Vayeshev
Genesis 37:1-40:23, Numbers 7:18-29
Zechariah 2:14-4:7
I Samuel 20:18, 42
The virtues of brotherhood are extolled by words Psalm 133 that are included in the Sabbath liturgy: “Hinei ma tov uma na’im, shevet achim gam yachad.” (“Behold how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.” )
Whereas stories of love between children of the same families can be found in Jewish tradition, the more memorable accounts are those of bitter sibling rivalry, beginning with Cain and Abel and continuing with Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Rachel and Leah, and so forth.
The mark of Cain — the sometimes-fatal sign of competitiveness voiced in the cry “Am I my brother’s keeper” — has been passed from biblical parent to child to grandchild. Unfortunately, this history of familial enmity extends into conflicts that divide ethnicgroups to this day.
In addition to all the biblical stories of bitter competition between children there are many extra-biblical accounts of such jealousy that, at times, was even encouraged by parents, as this folktale illustrates:
A king who lay dying said to his two sons: “Mount your horses and travel to Jerusalem. The one whose horse arrives last will inherit my kingdom.”
Off they went, each determined to fall behind the other. When finally they were in sight of Jerusalem, they sat motionless in their saddles. They finally dismounted and sat on the ground for an entire day. It seemed that this impasse would continue forever, until they both realized that the one whose horse arrived last would inherit the kingdom. So they mounted each other’s horses and raced to get that horse to Jerusalem as fast as they could.
This week’s Torah portion, Vayeshev, bears witness to the sibling struggles of Joseph and his brothers and their ultimate resolution. Years after Joseph’s brothers rid themselves of their pesky brother by selling him for a few pieces of silver, they stood before an unrecognizable Joseph who toyed with them until he tearfully revealed himself to his siblings.
The history of the Bible appears to be one of each generation reliving the conflicts of previous generations, as successive sets of siblings revive old hatreds and hurts. Viewing such behavior repeated over and over again might lead some to think that sibling relationships are inherently bad. Nevertheless, if the hope of Psalm 133 is to be realized, then its words must be internalized, as this ancient legend illustrates:
Two brothers faithfully worked their adjacent farms. Their efforts were rewarded. Each year, they harvested their wheat crops and always had enough to take care of their needs.
One night, the older brother, who was married with several children, began thinking about his younger brother and could not sleep.
“My wife and my children will care for me in my old age. Who will take care of my brother when he is old? He will need more than I have so that he can provide the care for himself.”
With that he got up, left the house, went to his storage bins and filled a sack with wheat. By the darkness of night, he walked to his brother’s granary, slipped in and poured the grain into his storehouse.
Coincidently, that very night, the unmarried, younger of the two brothers began to worry about his older brother and his children. “He has so many mouths to feed. How will he be able to care for all of them if the crops are not as successful? His needs are greater than mine.”
Like his older brother, he got dressed, went to his storage bins, filled a sack with wheat, stole into his brother’s warehouse and emptied the grain into his cache. The next day the brothers were both puzzled to find that their supplies of grain were undiminished.
Each night, the brothers repeated their loving acts toward one another. Each day, they were surprised to find that their reserves remained undiminished.
Finally, one moonlit night, as each made his way toward the other’s farm, each saw a figure, weighed down by a huge sack, approaching. As they drew closer, they recognized each other and then realized what had happened. They stopped and embraced.
This legend maintains that the spot where these selfless brothers embraced was the site of Jerusalem’s ancient Temple. It illustrates that it is possible to replace recrimination with love, as did Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who are held high by Jewish tradition as the foremost example of loving brothers.