Miqqetz

Bereishit 41:1-44:17

Standing in the Breach Between Miqqetz and YaYiggash, Between Yehudah and Yoseph

Aryeh Bernstein, 5762

This devar torah is dedicated to the memory of Shira Palmer-Sherman, a former Berkshires Ramahnik and hanikhah of mine on USY Pilgrimage, whose first yahrzeit was this past week, the first light of Hanukah. She was a very special person, who invited people to achieve greater levels of responsibility by bringing them into real, human relationships with her. Her life was senselessly cut short when she was hit by a car in Harvard Square last year. The world has a little bit less light, understanding, and responsibility without her. יהי זכרה ברוך.

When you look at a Torah scroll, you will find that most parashiyot in the Torah are broken up periodically by "petihot"-gaps in the writing of the text, which indicate a break in the story or law code. They function, basically, as paragraph breaks. Parashat Miqqetz has no petihot. From the beginning, with Pharaoh's dreams, to the end, with Yoseph's insistence that only the alleged thief (Binyamin) should be enslaved and the other brothers freed, the story proceeds along one, uninterrupted block of text. This physical layout forms a kind of graphic commentary on the story, pointing out how unified all the events are and heightening the non-stop drama of the story. That being the case, it is pretty surprising when we reach the end of the parashah and find a petihah between the end of our parashah and the beginning of Parashat VaYiggash. There, if anywhere, the graphic representation of the text should continue uninterrupted, because not only is it one story, but it's even one long quotation. VaYiggash begins with a continuation of a speech to Yoseph that Yehudah began near the end of our parashah! This curious interruption begs us to read into that gap by asking what is really happening in this clash of the titans, between Yehudah and Yoseph.

Who is Yoseph right now and what is his state of mind? We get a glimpse into Yoseph's perspective on the dramatic events of his life when he names his sons (41:51-52):

The meanings of the names Yoseph gives his sons are striking. The first is about his cutting off connection with his past and the second is about his rags-to-riches story in Egypt, without reference to his background or how he got there in the first place. Further evidence of Yoseph running away from his life can be found in the Torah's description of his reaction to seeing his brothers in Egypt for the first time (42:7): "וַיַּרְא יוֹסֵף אֶת אֶחָיו וַיַּכִּרֵם וַיִּתְנַכֵּר אֲלֵיהֶם" -- "When Yoseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he acted like a stranger to them". This terminology emphasizes a theme at this point in Yoseph's life-treating his past as foreign to him.

What about Yehudah? The emotional running away expressed by Yosephs's sons' names reminds us of chapter 38:3-5, in which Yehudah gives his sons names that have no meaning at all:

Indeed, that seems to be the point, there-Yehudah's attempt to escape from the responsibility of meaning in his life. (Look closely for other clues in chapter 38 that Yehudah is running away from significance in his life.)

By our parashah, though, Yehudah has long stopped trying to run away. In fact, by now, he is the exemplar of responsibility and the leader of his family. We can see evidence of this by contrasting him to Reuven, who, as the oldest son, should have been the leader. When Ya‘aqov refuses to send Binyamin with the brothers back to Egypt, Reuven says (42:37):

Yehudah, on the other hand, successfully convinces his father, saying (43:8-10):

Reuven's and Yehudah's statements highlight Yehudah's sense of responsibility in areas where Reuven tries, but does not "get it". Ya‘aqov has already lost two sons (Yoseph is presumed dead and Shimon is imprisoned in Egypt) and fears losing his beloved Binyamin, as well. How reassuring is it when Reuven promises to let his father kill two grandsons? To Ya‘aqov, the promise sounds grotesque and inspires no trust. Yehudah, on the other hand, simply puts himself on the line and promises a lifetime of accountability in the eyes of his father if he fails at protecting Binyamin. When we listen closely, though, we hear something more. Yehudah's words, "אָנֹכִי אֶעֶרְבֶנּוּ מִיָּדִי תְּבַקְשֶׁנּוּ" ("I, myself, will be a surety for him; you may hold me responsible"), resonate with Ya‘aqov, because they remind him of his own words, when he screamed at Lavan (31:39), "אָנֹכִי אֲחַטֶּנָּה מִיָּדִי תְּבַקְשֶׁנָּה" ("I, myself, made up for [financial] losses; you held me responsible"). When Yehudah wants to show his father how responsible he is, he echoes back to him his father's own language from when he (Ya‘aqov) wanted to show his father-in-law how responsible he was. Yehudah enters into Ya‘aqov's world in order to talk seriously with him, while Reuven remains in his own world, speaking in terms that are meaningful only to himself.

One has to speak to others where they are, to relate to them in terms of their own reality. A midrash on the verse "וְאֵין פּוֹתֵר אוֹתָם לְפַרְעֹה" -- "...but none could interpret them for Pharaoh" (41:8), teaches that "פתרין היו אותו אלא שלא היה קולן נכנס באזניו" -- "they did decipher it, but their voices did not enter inter his ears" (Bereishit Rabbah 89:6). The wise men of Egypt had ideas about the meanings of Pharaoh's dreams, but they were unable to speak to him in terms that resonated with his experience. That gap, in and of itself, rendered their interpretations suspect, because, after all, whose dreams were they? Pharaoh's. Any interpretation, to be "true", had to make sense to him, from his perspective. All human interaction is about interpretation and commentary-when you speak to me, I "read" you in your own context as best I can and I respond in terms that are meaningful to you in your context. I am not merely speaking, but speaking to YOU, and must take responsibility for what my words mean as they enter YOUR universe. To respond to you without taking account of where you are is merely to use you as a receptacle for my own spouting off.

Yoseph and Yehudah are staring each other down in the little, strange, visual gap between Miqqetz and VaYiggash. Yoseph is still running from his identity and personal responsibility, and Yehudah is deeply living in his personal responsibility, speaking to people where they are. We know that in next week's parashah, Yehudah's speech to Yoseph will result in Yoseph breaking down and revealing himself to his brothers. How does that happen? How does Yehudah enter into Yoseph's experience and help him to stop running? Knowing what we know from Yehudah's development, what can we look for in his speech? What can we read into the inviting space between the two parashiyot in the week we have to fill it?