Torah Portion - December 6, 2007

The founding families of the Jewish people were far from perfect. While most very traditional Jews try to deny that the biblical stories reveal misconduct and dysfunction, the rest of us have come to believe that viewing our ancestors as imperfect human beings allows us to learn all the more from their stories.  

This week, we are continuing the story of Joseph, and our tradition refers to him as "Joseph the righteous." That is in reference to the older, more mature Joseph. As a boy, however, Joseph was known as “the dreamer.” Before he became the righteous one, he had to endure a great deal of suffering at the hands of his own brothers and, later, his employers.  The behavior of his brothers—who threw him into a pit and nearly killed him---was inexcusable. On the other hand, Joseph was no innocent. He continuously provoked his brothers, lauding over them the fact that he was Jacob’s favorite, and sharing with them his many dreams of superiority over them. He also brought bad reports of them to their father. ‘[Genesis 37:2]

Parashat Miketz reveals that all of the brothers, Joseph and the others, grew and changed during the period that Joseph was in Egypt. For the transformation to be complete, the brothers needed a face-to-face encounter. IN the process, they all recognized that being reconnected as brothers was more important than holding grudges against one another

How hopeful to know that the destructive relationship between Joseph and his brothers did not prevent their coming together in the end, as was the case in so many other biblical stories of sibling rivalry: Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau for example. Human relationships are complex. Sometimes we offend. Sometimes we are the victims of others’ offensiveness. Both the ancient and the recent past reveal how pointless certain disputes can be. Parashat Miketz teaches that conflicts can be reconciled, if we invest our efforts in healing them.