Vayigash

Shabbat Shalom! This weekend, I'm off to NFTY-GER's Winter Kallah at Camp Harlam so this is going to be a fun little post! This week's story is part 3 of Joseph's story. Joseph finally reveals to his brothers that he is still alive and has risen to power in Egypt. He apologizes for being kind of a jerk and says that he will help them during the famine years. Wait, rewind, he said he would help his brothers? The same ones that left him for dead? Yeah those ones, you heard me. Joseph isn't a kid anymore and he has come to realize that he would rather forgive and forget than be a total jerkface to his family. As Hannah Montana would say, "Nobody's perfect!" Speaking of Hannah Montana, I'm reminded of a scene from the Hannah Montana movie: Miley is too caught up with her rockstar life so she goes back to her roots in Tennessee. During her final performance of the movie, she realizes that she can't hide from her people anymore. She takes off the wig and the makeup and reveals who she really is, just a girl named Miley. She sings an entire song about how you can change the way you look but you always find a way back to where you belong. Like Hannah, Joseph's family drives him crazy but he would do anything for them, including giving up his Egyptian Rockstar facade. So when your family drives you crazy this holiday season, just sing Nobody's Perfect and remember to put the past behind you!

Miketz

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach! Here's a little Hanukkah gift for you: Part Two of Joseph's Story! So Joseph is still in jail, interpreting dreams for his fellow inmates. Coincidentally, Pharaoh is having nightmares of his own. Pharaoh hires Joseph to interpret what he dreamt and here is what he saw: First, Pharaoh saw seven healthy cows and seven starving cows. The starving cows were so hungry that they ate the healthy cows! Next, Pharaoh saw seven healthy stalks of grain and seven withered stalks. The same thing happened, the withered grain ate the healthy grain! But what did it all mean? Joseph told Pharaoh that God was going to bring seven years of good harvest and seven years of famine. When he suggested that Pharaoh hire someone to keep track of the amount of food in the kingdom, Pharaoh hire Joseph on the spot! Joseph was the new Viceroy of Egypt which basically means he was the the Vice President. Since Joseph was Pharaoh's new right-hand man, he got jewels and robes, a beautiful Egyptian wife and even an Egyptian name. After seven successful years of stockpiling food, the famine came. It spread so far, that people were immigrating to Egypt since they had enough food to spare. Joseph's family was among these immigrants and they were suddenly bowing at his feel and begging for food. Joseph's dream from when he was a teenager was finally coming true! Sure his family was finally giving him the respect he deserved, but he had worked so hard to cover up his past that he was very emotional. In fact, Joseph had changed so much in 20 years that his family didn't recognize him! He won't reveal himself until next week's story but in the meantime, Joseph is an emotional wreck when his dreamlife comes crashing down and was as if he was in a bubble since his life was so perfect. First he was a jerk to his family, then he was nice, and then he was a jerk again and in-between he had to leave the room a few times so his family wouldn't see him cry.

Everyone has that point in their life when they are ready to leave their family but Joseph's experience was more dramatic (and traumatic) than most people's. If you already know the story, you know that everyone kisses and makes up (sorry spoiler) but as of right now we can see that Joseph is a complex dude that needs to sort out his internal issues. We all have internal conflicts that we think about, even as we change on the outside, but just because we look different doesn't mean our feelings are different. Take time this week to keep a dream journal and interpret what your sub conscience is telling you. Dreaming is your brain's way of sorting through information and working out problems so the best thing to do is listen to your body.

Vayeshev

Shabbat Shalom! I hope the holiday season is going well for everyone so far! If you're tired of the cold, here's a story from the desert to warm you up. This week we read about Joseph and his many colored coat. Vayeshev means "settle down" and that's exactly what Jacob did. He was tired of all the battles and struggles so he chilled for a while and had some kids with his wives. These kids became the 12 Tribes of Israel (he also had a daughter, Dinah, but she didn't count because she was a girl) and they were all great, but one stood out from the rest. Joseph was the favorite, the dreamer, the hopeful one. Joseph was the only son of Jacob's true love, Rachel so he made Joseph a beautiful rainbow coat (an amazing technicolor dreamcoat perhaps?) to show his love, which made his brothers jealous. Now, Joseph was only 17 so he didn't understand that his brothers secretly hated him. Not only was he naive, he had dreams that hinted at him ruling over his brothers. Joseph was the baby of the family (until Benjamin came along) so who was he to say that he would be in charge of his brothers? One day, Jacob asked Joseph to go check on his brothers out in the field so like the daddy's boy that he was he did as he was told. I can only imagine how his encounter with his brothers went:

"Hi, Brothers! How are your sheep today?"
"Why do you care? Did dad send you over just so you could tell him we're doing everything wrong?"
"No, he just sent me to check on you guys."
"Whatever. Oh and look you brought your little coat, how special."
"It is special! Dad made it for ME. He just thinks I'm special, like in the dreams I had of you bowing down to me."
"Oh really? How about you fight us and then we see who's special?"
"No, no! No fighting! Please, forgive me, I'm sorry for what I said! I didn't mean it!"
"This kid's pathetic. Let's just throw him in this well and forget about him. We can take his coat and dye it with sheep's blood so Dad will think that he's dead."

At this point Reuben is thinking that he will come back later and rescue Jacob but he is taken by merchants and sold into slavery in Egypt before he can be brought back. He ends up in prison after being falsely accused of rape by Potiphar's wife and is stuck there for a long time. Joseph uses his prophetic dreams to help out his fellow inmates, which gives him a good reputation in jail. The lesson here is to not hate people for being themselves. Joseph was happy being loved by his father and dreaming but his brothers ruined that happiness by leaving Joseph to die. Though Joseph's experience in Egypt made him into a strong leader, he did not understand that many people don't understand that being different is ok. This week do something that makes you happy even if those around you don't understand. Drinking Jell-o through a straw, skydiving, ballroom dancing, looking at gifs of kittens, people watching, dancing around your room to Beyoncé, ANYTHING. And if anyone tells you to stop, tell them this story and maybe they'll reconsider.

Vayishlach

Shabbat Shalom! How was your Thanksgiving? This week's torah portion is Vayishlach, or in English He Sent. Here, we get the next installment of Jacob's story. Though it doesn't have any baby mama drama in it, Vayishlach is full of exciting events. Jacob hears that his brother Esau is coming after him with 400 men (yikes!) so he tries to redeem himself by sending presents to Esau. Esau is one big, hairy, and scary-looking dude but Jacob sends his family away so he can face Esau himself. As he is sleeping alone in the desert, a man attacks him and they wrestle all night. Wait, hold up, I thought we learned in Hebrew School that he wrestled an angel? No, Past Me, I'm pretty sure it was a man. In fact, the torah goes out of its way to say that Jacob wrestled a man. Last week, Jacob had dreams specifically about angels so the torah seems to be specific about what kind of creatures Jacob interacts with. Why a man? Why not an angel? Who even is this guy? Good questions! There are a few theories about where this man came from:

1. He is really Jacob's sub conscience and this is a metaphor for Jacob feeling conflicted about facing Esau,
2. OR the man is Esau and he is finishing the wrestling match he started in Rebecca's womb.

I like both explanations, but the only problem is that Jacob's hip was dislocated during the fight so that takes out option 1. Not only does this man physically change Jacob, he changes Jacob's name. Jacob is winning the wrestling match so the man asks to be let go, but Jacob refuses to let him go with out a blessing. Instead of blessing him, he changes Jacob's name to Israel or Wrestles with God. So the question is now, did Jacob wrestle with a man or with God? The answer is up for interpretation. Jacob names the place where he changed P'niel or The Face of God. If God has a desert for a face, His face must be pretty smooth. Does anyone know what face wash She uses? Kidding, kidding :). Jacob says he sees the face of God when he finally sees Esau after all those years and apologizes for being a bad brother. This shows that the way we see God on earth is by facing people we have wronged, looking into their eyes and knowing that we can change. This week, think about what you wrestle with or regret and face it head on. You might be scared, but seeing God in someone's eyes is worth it.