TorahParsha

Eyes to See

i
Of all the people who know us, it is we who know ourselves the least (Kundera).

Our eyes are not mirrors.

*
We live in a community. But we cannot know, truly, how we make others feel.

We live before God. We cannot see ourselves through God's eyes.

ii
Tzara'at is a group of skin disorders. One who thinks he has tzara'at must come to the priest. The priest will say if the skin-sickness is tzara'at.

If the skin-sickness is, indeed, tzara'at, then the stricken one is impure.

*
Only after the priest has declared that the skin-sickness is tzara'at does the stricken one become impure.

Even if a man knows that he has tzara'at, he is not impure until the priest says that he is.

iii
The priest is of the community. The priest is a man near to God.

The priest holds the vantage-point that we do not.

*
The priest is the one who declares us impure.

The priest is the one who tells us if we are still pure.

He is the one who tells us what we are, what we have become.

*
If we want to know ourselves, we must learn to view ourselves from his vantage-point.

~~~~~~~~~

The Beginning of Wisdom is the Fear of the Lord

i
Joseph, who interprets dreams, proclaims God as the source of his understanding of dreams.

Joseph says: Do not interpretations belong to God?

*
The Pharaoh of Joseph's day says to him: Since God has made all of this known to you, there is none so...wise as you.


ii
Later, a new Pharaoh arises. That Pharaoh did not know Joseph . That Pharaoh also says: I know not the Lord.

That Pharaoh enslaves the Children of Israel, announcing: Come, let us deal wisely.


iii
Joseph's wisdom comes from knowing God.

The Pharaoh who enslaves the Children of Israel is also wise. His wisdom comes from refusing to know God.

One wisdom is good. The other is evil.


iv
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, King Solomon said--setting a clear pathway for us; setting a clear way to choose between Pharaoh and Joseph.

Based largely on Rabbi Shlomo Dov Rosen's lectures on the Book of Mishlei. To hear Rabbi Rosen's lectures, go to www.kimitzion.org

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In God’s History Lies Forgiveness

i
Joseph’s brothers cast him down into a pit. From there he is stolen and sold into slavery in Egypt. In Egypt he is sentenced for a crime he does not commit. He lives in prison.

Later, in a twist of fate, Joseph becomes ruler over all of Egypt.

*
As ruler over Egypt, Joseph sustains his brothers, and his father, and all the people of that land through seven lean years of brutal famine.

ii
Later, Joseph forgives his brothers; though they have caused him suffering.

Joseph says to them: You …thought evil against me; but God meant it for good: to bring it to pass… this day that many people should be saved alive.

iii
Joseph looks at the world and does not see the world.

Joseph looks at the world and sees God’s will, revealing itself through the world.

Joseph looks at his brothers but does not see his brothers. He sees emissaries of God’s will.

You …thought evil against me, Joseph says to his brothers: but God meant it for good.

*
And so Joseph’s own suffering cannot cripple him.

And so though Joseph has suffered, he can forgive.

~~~~~

Dreams, Clothes

i
When Joseph is young, in his father's house, and he dreams and tells his brothers and father of these dreams, Joseph's father gives him a special coat.

Later, Joseph is sent to interpret Pharaoh's dream. Joseph changed his garments to prepare for the dream-meeting. And after Joseph delivers his interpretation, Pharaoh arrayed Joseph in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck.

Dreams and clothes come together.

ii
Dreams and clothes both come from the world of symbol.

Dreams are meanings waiting to be deciphered. Clothes are patches of cloth that signify (think of fashion).

Clothing is a symbol in the external world. Dreams are a symbol in the internal world.

*
If clothes and dreams are linked, then they are two parts of a whole.

iii
Now think of tzitzit.

You must put tzitzit—specially-tied strings—on your clothes. They are a reminder to follow God, and to not follow after your heart and after your eyes, after which you stray.

Your inner world and your outer world are joined. Your eyes and your heart come together.

Just as your clothes and your dreams come together.

*
If the outer world and the inner world are joined, the tzitzit say, then the external life must guide the inner life: the heart and the eyes guided by the stringing of cloth.

You must shape the realm of cloth to guide the space where dreams live.