Vayechi
Genesis 47:28-50:26
I Kings 2:1-12
I always look forward to the beginning of the new calendar year in January, because it feels like another chance at a fresh start. Falling just a few months after the beginning of our Jewish year, it’s an opportunity to recommit to the goals I set for myself during the Yamim Noraim, our holy days.
During the Jewish New Year, we spend a lot of time talking and thinking about the notion of forgiveness. But it is in the Torah portion Vayechi, which is the first parshah of 2012, that the theme of forgiveness is played out in great detail with the end of the story of Joseph. Thus the theme of forgiveness spans both the Jewish and secular new years, providing a wonderful framework for both. The theme of forgiveness is a central part of the Joseph novella, the chapters covering Genesis 37-50. Thematically, it features a riveting story of parental favoritism and sibling rivalry. In previous weeks, we have read about how a pampered, self-centered lad with grand dreams comes to be so despised by his older brothers that they take him and cast him into a pit, only to decide, at the urging of one of the brothers, Judah, to sell him to a wandering band of Ishmaelites heading for Egypt.
While Joseph could have spent the rest of his days in Egypt a broken man, cursing his fate, losing his faith in God and never being able to move forward, he instead transforms his circumstances into opportunities by showing concern for his fellow prisoners and displaying his talent for interpreting dreams. Even before he ultimately is reunited with his brothers, Joseph becomes a model of forgiveness by not holding onto bitterness. Because he doesn’t spend his life lamenting or wallowing in his fate, he is able to create a destiny that is greater than his circumstances.
The purpose of forgiveness is ultimately about our own well-being. M. Scott Peck writes: “The process of forgiveness — indeed, the chief reason for forgiveness — is selfish. The reason to forgive others is not for their own sake. They are not likely to know that they need to be forgiven. … The reason to forgive is for our own sake. For our own health.”
It is in Vayechi that we come to the pivotal climax of the Joseph story. It is the moment when Joseph’s brothers bare their souls before him. “His brothers went to him themselves, flung themselves before him and said, ‘We are prepared to be your slaves.’ But Joseph said to them, ‘Have no fear! Am I a substitute for God? Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result — the survival of many people. And so, fear not. I will sustain you and your children.’ Thus he reassured them, speaking kindly to them” (Genesis 50:18-21).
What Joseph’s brothers don’t understand when they come before him is that he has already forgiven them. He could not have led the life he did — as a savior of Egypt — had he given in to the temptation of waiting to exact revenge or to the bitterness of hatred.
Rabbi Levi Meier, in his book “Ancient Secrets,” adds to our understanding of this key notion, writing, “If you cannot forgive, act as if you can. Pretend that you have forgiven the people who have wronged you, and extend your hand to them.” Joseph not only extends a hand to his brothers, he promises to protect and care for them.
In Mitch Albom’s book “Have a Little Faith,” the author tells the story of a drug addict who transforms himself and becomes a successful minister. The minister talks about the people he left behind and how they could only see who he had been in his darkest moments. They weren’t able to see who he could become or who he is now.
The world is full of possibilities when we aren’t held back by our own pasts or by the wrongs we feel we have suffered. The Joseph of Vayechi is a powerful reminder that forgiveness is a key to our own personal salvations and a wonderful tool for starting anew.
Rabbi Daniel Feder is the spiritual leader at Reform Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame. He can be reached at [email protected].