DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 25

SPIRIT

Speak To The Heart 
I

n Vayechi, the last Torah 
portion of the Book of 
Genesis, the story of Joseph 
comes to an end. 
The most remarkable part 
of the story is that he forgave 
his brothers even though they 
sold him into slavery in 
Egypt and lied to their 
father, Jacob, telling 
him that Joseph was 
dead. 
Upon returning 
to Egypt after bury-
ing their father, his 
brothers worried that 
because of Jacob’s 
death, Joseph would no 
longer deal kindly with 
them. The brothers 
bowed before Joseph, 
and the Torah tells us that 
Joseph said, “Fear not. I will 
sustain you and your children” 
(Genesis 50:21.) The next part 
of that verse says, “Joseph 
comforted them and spoke 
into their heart.
” This phrase, 
vayidaber al libam, is often 
translated as “he spoke kindly 
to them.
” But the Hebrew 
means “he spoke into their 
heart.
”
This turn of phrase stands 
out to me, as it is not some-
thing that I’ve heard before; 
so I went to the Talmud for a 
better understanding. Tractate 
Megilah 16b:7 gives the expla-
nation that “Rabbi Binyamin 
bar Yefet said that Rabbi 
Elazar said: ‘This teaches that 
he spoke to them words that 
are acceptable to the heart and 
alleviated their fears.
”’ Joseph 
spoke to his brothers compas-
sionately and with words they 
could really hear. 
This is such a good lesson 
for us. We sometimes have to 
change the way we speak so 
that the people receiving our 

words can really hear them, 
instead of building a defense 
or shutting down. Joseph had 
to speak to his brothers in a 
way that cut through the deep 
fears they had that they would 
be abandoned in a foreign 
land and left to starve or 
worse. They knew how 
they treated Joseph, and 
they feared he would kill 
them. 
Instead of seeking 
revenge after his father’s 
death, Joseph chose 
to love and forgive his 
brothers. He spoke to 
them with deep kind-
ness; at once, he alle-
viated their fears in a 
way that each of them 
could hear. It’s remarkable that 
Joseph was able to exercise this 
forgiveness. That he was able 
to let go of any anger toward 
his brothers that would be 
completely understandable to 
hold onto, considering what 
they did. His ability to show 
this ultimate kindness says so 
much about his character. 
After detailing the rest 
of Joseph’s life, this parshah 
comes to a close and with it 
the Book of Genesis. At the 
end of each book of Torah that 
we finish, we say chazak, chaz-
ak, v’nitchazeik, be strong and 
let us strengthen one another. 
What we learn from the end 
of Joseph’s life is that there 
is strength in vulnerability, 
in relying on community, in 
compassion and in forgive-
ness. 
As we forge ahead in this 
new year, may we take after 
Joseph and speak to the hearts 
of the ones we love. 

Rabbi Alicia Harris is rabbi of 

Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi Alicia 

Harris

Parshat 

Vayechi: 

Genesis 

47:28-50:26; 

I Kings 2:1-12.

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Zach Berg and William Werner became
friends as children at Tamarack, and remained close
through childhood and adulthood, coming together
over a love of what makes a great meal.
Zach spent his time in kosher catering, restaurant
kitchens, learned about cheese with Bi-Rite Markets
and Zingerman’s, and became a cheese authority.
Will became a geologist, but always was interested
in catering and meal prep.
“Good eating is a passion for both of us, Zach said.
“Whenever we saw each other, we both seemed to
have a love for cooking, catering and food in general.
We even brought a group of friends together and
catered Will’s wedding. It was such a memorable
event, we didn’t want that to end.” 
Then, Will’s cousin Gayle asked him to come help
manage her Royal Oak chocolate operation. Will and
Zach created a cheese pop-up in the chocolate shop,
becoming such a popular draw that they knew there
was traction to the idea of cheese and chocolate.
“What we ended up doing was putting a permanent
pop-up into a shop in Ferndale, founding Mongers’
Provisions in 2017
, and offering specialty cheeses,
craft chocolate and charcuterie,” said Zach. 
In order to follow that success and launch their own
Detroit location, the partners approached Hebrew
Free Loan’s Marvin I. Danto Small Business
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cated shop in Midtown Detroit.
“Food never tastes better than when you share it with
people,” Zach said. “Hebrew Free Loan helped us bring
more of it to a wider audience, and we will forever
be grateful. We got here because we refined our plans,
expanded our knowledge, and went for what we really
wanted. I never get tired of being here, and I get to do
this great thing with my friend.” 

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