Tzedakah

TORAH PORTI

A Charitable Gift Annuity with JTS can

Questions And Answers

provide you with the opportunity to

receive income from your contribution

Shabbat Miketz (Shabbat Chanukah):

to JTS—for life! And, because it is

Genesis 41:1-43:30; Numbers 7:30-41;
Zechariah 2:14-4:7.

secure, you secure JTS's future, as well.

W bile the Torah attributes
Joseph's correct inter-
pretation of Pharaoh's
dreams to Joseph's prophetic ability,
we should consider this question: Why
would Pharaoh accept the interpreta-
tion of someone he hadn't met before,
a young man pulled out of prison just
for the occasion?
Let me offer two answers to this
question. First, Pharaoh must have
appreciated the fact that Joseph's
interpreta-
tion was more
than merely an
explanation of
the dream but a
suggestion for a
plan of action.
The Midrash
tells us that
Pharaoh's dream
interpreters
Rabbi Robert
gave the king
Dobrusin
explanations of
Special to the
the dreams but
Jewish News
none of these
explanations,
the Midrash claims, included a sug-
gestion of what Pharaoh could do with
the information.
When Joseph tells Pharaoh of the
impending famine, he also spells out
for the king exactly what he should do
to meet the coming danger.
That leads to the second reason why
Joseph's interpretation might have
been accepted by Pharaoh. Clearly,
Pharaoh had concerns about the state
of his kingdom and Joseph's interpre-
tation must have tapped into some of
those concerns.
It is clear that Joseph's explanation
resonated with Pharaoh and the Torah
even implies this by pointing out that
none of Pharaoh's dream interpreters
could explain the dreams l'Pharaoh, to
Pharaoh.
None of the magicians could explain
the dream in a way which made sense
to the king.
There were explanations that didn't
appeal to him because they didn't
speak to him where he was at that
moment.
I think that this is an important
lesson for us to consider. For example,

think about this in relation to the
teaching of children. How important is
it that our explanations, our answers
to questions asked of us by our chil-
dren resonate with them. An answer
could be factually correct and interest-
ing as well; but if it doesn't reach the
child where he or she is, it will likely
be ignored.
I'm sure most of you have heard
the story about the child who asks his
father the dreaded question: "Where
did I come from?"
The father goes into a long explana-
tion of the facts of life and the kid
responds:
"That's fine but all I wanted to know
was where I came from. Joey comes
from Boston and Jimmy comes from
New York. Where did I come from?"
The father's lecture might have been
factually correct and psychologically
age-appropriate. But, he will have to
do it all over again when the child is
ready to listen.
This is the message of the section
of the Passover Haggadah of the four
children which implores us to answer
our children's questions as is appro-
priate for who they are. We need to
train ourselves to listen to what our
children are really asking and help
them understand their world better
but we can only do that if we start
where they are.
It is a challenge, but it is one that
we must meet if we want to make an
impact on our children's lives.

tzedakah, some of that income

is tax free. While you remain financially

Tzedakah through planned giving

presents valuable opportunities.

The benefits can be far greater

CURRENT RETURN ON A $20,000 CGA

than expected—for you,

Age

Annuity
Rate

Annual
Payment

Current Year
Tax Deduction**

for your family, and for the

60
65
70
75
80
85
90

5.7%
6.0%
6.5%
7.1%
8.0%
9.5%
11.3%

$1,140
$1,200
$1,300
$1,420
$1,600
$1,900
$2,260

$6,460
$7,312
$8,072
$8,998
$9,911
$10,587
$11,508

Jewish future.

The Jewish Theological Seminary
Office of Planned Giving,
Rabbi Marc Wolf
(212) 678-8933, mawolf@jtsa.edu
www.jtsa.edu/plannedgiving

**Based on a Federal Reserve discount rate of
5.2% for a single-life CGA

JTS

The Jewish
Theological
Seminary

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Robert Dobrusin is rabbi of Beth Israel

Congregation in Ann Arbor.

Conversations

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