i
Joseph dreams prophetic dreams. His father dresses him in a special many-colored coat. His brothers hate him for his coat, these dreams.
Joseph's brothers attack him. They call him the dreamer. They strip him of his coat. They cast him in a pit, from which he is sold into slavery.
*
Tamar,
Judah's daughter-in-law, reveals her identity (she had been disguised)
by means of the cord, the staff, and the ring that Judah had given her
when she was disguised.
*
Joseph becomes ruler of Egypt. He hides his identity from his
brothers when he meets them again. He pretends not to speak the same
language as they do: the translator is between them when they speak.
*
Finally it is Judah who approaches Joseph and causes Joseph to reveal himself to his brothers; and the brothers are reconciled.
ii
A symbol is meant to be a communication: it is meant to bind people together. A cord, staff, and ring, for instance, tells Judah that Tamar is Tamar.
Symbol can also overshadow its own meaning, making communication impossible, tearing people apart. It is language, for instance, that lets Joseph pretend he does not know his brothers.
And it is Judah, who has learned from Tamar, who approaches Joseph, who encounters Joseph face-to-face, who takes the veil of symbol away.
iii
This story holds in it the same lesson as Isaiah's chastisement to all religious hypocrites:
Based partially on the writings of Avivah Zornberg, and on a teaching of the Ishbitzer relayed to me by Raquel Sanchez.
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