Coming into the New Year, I thought I’d begin by actually sharing some insights from Torah. I know its a bit of a radical idea, a rabbi sharing thoughts from scripture, but there are two readings that sit with me and we did not have a chance to meet in person to discuss them. But I’m hoping my thoughts will percolate with you and when we are together, we can compare notes and thoughts.
The first is we begin the 2nd book of Torah, known in English (although clearly the word is Greek in origin) Exodus or in the Hebrew שמות-“Names” or Shemot. The Book of Exodus begins, “These are the names of the Children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob…”. Oh one more piece of information you should know, parsha Shemot is my Bar Mitzvah parsha from way back in 1971 at Temple Beth Ami in Reseda, CA. In a teaching I recall hearing but cannot fairly and certainly attribute who taught me, we are told the parsha we read on our Bar Mitzvah is linked to us for our lifetime. We read the names of the Children of Israel, so that we can recall and remember them always. It is important to remember each and every one of them. Judaism holds that memory is very important for us. Memory is so important we observe a Yizkor service 4 times a year and we observe the Yahrzeit of a loved one. So, my parsha is all about memory and remembering. In many ways for me, this has held true in my life. I remember the world of Temple Beth Ami and growing up in that world and the people who inhabited that world. And yet…. I have to confess something. I have been given many blessings and talents. But one talent I simply don’t have is the ability to remember names. A face I can recall easily. But names? I have to share, names elude me often. To that point, I need your help. If I fumble and stumble and don’t get a name correct, that’s on me. Help me out and when I make an error, let me down easy and correct me. It may take me an attempt or two but I want to get everyone’s name correct. My mom taught me and my brothers, “the nicest thing you can call someone is their name”. And as always, mom was right. Truly the nicest thing to call someone is their name, because it shows that they matter to you. Everyone in our community matters to me, help me live the teaching of my mom.
The other text that truly captures me is from Genesis in parsha Vayeshev. It is the start of the narrative of Joseph and his brothers and family jealousy run amuck. We are all familiar with the basics of the narrative. Joseph is the most beloved son of Jacob and his brothers are more than jealous and envious of his status and the special treatment given him by Jacob, their father. So elevated is their upset with Joseph is the brothers come to hate him and can’t be around him. In the normal course of business, the brothers take the family flocks a distance for new pasturelands. Jacob, despite knowing that Joseph would be in danger around his brothers, sends Joseph to find his brothers and the flocks after a time. The brothers and flocks have wandered a significant distance. Joseph goes in search of them but cannot find them. Then in Genesis Chapter 37, verses 12-17, we have a true turning point in Jewish history. Joseph can’t find his brothers, but he finds a “man” who askes Joseph, “what do you seek”? In the text Joseph does not identify himself but says he seeks his brothers and this “man” points him in the right direction. And in that sending Joseph out, the “man” puts Joseph in harms way and Joseph begins the steps that will take him to slavery in Egypt and from there to reaching the heights of power in Egypt, 2nd only to Pharaoh. This “man” without a name is major game changer in Jewish history. And yet his part is only a few words and he is forgotten, but my friends, he is the catalyst for advancing Jewish history. It’s clear to say, the “man” sent Joseph to his destination and destiny. So first question, who is this “man”?? Our Supercommentator Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhak, better known as RASHI offers an idea. RASHI dislikes unnamed players in the Torah narrative. When the text refers to a “boy” or a ‘youth”, RASHI tells us who the “boy” is. In this case RASHI tells us the “man” was an angel and more then that, he is the Angel Gavriel. And who is Gavriel? He is an arch-angel and in fact G-ds Messenger. Most of the later sages agree with RASHI, that it is indeed the angel Gavriel. Here is what totally intrigues me. If Joseph does not meet this “man” or actually the Angel Gavriel, he would not find his brothers and he would have returned to his father, Jacob. Instead, Joseph is sent to his brothers and from there into the pit, to slavery and to unimagined heights of authority.
This unnamed “man” in Torah is pivotal to Jewish history. Without him and his directions to Joseph, the Children of Israel never arrive in Egypt and we don’t have the 400 years of slavery and we don’t have the redemption and the Passover narrative and the wonders of the 10 plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea. If we don’t have the actions of the unnamed “man”, none of these events is put into motion and they cannot happen without him or his action.
For me, I can look back at my life and see such a pivotal moment. For me, it was being 17, just starting a job at a local liquor store. I liked that job as a boxboy there. I was fascinated by the wines, the spirits and other beverages. And yet, after 10 days on the job, disaster struck. The owner called me at home a day after I received my 1st paycheck and told me I was being let go. Honestly, I was devastated and didn’t know how to tell my parents. However, looking back on that moment now almost 50 years ago, I can see it set in motion the chain of events that set me on the path of my life. If I don’t get fired from that job, I never move forward on the pathway that leads to among other things, being a garbageman, a bank teller, going on a blind date, having my children, meeting Judy, entering Rabbinic School and having an audition with a congregation in Ventura, California.
In what seemed like an epic failure, I was sent on the pathway that became my life. I can see it today, for the life changing moment it was. I strongly suspect all of us have such moments in our lives, moments that if they don’t happen the way they did, our lives look vastly different. Just as Joseph finding that “man” sent him on his pathway, my getting fired sent me on mine. That pathway had speed bumps and false starts and mistakes. The path wasn’t as easy or smooth as glass, but it has been my path and I don’t think I’d change a single thing.
Some upcoming lunch after services, share with me your ‘pivotal moment”, I have no doubt it would be amazing to hear.
Rabbi Ron