JOSEPH ORDERED HIS CHARIOT AND WENT TO GOSHEN TO MEET HIS FATHER ISRAEL; HE PRESENTED HIMSELF TO HIM AND, EMBRACING HIM AROUND THE NECK, HE WEPT ON HIS NECK A GOOD WHILE. THEN ISRAEL SAID TO JOSEPH, "NOW I CAN DIE, HAVING SEEN FOR MYSELF THAT YOU ARE STILL ALIVE."

 (Bereishit 46:29-30)

 

 

Joseph wept, Jacob did not weep. Joseph could still weep, Jacob was finished with weeping, he had wept enough in his life. Joseph was still weeping even after Jacob had already spoken to him - in such small points the actual truth is mirrored. Since he had missed Joseph, Jacob had had a dull monotonous life, had not ceased from weeping, his whole life of feelings had been spent in grief over Joseph. In the mean-time Joseph had lived a life full of changes, had had no time to give himself up so much to the pain of separation, he was kept fully occupied with each of his different posts. Now when he fell round his father's neck again, he felt all the more what the separation had really meant to him, and lived once again through the past twenty years. Jacob had already become Israel, Joseph still wept.

(R. S.R. Hirsch on Bereishit 46:29 Levi translation)

 

 

Economic Reform and the Law of Priests

Avner Roei

Joseph, omnipotent in Egypt, enacts revolutionary economic reforms. He transfers the farmers to the cities, buys up all the land in Egypt and supplies each person with set food-rations. However, he is confronted by a "taboo" - the priests' special status. Despite Egypt's national emergency, Joseph could not take temporary measures that might insult the priests' divine privilege.

Why did the Torah find it necessary to describe the special arrangements made for Egypt's priests? The question may be broadened to include the Torah's entire account of Joseph's economic program. In her book, Nehama Leibowitz cites the author of Akedat Yitzhak: "Why is all of this mentioned here, the law of the fifth-part (47:24) the transfer of the population to the cities (47:21) and Pharaoh's law regarding the priests (47:22)? It would be appropriate to write all of this in Egypt's law-book, but not in the Divine Torah!" Nehama continues and writes: "Perhaps the answer lies in a single verse that relates to the status and organization of the priests in Egypt:

Only the land of the priests he did not take over, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh had made to them; therefore they did not sell their land (Bereishit 47:22)

Don't we hear the Torah scoffing here at that "justice and honesty" which leaves private lands only in the hands of those few whose nourishment is already guaranteed, who eat at Pharaoh's table, in the spirit of "the rich get richer?" Perhaps this entire section was written in such detail in order to inform us that He who took us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage prohibits us from establishing such arrangements, and is totally opposed to them. Pharaoh does not own the land; the Lord of the earth does" (Iyyunim Be-Sefer Bereishit pg. 378). That is why the Torah gives the Israelite priests no inherited lands of their own:

But they shall have no territorial share among the Israelites; for it is the tithes set aside by the Israelites as a gift to the Lord that I give to the Levites as their share. Therefore I have said concerning them: They shall have no territorial share among the Israelites (Bamidbar 18: 23-24)

The Torah's laws did not permanently prevent corruption amongst the priests. Perhaps the law of hereditary priesthood (which apparently existed amongst the Egyptians as well) is partially to blame; we read of Eli's sons, worthless men who did not know the Lord (I Samuel 2:12-18, 22) who took advantage of their positions to rob and sexually extort the people. There were also priests who were granted responsibilities in the Second Temple period, establishing privileges for themselves:

And these for condemnation: Those of the house of Garmu - who refused to teach others how to make the incense, of the house of Avtinus - who knew a singing technique which they did not want to teach,. Ben Kamtzer - did not want to teach his writing method... of these it is written, the name of the wicked shall rot (Proverbs 10:7). (Mishnah Yoma 3:11)

There were also families of high priests in the days of Herod and the Roman governors who bought their posts and used force to exploit their privileges:

Woe is me because of the house of Bitus, woe is me because of their lance. Woe is me because of the house of Hanin, woe is me because of their talk. Woe is me because of the house of Katros, woe is me because of their pen. Woe is me because of the house of Yishmael, woe is me because of their fist; for they are high priests and their sons treasurers and their sons-in-law trustees, and their servants beat the people with sticks. (Tosefta Menahot 13:21(

The economic doctrine that justifies strengthening the owners of capital in order that they "pull the wagon up the mountain" is very dangerous, because they are likely to think only of their own profit and of the profit of those close to them, while remaining blind to the needs of the broader public. They will employ foreign workers in order to keep wages at a minimum and move their factories to foreign lands where labor is cheap.

On the other hand, the proletariat which gave rise to the workers' committees - the "workers' priests" - in order to improve the lot of wage-earning employees have claimed special privileges for themselves. Any attempt to limit those privileges is met by strikes which inflict serious damage to the nation's economy.

The Torah does not dictate an "economic doctrine" but it does contain commandments whose economic and social consequences are far-reaching. First of all there is the fallowing of land in the Shemittah year, the freeing of slaves, the absolution of debts, and the Jubilee year - all of which prevent the owners of capital from gaining complete control over the land and resources. The Torah further includes a series of commandments that demand concern for others: gifts to the poor - leket, shikheha, and pe'ah, the obligation to loan money and the prohibition of usury, the prohibition against the withholding of wages and the unlimited possession of collateral, honest weights and measures, etc.

Those who devote themselves to Torah can also develop economic dependency and become a burden upon society. They enjoy no "divine privileges," but are, instead, subject to special duties. The RaMBaM warns of this in Hilkhot Talmud Torah 3:10:

One, however, who makes up his mind to study Torah and not to work but to live on charity, profanes the name of God, brings the Torah into contempt, extinguishes the light of religion, brings evil upon himself, and deprives himself of life hereafter... They have further charged us, "Make not of them a crown wherewith to aggrandize yourself, nor a spade wherewith to dig" (Avot 4:7). They likewise exhorted us, "Love work, hate lordship" (Avot 1:10).

Laws can restrict the opportunities for corruption - the abuse of power for personal gain - but they cannot stomp them out completely. A public climate favoring reform, constant study of spiritual and educational values (which requires no less an allocation of funding and manpower than does vocational education) - these can help bring us nearer to the ideal of you shall be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy people (Shemot 19:6).

Avner Roei, a member of Kibbutz Sa'ad, is writing his doctorate on Jewsih history in the period of the Second Temple and the Mishnah.

 

 

A Moral Leader takes Communal Needs into Account and Distributes Resources Justly

Bread, according to the number of infants (Bereishit 47:12): Even though he could have given them a lot of food, he gave them only what they needed. As the Sages said: "When the public is suffering, one should not say: 'I shall go, I shall eat and drink, and all will be well with me'" (Ta'anit 11a).

(Seforno on Bereishit 47:12)

 

For all shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians

When Pharaoh summons you (Bereishit 46:33): It may be assumed that he called you in order to choose warriors from amongst you. So, when he asks you "What is your occupation?" answer him "your servants are breeders of livestock." It is not proper to speak of something that is abhorrent in the eyes of the king. God forbid you should explicitly mention something prohibited by his religion! If this were not so, why did Joseph not mention another explanation of his own words, but rather he said [all shepherds] are abhorrent to Egyptians... that is precisely the reason why he told them not to say that they were shepherds. Of course, the king must understand that since you are breeders of livestock, you certainly must all be shepherds.

(Keli Yakar on Bereishit 46:33)

 

 

 

Social and Ethical Initiatives for Israel -

the Dream, its Rupture and its Repair

Michael Melchior

In the opening section of parashat Vayeishev, we find Joseph dreaming two dreams pertaining to himself and his mastery over his brothers. He tells them to his brothers and father. These dreams awaken the brothers' hatred and jealousy, leading Joseph to the pit from which he is brought to Potiphar's house in Egypt. He was brought down to Egypt after having been lifted out of the pit and placed in charge of Potiphar's house, from which he moved to prison following the accusations of Potiphar's wife. In prison he found himself in the company of the Minister of drinks and the Minister of bakers. By that stage he already knew how to listen to their dreams and interpret them. His skill at listening to other people's dreams lifts him once more out of the pit, and in parashat Mikeitz he again utilizes this skill: He listens to Pharaoh's dreams and interprets them. In the light of their interpretation, he presents Pharaoh with a long-term social-economic plan to weather the coming days of famine in Egypt.

Joseph matures from being a self-centered adolescent into an adult who knows how to listen to others. Judah's own parallel process of maturation sets the scene for the dramatic encounter between the brothers in the beginning of parashat Vayigash.

The favorite son who had been rejected by his own brothers meets, "at eye-level," the very brothers who had rejected him. He had undergone a transformation (they did not recognize him) and, through their meeting with him, they also change and develop.

From the perspective of "the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children," Joseph's story may be read as a story of acceptance and the tearing down of walls between people. There is a stage in which the dreams of one person, one group, or one nation conflict with the dreams of others and are fulfilled at their expense. That stage creates a wall of hatred between dreams, between individuals and groups.

There is no need for long-winded descriptions of the walls that divide Israeli society; walls of blood, sweat, and tears. Israeli society has indeed adopted the "Separation Plan" - separation from compassion, from social justice and social solidarity. In this sense, it is difficult to describe it today as a society which draws its values from the Torah of Israel. There are "us" and the "other." Naturally, the marginalized "others" belong to needy groups: the handicapped, endangered children, single-parent families, minorities, foreign workers who have no rights, and so forth.

Many people are disillusioned by Israeli society and feel that it has not realized our hopes and dreams. We feel that a polarized society whose social gaps grow ever wider is a sick society, which cannot survive in the long term as a Jewish and democratic state.

Instead of the existing walls, we need a fence of social-security to protect us from fragmentation and which will help us to realize our dreams while remaining attentive to the dreams of others. The fence shall encompass all elements of Israeli society - no one shall be left outside it.

Based upon our entrenched Jewish world-view, we believe that dreams can be made into realities and that Israeli society may be founded upon justice, social solidarity, and empathy. We are excited by the thousands of people who came from all sectors of society to identify with us at the founding conference of the Tenufah Movement. We are full of hope that this renewed drive will bring many to act towards the formation of a more attractive and more just Israeli society.

M.K. Rabbi Michael Melchior is the founder of the Tenufah movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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