Va-Yeishev: What Weave Learned From The Torah

Why does the Torah tell us these particular stories? Most of the time we simply read the Bible and discuss its sagas, but do we ever stop and ask ourselves if these tales come with a motive, a hidden agenda? And if so, who's agenda is it, and what are we meant to learn? We know some of the Torah's objectives - like belief in one God, and remembering the Exodus from Egypt - but when you dig a little deeper, there's so much more going on under the surface...

This week, we're beginning to learn about Joseph. He is the new hero in the Torah; carrying on the legacy of his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The interesting thing is, he's not OUR ancestor. We cheer for him, sure, but we're not descended from Joseph, or his son's Ephraim and Menashe, so it's actually somewhat surprising that he's the protagonist... except for one thing: we're not the intended readers of these stories. In fact, we're living quite a few millenia after the first people who read this as their story. Even though this is never stated in the Torah, most scholars believe the Israelites living after the rule of King David and King Solomon were really the first ones to hear these tales. We also know that after Solomon's rule the kingdom split in half, with two rival countries; the northern kingdom of Israel (a.k.a. Ephraim, or Joseph) and the southern kingdom of Judah. And since both peoples were reading these stories, we find hidden rivalries embedded in the narrative of the Bible.

If you were living in the northern kingdom of Israel, you were probably thrilled that Joseph was the hero after his father, Jacob! At the same time, we also find hints inside the story of Joseph that allude to Judah's prominence, which would have been significant to Joe Shmo Israelite living in the southern kingdom. In the beginning of this week's reading, Judah is described as trying to dissuade the other brothers from killing Joseph. Later on, an entire chapter is devoted entirely to Judah, where he is depicted as forgiving, willing to admit fault, and a good and just leader. Even later in the Joseph story, we see Judah speaking on behalf of all his brothers, even though he was only the fourth-oldest. Joseph is certainly still the principal star of these stories, but someone was also making a strong push for Judah to win Best Supporting Actor.

The reality is, we don't know the true origin of these stories. We can't trace each story back to the start, and we certainly don't know how conflicting loyalties got intertwined into one, single narrative. What we really should learn from this realization is that the two WERE co-mingled, despite their differences. After King Solomon, the two nations were truly alienated from one another. There was no love lost between them, and they no longer felt like one people, with one shared heritage. It would seem, then, that the Torah was an attempt to bring the two sides closer together. It contains elements of each, interwoven into one story, with the ultimate goal of returning the people to a united cohort of Israelite tribes. The Torah itself reflects a desire to bring the Israelites back together. By its very existence, it proclaims unity, mutual understanding, and open dialogue.

Could you ever imagine a book today combining Democratic and Republican stories? Or Palestinian and Israeli stories? Are we, today, able to share our narrative, accept the narrative of The Other, and weave the two together into one story? If your answer to those questions is what I think it is, then I just have one more question: Why not?