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Standing In The Place
Of Patriarch Joseph

RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT

Special to The Jewish News

I

n this week's sidrah we
again read a tragic story
of "brotherly hate." The
enmity between Joseph and
his brothers is not without
precedent: The entire book of
Genesis is replete with
similar accounts of intra-
family conflicts and clashes.
While in the earlier nar-
ratives one of the parties is
portrayed as a villian, here
both Joseph and his brothers
are righteous men. Yet it is
these honorable sons of Jacob
who find it within their
hearts to do away with their
own flesh and bood.
Though each of these
stories of brotherly hate are
strange, stranger still is our
reaction to them. What
thoughts pass through our
minds as we read these tales
of conflicts between brothers?
Philosophers and commen-
tators have wrestled with

Shabbat Vayeshev:
Genesis 32:1-40:23
Amos 2:6-3:8

many problems presented by
the biblical text: the nature of
God and revelation, the
essence of heavenly beings,
the understanding of biblical
anthropomorphisms and the
like.
No philosopher has ever
questioned whether it is
natural for brothers to hate
each other, to do harm to each
other, even to plan to kill one
another; in some cases over
nothing more than a coat of
many colors. We apparently
have concluded that hatred is
something natural and in-
nate. We find it quite plausi-
ble to learn how ten brothers
plot to destroy one of their
own.
That was then. What about
now? In our society hatred
has also become ubiquitious
— on the international scene,
in our national life and even
in our inter-personal relation-
ships. We read about it, we
hear about it and we feel that
we can do little to diminish
the enmity rampant in
modern life.
But what is the alternative?
If hatred is an emotion, how
does one control it? Can we
command a person not to
hate? Are there not people so
obnoxious as to deserve our
disdain?

Morton F Yolkut is rabbi at Cong.
B'nai David.

The answers may be found in
the story of the little girl who
was loudly sobbing on a plane
and disturbing all the other
passengers who were trying
to read or nap. She was ac-
companied by an older sister
who could not control the
youngster. After a period of
uninterrupted crying one of
the passengers said sharply,
"Where is the girl's mother?"
"She's in the cargo hold,"
replied the older sister, "in
her coffin."
The passengers immediate-
ly showed warm concern and
compassion for the little girl
because now they understood
her feelings.
It is only through under-
standing another's motives
that we can reduce our dis-
dain for him. And it is this
very lack of empathy which
explains in part the conflict of
Joseph and his brothers.
The Torah relates, "And
they saw him from afar, and
before he could come near to
them, they conspired against
him to slay him." (Genesis
37:18).
Many of our commentators
point out that this "seeing
from afar" should be
understood, not as an isolated
incident, but as a general
description of the total rela-
tionship between Joseph and
his brothers. Always they saw
him from afar, they refused to
allow him to aproach them, to
understand him.
Joseph had a complex all
his own: His mother died
while he was a youngster. But
the brothers withheld from
him the love which would nor-
mally come from a mother.
What a beautiful example of
how a little understanding
and concern could have avoid-
ed great tragedy.
It is empathy alone which
can dissolve our feelings of
hatred. How did Hillel, the
great teacher and warm
human being put it? "Never
judge another person, until
you have stood in his place."

Oak-Woods
Dinner Sunday

Young Israel of Oak-Woods
will hold its annual dinner
on Sunday. This year's
honorees will be Alice and
Myer Mandelbaum, long-time
members of the synagogue.
The co-chairmen of the din-
ner are Nate Butrimovitz,
Fayga Dombey and Dr. David
Ungar.
For information and reser-
vations, call the Young Israel
office, 398-1177.

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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