the Plagues Project<\/a> - don't miss it!<\/p>\r\nChag sameach - have a happy and liberating holiday!<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104005,"alt":"","title":"-6257ba394e96a--6257ba394e96b929 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i
\r\nJoseph tells his brothers
\r\nwho have cast him off
\r\nleft him to die in a pit
\r\nleft him to slavery
\r\nleft him alone in a strange land
\r\nwhere, amazingly, he achieves great power
\r\nrescues a whole region from famine
\r\nrescues his brothers and his father from that famine\u2014
\r\n
\r\nJoseph tells these brothers:
\r\nI will hold nothing against you.
\r\n
\r\nYou thought to do me wrong;
\r\nGod had in mind that I should go through this
\r\nand come to sustain many.
\r\n
\r\nii
\r\nGod\u2019s plan
\r\nin which your life plays a part
\r\nin which your tormentors also play a part
\r\nis larger than you
\r\nlarger than your life
\r\nlarger than your suffering
\r\nlarger than the cruelty of others.
\r\n
\r\nThis knowledge can help you bear much,
\r\ncan let you forgive.
\r\n
\r\niii
\r\nThat is Joseph\u2019s message
\r\non the eve of our anguish
\r\nat the hands of Egypt
\r\non the way to Redemption.
\r\n
\r\niv
\r\nPerhaps this message
\r\nlets Moses say, later:
\r\nDo not despise an Egyptian
\r\nfor you were an immigrant in his land\u2014
\r\n
\r\nsee
\r\nthat we all live in God\u2019s plan,
\r\n
\r\nso you can even look at the Egyptian
\r\nas a human once again
\r\n
\r\nso your power to forgive is boundless.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n_____
\r\nGenesis 50:15-20; Deuteronomy 23:8
\r\nInspired in part by Micah Goodman<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Forgiving","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"we all live in God\u2019s plan \/ so you can even look at the Egyptian\/ as a human once again \/ o your power to forgive is boundless.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"50","chapter_main_number":"50","date":"20251106","wall_id":"50"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"459","name":"Forgiveness","old_id":"859"},{"term_id":"523","name":"Joseph","old_id":"923"},{"term_id":"561","name":"Brothers","old_id":"961"}]},{"order":4,"id":"103981","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Wrapping Up ","post_title":"Wrapping Up","slug":"wrapping-up","old_id":"103981","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"More than you might want to have known about Egyptian embalming\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"
\u201c<\/b>Then Joseph ordered the physicians in his service to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel. It required forty days, for such is the full period of embalming. The Egyptians bewailed him seventy days\u201d (verses 2-3).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhy did the Egyptians mourn Jacob for seventy days while the mummification process only took forty? The commentators explain that seventy is meant to include the forty embalming days and then thirty days of mourning. The thirty days of mourning are taken from the mourning period later for Moses and Aaron. The math works out here, but why would the Egyptians be following the Israelite mourning period?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe commentators may have it backwards, which we can deduce from the more modern understanding of the embalming process. According to the Smithsonian, the mummification process was painstaking and deliberate. Because of the delicate nature of the process, special priests handled everything. This could be what the Torah means by the \u201cphysicians\u201d that Joseph ordered to embalm Jacob.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe first stage involved removing the internal organs. The priests removed the brain via the nose with special hooks and then the remaining organs were removed through a small incision on the body. The Egyptians would leave the heart as the most important organ. The organs were placed in separate jars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nNext, the body was dried out using natron sprinkled outside and placed inside the body. The body was then stuffed with linen to appear less sunken and given fake eyes. It took hundreds of yards of linen to wrap the body, hands, and feet. In between layers, priests would add amulets and masks on the face.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nKnowing the details of the process, Joseph most likely did not want the religious aspects of the ritual and the removal of the organs to happen to his father. 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The Presses: Son Kisses Father ","post_title":"Hold The Presses: Son Kisses Father","slug":"hold-the-presses-son-kisses-father","old_id":"103984","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But it seems that father did not kiss son\u2026\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"Genesis 49 ended with Jacob\u2019s death: \u201cWhen Jacob finished his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and, breathing his last, he was gathered to his kin.\u201d Chapter 50 opens with Joseph\u2019s response: \u201cJoseph flung himself upon his father\u2019s face and wept over him and kissed him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\nA son kissing his father, an action that is surprisingly unique in the Torah, began with the emotional reunion, following a separation of over two decades: \u201cJoseph ordered<\/span> his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel; he presented himself to him and, embracing him around the neck, he wept on his neck a good while\u201d (46:29).<\/span><\/p>\r\nA close reading of\u00a0 46:29 leads one source to note, that while Joseph, an individual who wept any number of times during his interactions with his family\u2014 see 42:24; 43:30; 45:2, 14-5\u2014 may have wished to kiss Jacob at that moment, Jacob did not kiss his son back, nor would he permit himself to be kissed by Joseph!<\/span><\/p>\r\n\u2026 We find concerning Jacob that he never kissed Joseph. Why didn\u2019t he kiss him? He thought: perhaps he engaged in lascivious behavior with women due to his attractiveness (see Gen. 39:7 ff.). It is written: \u201c\u2026He presented himself to him and, embracing him around the neck\u2026\u201d He (<\/span>Joseph<\/span><\/em>) wished to kiss him, but he (<\/span>Jacob<\/span><\/em>) wouldn\u2019t permit it, as it is written: \u201c\u2026he wept on his neck a good while.\u201d When he (<\/span>Jacob<\/span><\/em>) died, he (<\/span>Joseph<\/span><\/em>) kissed him, as it is written: \u201c\u2026and wept over him and kissed him.\u201d He said: For thirty-nine years (<\/span>22 years when Joseph was in Egypt without the rest of his family, combined with the last 17 years of Jacob\u2019s life<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i>) I never kissed my father mouth-to-mouth. Now, when I am about to bury him, I shouldn\u2019t kiss him?... (Kalla Rabbati 3:14)<\/span><\/p>\r\nIt is difficult to imagine the personal self-control that Jacob would have had to maintain in order to impose such physical distance between himself and his distinguished and beloved son over the course of so many years. The Torah had described Jacob as entering a self-imposed state of \u201cliving death\u201d when he was originally told that Joseph had been eaten by a vicious animal (37:34-5,) and then incredibly excited to finally see his beloved son once again (45:26, 28; 46:30.)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nPerhaps a clue to Jacob\u2019s bizarre actions is suggested in the introduction of Kallah Rabbati 3:14:\u00a0 \u201cMake your own will and the will of your friend secondary to the Will of the Divine.\u201d While some utilize such an idea to account for the well-known interpretation of Rashi on 46:29, that Jacob didn\u2019t kiss Joseph because he was engaged in reciting the Shema,\u00a0 Kallah Rabbati takes a more global approach regarding Jacob\u2019s overall attitude, and asserts that the father suppressed his paternal feelings in deference to his suspicions of his son\u2019s immoral behavior.<\/span><\/p>\r\nimage:\u00a0Michelangelo, lunetta, Jacob - Joseph, c. 1512 \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103985,"alt":"","title":"-6257235e0bfe9--6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo,_lunetta,_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6257235e0bfe9-6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo_lunetta_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg.jpg","width":1230,"height":750,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6257235e0bfe9-6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo_lunetta_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6257235e0bfe9-6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo_lunetta_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg-300x183.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":183,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6257235e0bfe9-6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo_lunetta_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg-768x468.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":468,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6257235e0bfe9-6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo_lunetta_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg-1024x624.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":624,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6257235e0bfe9-6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo_lunetta_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1230,"1536x1536-height":750,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6257235e0bfe9-6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo_lunetta_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1230,"2048x2048-height":750,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6257235e0bfe9-6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo_lunetta_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg-1200x732.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":732,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6257235e0bfe9-6257235e0bfeagen50-Michelangelo_lunetta_Jacob_-_Joseph.jpg-689x420.jpg","home_baner-width":689,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Hold 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Complaint","post_title":"Judah\u2019s Complaint","slug":"judahs-complaint","old_id":"104020","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":35831,"post_title":"Ruth Fogelman","slug":"ruth-fogelman","old_id":"35831","first_name":"Ruth ","last_name":"Fogelman ","description":"Ruth Fogelman was born in England and has lived in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City for most of her life. She is the author of four books. Her poems, articles, short stories and photography have appeared in anthologies and various publications in Israel, USA and India, including Arc, Back to Joy: Little Reminders to Help Us Through Tough Times, The Deronda Review, Prosopisia, Poetica, and the International Literary Review. Ruth holds a Masters Degree from the Creative Writing Program of Bar Ilan University and leads the Pri Hadash Women\u2019s Writing Workshop in Jerusalem. \r\nShe is a member of the Israel Association of Writers in English\r\nVisit her website at http:\/\/jerusalemlives.weebly.com\r\n","short_description":"Ruth Fogelman is a poet, and lives in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":35832,"alt":"","title":"Ruth Fogelman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","width":969,"height":973,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--768x771.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":771,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","large-width":969,"large-height":973,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","1536x1536-width":969,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","2048x2048-width":969,"2048x2048-height":973,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","post_full_size-width":969,"post_full_size-height":973,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Who did the little upstart think he was?","post_main_content_content":"
Joseph\u2019s brothers saw that their father had died and they said, \u201cIf only Joseph would hate us and return to us all the evil that we did to him.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Genesis 50:15<\/p>\r\n
\r\nWho did the little upstart think he was,
\r\nrunning to Father, telling tales?
\r\nFather\u2019s favorite, narcissistic know-it-all.<\/p>\r\n
He\u2019d stand before a mirror,
\r\ncurling his hair,
\r\nand smooth his multi-colored robe.<\/p>\r\n
He thought himself God\u2019s gift to man \u2013
\r\nsuch chutzpah! He claimed
\r\nthat sun, moon, and earth\u2019s yield would bow to him.<\/p>\r\n
Although his nerve knew no end \u2013
\r\nif only we hadn\u2019t tossed him down a pit \u2013
\r\nif only we hadn\u2019t made Father bear such loss.<\/p>\r\n
How can we approach him now with remorse
\r\nwhen he speaks to us from behind the mask of an Egyptian prince?
\r\nIf he would drop his cool, reveal his anger\u2026<\/p>\r\n
maybe then, we could heal.<\/p>\r\n
from Leaving the Garden<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Judah\u2019s Complaint","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Who did the little upstart think he was?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"50","chapter_main_number":"50","date":"20251106","wall_id":"50"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"523","name":"Joseph","old_id":"923"}]},{"order":7,"id":"40513","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Brooklyn Museum: Jacob the Mummy ","post_title":"Brooklyn Museum: Jacob the Mummy","slug":"brooklyn-museum-jacob-the-mummy","old_id":"40513","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40024,"post_title":"Edward Bleiberg","slug":"edward-bleiberg","old_id":"40024","first_name":"Edward ","last_name":"Bleiberg ","description":"Dr. Edward Bleiberg is Senior Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum. A Pittsburgh native, he graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Dr. Bleiberg received an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. He is the author of several books and articles on ancient Egyptian economy, Egyptian coffins, and the Jewish minority in ancient Egypt and ancient Rome.","short_description":"Dr. Edward Bleiberg is Senior Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40025,"alt":"","title":"Edward_Bleiberg_335W","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","width":182,"height":204,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-300x280.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":280,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","medium_large-width":182,"medium_large-height":204,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","large-width":182,"large-height":204,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","1536x1536-width":182,"1536x1536-height":204,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","2048x2048-width":182,"2048x2048-height":204,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","post_full_size-width":182,"post_full_size-height":204,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","home_baner-width":182,"home_baner-height":204}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"
https:\/\/youtu.be\/XY47RiOEVBo<\/p>\r\n
Dr. Edward Bleiberg, Senior Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum<\/p>\r\n
Dr. Aaron Koller, Associate Professor of Near Eastern and Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 At The Museum","tile_main_caption":"Brooklyn Museum: Jacob the Mummy","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/XY47RiOEVBo","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"50","chapter_main_number":"50","date":"20251106","wall_id":"50"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"523","name":"Joseph","old_id":"923"},{"term_id":"555","name":"Archaeology","old_id":"955"}]},{"order":8,"id":"40505","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Israel Wasn't Enslaved in a Day ","post_title":"Israel Wasn't Enslaved in a Day","slug":"israel-wasnt-enslaved-in-a-day","old_id":"40505","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Exodus Minus-1","post_main_content_content":"
The final chapter of Genesis seems to offer a gentle denouement which neatly ties up the last loose strings to end the Joseph story. But it also hides between its lines the beginnings of Jewish oppression, a kind of Exodus chapter minus-1. The \"new\" Pharaoh in the first verses of Exodus would not have found eager ears for his harsh decrees unless anti-semitism had taken deep root amongst the people. This hatred and fear grows much like a cancer, quietly, gradually, signaling its growth along the way with small symptoms which can be easily ignored or rationalized.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Midrash suggests that the oppression of the Jews began with Jacob's death. An astonishing statement in light of the description in chapter 50 of the great mourning in Egypt over Jacob's death, and yet recent years and days can tell us something about the possibility of societies which simultaneously love and loathe their Jews.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhat is the textual grounding for this Midrash? At the end of the chapter, Joseph promises his brothers that God will remember them, and bring them to the promised land, and bids them to bring his bones with them for burial. It's a strange statement, when you think about it. What's keeping them from going now, at least to bury Joseph, as they did with Jacob? Why do they need to wait for Divine intervention? <\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen you do the math, about 50 years have passed from Jacob's death. Apparently, Jewish power has changed in a half-century. The cancer has grown. Joseph is still well-respected enough to merit mummification, but he cannot ask to be brought to Israel.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":89847,"alt":"","title":"ps123-slave 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Brothers Fear a Grudge Match ","post_title":"The Brothers Fear a Grudge Match","slug":"the-brothers-fear-a-grudge-match","old_id":"40492","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Joseph weeps over the weakness inherent in power, over the terrible price that he has paid for it","post_main_content_content":"When Joseph\u2019s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, \u201cWhat if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?\u201d So they sent word to Joseph, saying, \u201cYour father left these instructions before he died: \u2018This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.\u2019 Now please forgive the sins of the \u00a0servants of the God of your father.\u201d When their message came to him, Joseph wept. [50: 15-17].<\/span><\/p>\r\nRav Lichtenstein comments: \u201cAt this moment, Joseph discovers the limits of raw power. He discovers the extent to which the human connection, the personal connection, the family connection, hold far more value and importance than does power \u2013 both for the person himself and for all those around him.\u201d Joseph \u201cweeps over the weakness inherent in power, over the terrible price that he has paid for it. His dreams have indeed been realised, on some level, but the tragedy remains just as real. The torn shreds of the family have not been made completely whole.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\nOn the surface, Joseph holds all the power. His family are entirely dependent on him. But at a deeper level it is the other way round. He still yearns for their acceptance, their recognition, their closeness. And ultimately he has to depend on them to bring his bones up from Egypt when the time comes for redemption and return (50: 25).<\/span><\/p>\r\nJoseph \u201cthe righteous\u201d weeps when he sees the extent to which power sets him apart from his brothers. Judaism is about an alternative social order which depends not on power but on love, loyalty and the mutual responsibility created by covenant. That is why Nietzsche, who based his philosophy on \u201cthe will to power,\u201d correctly saw Judaism as the antithesis of all he believed in.<\/span><\/p>\r\nPower may be a necessary evil, but it is an evil, and the less we have need of it, the better.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103994,"alt":"","title":"-62572d9177c84--62572d9177c86gen50-joseph 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Brothers Fear a Grudge Match","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Joseph weeps over the weakness inherent in power, over the terrible price that he has paid for 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Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"}]},{"order":10,"id":"40496","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Joseph\u2019s Tears ","post_title":"Joseph\u2019s Tears","slug":"josephs-tears","old_id":"40496","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":35831,"post_title":"Ruth Fogelman","slug":"ruth-fogelman","old_id":"35831","first_name":"Ruth ","last_name":"Fogelman ","description":"Ruth Fogelman was born in England and has lived in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City for most of her life. She is the author of four books. Her poems, articles, short stories and photography have appeared in anthologies and various publications in Israel, USA and India, including Arc, Back to Joy: Little Reminders to Help Us Through Tough Times, The Deronda Review, Prosopisia, Poetica, and the International Literary Review. Ruth holds a Masters Degree from the Creative Writing Program of Bar Ilan University and leads the Pri Hadash Women\u2019s Writing Workshop in Jerusalem. \r\nShe is a member of the Israel Association of Writers in English\r\nVisit her website at http:\/\/jerusalemlives.weebly.com\r\n","short_description":"Ruth Fogelman is a poet, and lives in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":35832,"alt":"","title":"Ruth Fogelman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","width":969,"height":973,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--768x771.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":771,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","large-width":969,"large-height":973,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","1536x1536-width":969,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","2048x2048-width":969,"2048x2048-height":973,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","post_full_size-width":969,"post_full_size-height":973,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"\u2026And Joseph wept when they spoke to him\u201d <\/span><\/i>(Genesis 50:17)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\nWhy can\u2019t I control myself in front of my brothers?
\r\nWhy can\u2019t I restrain my tears,
\r\nor subjugate my emotions like I rule Pharaoh\u2019s servants in this land?<\/p>\r\n
I mastered my inclinations when seductive charms enticed.
\r\nIn years as slave and prisoner, I overcame anger and never cried,
\r\nbut in front of my brothers my tears overflow like winter\u2019s desert streams.<\/p>\r\n
Even after years of their dwelling in this land,
\r\nmy brothers send me messages, a fabrication of my father\u2019s will \u2013
\r\nwill they never speak to me face to face?<\/p>\r\n
Why does this invisible wall divide us?
\r\nAfter all I\u2019ve solved, why can\u2019t I unseal
\r\nthis locked gate?<\/p>\r\n
As a boy, I sought my brothers when they watched my father\u2019s sheep.
\r\nThen, I crossed the Land alone.
\r\nToday I seek them still: still alone, I weep.<\/p>\r\n
From: Ruth Fogelman, <\/span>Leaving the Garden<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":85640,"alt":"","title":"ps77-crying tears","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Joseph\u2019s Tears","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Today I seek them still: still alone, I weep. ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":85640,"alt":"","title":"ps77-crying tears","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps77-crying-tears-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"50","chapter_main_number":"50","date":"20251106","wall_id":"50"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"}]},{"order":11,"id":"40500","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Is Only Joseph Crying for His Father? ","post_title":"Is Only Joseph Crying for His Father?","slug":"is-only-joseph-crying-for-his-father","old_id":"40500","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33942,"post_title":"Hagit Bartuv","slug":"hagit-bartuv","old_id":"33942","first_name":"Hagit","last_name":"Bartuv","description":"Hagit Bartuv is the project and content leader of the Srigim initiative on Israeli moshavim whose goal is to enrich moshavim with more Jewish-Israeli culture. In 2013, as a modern Orthodox woman, she challenged the conversion court in Israel after she refused to accept their demand that she send her adopted child to an ultra-Orthodox pre-school. In the end, the court ruled in her favor and agreed to convert the child even though he would be educated in a secular preschool.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Hagit Bartuv is the project and content leader of the Srigim initiative on Israeli moshavim","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33944,"alt":"","title":"\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea \u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","width":335,"height":335,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","medium_large-width":335,"medium_large-height":335,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","large-width":335,"large-height":335,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","1536x1536-width":335,"1536x1536-height":335,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","2048x2048-width":335,"2048x2048-height":335,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","post_full_size-width":335,"post_full_size-height":335,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":335}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Book of Genesis ends with the death of Jacob\u2019s family ","post_main_content_content":"Is Joseph the only one crying because of his father? \u00a0The festival of mourning for Jacob continues, I estimate, for about half a year. \u00a0Half a year of a continuous, rolling drama of mourning, of a big group that goes to the land of Canaan to bury the father of one of the rulers of Egypt, and on the way, attracts the attention of their Canaanite neighbors.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe great drama of Jacob\u2019s burial stands in contrast to the modest descriptions of his father and grandfather\u2019s deaths. \u00a0In the two latter cases, they are gathered to their ancestors, their two contending sons go together to bury their father: \u00a0Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham and Jacob and Esau bury Isaac.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIn contrast to the modest, intimate portrayal of the death and burial of Abraham and Isaac, all that is associated with Jacob\u2019s burial and the mourning for him seems exaggerated and grotesque. \u00a0There is not one real or intimate moment in the burial of Jacob, except, it seems, the first moment: \u201cJoseph flung himself upon his father\u2019s face and wept over him and kissed him.\u201d (Genesis 50:1). \u00a0One son falls on his dead father and cries.<\/span><\/p>\r\nHowever, in a strange way, only Joseph falls on Jacob\u2019s bed; none of the eleven other brothers standing around their father\u2019s bed join him. \u00a0A closeness and intimacy that are renewed in ordinary families around moments of crisis and mourning does not occur among Jacob\u2019s sons.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSomething too deep is broken there, and now instead of twelve brothers coming together to bury their father, they need a large contingency of people to hide their estrangement and anxiety, something that will blur the great rift that even death could not heal. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Book of Genesis ends with the death of Jacob\u2019s family. \u00a0Perhaps when a family can no longer contain the pain and insult that are part of any intimate relationship, the family becomes a people.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Is Only Joseph Crying for His Father?","tile_main_caption":"The Book of Genesis ends with the death of Jacob\u2019s family. \u00a0Perhaps when a family can no longer contain the pain and insult that are part of any intimate relationship, the family becomes a people.","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"50","chapter_main_number":"50","date":"20251106","wall_id":"50"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"484","name":"Mourning","old_id":"884"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":12,"id":"40502","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Remembering With Advantages: Jacob Retells His Story ","post_title":"Remembering With Advantages: Jacob Retells His Story","slug":"remembering-with-advantages-jacob-retells-his-story","old_id":"40502","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36663,"post_title":"Beth Kissileff","slug":"beth-kissileff","old_id":"36663","first_name":"Beth ","last_name":"Kissileff ","description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (2016 - https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/reading-genesis-9780567381521), and the forthcoming Reading Exodus, and the author of the novel Questioning Return - https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Questioning-Return-Novel-Beth-Kissileff\/dp\/1942134231. \r\nHer journalism appears in many publications; she has taught most recently at the University of Pittsburgh. Visit her online at www.bethkissileff.com. ","short_description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (Bloomsbury\/ T and T Clark, 2016) , a journalist and teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36664,"alt":"","title":"BethKissileff","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","width":3478,"height":3200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-300x276.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":276,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-768x707.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":707,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1024x942.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":942,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1413,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1884,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1200x1104.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1104,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-456x420.jpg","home_baner-width":456,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"From Creation, to bones, to procreation","post_main_content_content":"\u201cThis week\u2019s reading ends the book of Genesis with the death of Joseph,\u201d he continued, \u201cJoseph the righteous. It\u2019s odd to end this book with bones in a coffin. It began with the grandeur of the creation of the universe, and now the last image Genesis offers us is the bones of Joseph. I want to focus on how this image gets us to the next book, the book of Exodus.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWe don\u2019t always know why God puts us in narrow places. Mitzrayim<\/em>, Egypt, literally means narrow, constricting; but even when God puts us into these places, God allows us a way out. Even though Joseph is in this place of immense constriction, he is able to say, on naming his son Ephraim, \u2018God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.\u2019 That paradoxical fertility is the crux of the human condition. For who can say he is in an ideal setting, a place that is not in some way an affliction?<\/span><\/p>\r\n\u201cGenesis ends with a coffin containing the bones of Joseph, yet Exodus begins with births, the swarming and teeming masses of Jews being born--a multiplication on a vaster scale than the fertility amidst affliction of Yosef.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\u201cOne of the differences between father and son is in a chance Jacob has to retell his life story, his personal journey. At the beginning of the portion he blesses all his sons, and then the sons of Joseph. As he is blessing Joseph\u2019s sons, Jacob does something peculiar. He switches his hands so that his right is on the head of the younger and his left on the older. In essence, in this moment, Jacob is re-enacting the primal scene of his life, his wresting of the birthright from his older twin. Jacob\u2019s blessing of his grandsons retells the struggle between himself and Esau as a smooth transition with acceptance by both parties that the younger son of Joseph, Ephraim, should precede the older, Manasseh. In Jacob's new version of his life, there is no enmity between the brothers. He gives the blessing to the one he designates, and they both accept the verdict, without hatred or bloodshed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\u201cThe beauty of history is that it can be shaped with hindsight. Shakespeare, in Henry V, speaks of the ability to \u201cremember with advantages.\u201d In reviewing his life, Jacob reshapes his primal scene of impersonating Esau to gain his father\u2019s blessing and removes the violent urges of the shunned older sibling. Jacob is given the ability to re-envision his life, re-enact it in a new form, much as Joseph is able to tell and retell both his own life and the lives of others through dream interpretation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know what that future is, or how to ultimately decode it. But when the future comes, when we are able to decode our dreams, I hope we will say with Joseph, \u2018God turned it to good.\u2019 The ability to say, whatever happens, God turned it to good, that is my beracha<\/em> for each person here. Shabbat Shalom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n(excerpted from Beth Kissileff, <\/span>Questioning Return<\/span>, <\/span>Mandel Vilar Press, 2016, by courtesy of the author).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Remembering With Advantages: Jacob Retells His Story","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"From Creation, to bones, to procreation","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"50","chapter_main_number":"50","date":"20251106","wall_id":"50"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"523","name":"Joseph","old_id":"923"}]},{"order":13,"id":"40507","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Ruler of Emotions ","post_title":"The Ruler of Emotions","slug":"the-ruler-of-emotions","old_id":"40507","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33962,"post_title":"Yair Zakovitch","slug":"prof-yair-zakovitch","old_id":"33962","first_name":"Yair","last_name":"Zakovitch","description":"Prof. Yair Zakovitch, professor emeritus in biblical studies, held the Father Takeji Otsuki Professor of Bible Studies Chair at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was Professor of Jewish Peoplehood at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Prof. Yair Zakovitch, professor emeritus in biblical studies from the Hebrew University ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33963,"alt":"","title":"\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","width":421,"height":515,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5-245x300.jpg","medium-width":245,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","medium_large-width":421,"medium_large-height":515,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","large-width":421,"large-height":515,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","1536x1536-width":421,"1536x1536-height":515,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","2048x2048-width":421,"2048x2048-height":515,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5.jpg","post_full_size-width":421,"post_full_size-height":515,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d9\u05d0\u05d9\u05e8-\u05d6\u05e7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05e5-343x420.jpg","home_baner-width":343,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Joseph goes out of his way to comfort his sinful brothers","post_main_content_content":"When Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were frightened of him (Genesis 45:4), Joseph reassured them by saying \"I am your brother Joseph, he whom you sold into Egypt. \u00a0Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because you sold me hither; it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you.\u201d (Genesis 45:4-5).<\/span><\/p>\r\nOn the one hand, Joseph does not intend to ignore the ugly act that his brothers have done, and he says twice: \"he whom you sold... because you sold me hither.\u201d \u00a0On the other hand, he makes it clear to them that their action served a bigger Divine plan: \u201cit was to save life that God sent me ahead of you.\" From here one can learn that our world is conducted on two plains and with two sets of laws: \u00a0on the lower plain, the actions and oversights of human beings determine the course of events, but on the upper plane the human actor is integrated into the Divine plan. Here we have an excellent example to illustrate the concept expressed in the Mishna that \"everything is foreseen and free will is given\u201d(Pirkei Avot 3:15).<\/span><\/p>\r\nWith the death of Jacob, the brothers again fear that Joseph will take revenge and they say to him: \u00a0\u201cBefore his death your father left this instruction: So shall you say to Joseph, \u2018Forgive, I urge you, the offense and guilt of your brothers who treated you so harshly.\u2019\u201d (Genesis 50:16-17). \u00a0And Joseph reassures them with words similar to what they said above, when their father was still living: \u201cHave no fear! Am I a substitute for God? Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result\u2014the survival of many people.\u201d (Genesis 50:19-20). \u00a0Again, Joseph does not dress up the brother\u2019s behavior nor to be straight with them: \u201cyou intended me harm,\u201d but he points out again that the actions of his brothers fit into a great Divine plan: \u201cGod intended it for good. <\/span><\/p>\r\nJoseph\u2019s words: \u00a0\u201cAm I a substitute for God?\u201d recall his father\u2019s response to Rachel, Joseph\u2019s mother, when she said to Jacob bitterly, \u201cGive me children, or I shall die.\u201d (Genesis 30:1). \u00a0Jacob said: \u201cCan I take the place of God, who has denied you fruit of the womb?\u201d (Genesis 30:2). Joseph\u2019s words are a type of corrective to his father\u2019s words. Jacob was terribly insensitive to his beloved wife\u2019s distress whereas their son Joseph went out of his way to comfort his sinful brothers. \u00a0Joseph\u2019s words both in Chapter 45 and in our chapter, are a wonderful expression of the opposition to any form of vengeance. Even if we wrong you or offend you, you should forgive and have mercy. Who knows, perhaps the sin they committed against you serves, in the final analysis, some plan that is hidden from you, on the level of \u201cGod intended it for good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Ruler of Emotions","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Joseph goes out of his way to comfort his sinful brothers","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"50","chapter_main_number":"50","date":"20251106","wall_id":"50"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"459","name":"Forgiveness","old_id":"859"},{"term_id":"523","name":"Joseph","old_id":"923"}]},{"order":14,"id":"40498","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Joseph\u2019s Egyptian Funeral ","post_title":"Joseph\u2019s Egyptian Funeral","slug":"josephs-egyptian-funeral","old_id":"40498","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"They sunk his body in a heavy metal sarcophagus in the depths of the Nile, which they were sure we could never recover...","post_main_content_content":"At the very end of the book of Genesis (Chapter 50, verse 26), we are told that Joseph, who had been second-in-command to Pharaoh in Egypt, was embalmed, placed in a coffin and buried, apparently by Egyptian funeral attendants.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe following is my attempt to imagine Joseph\u2019s Egyptian funeral, as might have been recalled by Serah bat Asher, the granddaughter of the patriarch, Jacob. According to rabbinic tradition, Serah was alive at the time of Joseph\u2019s death, since she is said to have spanned the generations from the days of Jacob at least to the Exodus from Egypt (see Mekhilta Beshallah and parallels).<\/span><\/p>\r\nSerah is here revealing where Joseph\u2019s bones might be found, to reinter his remains in fulfillment of Joseph\u2019s deathbed charge that his final resting place be in the family burial site, the cave of Machpelah in Canaan (Genesis 49:29-32).<\/span><\/p>\r\n...Forty days after Joseph died, Pharaoh and his entire royal court, conducted a magnificent funeral procession for this deceased Grand Vizir. The cortege descended to the banks of the Nile. The Egyptian priests placed on the sarcophagus the likeness of a bull, its horns festooned with flowers as if for a festal sacrifice and carried the coffin onto one of Pharaoh's imperial barges. This ship was slowly rowed out onto the river to the sound of hymns sung by Pharaoh's slaves. Finally, the priests sank the bull-headed sarcophagus containing Joseph's mummy into the depths of the Nile. They promised the Egyptian people that the body of this holy man from the captive nation of Israel would provide a blessing to the waters of the Nile. For now, they had forever harnessed in its depths the sacred power that turned the primeval waterwheel causing the Nile to rise each year to inundate the land and renew the fecund silt of Egypt's delta. But we Israelites knew that the real reason was to prevent us from ever leaving this accursed land, for the Egyptian rulers knew that our forefather Joseph had made us swear an oath never to leave without taking his bones with us. And so, they sunk his body in a heavy metal sarcophagus in the depths of the Nile, which they were sure we could never recover.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\r\nTo be continued, when we get to Moses\u2019 recovery of Joseph\u2019s bones (Exodus Chapter 13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n
(image credit: Papyrus of Ani, British Museum\u00a0EA10470,3, CC)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":40518,"alt":"","title":"bregman-50","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","width":688,"height":451,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301-300x197.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":197,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","medium_large-width":688,"medium_large-height":451,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","large-width":688,"large-height":451,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","1536x1536-width":688,"1536x1536-height":451,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","2048x2048-width":688,"2048x2048-height":451,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","post_full_size-width":688,"post_full_size-height":451,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301-641x420.jpg","home_baner-width":641,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Joseph\u2019s Egyptian Funeral","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"They sunk his body in a heavy metal sarcophagus in the depths of the Nile, which they were sure we could never recover...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":40518,"alt":"","title":"bregman-50","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","width":688,"height":451,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301-300x197.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":197,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","medium_large-width":688,"medium_large-height":451,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","large-width":688,"large-height":451,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","1536x1536-width":688,"1536x1536-height":451,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","2048x2048-width":688,"2048x2048-height":451,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301.jpg","post_full_size-width":688,"post_full_size-height":451,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bregman-50-e1537332238301-641x420.jpg","home_baner-width":641,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"50","chapter_main_number":"50","date":"20251106","wall_id":"50"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"523","name":"Joseph","old_id":"923"}]},{"order":15,"id":"40558","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Holy Workout Music ","post_title":"Holy Workout Music","slug":"holy-workout-music","old_id":"40558","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37827,"post_title":"Jackson Mercer","slug":"jackson-mercer","old_id":"37827","first_name":"Jackson ","last_name":"Mercer ","description":"Jackson Mercer is a Shanah Aleph (1st Yr) Rabbinical student at Hebrew College where he is in the first cohort of the Nachshon Project Graduate Fellowship. He grew up in Northern California where he cultivated his love and curiosity of Judaism, specifically Jewish music, at URJ Camp Newman as well as Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael, CA","short_description":"Jackson Mercer is a rabbinical student at Hebrew College","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37828,"alt":"","title":"jackson mercer","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jackson-mercer-e1534259233115.jpg","width":148,"height":198,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jackson-mercer-e1534259233115-148x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":148,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jackson-mercer-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jackson-mercer-e1534259233115.jpg","medium_large-width":148,"medium_large-height":198,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jackson-mercer-e1534259233115.jpg","large-width":148,"large-height":198,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jackson-mercer-e1534259233115.jpg","1536x1536-width":148,"1536x1536-height":198,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jackson-mercer-e1534259233115.jpg","2048x2048-width":148,"2048x2048-height":198,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jackson-mercer-e1534259233115.jpg","post_full_size-width":148,"post_full_size-height":198,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jackson-mercer-e1534259233115.jpg","home_baner-width":148,"home_baner-height":198}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/jackson-mercer ","post_main_content_content":"
After the death of their father, Joseph\u2019s brothers send messengers who plead to him:<\/span><\/p>\r\n\u05d0\u05e0\u05d0 \u05e9\u05d0 \u05e0\u05d0 \u05e4\u05e9\u05e2 \u05d0\u05d7\u05d9\u05da - <\/span>\u201cPlease forgive the transgression of your brothers\u201d (Genesis 50:17) <\/span><\/p>\r\nWhy the use of the <\/span>root<\/span><\/i> \u05e0.\u05e9.\u05d0<\/span>? The messengers here are teaching us three things about teshuva.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThroughout Tanakh, this root is used to describe the action of lifting, most notably with the noun \u05e2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05d9\u05dd (eyes), to lift one\u2019s eyes, or idiomatically, to focus. We see this is Psalm 121, \u201cI lift my eyes to the mountains\u201d. This text places us metaphorically, spiritually, and narratively standing in the desert gazing towards the mountains. We stand in hope, looking towards the place where the highlights of our Jewish journey have occured (The Binding of Isaac, the Burning Bush on Mt. Horeb, the Revelation at Sinai, and the dwelling of God in the First and Second Temple). However we still gaze from afar, not in those mountains and not in those great moments, but from the dryness of the desert. This is a dichotomy the messengers teach us of <\/span>teshuva<\/span><\/i>, the balancing of longing and hope.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFurther, in <\/span>Zera Kodesh<\/span><\/i>, R. Naftali Zvi of Ropshitz taught that at Sinai, what the Jewish people heard as they received Torah was the sound of the Hebrew letter <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>\u05d0<\/span> - a silent consonant). Why? Because God\u2019s famous line \u201cI am the Lord your God\u201d (Exodus 20:2) begins with the letter <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i>. When the character <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i> is written, it is comprised of two <\/span>yuds<\/span><\/i> and a <\/span>vav<\/span><\/i> which, when added together utilizing <\/span>gematria<\/span><\/i> (the mystical numeric system of Hebrew letters) <\/span>aleph <\/span><\/i>shares a value of 26 with the tetragrammaton, God\u2019s holiest name. R. Naftali goes on to say that found in the human face is the letter <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i>, the eyes being the <\/span>yuds<\/span><\/i> and the nose being the <\/span>vav<\/span><\/i>. This is the meaning of the famous phrase \u201cin the image of God, God created the first human\u201d (Genesis 1:27).<\/span><\/p>\r\nThis is further proved in Sanhedrin 37a \u201c[God] stamped all the people with the seal of the primordial Adam, and not one of them is similar to another\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe final point the messengers are teaching us is that the act of <\/span>teshuva <\/span><\/i>is the act of lifting our eyes, despite transgressions, in order to see the <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i>, the stamp of God and holiness in each person. To do the heavy lifting for those who have wronged us.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMay this season of renewal be blessed with sore necks, from lifting our gaze to beautiful mountains and holy people.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMay this niggun be your holy-workout-music to inspire your lifting.<\/span><\/p>\r\nhttps:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/jackson-mercer<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0
\r\nThis teaching is inspired by a drash on this melody, utilizing R. Naftali Zvi\u2019s teaching from my good friend and teacher, Josh Warshawsky.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Melody by Jackson Mercer<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Words by King David (Psalm 121)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Holy Workout Music","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A niggun to lift our gaze, as the brothers request","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/jackson-mercer ","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"50","chapter_main_number":"50","date":"20251106","wall_id":"50"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":16,"id":"40488","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Language of Belief ","post_title":"The Language of Belief","slug":"the-language-of-belief","old_id":"40488","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Word by word, dream by dream, star by star, sheaf","post_main_content_content":"\"And Joseph said unto them [his brothers], 'Do not fear; am I in place of God? You thought to do me harm, but God intended it for good, to bring it to pass, as it is this day, that many people may be given life.\" (Genesis 50:19-20)<\/p>\r\n
Teach me, Joseph, the language of belief
\r\nYou taught your brothers' children week by week,
\r\nDespite the pit; you showed them how to speak
\r\nWord by word, dream by dream, star by star, sheaf
\r\nBy sheaf, sunset by moonrise, joy by grief.
\r\nTeach me to fly to summits of faith, peak
\r\nBy peak, eagle by falcon, wing by beak,
\r\nAnd build a nest, leaf by twig, twig by leaf.<\/p>\r\n
Teach me, Joseph, how to pardon brothers,
\r\nCurse by curse, spit by spit; how to forgive
\r\nA torn coat, a haughty sneer, an angry scream.
\r\nTeach me to love \u2014 to love the way mothers
\r\nLove a new born child; teach me how to live
\r\nCompassion. Teach me, Joseph, how to dream.<\/p>\r\n
image: Owen Jones from \"The History of Joseph and His Brethren\" (Day & Son, 1869)\/ wikipedia PD<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104000,"alt":"","title":"-6257316c20d47--6257316c20d49gen50-joseph's dreams owen 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- The Hebrew Corner - Gen 50 ","post_title":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 50","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-50","old_id":"40542","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"50","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u05d2\u05de\u05dc - Gamal - Treat\/Repay\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"
50:15 - When Joseph\u2019s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, \u201cWhat if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrong <\/span>asher gamalnu <\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>that we did him!\u201d
\r\n<\/span>17: So shall you say to Joseph, \u2018Forgive, I urge you, the offense and guilt of your brothers <\/span>ki ra'ah gemaluch<\/em> <\/span>who treated you so harshly.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\r\nFrom the above examples and their translations, we might think that the words \u201cgamlanu\/ gemaluch<\/em>,\u201d from the root \u05d2-\u05de-\u05dc, g-m-l<\/em>, means simply doing something to someone, to treat them in a particular way. But the root <\/span>g<\/span>-<\/span>m<\/span>-<\/span>l<\/span><\/em> denotes something like \u201crequite\u201d or \u201crecompense,\u201d an action, positive or negative, that comes as a response. So the brothers here seem to be actually subtly admitting that they indeed treated Joseph badly in response to Joseph\u2019s behavior.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThere are actually three different <\/span>g<\/span>-<\/span>m<\/span>-<\/span>l<\/span><\/em> roots. The first refers to a camel, from whose shape we also get the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, gimel<\/em>. The second relates to the Hebrew <\/span>gamar<\/span><\/em>, \"finished,\" gives us<\/span> gemila<\/span><\/em>, meaning \"weaned from,\" and refers to anything from weaning and \u00a0toilet training to rehabilitation.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe third root is the one used in this chapter, and gives us all kinds of positive things, including <\/span>gemilut chassadim<\/span><\/em>, \"acts of loving kindness,\" <\/span>birkat hagomel<\/span><\/em>, \"the blessing for receiving divine generosity or grace\" and <\/span>