I TORAH PORTION
An Assimilated Jew
Who Saved His People
RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ
Special to The Jewish News
T
his weeks Torah por-
tion continues the
story of the
remarkable Joseph, one of the
favorite characters of the Bi-
ble. The story has a constant
fascination of young and old:
the way Joseph atones for his
early boastfulness and imper-
tinence, his endurance of suf-
fering, his fidelity to his
master and his wise use of
power. The mature Joseph
reveals his wisdom, chastity
and faithfulness to his fami-
ly. He knows how to forgive.
From beginning to end, the
Joseph story clearly shows
Shabbat Vayigash:
Genesis
44:18-47:27,
Ezekiel 37:15-28
the guiding hand of God. Four
times in succession, Joseph
says that it was not he but
God who brought all these
events to pass.
Joseph was the first Jew
who lived in the Diaspora, in
Galut.
Thoroughly
assimilated and wearing the
clothes of an Egyptian leader,
he became wholly Egyptian.
He attained the highest posi-
tion of power and influence. _
He forgot all about his past,
the bitterness of his imprison-
ment, the way his brothers
treated him — but not quite.
It all surfaced when he saw
his brothers who came down
to Egypt seeking grain dur-
ing a famine.
The sudden appearance of
his brothers must have
brought Joseph to a near
state of frenzy. At first Joseph
thought of revenge. Instead,
all he could blurt out when
his brothers prostrated
themselves before him was, "I
am Joseph. Is my father still
well?"
Now the story of Joseph and
his brothers comes to its
climax. Joseph already has
tested his brothers and their
feelings toward Benjamin.
The strands of the drama are
artfully drawn together.
The Joseph story describes
the first Diaspora. Diaspora
has been the Jewish situation
for thousands of years. Even
today, most Jews live outside
Israel. Many Jews who sup-
port Israel have no wish to
Dr. Hertz is rabbi emeritus of
Temple Beth El.
move to Israel. Jews have liv-
ed and live today in Europe,
North America and South
America and established
much creativity outside the
land of Israel. Even in Jewish
history the great figures of
Babylon, Spain, Germany,
Poland and Russia all created
a Jewish life outside the land
of Israel. Diaspora is no
longer a dirty word. We, in
America, have accomplished
much for Judaism as well as
supporting our brothers and
sisters in the land of Israel.
Joseph was the first great
political personality of the
Diaspora. In the last century
we have seen important
Jewish leaders of great
stature: Rathenau in Ger-
many, Mendes France in
France, Trotsky in Russia, Sir
Moses Montefiore in
England, Henry Kissinger in
the United States. All of these
men have touched kings and
presidents, yet outside of
Montefiore there was little
Jewish feeling in their lives.
Their biographeis may have
mentioned they were born
Jews, but little else appears.
They may have been great
leaders who contributed to
the national life of their coun-
tries, but little to the cultural
or spiritual life of the Jewish
people. When Jews are great,
but not great Jews, we have
cause to lament.
Of course this was even true
in the life of Joseph. The Bi-
ble tells of his great contribu-
tion to the people of Egypt.
He saved them from famine.
He had strong influence at
the court of Pharoah. But
nothing else about his
Jewishness appears in the Bi-
ble except how he saved the
Egyptian people from famine,
as well as his own family.
When his brothers asked
him what he was doing in
Egypt, Joseph said, "I was
sent here by God to save you."
Did Joseph ever live? Who
knows? Maybe there was a
Palestinian who acted as an
Egyptian supervisor. The Tel
El Amarna letters of the 14th
century BCE revealed the
hatred of the Egyptians for
foreigners and their customs
of eatiig apart from them.
The embalming of corpses are
all week known to be a part
of the same period as the
Joseph story. In the opinion of
many Bible scholars, the
story of Joseph has a romance
that arose out of many legen-
dary elements developed and
elaborated on by the Jewish
people in the course of many
generations.
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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