Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah

Aaron was happy that Moses was chosen to lead the Jews to freedom. This is a major shift from the Book of Genesis where sibling rivalry is the norm.

It is very clear that Moses did not want the job of leadership. This is the basic reason that he was chosen for the job.

When Moses came across the Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, he looked up & down & did not see a man. He saw other people, but he did not see anyone who would protest. He became the man.

Pharaoh gives the order to kill all Jewish male babies born. The midwives ignore it. This was the beginning of the redemption. That the midwives feared God more than they feared Pharaoh.

The Book of Exodus begins with the statement that there was a new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. Basically, he was denying Egyptian history. This is what those who wish to do evil do. They deny their own history when it does not suit their plans.

As we begin the Book of Exodus, we meet an anti-Semite with power. He believes that the Jews are powerful and will take over Egypt. That there is no evidence of this doesn't matter to him.

David stresses to his son, Solomon, that leadership is not a right, it is a duty. That a leader has to set a moral example for the nation.

Ephriam and Menashe were the first Jews who grew up in the Exile and had to deal with the Egyptian culture. Joseph made sure that they had a solid Jewish education and for that reason they were considered special.

One of the interesting things to remember is that leadership in the Bible does not necessarily go to the first born. Yehuda is the 4th son, yet he is the leader of the brothers. This is a theme in the Bible; it is stressing that leadership has to be earned.

Today is the anniversary of when the Babylonians laid siege on Jerusalem, meaning the beginning of the end of the First Temple. We are reminded that this happened because we did not treat each other morally or ethically.

George Washington was inaugurated in New York on a opened to Genesis 49. When Jacob blessed his sons. His idea was, just as Jacob had 12 sons, each with his unique attribute, so too, there were 13 states. each with its own unique attributes.

The story of Chanukah is that the Jews refused to be "modern". They obeyed God's commandments. They view all people as being in the image of God. The Greeks loved beauty and hated disabled people. This is the reason that Jews were against Greek culture.

The Torah informs us that Joseph's goal was to see if his brothers would behave toward Benjamin the way they behaved toward him. When he saw that they would not he revealed himself to them.

In this week's Torah portion Joseph is raised from the prison to be the viceroy of Egypt. At no time does he deny is Judaism. That is the lesson that we should be proud of our heritage.

Joseph asks the cup bearer to remember him to Pharaoh. The cup bearer forgets about him. This teaches us that, while we have to make all preparations to succeed, we have to remember that it is God who will redeem us in the end.

Just as Potiphar's wife accused Joseph of the crime she wanted to commit, so too, with our enemies, they accuse us of the crimes they want to commit against us.

The Torah states that the pit that Joseph was thrown into had no water. The Midrash states that it had snakes & Scorpions. This teaches us that without Torah (symbolized here by water) you will end up with snakes & scorpions

Yehuda had to learn humility before he could become the leader of the family. This happens when he is confronted by Tamar & admits that he is the father of her unborn twins.

It is interesting to note that throughout Jewish history, our leaders were not the first born. They were individuals who earned their roles as leaders. That is the secret of success.

Jacob's favoritism towards Joseph sets off a chain of events. The other brothers are jealous of Joseph and plot against him. This is a strong lesson to parents to show all their children their love equally.

According to the Ari (Rabbi Yitzhak Luria) Rachel is not buried in Rachel's Tomb. But because so many people have prayed there over the centuries her spirit hovers over it. It is a case when holiness is created by people.

When Esau and Jacob meet after many years, Esau invites Jacob to be with him. Jacob does not. He knows that Esau is bad and will be detrimental to his family. To keep the peace between them he goes his own way. He had to build a wall between himself and his brother.

The struggle depicted in the portion of the week is symbolic of the struggle we have with God and ourselves. We should try to be spiritual, but we cannot forget that we have physical needs as well.

The reason that Jacob was upset at the actions of Shimon & Levi was that he felt that they acted outside the law. He was against vigilante justice. He felt that their reasoning was sound but that they took the law into their own hands.

When Jacob had his meeting with Esau, he hid his daughter Dina for fear that Esau would want her. According to the midrash, she was supposed to be Esau's wife. The reason was that she would have made him a good man.