for Parshat Shemot
i
Joseph tells his brothers
who have cast him off
left him to die in a pit
left him to twenty years of slavery
left him alone in a strange land
where, amazingly, he achieves great power
rescues a whole region from famine
rescues his brothers
and his father from that famine—
Joseph tells these brothers:
I will hold nothing against you.
You thought to do me wrong;
God had in mind that I should go through this
and come to sustain many.
ii
God’s plan
in which your life plays a part
in which your tormentors play a part
is larger than you
larger than your life
larger than your suffering
larger than the cruelty of others.
This knowledge can help you bear much,
can let you forgive.
iii
That is Joseph’s message
on the eve of our anguish
at the hands of Egypt
on the way to Redemption.
Perhaps this message
lets Moses say, later:
Do not despise an Egyptian
for you were a guest in his land—
see
that we all live in God’s plan,
so you can even look at the Egyptian
as a human once again
so your power to forgive is boundless.
___
Shabbat shalom,
Abe
___
Please pray for Yechiel ben Michal
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