!TORAH PORTION

"The electrifying cellist"

-- Chicago Tribune

"A cellist who plays like a one-man orchestra"

--San Francisco Chronicle

Joseph As Example
Of High Standards

Ars Poetics
Chamber Orchestra

RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT

Special to The Jewish News

featuring

Yuli Turovsky, Cellist
Anatoli Cheiniouk, Musical Director

at the

1992 ALLIED JEWISH
CAMPAIGN
OPENING CELEBRATION

• Monday, January 20, 1992

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7:30 p.m.

Temple Beth El

7400 Telegraph, Bloomfield Hills

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Dessert reception after the concert

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Tickets, at $5 per person, available at Jewish Community Center, or call the
1
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Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, 642-4260, ext. 238 •
No solicitation of funds
1' 'Popo I its. 'De'
Bring the entire family
A sign-language interpreter will be present.

All merchandise is offered at outstanding discount prices.
All sales can be exchanged or refunded.
Gift wrapping is free.

S

- 5
SUNSET STRIP" 29536 Northwestern
- F 10 - Hghay
5:15, Sat 10
?HONE:
353-4000
Hours:

40

FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1992

"And Moses took the bones
of Joseph with him; for he had
sworn the children of Israel,
saying: 'God will surely
remember you; and you shall
carry up my bones with you.' "
(Exodus 13:19)
hat was it like on
the day that the Is-
raelites left Egypt
forever? The rabbis of the
Midrash present us with a
vivid description. Kal Yisroel
hayu asukim b'chesef vezahav,
the entire people were busy
accepting the gold and silver
which the Etyptians offered
to them as farewell presents.
Their last moments in Egypt
were spent stuffing their
spoils into trunks and
suitcases.
What was Moses doing dur-
ing those last hours of
slavery? The Midrash says
that Moses was preoccupied
with far more noble spoils.
Moses went looking for the re-
mains of Joseph, remember-
ing the sacred promise that
the Israelites had made
Joseph before his death that
when they were liberated,
they would take his bones
with them to the Promised
Land. Indeed, through the 40
years of wanderings, this
precious burden accompanied
our ancestors (Shemot Rab-
bah, 20).
A number of questions can
be asked of this rabbinic com-
mentary. What connection is
there between Israel's newly-
acquired riches and Joseph's
mortal remains? Moreover,
we are told elsewhere that the
remains of all of Joseph's
brothers were taken out of
Egypt. Why then is only
Joseph's name singled out in
this week's sedra?
Joseph's career was strik-
ingly different from that of
his brothers. Generally, his
siblings were always together
— in warfare, in work, in
traveling to Egypt, in Goshen
—while Joseph spent the ma-
jority of his life alone. The
brothers lived fairly stable
lives, with few radical ascents
or descents in their fame or
fortunes. Joseph in contrast,
was first the favored son of a
doting father, then a slave
and a convict, and finally a
supreme ruler of a mighty
the
empire.
Despite
vicissitudes of his life, Joseph
remained loyal to his faith.

Morton Yolkut is rabbi of
Congregation B'nai David.

Moses saw his people leav-
ing the land of oppression, of
the Goshen-ghetto, of poverty
and affliction. During the
long centuries of persecution,
they never forgot who they
were or whence they came.
Their names were Jewish
names; their clothing was
distinctive; their language —
the Sacred Thngue. But now
they were leaving the land of
their oppression, laden with
gold and silver. Here was a
new challenge — one Moses
feared they could no cope with
properly.
He could hear the
arguments we still hear to-
day: Judaism survived as a
result of anti-Semitism; ex-
clusion forced the Jews to

Shabbat
Beshalach
Shabbat Shira
Exodus 13:17-17:16
Judges 4:4-5:31

create a vibrant way of life
among themselves; poverty
and ghettoization kept the
Jews pious and forced them to
concentrate on their own
culture and tradition. Tradi-
tional Judaism, we are told by
many well-meaning people,
was viable in the insulated
shtetl of Eastern Europe, but
cannot thrive in the affluent,
pluralistic western world of
democracy, opportunity and
culture.
So Moses decided to
demonstrate in a dramatic
way — not with words but
with example — that Ibrah
and Judaism are not meant
only for ghetto life, not only
for an "old country," not only
for poverty and oppression,
but equally for those blessed
with material wealth, with
recognition, fame and honor.
Joseph, he vividly remind-
ed his people, was the same
loyal son of Israel whether
unjustly imprisoned or at the
summit of power. Whether
under the shadow of a saint-
ly father or in a licentious
Egyptian household, Joseph
never compromised his stan-
dards and ideals. By taking
Joseph as a role model, Moses
sought to help his people deal
with challenges of freedom
and affluence.
Thousands of years later in
this free and open society of
ours, we too can create a
Jewish life in our homes and
communities, using God's
blessings of freedom and pro-
sperity to deepen and enrich
the Jewish heritage we are
privileged to enjoy.