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Our Jewish Survival
Depends On Unity
RABBI 'MIN GROPER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
his week's sedrah de-
scribes the confronta-
tion between Joseph
and his brothers, the
climax of a story of hatred,
jealousy, separation and, af-
ter many years, reconcilia-
tion. The text recounts the
poignant moment of the en-
counter between Joseph, the
ruler of Egypt, with his
younger brother, Benjamin.
Joseph fell upon the neck of
his brother, Jacob and he
wept; and Benjamin, similar-
ly embracing his brother,
Joseph, wept. The Midrash
introduces a strange comment
"Why did they weep? They
wept because they foresaw at
that moment that two tem.-
pies, sanctuaries of God,
would be built in the Land of
Israel and they were both des-
tined for destruction."
What did the Midrash have
in mind? What does the re-
union of Benjamin and
Joseph have to do with the
temples of Jerusalem, events
that are many hundreds of
years apart? Why do they
weep and mourn for tragedies
that lay beyond their lifetimes
and the lives of their chil-
dren?
Upon reflection, we under-
stand the intent of the
Midrash. This is a story not
of brotherly love, but of broth-
erly hatred, of the jealousy,
rivalry and hostility that tore
apart a family, and led to
crime and brutality and the
deception of an aged father by
his own sons. This is a story
of sinat chinom
causeless
hatred, without reason or
purpose, based on irritation,
caprice and envy. The
Midrash probes the meaning
of the tears that were evoked
by the emotional encounter of
Joseph and Benjamin. When
they wept in profound re-
sponse to the hatred that had
separated them, they realized
that the senseless hostility
was not yet over, and had not
yet been expunged from the
hearts of their brothers. They
foresaw that in ages yet un-
born there would be a recur-
rence of this sad drama, a
reenactment of this tragic fra-
ternal feud. The bickering
and internal struggle of the
future would sunder the
union of the Jewish people.
The ultimate tragedy, the
—
Irwin Groner is senior rabbi at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
destruction of the temple, and
the loss of Jewish indepen-
dence would be the bitter
fruits of this disunity and dis-
sent. And so, they wept; both
for the injuries of the past
and the anguish that would
be encountered in the cen-
turies to follow.
Who could blame them?
One of the greatest tragedies
of Jewish history has not only
been our persecution, but also
our capacity for divisiveness,
disunity and enmity of broth-
er against brother.
Scripture records the story
of what happened after King
Solomon died and the 12
tribes that comprised his
Shabbat Vayigash:
Genesis
44:18-47:27
Ezekiel 37:15-28.
kingdom would not remain to-
gether; 10 of them created
their own kingdom.
In the first century, the
Jewish people were faced with
divisions and schisms that
greatly weakened their
strength and vitality.
During the Middle Ages
and beyond, Jews were an
embattled minority, living on
the rim of a precarious exis-
tence, suffering from exclu-
sion and disability.
When we consider our sit-
uation today, we recognize the
universal concern about Jew-
ish survival and continuity
that has been increasingly
voiced throughout the length
and breadth of our land. But
what is the measure of unity =(
that we possess in responding
to this most serious and dan-
gerous of challenges? Does the
most powerful and influential
Diaspora Jewish community
in history possess strong uni-
ties of kinship and fraternity?
I believe that the deepest
threat to Jewish living today
comes not from without, from
external factors. I am not as
distressed by the occasional
outburst of anti-Semitism or
the efforts of missionary
movements to seduce the
minds of Jewish youth. Of
course, these threats should
be dealt with vigorously and
effectively. But the greatest
threat is internal — tensions,
struggles and conflicts.
We who have instructed