Different cultures tell different stories. The great novelists of the nineteenth century wrote fiction that is essentially ethical. Jane Austen and George Eliot explored the connection between character and happiness. There is a palpable continuity between their work and the book of Ruth. Dickens, more in the tradition of the prophets, wrote about society and its institutions, and the way…
Joseph forgives. That, as I have argued before, was a turning point in history. For this was the first recorded act of forgiveness in literature. It is important here to make a key distinction between forgiveness, which is characteristic of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and the appeasement of anger, which is a human universal. People are constantly harming others, who then…
The scene that brings the book of Genesis to a close is intensely significant. Joseph’s brothers were terrified that, after the death of their father Jacob, Joseph would take revenge against them for selling him into slavery. Years before, he had told them that he forgave them: “Now, do not worry or feel guilty because you sold me. Look: God…
If you want to understand what a book is about, look carefully at how it ends. Genesis ends with three deeply significant scenes. First, Jacob blesses his grandsons, Ephraim and Menashe. This is the blessing that Jewish parents use on Friday night to bless their sons. My predecessor Lord Jakobovits used to ask, why this blessing of all the blessings…
Is it permitted to tell a white lie? If a murderer is at large, brandishing a gun, and his intended victim takes refuge in your house, are you obligated to tell the truth when the would-be killer knocks on your door and asks, “Is he here”? Immanuel Kant, the greatest philosopher of modern times, said Yes. We should always tell the…
At almost every stage of fraught encounter between Joseph and his family in Egypt, Joseph weeps. There are seven scenes of tears: 1. When the brothers came before him in Egypt for the first time: They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us…
…this enough of a justification? Years later, on his deathbed (in parshat Vayechi), Yaakov curses Shimon and Levi for their violence and recklessness, foretelling their dispersion in Israel. This act by Yaakov presents a stark contrast to the earlier justification of their actions. This narrative sparked a debate between two prominent Jewish scholars: Rambam and Ramban. The Rambam, in his…
…to appreciate the importance of religion in an ever-increasing secular age, and the relevance of tradition in an untraditional world. Today, we are consecrating an even, a stone, and Targum Onkeles on Parshat Vayechi explains to us the significance of the stone in Jewish tradition. He tells us that even is a composite term; it is made up of two…
…They take it as it comes. They wait, like Charles Dickens’ Mr Micawber, for “something to turn up.” This is not the best recipe for a life. “Wherever you find the word Vayechi, ‘and it came to pass,’” said the Sages, “it is always the prelude to pain.”[1] Letting things happen is passive, not active. It means that you are…
…savages? 14 December 2022 – Vayeshev Dr Lindsay Simmonds: A holy people – Deception, violence and salvation 21 December 22 – Mikketz Rabbi Shaul Robinson: Jews, power and influence 28 December 22 – Vayigash Rabbi Dr Dov Lerner: Pharaoh’s query and Jacob’s pain 4 January 2023 – Vayechi Rabbi Pini Dunner: Brotherhood and sibling rivalry in the Book of Bereishit…