DECEMBER 15 • 2022 | 63
Good To Be ‘Green’?
L
ately, all we seem to be
hearing is that we should
“go green.
” Now, some
might say that means we should
root for the Spartans. Being a
Wolverine, I find that
unconscionable.
Today, when the effects
of global warming are
becoming more apparent,
“going green” means that
we should be mindful
of the environment and
choose to be better stew-
ards of the planet.
One of my favorite mid-
rashim is from Ecclesiastes
Rabbah. It is as much
of a word of advice as it
is a warning. We learn
that when God created the first
human beings, He showed them
the beauty and bounty of the
Garden of Eden and warned
them to treat the garden with
great care. God told them that the
world was created for them, and
if they take advantage and destroy
the world, there will not be
another created in its place.
The “go green” reminders
and exhortations we are
hearing now are reminis-
cent of this valuable infor-
mation given thousands of
years ago by God. We have
not heeded the warning.
Green can also be a way
of describing someone
who is jealous. Shakespeare
included this expression in
Othello. Iago warns Othello
of jealousy and refers to it
as the “green-eyed mon-
ster” that mocks that which it
feeds off. In this case, green is not
the color you want to be.
This week’s portion is all about
color. Joseph received a beautiful
coat of many colors from his
father, Jacob. His brothers, in turn,
become green with envy. They
ae jealous of the affection and
favoritism their father is showing
Joseph, and they decide to do
away with him. The beautiful coat
is then stained with goat’s blood
and returned to their father as
proof that his beloved Joseph has
been killed by wild beasts.
All this color: all misused, all
misplaced and misunderstood.
All of these colors combined
leave us with a sense of blackness.
Black, for many cultures, signifies
mourning. Jacob was engulfed
in blackness hearing of the death
of his son. The brothers were
shrouded in blackness after
having heaved Joseph into a pit
and succumbing to their envy.
Jealousy is dangerous. It can
lead us to do horrible things. It is
a driving force, but not a positive
one. We should never allow
ourselves to be overcome with
jealousy and let it choose our
behavior.
Joseph’s brothers are tragic
examples of what can happen
when jealousy takes over rational
thought. We must try to keep our
feelings of envy in check, realizing
what we are jealous of and work
to acquire what it is we want.
Replace those feelings of envy
with accomplishment. Just as we
have this one world, we each have
just one life to live. Let us work
to fill it with beautiful color and
light and strive to eliminate the
blackness.
Rabbi Jennifer Kaluzny is a rabbi at
Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. This
article originally appeared in the JN Nov.
29, 2007.
Rabbi
Jennifer
Kaluzny
Parshat
Vayeshev:
Genesis
37:1-40:23;
Amos
2:6-3.8.
SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION