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The (Un)Common Tune

JOHN HARDWICK

Parshat Vayeshev:
Genesis 37:1-40:23;
Amos 2:6-3:8.

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A

s soon as I realized I had
drawn the proverbial straw
for Vayeshev, one word —
with one particular tune, no less —
immediately jumped into my head:
va-y’ma’en. This word, often trans-
lated as “but he refused,” is chanted
in a lengthy, repeatedly rising
and falling trope mark called
in fact, abundantly clear on
shalshelet, which appears
the correct answer. The lin-
only four times in the whole
gering tones of the shalshe-
Torah.
let are not hesitation, but
For trope nerds (yes, we
rather a summoning of the
exist!) and casual listeners
courage to do what Joseph
alike, this word immediately
knows is right.
stands out as crucially impor-
So often in our lives, I
Rabbi Megan
tant. This particular refusal
think, we actually know the
Brudney
clearly isn’t some everyday,
correct answers to our most
garden-variety dissent; this
vexing or persistent prob-
one commands attention and
lems. At the very least, we
begs for analysis.
typically have some sense of
Zooming out, we find that our
what we could do to improve a situa-
ancestor Joseph has been sold into
tion, at least modestly. Yet we do not
slavery by his brothers and has been
always take the time or put in the
relocated to the house of Potiphar,
time or otherwise invest in taking
one of Pharaoh’s courtiers. With
the next step.
God’s help, Joseph immediately rises
This is what Joseph and his refusal
to the top and becomes Potiphar’s
(and his shalshelet) offer us. We get
second in command. Joseph is
to see Joseph navigate an uncomfort-
able and even dangerous situation —
very successful — and, the Torah
informs us, well-built and handsome and observe how he takes his time,
takes all 15 discrete pulses of the
as well (Genesis 39:6). So much so,
trope, to arrive at the answer that he
in fact, that Potiphar’s unnamed
knew inside from the start.
wife decides to blatantly proposi-
The music and the meaning inter-
tion him. And with that, we arrive
twine as Joseph inspires us to stop,
at our magic word: va-y’ma’en, “but
adjust our usual pace, and see if
he refused” (Genesis 39:8). It is this
anything might clear up and fall into
refusal, of an act Joseph explains
place. •
would be disrespectful to Potiphar
and offensive to God, that the
Rabbi Megan Brudney is a rabbi at Temple Beth
shalshelet trope turns up to a full-
El in Bloomfield Township.
volume blast.
At first glance, it might seem that
Joseph is weighing his options and
CONVERSATIONS:
trying to make a decision. Perhaps
What is an issue that’s been troubling
the repetitive up, down, up, down,
you? Can you think of a step you know
sound of the shalshelet is meant to
you should take but haven’t? When
convey Joseph’s vacillating back and
in your life have you succeeded in
forth, struggling with deciding what
pausing and changing direction? What
action to take. Yet when I look at the
made that shift possible? What is your
strong phrasing of Joseph’s refusal,
shalshelet — some kind of phrase,
coupled with his multi-pronged
mantra or reminder to slow down and
rationale, I get a different impres-
seek out the answer within?
sion. To me it seems that Joseph is,

jn

December 7 • 2017

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