This week’s Torah portion, Vayigash, brings to conclusion the confrontation between Joseph and his brothers. It begins with one of the most dramatic scenes in all of Torah, where Judah steps close to Joseph and begs for Benjamin’s life, even offering himself in his brother’s place. Joseph so overcome by the selflessness of Judah’s plea finally reveals himself and reunites with his family. His cry of relief so loud, that his tears resound throughout the palace, making their way into Pharaoh’s room.
While I was in Israel two weeks ago, our group met with a Palestinian man named Ihab Balha who shared his story about growing up in a family displaced in the War for Independence in 1948. His father taught Ihab and his siblings to hate Israelis. As a young man he burned with rage even as he worked in the café in Jaffa his family owned, serving mostly an Israeli clientele. One particular Israeli man came in periodically to engage Ihab in a fierce conversation, where each defended his own side of the conflict. This went on for some time, with Ihab actually looking forward to his conversations with the Israeli.
One day, Ihab and the Israeli were in the middle of a particularly strong argument, when the Israeli man suddenly stopped the conversation and invited Ihab back to his apartment to continue. Ihab was taken aback. How could he go to the house of an enemy? He told us that his heart and his mind struggled, his mind telling him no, but his heart, curious about what he would find there. He decided to follow his heart, and when he entered the Israeli’s apartment he found it a mess. The man’s wife had just left him and he was in a terrible state. For the first time, Ihab saw his rival as a human being. This led to many more meetings and a whole peace initiative the two started together, gathering hundreds of people together during the time of the second Intifada in the early 2000s.
Most remarkable is that a few years after these meetins, Ihab met and fell in love with an Israeli woman named Ora. They have since had three boys together and needing a place to educate their boys in both of their family traditions, they started a preschool where both Arabic and Hebrew would be taught side by side. Like in the story of Joseph, former enemies became friends, and the world was made better because of it. The preschool which started with just two children, now has over eighty, and is starting a second branch in the Galilee. I would encourage you to go to their website to learn more – www.bismilla.org.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex
Last Updated on 12/22/2017 by wpadm