Reflecting upon the year I have just come through, I realize though there was a lot of pain and struggle, there was also a great deal of accomplishment. And for that, I am Thankful. It is no small feat to care for your parents, whether it be physically, or mentally, or psychologically. It doesn’t matter how they need you, it matters that they need you. I am humbly thankful today for my own conscious choice to sacrifice everything so as to ensure they be comfortable in their last years and in their home. I am thankful that I was able to honor their wishes, even though it was the most difficult time of my life, thus far. I know my parents, each in their own way, were grateful for their youngest daughter. I recognize it wasn’t always peaceful in the house, and there were many times we all fought against each other. But in the end, it mattered not. In the end, the thing I take from the last 10 years, cherish each and everything moment. Hold the experiences consciously, so as to ensure the memory lasts within you, for there is wisdom in those moments you may not see. There are sweet moments and strong moments and beautiful moments that you cannot appreciate until they’ve passed. And when they do, you can look upon them with Love in your heart, for they make you who you are.
And who we are is the very essence of our own existence. Identity comes not when we stand aside and do nothing. Identity is defined by our deeds. And our deeds are driven by our thoughts, our morality, or lack thereof. For action without thought is performed without merit. Conversely, action driven by conscious thought is not only meritorious, it is wholly virtuous. It is in the moments of reflection only, that you begin to see the true identity of your SELF. We get so caught up in the day to day hustle and bustle that we rarely stop and count all the moments that makes up who we are. So when those reflections come upon us and we take the time to digest them, the patchwork of our existence takes form, much like Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors.
In Va’Yeshev, (Gen. 37-41)Joseph is given a coat, by his father Jacob, handed down from Noah, a coat of many colors. An action showing Jacob’s favoritism towards his youngest son, because he sees a pious man, a child with prophetic dreams and a righteousness that will not allow him to dishonor HaShem. I take that coat’s patchwork of materials to represent all those moments that make up a life, a story, if you will. Woven into and out of each other, these pieces, held together with barren thread, take shape into something real, something tangible. Something representative of something else. On their own, they serve no real purpose, but together, they can provide shelter, protection, prestige. It is what the coat represents to which Joseph’s brothers held their envy and anger toward him. And that envy which drove them to treat Joseph with disdain and contempt, is the very emotion that also led them to eventually bow at their youngest brother’s feet and grovel for forgiveness. If they only took that anger and envy as a warning, maybe the story would have turned out very differently. But Simeon, Levi and Reuben could not rise above their own selfishness, and they throw Joseph into a pit, intending on retrieving him later. But Judah sells his youngest brother to the Ishmaelites, while Joseph is in the pit, the brothers dip his special coat in goat’s blood and tell their father that he must’ve been attacked by a wild beast. Jacob, distraught, weeps and mourns his youngest son.
Meanwhile, Judah, marries Shua’s daughter, a Canaanite, who bears him 3 sons, Er, Onan and Shelah. He takes for his eldest son, a wife named Tamar, but Er dies early. Judah instructs Onan to take his brother’s wife and raise up a seed in his brother Er’s name. Onan, knowing his seed would not bear his own name, spilled it onto the floor, an act G-d perceived as evil, so HaShem slew Onan. Judah, now having only 1 son, instructed Tamar to remain a widow in her father’s house until Shelah was old enough to take a wife. During this time, Judah’s wife, daughter of Shua, dies. Judah is comforted and goes to Timnah with his friend, Hirah, an Adullamite. Tamar, seeing her farther-in-law, throws off her widow cloths, veils herself and sets to wait for Judah at the entrance to Enaim, on the way to Timnah. She sees that Shelah is grown, but has not been taken to be his wife yet. Judah thought her to be a harlot and asked to lay with her, not knowing her real identity. She asks what he will give her if she does, to which he responds, “I will send a kid from the flock of goats.” She responds, saying, “what pledge do you give until you send it?” “What pledge shall I give thee?” Tamar responds,” your signet and cord and your staff that you hold in your hand.” He agrees, and they lay together as husband and wife. She conceives, gets up from the bed and vanishes. Replacing her widow cloths, she returns to her father’s home. Judah sends the kid from the flock with his Adullamite friend, but Hirah cannot find her. He asks the men, who know not of this woman. Hirah returns with the news to Judah, who says, “let her take it, lest we be put to shame; but she is nowhere to be found?” About 3 months later, it was told to Judah, that his daughter-in-law in fact played the harlot. Judah, angry with her, sent for her to be burnt. But when she arrived, she brought with her the pledges that Judah had given her, the signet, cord and staff, “by the man, whose these are, I am with child.” She said, “discern, I pray tee, whose are these, the signet, cord and staff?” Judah acknowledged them and said, “she is more righteous than I, for I gave her not to my son Shelah.” From then on he knew her again no more. She bore twins, first named Perez, second Zerah.
The Israelites make their way to Egypt, and sell Joseph to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s butcher, who’s wife tries desperately to seduce him, to no avail. And only when he rejects her advances and states he could never do such a thing to dishonor his master, does she cry out and tell her husband that Joseph advanced upon her. Naturally, Potiphar has Joseph arrested, where he ends up in Pharaoh’s dungeon. Down there, he gains the trust of the guards who give him some authority in the prison. It is there that he befriends Pharaoh’s butler and chief baker, who were imprisoned for offending their Royal Master. One night both men have awful dreams which Joseph interprets. In 3 days, the butler will be released and the baker will be hanged. Joseph asks the butler to intercede on his behalf with Pharaoh. His prediction comes true, but the butler forgets about Joseph and he is left to rot in the dungeon.
The repeating pattern of sibling rivalry is told again. This time, however, it hits close to home. My own sibling, my sister, and I have struggled throughout our lives with a healthy, loving relationship. I spent the better part of my childhood wanting to be just like her, while she spent it resenting me tagging along. Like Joseph, I endured the envy and mistreatment from my elder. And like his brothers, my sister wanted to rid me from her life. It does not come easy to me to say that I do not have a relationship with my sister, despite wanting it so. I do hope someday it will be granted to us both, but I cannot allow this regret to consume me, as it did not consume Joseph. Though he endures a great many hardships, he knows his gift of prophetic dreams will eventually save him and he will rise above them all. And he knows his brothers will be with him again, but this time he will have the upper hand. It is this story that gives me strength within my faith. That what I am writing and learning and teaching and creating will eventually be what lifts me to the level I know I am destined to hold. All the sacrifice, the frustration, the challenges, the joys, laughter and memories, they are the swatches that make up my Coat of Many Colors. Held together by the thread that is my journey. Each piece, carefully laid to create a tapestry of emotions, a landscape of experiences, to which I am humbly Thankful.
Be well everyone.
Stand Up
Stand Out
Be the Light
-Miriam the Levite-
