A Light Unto the
World
D’var Torah for
Parashat Vayigash
By Boaz D. Heilman
As I was reflecting on the life, death and achievements of
the late, great leader Nelson Mandela, I was struck by the timely coincidence
of his death, so close upon the holiday of Hanukkah, and this week’s Torah
portion, Vayigash.
In Vayigash
(Genesis 44:18—47:27), we see the happy conclusion of the story of Joseph and
his brothers. It comes replete with the
tearful reunion of father and long-lost son and the reunification of the
long-torn family.
Moreover, the portion teaches powerful lessons about
compassion and forgiveness.
As last week’s portion concludes, Benjamin stands to be
imprisoned for stealing Joseph’s divination goblet. It was a baseless accusation, meant to bring
Joseph’s brothers to the edge of the precipice.
Would they abandon Benjamin, Jacob and Rachel’s youngest (and,
supposedly, only surviving) son, as they had once abandoned Joseph? Or would someone take responsibility, own up
to their collective sins and fulfill the commandment of being “my brother’s
keeper.”
It is to Judah’s eternal credit that he steps up (“Vayigash eilav Yehuda”). Judah, who once so easily disposed of his
brother by selling him to slave traders, that same Judah who saw only the
profit from such a sale and not the suffering this would cause their father,
Jacob, now shows how much he has changed in the intervening years. Opening up to Joseph and revealing all the
details of the family’s tragedies, Judah concludes by offering himself instead
of Benjamin, “For how will I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? Let me not see the misery that will befall my
father” (Gen. 44:34).
It is literally a point of no return for Judah. In the intervening years he has suffered terrible
losses himself. He has learned well the
values of responsibility, of keeping one’s word, of being there for one’s
family and community. Moreover, life has
taught him to feel compassion, to fully understand the pain of a father who has
lost children. It isn’t his honor and
self respect he hopes to regain; his offer to remain as Joseph’s slave
expresses his anguish, his understanding of how he has failed in the past and
how much more grief is yet to come—not to him, for at this point he has lost
all, but rather to his father, Jacob.
It is this, which brings down Joseph’s last barrier between
him and his brothers. Unable to contain
his emotions, he reveals himself as their long-lost brother and, overcoming long-repressed
anger and hatred, fully forgives his brothers.
The transformation of Judah and Joseph from bitter enemies
to loving brothers is crucial to understanding the book of Genesis. The Torah’s tragic story of humanity, after
all, begins with fratricide, as Cain kills Abel. Jealousy and greed led to this first murder;
only overcoming these primal passions can bring about the redemption we human
beings so deeply yearn for. Compassion
and forgiveness—these are the keys we must find within ourselves if we wish to
see our dreams of harmony and peace come true.
With reconciliation now achieved, the full possibilities of the future
can begin to unfold.
Nelson Mandela, who died on the last day of Hanukkah, is not
unlike Joseph in some ways. Born to a
royal family, Mandela worked long and hard for his people. Long suffering and oppressed, the black
people of South Africa, despite being a numerical majority, were dispossessed not
only of their freedom but also of their lands and property by the ruling white
minority. Mandela studied law and
applied what he learned toward the goal of achieving equality for all South
Africans, regardless of color and race.
When that didn’t work, and as he saw his people continually and ruthlessly
mowed down, Mandela gave vent to his rage and turned to violence.
Captured and sentenced to life imprisonment, Mandela spent
27 years in prison. But during that
time, reflecting on his life and the direction it had taken, gradually a
transformation came about within him.
When he was finally released in 1990, riding on a wave of international
popularity and support, Mandela could have established himself as autocratic a
ruler as any of his predecessors. Yet, instead
of turning to revenge, Mandela sought reconciliation. He worked with the existing government to abolish
apartheid and, four years later, brought about the first multiracial election
in his country. As South Africa’s first
black president, Mandela formed a government of national unity with the goal of
diffusing racial tensions. Refusing to
run for a second term, Mandela then turned his attention to the larger causes
of hunger, poverty and sickness all over the world.
Called the Father of his Nation, Mandela was much more than
that; he became a light to all nations.
Focusing and addressing young people all over the world, Mandela did
more than just free his own people: He
passed on the torch to all future generations.
Nelson Mandela was not above reproach. There were occasions when his political
leanings led him to support dictators and meet with less progressive leaders,
among them Fidel Castro and Muammar Kaddafi.
But what the world will always admire in this modern Joseph is not only
his struggle to achieve freedom for his people—a struggle that positions him
among all modern Maccabees—but also his ability to change, to overcome his rage
and bitterness, to free himself not only of the shackles of prison but also
those of hatred and revenge.
If peace is ever to be achieved anywhere in this world, it
will only be on the basis of these three powerful human and Divine values: freedom, forgiveness and compassion.
This is the message of Hanukkah, of Joseph, and now also of
Nelson Mandela.
May this message become a hallowed light throughout the
world.
© 2013 by Boaz D. Heilman
No comments:
Post a Comment