I am a crier. I can’t help myself. Sometimes with congregants, sometimes while reading bed time stories to my kids, sometimes while watching a movie or a television program, and sometimes even during a commercial, I will find tears welling up in my eyes. I believe tears are a healthy outlet for our emotions, and not something we should be afraid of. In the Torah, Joseph does not emote, he suffers quietly. In the ancient Egyptian court, Joseph’s role as viceroy is to be decisive, regal, as he administers to all those who come to him begging for food. When his brothers approached him in last week’s Torah portion, it takes all of his power to hold back emotion, and now, this week, in Parashat Vayigash, it all comes out, in a flood, in a torrent, as he reveals himself to his family. So loud is his response, that even after dismissing the court, “Egypt heard, and Pharaoh’s household heard.”
One gets a sense that after being on stage for so long, finally Joseph is able to be himself. Tears in Biblical writing are indications of joy and sadness, and these two emotions are often interconnected, as the Psalmist declares, “those who sow in tears, will reap in joy.” The truth is Joseph is both overcome by intense feelings of sadness for his alienation from his family for so many years, anger at what his brothers did to him, and joy for finally being reunited with them. Later, when he falls upon his brother, Benjamin, and weeps, the rabbis add that it is not only for the past and present that he cries, but for the future of our people as well. In that moment he can see thousands of years into the future into the destruction of the Temple and all the suffering that lies ahead. Now that he has learned to cry, it seems he cannot stop. His tears, ease not only his pain, but ours as well. Perhaps, it is through this learned experience that we can all “reap in joy.”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex
P.S. – I am heading off to Israel for a few weeks. Next week’s Torah Thoughts will be an update on my travels.
Last Updated on 01/06/2017 by wpadm