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appreciating our blessings and finding 
meaning even in the darkness.
The sages of the Talmud highlight an 
episode from this week’s Torah portion, 
Vayigash, to emphasize the importance 
of constructing a positive narrative. 
In the wake of famine, Jacob and his 
family journey to Egypt where they join 
Jacob’s son, Joseph, who has risen up the 
ranks to become viceroy of Egypt and 
is shepherding the country’s economy 
through the years of famine. The episode 
in question sees Joseph introducing Jacob 
to Pharaoh. When Pharaoh asks him 
about his life, Jacob responds: “Few and 
bad were the days of the years of my life.” 
(Bereishit 47:3)
The Talmudic sages are critical of 
Jacob’s negativity. Of course, Jacob was 
greater than we can begin to understand, 
but let’s understand this: Jacob indeed 
objectively had a very difficult existence. 
He had to uproot his life and flee from 
his vengeful brother, Esau. He lands up 
in the household of Laban, who deceives 
him and manipulates him in countless 
ways. He gets married and has children, 
but then on his return suffers the anguish 
of losing his beloved wife, Rachel, the 
abduction of his daughter and the 
complete disappearance of his dear son, 
Joseph. His entire life is a study in trauma, 
so you could say he is entirely justified in 
reflecting on those experiences with an 
element of sadness.
Yet our sages say that even under 
such circumstances, we need to find a 
way to maintain a positive outlook. This 
does not mean repressing the pain and 
difficulty we’ve endured — it’s important 
that we let it out, relay it and not bottle 
it up. But maintaining a positive outlook 
means seeing the big picture, counting 
our blessings, appreciating our lives in a 
holistic sense — not allowing negativity to 
overwhelm the narrative. Obviously, the 
sages of the Talmud make this point not to 
be critical of Jacob, but rather to teach us 
how to live.
The counterexample is that of King 
David, who also endured many trials and 
tribulations — he was pursued by King 
Saul and later by his own son, Avshalom, 
who attempted to overthrow him. He also 
lost a child at birth. And yet, despite these 
unimaginably difficult circumstances, 
King David writes: “How can I repay God 
for all of His kindness to me?” (Psalms 

116:12) Granted, it’s an incredible level — 
to maintain that poise and positivity, that 
serenity and tranquility, and that sense 
of simple appreciation for the gift of life. 
Nevertheless, it’s something we can strive 
for, something we can choose to do if we 
meditate deeply enough on it.
But the power of narrative goes beyond 
positivity and negativity. Storytelling has 
the capacity to transform our lives, to 
make everything we do meaningful; it can 
tell us who we are and why we are here. 
And this is the true power of the Torah.

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A JEW
The Torah tells the story of what it means 
to be a human being, what it means to be 
a Jew, what it means to live with purpose. 
Through the narrative of the Torah, we 
can infuse every moment of every day 
with meaning and inspiration. What does 
this mean?
The Torah tells us that the world we 
live in is not a random accumulation 
of molecules that came about in an ad 
hoc and haphazard way. It tells us there 
is structure and intentionality to reality, 
that an all-knowing, all-loving Creator 
created everything with purpose. That 
there is a grand design to the world and 
grand meaning to our existence.
God created each of us with a purpose. 
He created us for the purpose of doing 
good, doing mitzvot, making the world 
a better place. Living in accordance with 
our higher calling means living a life that 
is ethical and upright, a life filled with 
compassion and kindness, a Godly life 
in which everything we do — even the 
most mundane undertaking — is infused 
with sanctity and significance. This is the 
life set out by the Torah.
Our sages coined the phrase: “leshaim 
shamayim” — “for the sake of heaven” — 
and state that everything we do should 
be guided by this ideal: We should eat 
in order to have the energy to do good 
deeds; sleep in order to refresh our 
minds and bodies so that we are able to 
go out and earn an honest living, support 
our families, pay for a Torah education 
for our children and give charity; use our 
God-given mental faculties for learning 
Torah; and our God-given soul for 
pouring out our hearts in prayer.
The idea of the narrative also frames 
Jewish identity. What does it mean to be 
a Jew? The Torah tells the story of who 
we are, where we come from and why 

we are here. The story of how, through 
God’s miracles, we came into existence 
as a nation and that He gave us His 
Torah at Mount Sinai and brought us 
into the land of Israel, and that He gave 
us a Divine mission to live in accordance 
with His will and to spread His light in 
the world. It’s a narrative that defines 
us both as individuals and as the Jewish 
people. All of Jewish history, with all 
of its tragedies and triumphs, has been 
part of this Divine mission and destiny. 
And so this narrative gives meaning to 
the experiences of Jewish history and 
meaning to the project of continuing 
to ensure a vibrant Jewish future for 
generations to come.
The Torah itself is a framework for 
understanding the mission and meaning 
of our lives. Why is the mitzvah of 
learning Torah so important? Why is it 
referred to by our sages as the gateway to 
all the other mitzvot? Why is it that our 
sages declare that the merit of learning 
Torah is equal to the merit of all the 
mitzvot combined? It could be because, 
through the mitzvah of learning Torah, 
we understand the story of our lives and 
the context and the meaning of all the 
mitzvot. When we learn Torah, we learn 
to understand our world, our society 
and ourselves. When we learn Torah, we 
learn to see the world through a Divine 
lens, through the eyes of God Himself.
The Mishna says: “Turn it [Torah] over 
and over for everything is in it.” (Pirkei 
Avot 5:26) The Midrash says God used the 
Torah as the blueprint for the creation 
of the world. This means that every 
aspect of creation is contained within the 
framework of the Torah; that the Torah 
gives us the framing narrative for how 
to understand and relate to the world, 
and how to locate ourselves within the 
context of creation.
That is the power of learning Torah. 
That is the incredible gift we have — 
the vocabulary, the philosophy, the 
conceptual framework that tells the 
story of our lives. The Torah — God’s 
blueprint for life — lends direction, gui-
dance and purpose to our existence. 

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who has a PhD. in 

Human Rights Law, is the chief rabbi of South Africa. 

This article first appeared on aish.com.

