FOR VAYEISHEV
SECURING CRAZINESS
In preparation for the upcoming holiday of Chanukah and its festivities, I was in possession of a shopping list while visiting New York earlier this week. In the Big Apple, one can purchase many items unavailable in any other location in the United States, and items available elsewhere are usually cheaper in New York, as well.
Pretty soon it became obvious that my hand luggage would be too small to fit what had become a rather large stash of food and books. I secured an empty cardboard box from a local store, in which I placed all the items I had purchased. Now that I had luggage to check in, we had the taxi come to take us to the airport fifteen minutes earlier.
The usual traffic around Brooklyn and Queens was taken into consideration, as we advanced, in due time, the few miles to the airport.
And then, for reasons both my fellow passenger and I still cannot fathom, the taxi driver slowed down. He was driving just 35 miles per hour in a 50 mile per hour zone while traffic was flowing freely. We began to nudge the driver to speed up due to the plane’s departure time. He simply held on to the wheel and slowed down even more, not offering a word in return. This was bizarre. He eventually mumbled something about not getting into an accident, but every other car was passing us at the regular speed limit.
This ridiculous adventure got us to the airport precisely one minute past the deadline to check bags. There was no way to override a closed system. My box, filled with all types of holiday goodies, was not going in the cargo of our flight, the last flight of the day.
Having no choice, I found an empty garbage bag, and filled it with the contents of the box. “I’ll show them,” I thought, as I lifted the bag and headed for the plane. It was a rather heavy bag, but I was not about to leave all that stuff in the airport.
It did not take long before getting stopped at the security checkpoint. Despite my note of caution to them that this was bag filled with food, they did not like the case of kosher cream cheese in my bag. My pleas fell on deaf ears. It was to no avail how much this had cost me; it was to no avail that I offered to open each tub and eat some to show them that all I wanted was to enhance my festival. Claiming that any paste material is not allowed on the plane, they removed the case of cream cheese from my bag.
The agent, who nonchalantly pulled all this out of my possession, closed up my now, lighter bag and handed it to me. “Have a pleasant flight,” he said.
Those words scraped me the wrong way. The taxi driver had, inexplicably, caused us to be late to the airport and miss the opportunity to check in my luggage; the security people had now removed not just some needed food items, but the money spent on that was now wasted; and this agent has the nerve to think how pleasant my flight would be!
And so, I turned to the agent and said: “You’re kidding, right? You could not have meant that after what you just did to me.”
The agent looked at me, and said: “Listen, I really feel for you. It pains me to have to do this, but I don’t make up the rules. We live in crazy times. Under these circumstances, rules seem like they’re crazy too. I hoped that this would be the last unpleasantness you would have to endure.”
As I turned away, the fellow’s words resonated powerfully within me. While people tend to concern themselves with whatever is bothering them at that given moment, there may be a bigger picture involved, especially when living during “crazy times.” And another point: This person, who makes a living from a job which involves actions that agitate people, does not wish to be a monster. He really does not intend to harm anyone. On the contrary, he wishes to make people feel good, despite the unpleasant position he is in. For whatever reason, I had to be in the unfortunate position of having him do his job on me, which is not a reflection on either of us, but rather due to circumstances beyond our control.
The above helps make sense of the central episode of this week’s Torah portion, “Vayeishev.” The portion details the troubled relationship between Joseph and his brothers. Joseph’s father, Jacob, showed him favoritism over the rest of the brothers. When the brother’s saw this, they hated him, and could not even talk with him civilly. Joseph has two dreams, both implying that he would dominate them in the future, and they hated him even more. Sensing the tension and trouble, even Joseph’s beloved father admonishes him for sharing these dreams of grandeur with his brothers. (B’raishis (Genesis) 1-11.)
Immediately following the above, the Torah relates that, when the brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks in Shechem, Jacob said to Joseph: “Aren’t your brothers pasturing in Shechem?... Go now and see how your brothers are doing and how the sheep are doing and bring me back news.” (37:12-14.)
For Joseph to undertake this action was tantamount to suicide. The brothers hated him. When hatred is present, the hated one is not safe. Joseph knew very well that this mission would categorically endanger his welfare. Jacob must have known this fact as well. As it turned out, this was precisely the outcome. The brothers sadly threw Joseph into a pit filled with snakes and scorpions, giving him up for dead. They eventually sold him into slavery, solely not to have his death on their hands.
Why, then, would, a) Jacob send his beloved son on such a dangerous mission? And b) why would Joseph agree to take his life in his hands and head out on such a mission? This assignment, of bringing back news from the brothers to the father, had very little chance of ever materializing anyway!
Compounding the issue, the Torah continues the narrative that, when Joseph was seeking his brothers, “A man found him.” The words seem to imply that this man was seeking Joseph. The Talmud offers that this “man” was actually an angel in disguise, sent to persuade Joseph to abandon this dangerous mission. Joseph, however, continued on, and was lucky to survive. What is the logic behind this seemingly irresponsible behavior?
It was about crazy times. Jewish law requires of the Jewish people to respect life in the strongest way. Life is of paramount importance in the eyes of the Almighty. The exception would be when involving the three cardinal sins of idolatry, adultery and murder. The Jewish person is required to be prepared to sacrifice one’s life rather than perform any of these three sins. In any other circumstance, though, one is forbidden to sacrifice one’s life, even for the purpose of any of Torah’s many commandments.
There is a further exception to the above rule: If a leader, recognized for piety, wisdom, and a genuine devotion to the Almighty, sees that the multitudes are lax in any given directive of the Torah, regardless of which one it may be, this leader is granted permission to endanger, or even sacrifice, his or her life, in order to impart the importance of the Almighty’s directives.
Joseph recognized that his brothers were careless of the commandant – which eventually became one of the Ten Commandments – of honoring one’s father and mother. This was obvious from several episodes recorded earlier in the Torah: 1) The brothers had previously killed the male inhabitants of the city of Shechem, which, without being first discussed with their father, made him unhappy. (34:30.) 2) Reuben had moved his father’s bed to his mother’s tent without permission from his father (35:22). 3) Even their hatred of Joseph was actually going against their father’s wishes, and it certainly did nothing to show any honor to him.
Jacob obviously recognized this point as well. He was hopeful that, should Joseph appear before them for the sole reason that he had sent him, they would realize how far Joseph was prepared to go to demonstrate honor for his father. This would be a good lesson for them.
Because these were “crazy times,” when his brothers were negligent in this area, Joseph felt obligated even to endanger his own life for this mission.
The mission, despite its immediate disastrous outcome, does bring eternal attention to the critical importance of this commandment.
Crazy times call for crazy measures. It is up to the parties involved, however, to pay attention not to the craziness of the times, but to the people involved and the desired outcomes.
It was an expensive lesson for me to learn, but it was, nonetheless, very important: to pay attention not to the circumstances that are beyond control, but to what is in one’s control. In everyone’s control are emotions, feelings, and how to behave towards a fellow human being. Those are elements with which to live a forward-thinking, positive life.
The flight of life is then not just secure, but also successful.
SUMMARY: Crazy measures should lead people not to be even crazier, but to be more aware of one’s place in the world, and to working within the craziness for good.