CONGREGATION
MELECH YISRAEL OF TORONTO
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WEEKLY TORAH PORTION |
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CONGREGATION
MELECH YISRAEL OF TORONTO |
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Do you find something strange about what Israel is saying in these verses? How come Yaacov (Israel/Jacob) does not recognize or even know his own grandchildren? It is not that they were newly born; the verses that follow confirm that: Bereshit {48:12} Yoseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. {48:13} Yoseph took them both, Ephrayim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near to him. {48:14} Yisrael stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephrayim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. These boys were not youngsters! If my calculations are correct they could have been well into their late teens by this time. They were born before the famine (Bereshit 41:50), it was two years into the famine when Israel went to Mitzrayim (Egypt) and Yoseph was revealed to them (Bereshit 45:6) and Israel lived in Mitzrayim seventeen years before he died (Bereshit 47:28). How come these boys never saw their grandfather in seventeen years? Goshen was not that far away from Yoseph. In fact, we were told by Yoseph in Parasha Vayigash (Bereshit 45:10), that he wanted his family to live in Goshen so that they would be close by. Yoseph felt that being in Goshen meant that his father would be near him, yet it appears like he did not visit his father very often. Could the following passage of Scripture explain the reason for them not seeing each other or even communicating on a regular basis? Bereshit {46:33} It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, 'What is your occupation?' {46:34} that you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our avot (fathers):' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Mitzryim (Egyptians)." Was Yoseph ashamed of his family’s profession? Was it politically incorrect for him to associate with them? Certainly I can not accuse Yoseph of that! However, if I interpret the verses from this Parasha according to the pashat (plain meaning), then you can understand how someone might make that assumption, true or not. Therefore, what if we interpret these Scriptures to mean that Yoseph had minimal contact with his family? Suppose we consider that, because they were shepherds, he did not want to tarnish his social image, so he stayed away and cared for them from afar. Then that would make him no different then any other human being, would it not? My point is that we have made Yoseph into some kind of special hero; we have placed him on a biblical pedestal when the truth of the matter may very well be that he was no different than any of us! I can understand that having two sons and not letting your father, who lives in the next town, see them regularly may be the extreme, but when was the last time you visited your father or even called him? Many of us hold the people of the Bible to too high of a standard. As I see it they were all just plain human beings, just like you and me. Today we hold certain mega-church preachers in too high esteem and, sadly, we have found out that some of them were not so special; they had affairs, hired prostitutes, were homosexual, etc. So let us face it, the heroes of the Bible and the heroes of our day were and are no different then you and me! In fact, it is not so far fetched to say that perhaps some day we also may become heroes of G-d despite ourselves. Yochanan {15:5} “I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with Me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from Me you can not do a thing. {15:6} Unless a person remains united with Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, where they are burned up….” Yeshua HaMashiach did not tell us this because it sounds good. He told it to us because it is true! It is not who we are that makes us heroes it is Whose we are!!! Baruch HaShem Rabbi Ya'acov Farber |
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