{"id":85350,"date":"2020-12-24T13:15:48","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T11:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=85350"},"modified":"2020-12-24T13:15:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T11:15:48","slug":"vayigash-we-need-emotional-shmita-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/vayigash-we-need-emotional-shmita-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Vayigash: We Need Emotional Shmita Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Deep into the Joseph story, we come to a moment that catches my breath and makes me tear up every year. Joseph, sold to slavery long ago, stands now as the viceroy of Egypt. He has designed a system of rations that saves Egypt from famine and consolidates the Pharaoh\u2019s power. Meanwhile, his birth family is starving in Canaan, and his brothers go down to Egypt to plead for rations. Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they \u2013 begging for food, and seeing a uniformed Egyptian officer before them speaking a foreign language \u2013 do not see Joseph for who he is. Joseph sets before them a series of tests. Then, after an impassioned speech from Judah, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. But first we read the line:<\/p>\n

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\u201cV\u2019lo yuchal Yosef l\u2019hitapek l\u2019chol hanitzavim alav\u2026\u201d<\/em>
\nJoseph could no longer contain himself in front of all who stood before him (Genesis 45:1<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It is the word \u05dc\u05b0\u05d4\u05b4\u05ea\u05b0\u05d0\u05b7\u05e4\u05bc\u05b5\u05e7\/l\u2019hitapek<\/em>, the root \u05d0.\u05e4.\u05e7\/aleph.peh.kuf\u00a0<\/em>which arrests my attention year after year. It means to compel oneself, to restrain oneself, to hold oneself back. When Joseph can no longer do it, when he can\u2019t contain himself anymore and finally makes himself known to his brothers, \u201chis sobs were so loud that the Egyptians could hear.\u201d<\/p>\n

It takes a lot of holding back to make it through the day, these days. There is so much grief and ambiguous loss around the edges of our lives from just being human in the best of circumstances, let alone the pandemic, racism, climate change, and cruelty against vulnerable people and other non-human beings that we witness and take part in. We are, most of us, in the habit of\u00a0l\u2019hitapek<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 containing and restraining our anger, our grief. It feels too big to feel, and it takes space, and time, and companionship to feel it in a way that we can tolerate.<\/p>\n

The Hebrew root of Shmita, \u05e9.\u05de.\u05ea\/shin.mem.tet<\/em>\u00a0means to release, to let drop. It is the opposite of \u05d0.\u05e4.\u05e7\/aleph.peh.kuf.\u00a0<\/em>Imagine the fist around our heart that has been keeping in all the feelings, and picture that fist opening. Softening. Letting the tender, hidden parts of our souls be been seen and heard, first by our own selves, and then perhaps by those close to us, or even our communities.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not wait until the Shmita year to have an emotional Shmita. A moment in our day when we can let go of the nice appearances, the pretending that everything is ok when it isn\u2019t, the constraints that make it possible to power-play. This kind of shmita lets us reveal ourselves in our most human form to those before us.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

The next shmita year begins next Rosh Hashanah 2021, almost a year from now. We have time to prepare. As we move through 5781 we invite you to join us in preparation for the upcoming shmita year \u2013 a sabbatical year for the Earth but also for ourselves, our communities, and our world. Each week we will share thoughts on how the weekly parsha can help guide our thinking around shmita themes of work and rest, wealth and debt, responsible land use, fair labor practices, private and public property ownership, and physical and spiritual revitalization.<\/p>\n

Join us for the journey.<\/p>\n

See here for more information on the Hazon Shmita project, and its blogs.<\/a><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":81608,"id":81608,"title":"shmita","filename":"shmita.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/bereishit-the-sabbatical-paradigm\/shmita\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"shmita","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":81605,"date":"2020-10-15 14:26:00","modified":"2021-02-01 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New Weekly Series: The \"Shmitah Parasha\" Blog","main_caption":"Vayigash: We Need Emotional Shmita Now","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"in conjunction with Hazon.org","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":81608,"id":81608,"title":"shmita","filename":"shmita.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/bereishit-the-sabbatical-paradigm\/shmita\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"shmita","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":81605,"date":"2020-10-15 14:26:00","modified":"2021-02-01 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