By Rabbi Paul L. Saal

A Drash on Va’eira (Exodus 6:2-9:35)

This coming Shabbat will fall precisely three weeks after the New Year  in accord with the western secular calendar, the one by which a majority of Jewish people worldwide conduct their normal life’s business. Many of us made New Year’s resolutions; work harder, work less, spend less money, make more money, eat better, exercise more, swear less, etc. In reality the civil New Year is rarely a time for serious reflection, rather a brief interlude in the tumult of life, a short lived celebration that often provides a “farewell tour” for the very behaviors that we have flippantly resolved to abolish, a not too subtle reminder that we really don’t want to change. So we are free only to make the same resolutions a year later, ten pounds heavier and 365 days closer to our expiration date. Much like the ancient pagans, we subscribe to a calendar whereby we are presumably bound by the endless cipher of nature’s repetitive cycles, and an unscalable wall of inevitability limits our human potential.  

by Jason Palmer
Associate Rabbi, Congregation Ohr Chadash, Clearwater, FL

[And] these are the names of the sons of Isra'el who came into Egypt with Ya'akov; each man came with his household: Re'uven, Shim'on, Levi, Y'hudah, Yissakhar, Z'vulun, Binyamin, Dan, Naftali, Gad and Asher. All told, there were seventy descendants of Ya'akov; Yosef was already in Egypt.

With our reading of the parasha for this week, we once again begin our journey through the Book of Exodus. Many have pointed out, while observing the “vav / and” that opens our text, that the Book of Exodus is truly a continuation of the material found in Genesis. Likewise, this text also has a remarkable thematic dependence with the book of Genesis. The book of Bereisheet, which was read during previous weeks, is the record concerning the creation of the people of Israel and the events that culminated with the first exile of Egypt. The book of Shemot provides the Torah’s account of Israel's redemption from the severity of the first exile under a harsh taskmaster in Pharaoh, and the people’s commitment to serve the one benevolent King. Genesis begins with God intimately walking with his people in the Garden; Exodus concludes with the Divine Presence, once again, literally dwelling with his people in the Mishkan. Nachmanides suggests the following: While Bereisheet and Shemot are two separate books within the Torah, Exodus is the sequel to the text of Genesis.

by Eduardo Stein Maroniene
Beit Tefilat Yeshua, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 

Genesis 47:27-50:26 

When Jacob was old, sick and dying, his son Joseph came with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, so that Jacob might bless them.

Blessing only flows to those who want to be blessed. Joseph didn’t neglect this technology; he knew that his children could be empowered by his father’s words.

In Genesis 48:16 Jacob says: "The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the children, let my name be named on them and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

What a secret! Jacob is invoking the blessings upon his grandchildren in the name of Hamalach hagoel oti (“the angel who redeemed me”)! A unique angel, with authority to bless and redeem him, changed his name.

by Rabbi Joshua Brumbach

Redemption, divine mediation, and messianic hope. These are just a few of the themes gleaned from this week’s Torah portion. However, there are two particularly profound incidents that are worth exploring in greater depth—the emotional telling of Judah’s willingness to substitute himself for his brother, and of Joseph’s later revelation of himself to his brothers.

The rabbis teach us that everything in the Torah reveals Mashiach. This week’s parasha reveals Mashiach in two primary ways: through the life of Joseph, whom the rabbis identify as a type of Messiah (i.e. Mashiach ben Yosef – b. Sukkah 52b) and through the actions of Judah, which remind us that the lineage of Messiah is passed through his tribe (see Gen. 49:10).

Joseph personifies Mashiach as one who was despised by his brothers, rejected, and left for dead. Yet despite his trials, he was elevated to a position of authority and became the savior of a generation. In revealing himself to his brothers, Joseph states:

“Don’t be sad that you sold me into slavery here or angry at yourselves, because it was God who sent me ahead of you to preserve life.” (Gen. 45:5)

by Rabbi Russ Resnik

Then came Hanukkah in Yerushalayim. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking around inside the temple area, in Shlomo’s colonnade. So the Judeans surrounded him and said to him, “How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us publicly!”

Yeshua answered them, “I have already told you, and you don’t trust me. The works I do in my Father’s name testify on my behalf, but the reason you don’t trust is that you are not included among my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, I recognize them, they follow me, and I give them eternal life.” (John 10:22–28a CJB)

People are often surprised to hear that Hanukkah is mentioned in the New Testament, and even more surprised that this is the earliest mention of Hanukkah in any literature. The books of the Maccabees are earlier than John’s Gospel, but they don’t mention the holiday itself, only the events surrounding it. This is a nice bit of biblical trivia—not that anything biblical is trivial, of course—but it doesn’t explain the connection between Hanukkah and the story that follows in John 10. Was there a Hanukkah-related reason for the Judeans to challenge Yeshua, “If you are the Messiah, tell us publicly,” or for Yeshua’s response about the sheep?  

By Susan Feldman, Adat Yeshua, Overland Park, Kansas

As we read through the Torah again and again, I try each year to take a special angle in viewing it. The angle for this portion is choosing LIFE by living Torah. Allowing the scenes in the portion to grab me and make me think about my life choices, Joseph becomes the main model, but the rest of the family has much to teach as well.

In this week’s portion, we go through the agony of difficult family situations, and ultimate sibling rivalry. Maybe you have lived through a few as well. It all started because of favorites. Joseph was his father Jacob's favorite. He showed him favor in a special way, by giving him a special coat. Apparently it was different from most other coats in style and color. It represented the father's love to his son. It raises the question – why was he favored? And what other ways can you think of that this favor may have been shown?

Do you have a favorite child in your family? If so, how do you treat him or her? Is it recognizable to others? And how do the others respond to it? Or are you the kind of person who doesn’t show favoritism? What are the markers of your behavior?

Parashat vaYeshev, Genesis 37:1–40:23 

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens . . . (Gen. 2:4) 

From generation to generation, we shall tell of your greatness; forever and ever, we shall declare your holiness. (Conclusion of the Kedushah prayer of the Siddur)

Generations—tol’dot in Hebrew—appears as a key word throughout the book of Genesis. In the second chapter (v. 4), the word summarizes the entire creative process that is pictured in Genesis 1, and introduces the more concrete and earthy portrayal of Genesis 2. In the following chapters, the formula “these are the generations”—eleh tol’dot—will appear ten more times to introduce the nations of humankind, and especially the descendants of Abraham.