{"id":78678,"date":"2020-05-05T14:54:44","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T11:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/book-torah-genesis\/"},"modified":"2024-06-16T12:22:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T09:22:16","slug":"book-torah-genesis","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/book-torah-genesis\/","title":{"rendered":"book-Torah-Genesis"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"book","wall_id":"2001","date":"20180921","books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"\u05e1\u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05dd \u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","updates_last_update":"11\/08\/2020","date_from":"20180916","date_to":"20180922","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"71826","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"24 in 24: Genesis ","post_title":"24 in 24: Genesis","slug":"24-in-24-genesis","old_id":"71826","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36147,"post_title":"Aaron Koller","slug":"aaron-koller","old_id":"36147","first_name":"Aaron","last_name":"Koller","description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, where he is chair of the Beren Department of Jewish Studies. His last book was Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press), and his next is Unbinding Isaac: The Akedah in Jewish Thought (forthcoming from JPS\/University of Nebraska Press in 2020); he is also the author of numerous studies in Semitic philology. Aaron has served as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and held research fellowships at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and the Hartman Institute. He lives in Queens, NY with his wife, Shira Hecht-Koller, and their children.","short_description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, and chair of the Department of Jewish Studies there.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36148,"alt":"","title":"AJ Koller headshot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","width":5184,"height":3456,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"437","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What Is \"24 in 24\"?","post_main_content_content":"

In an effort to bring more Torah content to your homes and devices, we are pleased to announce this new initiative.<\/p>\r\n

There are 24 hours in a day, 24 books of Tanakh and \u2013 counting from Monday \u2013 24 days until Pesach. Count up with us at 929!<\/p>\r\n

3.5 years to complete all of Tanakh might feel a bit long. If you are ready to dive into some of the later books of Tanakh, \u201c24 in 24\u201d is for you.<\/p>\r\n

Starting on Monday the 16th<\/sup> of March (click here to see all the videos to date<\/a>), alongside our daily chapter, we will be starting a parallel learning cycle, with the goal of working our way through all 24 books of Tanakh over the next 24 days. Drawing from our community of educators and writers, each day, here on the site, in our daily newsletter and through our social media channels we will be sharing a 20-30 minute video exploring a resonant theme in each of the 24 books of Tanakh, starting with Bereishit\/Genesis on Monday March 16, and ending with Divrei Hayamim\/Chronicles.<\/p>\r\n

Join us for this journey in text \u2013 from the comfort (and appropriately socially distanced semi-isolation) of your own home!<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fnCwCV8zzYA?list=PLJ2vWliZqg0CF4iFnvfuo10Hn4VmnKrK4","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"24 in 24","tile_main_caption":"#1 Genesis - The Place of Humans in the Cosmos","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with: Aaron Koller","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fnCwCV8zzYA?list=PLJ2vWliZqg0CF4iFnvfuo10Hn4VmnKrK4","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":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"37","chapter_main_number":"437","date":"20270503","wall_id":"437"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"332","name":"24 in 24","old_id":"732"}]},{"order":2,"id":"40665","color":"#f6f5de","size":"2","name":"Genesis 46-50: The Weekly Video Summary and Overview ","post_title":"Genesis 46-50: The Weekly Video Summary and Overview","slug":"genesis-46-50-the-weekly-video-summary-and-overview","old_id":"40665","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2001","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

https:\/\/youtu.be\/RTKLA8Qma1A<\/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 Whiteboard Library","tile_main_caption":"Genesis 46-50: The Weekly Video Summary and Overview","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/RTKLA8Qma1A","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":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":"20180921","wall_id":"2001"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"40627","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Genesis: A Spoken Summing Up ","post_title":"Genesis: A Spoken Summing Up","slug":"genesis-a-spoken-summing-up","old_id":"40627","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39068,"post_title":"Ruthie Yudelson","slug":"ruthie-yudelson","old_id":"39068","first_name":"Ruthie","last_name":"Yudelson","description":"Rue Yudelson is a Junior at SAR HS in Riverdale, where she first began to write slam poetry. She has won various Yeshiva League slam poetry awards, and is the captain of the SAR poetry team. She is also an alum of Drisha's Dr. Beth Samuels High School Program, and is very grateful to 929 for giving her a space to combine her love of Torah and her love of the spoken word.","short_description":"Rue Yudelson is a Junior at SAR HS in Riverdale, where she first began to write slam poetry. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39069,"alt":"","title":"ruthie yudelson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthie-yudelson-e1535868569585.jpg","width":740,"height":783,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthie-yudelson-e1535868569585-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthie-yudelson-e1535868569585-284x300.jpg","medium-width":284,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthie-yudelson-576x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":576,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthie-yudelson-576x1024.jpg","large-width":576,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthie-yudelson-e1535868569585.jpg","1536x1536-width":740,"1536x1536-height":783,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthie-yudelson-e1535868569585.jpg","2048x2048-width":740,"2048x2048-height":783,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthie-yudelson-675x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":675,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthie-yudelson-e1535868569585-397x420.jpg","home_baner-width":397,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2001","type_929":"4","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","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 Slam","tile_main_caption":"Genesis: A Spoken Summing Up","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Student Corner","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":40663,"alt":"","title":"\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea.jpg","width":465,"height":348,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea.jpg","medium_large-width":465,"medium_large-height":348,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea.jpg","large-width":465,"large-height":348,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea.jpg","1536x1536-width":465,"1536x1536-height":348,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea.jpg","2048x2048-width":465,"2048x2048-height":348,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea.jpg","post_full_size-width":465,"post_full_size-height":348,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d1\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05ea.jpg","home_baner-width":465,"home_baner-height":348}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/ruthie-yudelson-siyyum-slam","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"https:\/\/parashotbereshit.weebly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/3\/2\/5\/13250620\/2932317_orig.jpg","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":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":"20180921","wall_id":"2001"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"40660","color":"#efefef","size":"2","name":"To 120 ","post_title":"To 120","slug":"to-120","old_id":"40660","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2001","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

You wake up in the morning and discover you've been added to the what'sapp group: \"Thusy's 845th<\/sup> Birthday Celebration Plans.\" The extended family, including those lovely Caphtorim and Kisluchim, are looking for an original present for Methuselah's birthday. \"So what do you think,\" says one of the aunties, \"maybe we should get him a vacation package in Shinar?\"<\/p>\r\n

\"No way,\" answers one of the young cousins, only 324 years old, \"we were there with him just 230 years ago. He'll be bummed to go back to the same place so soon. Don't you remember how noisy and annoying that gang of kids was, the ones who were celebrating the 85th<\/sup> birthday of their friend who was just discharged?\"<\/p>\r\n

\"I suggest we begin to celebrate his birthdays only on the round number ones, you know, every 50 years,\" says the uncle, who hates parties. \"Sure, Pops,\" his daughter chimes in, \"You would say that now, just when we celebrated your 699th<\/sup>.\"<\/p>\r\n

We can't know if what'sapp groups were part of the divine plan for Creation, but apparently, the blessed God has shown great lovingkindness to us, when he limited the human life span to 120. After all, how many Seinfeld reruns can one person watch in a lifetime?<\/p>\r\n

By: Ariel Schnabel<\/p>\r\n

Infographic by: Roni Levit<\/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 Genesis Infographic","tile_main_caption":"To 120","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"You should live soooo long!?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":40661,"alt":"","title":"120-Gen summ","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/120-Gen-summ.jpg","width":1181,"height":1890,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/120-Gen-summ-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/120-Gen-summ-187x300.jpg","medium-width":187,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/120-Gen-summ-640x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/120-Gen-summ-640x1024.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/120-Gen-summ.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/120-Gen-summ.jpg","2048x2048-width":1181,"2048x2048-height":1890,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/120-Gen-summ-750x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":750,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/120-Gen-summ-262x420.jpg","home_baner-width":262,"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":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":"20180921","wall_id":"2001"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"40630","color":"#f2e9df","size":"2","name":"The Mood ","post_title":"The Mood","slug":"the-mood","old_id":"40630","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2001","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

 <\/p>\r\n

What would you like to watch tonight? A heart-rending drama, or a hysterical comedy? According to Genesis, the answer is clear: the tears beat out the laughs, by a long-shot.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

There are 14 instances of weeping over the course of the book's 50 chapters, as compared with only 3 of laughter. And no, we are not counting those who \"metzachek\" (a word with sexual connotations \u2013 see Gen 26:8) \u2013 that belongs to a different film genre, for adults only.<\/p>\r\n

Whoever still wants to have a few laughs, just know that they come with a sort of traveler's warning from God, like: \"Why did Sarah laugh!?\"<\/p>\r\n

And if you thought that Genesis is especially stingy with laughter and zany antics, well, not really. If you search for laughs in the rest of the Tanakh, you might end up in tears. The word \"laugh\/laughter\" in the lighter sense, doesn't appear even once in the rest of the Tanakh. We couldn't even find a smile.<\/p>\r\n

And if we're on the subject of feelings, it's worth noting that Genesis mentions eight characters who are loved, and only four who are hated. But if you read the whole book, with all its plot twists, intrigues, and vendettas, could justifiably reach the conclusion that in this case \u2013 the table is very misleading.<\/p>\r\n

By: Ariel Schnabel<\/p>\r\n

Infographic by: Roni Levit<\/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 Genesis Infographic","tile_main_caption":"The Mood","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Many Tears, Little Laughter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":40658,"alt":"","title":"the mood-gen-summ","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/the-mood-gen-summ.jpg","width":1181,"height":1890,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/the-mood-gen-summ-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/the-mood-gen-summ-187x300.jpg","medium-width":187,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/the-mood-gen-summ-640x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/the-mood-gen-summ-640x1024.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/the-mood-gen-summ.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/the-mood-gen-summ.jpg","2048x2048-width":1181,"2048x2048-height":1890,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/the-mood-gen-summ-750x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":750,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/the-mood-gen-summ-262x420.jpg","home_baner-width":262,"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":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":"20180921","wall_id":"2001"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"40459","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Nepotism ","post_title":"Power Is Cyclical","slug":"nepotism","old_id":"40459","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40453,"post_title":"Ruth Balinsky Friedman","slug":"ruth-balinsky-friedman","old_id":"40453","first_name":"Ruth Balinsky ","last_name":"Friedman ","description":"Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman is a member of the inaugural class of Yeshivat Maharat. She has served as the Maharat at Ohev Sholom - The National Synagogue\u00ae in Washington, DC for the past 5 years.","short_description":"Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman is a member of the inaugural class of Yeshivat Maharat. She has served as the Maharat at Ohev Sholom - The National Synagogue\u00ae in Washington, DC for the past 5 years.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40456,"alt":"","title":"ruthbalinskyfriedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthbalinskyfriedman-e1537251024922.jpeg","width":289,"height":327,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthbalinskyfriedman-e1537251024922-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthbalinskyfriedman-e1537251024922-265x300.jpeg","medium-width":265,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthbalinskyfriedman-e1537251024922.jpeg","medium_large-width":289,"medium_large-height":327,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthbalinskyfriedman-e1537251024922.jpeg","large-width":289,"large-height":327,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthbalinskyfriedman-e1537251024922.jpeg","1536x1536-width":289,"1536x1536-height":327,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthbalinskyfriedman-e1537251024922.jpeg","2048x2048-width":289,"2048x2048-height":327,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthbalinskyfriedman-e1537251024922.jpeg","post_full_size-width":289,"post_full_size-height":327,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/ruthbalinskyfriedman-263x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":263,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"47","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Egyptians are starving, though the Israelites are safe. For now\u2026.","post_main_content_content":"

A family torn apart by betrayal and famine finally finds refuge in a foreign land. Pharaoh welcomes them with open arms and commands them to settle in the best parcel of land Egypt has to offer. Bread is in abundance. The brothers are no longer fighting. The decades of turmoil and fear that have carried us through multiple chapters of Genesis are finally put to rest. We all breathe a collective sigh of relief.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But as we soon learn, our respite from harm is not as poetic as it seems. A foreign patriarch and his descendants are safe in Egypt, but the natives are starving. In desperation they approach the man that Pharaoh has appointed to do his bidding. The most powerful representative of the fledgling Israelite nation has not yet had to learn his people\u2019s core ethical principle - you must always treat others the way that you want to be treated. And so, rather than protect the vulnerable in his midst, he seizes an opportunity to capitalize on them. By the end of the famine, the Egyptians have transformed from <\/span>independent farmers into Pharaoh\u2019s serfs. They have enslaved themselves in order to survive, while the ancestors of the Jewish people look away, quietly enjoying their abundance. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Soon our ancestors will learn the lesson that our sages took for granted - power is always cyclical. As the commentator Bechor Shor bravely comments, it is precisely the Israelites\u2019 immunity from Joseph\u2019s cruel treatment of the Egyptians that leads the latter to enslave the former a few generations later. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cLove the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt,\u201d declares our God. Just because you have money or power does not mean that you should act as though you deserve it. We must always remember that our vulnerability could reappear at any moment. Power is always cyclical.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103894,"alt":"","title":"-62542d9e22a1c--62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle circle process.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1152,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-300x180.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-768x461.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":461,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-1024x614.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":614,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":922,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1152,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-1200x720.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-700x420.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"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":"Power Is Cyclical","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Egyptians are starving, though the Israelites are safe. For now\u2026.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":103894,"alt":"","title":"-62542d9e22a1c--62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle circle process.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1152,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-300x180.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-768x461.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":461,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-1024x614.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":614,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":922,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1152,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-1200x720.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62542d9e22a1c-62542d9e22a1dgen47-cycle-circle-process.jpg-700x420.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"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":"47","chapter_main_number":"47","date":"20251103","wall_id":"47"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"}]},{"order":7,"id":"40166","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Economic Consolidation, Courtesy of Joseph ","post_title":"Economic Consolidation, Courtesy Of Joseph","slug":"economic-consolidation-courtesy-of-joseph","old_id":"40166","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39778,"post_title":"Aliza Libman Baronofsky","slug":"aliza-libman-baronofsky","old_id":"39778","first_name":"Aliza Libman ","last_name":"Baronofsky ","description":"Aliza Libman Baronofsky is a first-year student in the Advanced Kollel at Yeshivat Maharat and teaches at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, in Rockville, MD. She studied Tanach at Midreshet Lindenbaum and York University and previously taught Tanach and math at the Maimonides School in Brookline, MA. Aliza is the creator of www.chumashandmath.blogspot.com, a repository of interdisciplinary lesson plans. ","short_description":"Aliza Libman Baronofsky is a student in the Advanced Kollel at Yeshivat Maharat and teaches at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, in Rockville, MD. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39779,"alt":"","title":"aliza baronofsky","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky.jpg","width":1425,"height":1794,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-238x300.jpg","medium-width":238,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-768x967.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":967,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-813x1024.jpg","large-width":813,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky.jpg","1536x1536-width":1220,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky.jpg","2048x2048-width":1425,"2048x2048-height":1794,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-953x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":953,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-334x420.jpg","home_baner-width":334,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"47","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A servile population and a centralized economic system help us understand how Pharaoh enslaved the fledgling Jewish nation","post_main_content_content":"

Joseph\u2019s visionary leadership created the economic conditions that enabled his descendants\u2019 slavery, we discover in chapter 47.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It appears that during the years of surplus, Joseph amassed great wealth on behalf of Pharaoh (Gen. 41:47-49). Pharaoh owns all of the stored grain, so Joseph sells it to the Egyptian people during the famine. The people \u2013 formerly farmers \u2013 need money to buy it. Without crops of their own to sell, their situation becomes more desperate over the course of the famine. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When the Egyptian farmers run out of money, they sell their livestock to Pharaoh in exchange for food. The following year, the Egyptians have no livestock and must sell their land to Pharaoh in exchange for food. Put another way, Pharaoh gains control of the means of production in the entire land of Egypt. (A notable exception are the Egyptian priests, who get a designated amount of food and don\u2019t need to sell their land.) Now the ordinary Egyptians continue to work their own land in exchange for a set percentage of its crops.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Before enslaving the Jewish people, Pharaoh \u2013 at the hands of Joseph \u2013 enslaves, in a manner of speaking the Egyptian people. Do the ordinary Egyptians come to know Joseph is a Jew? Do they come to resent him taking from them their independence? Do they resent the more independent Jewish shepherds residing in neighboring Goshen? The text does not tell us. But a servile population and a centralized economic system help us understand how, when the time came, Pharaoh is able to, in a few short steps, first enslave and then begin to murder the fledgling Jewish nation.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103880,"alt":"","title":"-625421c320399--625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank money economy.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1152,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-300x180.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-768x461.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":461,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-1024x614.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":614,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":922,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1152,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-1200x720.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-700x420.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"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":"Economic Consolidation, Courtesy Of Joseph","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A servile population and a centralized economic system help us understand how Pharaoh enslaved the fledgling Jewish nation","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":103880,"alt":"","title":"-625421c320399--625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank money economy.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1152,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-300x180.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-768x461.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":461,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-1024x614.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":614,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":922,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1152,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-1200x720.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625421c320399-625421c32039agen48-piggy-bank-money-economy.jpg-700x420.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"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":"47","chapter_main_number":"47","date":"20251103","wall_id":"47"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"438","name":"Slavery","old_id":"838"},{"term_id":"592","name":"Economy","old_id":"992"}]},{"order":8,"id":"40231","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Joseph: Saviour and Slaver ","post_title":"Joseph: Saviour and Slaver","slug":"joseph-saviour-and-slaver","old_id":"40231","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37918,"post_title":"Shai Held","slug":"shai-held","old_id":"37918","first_name":" Shai ","last_name":"Held","description":"Rabbi Shai Held, theologian, scholar, and educator, is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar, where he also directs the Center for Jewish Leadership and Ideas. A 2011 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education, Rabbi Held has been named multiple times to Newsweek\u2019s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. He holds a doctorate in religion from Harvard; Rabbi Held's first book, Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence, was published by Indiana University Press in 2013; The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes, was published by JPS in 2017.","short_description":"Rabbi Shai Held is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar,","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37919,"alt":"","title":"shai held","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","width":150,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"47","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Torah passionately prohibits the Israelites from doing to one another what Joseph does to the Egyptian people","post_main_content_content":"

Sometimes the line between heroism and cruelty can be difficult to discern. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Faced with severe famine, Joseph brings the Egyptians back from the brink of starvation, and, at the same time, enslaves them. First, Joseph takes possession of the Egyptian\u2019s fields; then he takes a fifth of everything they own for Pharaoh (47:25); finally, he makes them slaves (<\/span>avadim<\/span><\/em>). In so doing, he runs afoul of the Torah's vision of how an ideal society should function. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

How does Joseph understand his own behavior? Earlier, Joseph had told his brothers that \u201cit was to save life (<\/span>la-mihyah<\/span><\/em>) that God sent me ahead\u201d (45:5). When the Egyptians thank Joseph, they use strikingly reminiscent language: \u201cYou have saved our lives (<\/span>hehiyitanu<\/span><\/em>)!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

But how does the Torah view Joseph\u2019s enslavement of the Egyptians? Commenting on Joseph\u2019s decision to remove the Egyptian populace from their homes (47:21), Rashbam compares Joseph\u2019s actions to the Assyrian King Sennacherib\u2019s (2 Kings 18:32). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is Rashbam subtly condemning condemning Joseph\u2019s actions? Or is he merely explaining (one aspect) of what Joseph did by comparing his actions to those of another biblical figure? It is difficult to know.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And yet I wonder. The ironic turns in the text are intense and powerful and thus require explanation: Brought to Egypt as a slave, Joseph now becomes Egypt\u2019s enslaver. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And soon enough, a new Pharaoh rises and, in the words of Jon Levenson, \u201cthe House of Israel [finds] themselves once again on the wrong end of the enslavement process.\u201d Joseph displays remarkable administrative prowess, but he unleashes forces that eventually end up oppressing and degrading his own people. It is hard to imagine that the Torah makes no moral judgment at all on Joseph\u2019s setting this destructive process in motion. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

When the Torah imagines Israel\u2019s life in the land, it prohibits the permanent selling of land (Leviticus 25:23) and limits slavery to a limit of six years (Deuteronomy 15:12); permanent enslavement is unthinkable. In other words, the Torah passionately prohibits the Israelites from doing to one another what Joseph does to the Egyptian people as a whole. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is something to be said for administrative aptitude, but it is sobering to realize that it can be coupled with profound short-sightedness. It is also a great virtue to behave honestly and honorably with our superiors. But the greatest test of character may lie elsewhere\u2014in the empathy we display towards those who stand powerless before us. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":40272,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_238068115","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115.jpg","width":3000,"height":2385,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-300x239.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":239,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-768x611.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":611,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-1024x814.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":814,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1221,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1628,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-1200x954.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":954,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-528x420.jpg","home_baner-width":528,"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: Saviour and Slaver","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Torah passionately prohibits the Israelites from doing to one another what Joseph does to the Egyptian people","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":40272,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_238068115","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115.jpg","width":3000,"height":2385,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-300x239.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":239,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-768x611.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":611,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-1024x814.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":814,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1221,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1628,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-1200x954.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":954,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_238068115-528x420.jpg","home_baner-width":528,"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":"47","chapter_main_number":"47","date":"20251103","wall_id":"47"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"436","name":"Morality","old_id":"836"},{"term_id":"438","name":"Slavery","old_id":"838"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"523","name":"Joseph","old_id":"923"}]},{"order":9,"id":"39972","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"Was the Land of Israel the Birthplace of the Jewish People? ","post_title":"Was The Land Of Israel The Birthplace Of The Jewish People?","slug":"was-the-land-of-israel-the-birthplace-of-the-jewish-people","old_id":"39972","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39783,"post_title":"David Menachem","slug":"david-menachem","old_id":"39783","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Menachem","description":"Rabbi David Menachem is a musician, author, and paytan (poet in the style of medieval religious poetry called piyutim). He is a graduate of both an Ashkenazi haredi yeshiva and the Zionist Mercaz Harav Yeshiva and is best known as a performer of Sephardi liturgical songs and for his interfaith work with Muslims.","short_description":"Rabbi David Menachem is a musician, author, and paytan (poet in the style of medieval religious poetry called piyutim).","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":1284,"alt":"","title":"\u00a9\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05dd \u05d0\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d3\u05e8\u05e2\u05d9","caption":"\u00a9\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05dd \u05d0\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d3\u05e8\u05e2\u05d9","description":"\u00a9\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05dd \u05d0\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d3\u05e8\u05e2\u05d9","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","width":366,"height":419,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930-262x300.jpg","medium-width":262,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","medium_large-width":366,"medium_large-height":419,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","large-width":366,"large-height":419,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","1536x1536-width":366,"1536x1536-height":419,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","2048x2048-width":366,"2048x2048-height":419,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","post_full_size-width":366,"post_full_size-height":419,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","home_baner-width":366,"home_baner-height":419}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"46","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"...as Israel\u2019s Declaration of Independence declares?","post_main_content_content":"

I was certain that our nation, about which God spoke with my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac, would be born in the land of Canaan. That is what I found written in the Declaration of Independence \u201cThe Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yesterday, God appeared to me in a night vision, and said to me: \u201cJacob, don\u2019t be shocked by what I am about to tell you. The people about whom I spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and to you will be born in the land of Egypt and not in the land of Israel. You and your children and your entire family are following Joseph to the land of Egypt just as seed is attracted to the womb. \u00a0You are the seed and Egypt is the womb. You will develop there day by day. You will increase and multiply until it is time for your birth. Your reality in the womb will be very disturbing to the entire body of Egypt. They will fear that you are going to take over.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The day will come when you will leave there. More correctly, you will be born there and you will then leave. And like every birth, it will be accompanied by blood. The placenta will leave after you until I tear it from you at the Sea of Reeds. There the work of my midwives will end. \u201cI Myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I Myself will also bring you back\u201d (Genesis 46:4).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Now I understand Joseph\u2019s dream that I kept in my heart all these years. All of us, I, his mother and brothers are bowing down and are drawn to go down after him to Egypt. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are entering the first stages of pregnancy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Cover illustration taken from: main.knesset.gov.il\/About\/History\/PublishingImages\/megilat.png)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":39973,"alt":"","title":"megilat atzmaut","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","width":258,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-109x300.png","medium-width":109,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","medium_large-width":258,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","large-width":258,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","1536x1536-width":258,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","2048x2048-width":258,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","post_full_size-width":258,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-153x420.png","home_baner-width":153,"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":"Was The Land Of Israel The Birthplace Of The Jewish People?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"...as Israel\u2019s Declaration of Independence declares?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":39973,"alt":"","title":"megilat atzmaut","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","width":258,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-109x300.png","medium-width":109,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","medium_large-width":258,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","large-width":258,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","1536x1536-width":258,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","2048x2048-width":258,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-e1536927632246.png","post_full_size-width":258,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/megilat-atzmaut-153x420.png","home_baner-width":153,"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":"46","chapter_main_number":"46","date":"20251102","wall_id":"46"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"469","name":"Egypt","old_id":"869"},{"term_id":"539","name":"Israel","old_id":"939"}]},{"order":10,"id":"40416","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Why Does Jacob Prefer Ephraim? ","post_title":"Why Does Jacob Prefer Ephraim?","slug":"why-does-jacob-prefer-ephraim","old_id":"40416","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":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Greater are the blessings of a child (Ephraim) who remembers the past and future of which he is a part","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob asks Joseph to bring his children near so that he can bless them. What follows next is described in painstaking detail:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He blessed them that day, saying: \u201cIn your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: \u2018May G-d make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.\u2019\u201d So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. (48: 13-14, 17-20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is not difficult to understand the care Joseph took to ensure that Jacob would bless the firstborn first. Three times his father had set the younger before the elder, and each time it had resulted in tragedy. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob knew two things. He knew that the stay of his family in Egypt would not be a short one. The other thing Jacob knew was his grandsons\u2019 names, Manasseh and Ephraim. The combination of these two facts was enough.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh, saying, \u201cIt is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father\u2019s household.\u201d The second son he named Ephraim, saying, \u201cIt is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.\u201d (41: 50-52) The past was a bitter memory he sought to remove from his mind. But as time passed, Joseph began to feel quite different emotions. By the time his second son was born, Joseph had undergone a profound change of heart. By calling him Ephraim, he was remembering what, when Manasseh was born, he was trying to forget: who he was, where he came from, where he belonged.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob sought to signal to all future generations that there would be a constant tension between the desire to forget (to assimilate, acculturate, anaesthetize the hope of a return) and the promptings of memory (the knowledge that this is \u201cexile,\u201d that we are part of another story, that ultimate home is somewhere else). The child of forgetting (Manasseh) may have blessings. But greater are the blessings of a child (Ephraim) who remembers the past and future of which he is a part.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68813,"alt":"","title":"is65-past-memory","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory.jpg","width":1920,"height":752,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-300x118.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":118,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-768x301.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":301,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-1024x401.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":401,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":602,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":752,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-1200x470.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":470,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-1072x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1072,"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":"Why Does Jacob Prefer Ephraim?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Greater are the blessings of a child (Ephraim) who remembers the past and future of which he is a part","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68813,"alt":"","title":"is65-past-memory","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory.jpg","width":1920,"height":752,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-300x118.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":118,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-768x301.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":301,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-1024x401.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":401,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":602,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":752,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-1200x470.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":470,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-1072x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1072,"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":"48","chapter_main_number":"48","date":"20251104","wall_id":"48"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"405","name":"Memory","old_id":"805"},{"term_id":"504","name":"Blessing","old_id":"904"}]},{"order":11,"id":"40472","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"Jacob the Pluralist ","post_title":"Jacob the Pluralist","slug":"jacob-the-pluralist","old_id":"40472","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":"49","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Jacob overcomes the zero-sum game of chosenness and rejection that has characterized all of Genesis","post_main_content_content":"

The idea that the blessings do not determine the future, but merely describe it (developed in yesterday's chapter), is reinforced by Jacob in chapter 49. \"Gather, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the end of days.\" If so, what's the point? His words would seem to have no prescriptive value, both because they speak of the distant future, and because they are, like a good horoscope, so vague that the listener can always retroactively impose the interpretation that best suits them.<\/p>\r\n

There are two explicit prescriptions which Jacob charges to his sons, and they are important enough that they are each repeated twice. At the end of his days, Jacob's great challenge is to leave his sons with two things they must do: gather, and listen.<\/p>\r\n

The fact that Jacob gathers all twelve sons together to bless them, quite in contrast to his own experience, is already a powerful message. Whatever he will say to each son, each one is present, blessed, chosen. This is the moment when Jacob overcomes the zero-sum game of chosenness and rejection that has characterized all of Genesis, and the moment that Bnei Yisrael, the Children of Israel, as an entity can be born.<\/p>\r\n

But gathering (he'asfu<\/em>) alone can't accomplish that. In order to come together (hikavtzu<\/em>), the brothers also need to listen carefully to Jacob, and to hear that each brother has his unique place and role. The only way to overcome the destructive competition to be \"the chosen one\" is to articulate a vision in which there are many ways to be chosen. But even this is not enough, because even diversity can be constructed within easy, comfortable parameters. And so Jacob's vision, first and foremost, finds a place for the most destructive, problematic forces within the big tent of chosenness, rather than taking the easy route of achieving.<\/p>\r\n

This is the profound, and unabashedly pluralistic<\/em>, message of twelve tribes.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":99078,"alt":"","title":"1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"Jacob the Pluralist","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Jacob overcomes the zero-sum game of chosenness and rejection that has characterized all of Genesis","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":99078,"alt":"","title":"1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-Washington_E_Pluribus_Unum-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"49","chapter_main_number":"49","date":"20251105","wall_id":"49"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"425","name":"Pluralism","old_id":"825"},{"term_id":"504","name":"Blessing","old_id":"904"}]},{"order":12,"id":"40502","color":"#effaea","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\n

We 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"}]}],"chapter":"","chapter_main_number":"","link_teaser":"","listen_link":"","other_title":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/78678"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}