{"id":39755,"date":"2018-09-11T22:20:38","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T19:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=39755"},"modified":"2022-04-05T14:55:58","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T11:55:58","slug":"benjamin-the-son-of-rachel-the-brother-of-joseph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/benjamin-the-son-of-rachel-the-brother-of-joseph\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin, The Son Of Rachel, The Brother Of Joseph"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[362],"acf":{"old_id":"39755","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":36669,"related_cahpter":"44","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Abba, did you also put Joseph to sleep like me?","content":"

\u201cAnd now, should I [Judah] come before your servant, my father [Jacob], and the boy [Benjamin] is not with us \u2014 and \u00a0seeing how his soul is bound to the soul of the boy \u2014 should he see that the boy is not here anymore, he will die \u2026.\u201d (Genesis 44:30-31)<\/span><\/p>\n

Abba<\/span><\/em> walks with me hand in hand
\n<\/span>And doesn\u2019t let me run
\n<\/span>Or jump from boulders
\n<\/span>Or climb trees.
\n<\/span>\u201cBe careful, Benjamin\u201d \u2014 <\/span>Abba<\/em> <\/span>always tells me \u2014
\n<\/span>\u201cBe careful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Abba<\/span><\/em> doesn\u2019t let me ride horses
\n<\/span>Or take our flocks out to pasture with my brothers.
\n<\/span>Once I ran away to the forest beyond the hills
\n<\/span>And played hide-and-seek with boys from the village.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Abba<\/em> <\/span>searched for me everywhere;
\n<\/span>\u201cNever do this again, never,\u201d
\n<\/span>He yelled at me when he found me
\n<\/span>And then hugged me, tight.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Friday evenings, at the <\/span>Shabbat<\/span><\/i> table,
\n<\/span>Abba<\/em> <\/span>asks me to sing <\/span>zemirot<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/span><\/i>Solo.
\n<\/span>\u201cYou have your mother\u2019s voice,\u201d he says.
\n<\/span>Aunt Leah lowers her soft brown eyes.
\n<\/span>Everyone else though looks at me when I sing.
\n<\/span>I hate it.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Passover night I hate the most.
\n<\/span>I have to stand up and chant the Four Questions;
\n<\/span>Abba<\/span><\/em> claps his hands and asks me to chant them again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then <\/span>Abba<\/em> <\/span>reads from the <\/span>Haggadah<\/span><\/em>.
\n<\/span>When he reaches the Wise Son,
\n<\/span>He whispers the name, \u201cJoseph,\u201d and cries.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

My brother Judah has to finish reading,
\n<\/span>Reading like a mourner.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every night <\/span>Abba<\/span><\/em> comes to put me to sleep,
\n<\/span>To hear how I say my bedtime prayers
\n<\/span>And recite the <\/span>Shma<\/span><\/em>.
\n<\/span><\/i>Once I asked him,
\n<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Abba<\/span><\/em>, did you also put Joseph to sleep like me?\u201d
\n<\/span>He didn\u2019t answer,
\n<\/span>Just sighed and turned his face away,
\n<\/span>Wiping his eye with a handkerchief.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every morning when I wake up,
\n<\/span>Abba<\/em> <\/span>asks me,
\n<\/span>\u201cWhat did you dream about, Benjamin?
\n<\/span>Tell me your dreams.\u201d
\n<\/span>I don\u2019t lie to <\/span>Abba<\/span><\/em>, and I tell him.
\n<\/span>But I do dream the strangest dreams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes I dream of Egypt.
\n<\/span>Of pyramids and Pharaoh\u2019s palace,
\n<\/span>Of a caravan of perfumed camels crossing the desert,
\n<\/span>Of a goblet of polished silver.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes I dream of stars
\n<\/span>That fall down and crash,
\n<\/span>Shattering into a thousand splinters;
\n<\/span>Or of sheaves of grain
\n<\/span>That scatter in the wind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes I see a grave on the road to Efrat;
\n<\/span>In front of the grave: weeds and a jackal,
\n<\/span>A dried-out well and a torn pendant;
\n<\/span>While behind the grave: the cradle of acacia-wood <\/span>Abba<\/span><\/i> built for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abba<\/em> <\/span>always asks me,
\n<\/span>\u201cIn your dreams do you see your mother?
\n<\/span>Do you see Joseph?
\n<\/span>Can you take me to them,
\n<\/span>Benjamin?\u201d
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I wish I could run outside like the others.
\n<\/span>I wish I wouldn\u2019t have to sing.
\n<\/span>I wish I didn\u2019t dream.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":59557,"id":59557,"title":"2sam1-father-and-son","filename":"2sam1-father-and-son.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam1-father-and-son.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/saul-and-jonathan-the-love-of-father-and-son\/2sam1-father-and-son\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam1-father-and-son","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":59556,"date":"2019-07-16 13:07:17","modified":"2022-04-05 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