare and contrast how they chose to live their lives. A professor of mine

at JTS. Dr. Deborah Miller, wrote a fabulous D'var Torah on this very topic. Dr. Miller points out two fascinating inverse trajectories. On the one hand, Joseph learns from his mistakes and grows as a person throughout his life, while his father, Jacob, continues a lot of his deceptive ways. Even on his deathbed, Jacob once again shows preferential treatment towards one child over another, as he insists on blessing Joseph's younger son, Ephraim, before the older, Menashe. Yet at the same time, even as Joseph matures and Jacob does not, God seems to speak to Jacob a whole lot more than to Joseph.

Dr. Miller writes, "...at every turn, at every transition in [Jacob's] life, God has been a living, encouraging presence for him... And in Joseph’s life? God never speaks directly to Joseph, yet Joseph always refers to God, defers to God, and attributes his attainments to God." In this

dichotomy, which one would you say 'speaks' to God? One of them has the open lines of communication, but seems to learn nothing from the experience. The other feels God's constant Presence, but couldn't really claim that God had ever 'spoken' to him. So we really need to ask ourselves, what does it mean to be in communication, and relationship, with God? Why do we assume that hearing the voice of God will lead to forced action and incontestable direction in our lives? It seems, rather, that FEELING God's love is what makes the difference, not hearing a loud, booming voice out of the sky.

Jacob gets to wrestle with God. He gets to chat with God, learn from God, and even receive direct reassurance and comfort from God. But Joseph's life is infused with Divine peace and acceptance. He lets go of anger and revenge, bitterness

and indignation. Joseph sees that only God is truly in control of our fate, and we cannot pretend to determine our own destiny or that of anyone else. Rather than asking ourselves the question, 'Does God speak to people today?', perhaps we should really be pondering HOW God speaks to us, and what type of guidance we are really looking for. Because if it's Jacob's hand-holding and guarantees, no, I don't think we're going to find it. But if it's Joseph's feeling of confidence and acceptance, a source of strength to help us find our own way through life, I have no doubt it is available and accessible right now. You've just got to be open to it... and you've got to do most of the talking. 

Happy New Year!!

Photos in this blog post:

1. CC image courtesy KNOW MALTA by Peter Grima on Flickr

2.CC image courtesy of CircaSassy on Flickr

3. CC image courtesy of ganesha.isis on Flickr

4. CC image courtesy of lucychili@gmail.com on Flickr