Od Yoseif Chai

(Joseph is still alive!)

© 2005 Maggid ben Yoseif

Summary of major points of this study

In Portion Vayeitzei, which began this study, we learned that the enmity and vexation between Joseph and Judah actually started at the birth of Judah when Rachel became envious and declared to Jacob that he should give her children or she would die. Jacob’s response, “Am I in the place of God,” is the same as Joseph’s response when his brothers are despondent and ready to be slaves to him after the death of Jacob. This means it could be rooted in the psyche of Joseph as a result of his mother’s jealousy.

That a son of Rachel would reply in kind (to Jacob’s retort) indicates that at least in the life of Joseph, a complete tikkun was made on his part for the enmity and vexation. But when Jacob adopts Ephraim and Manashe as his own children giving them tribal status — something he did not do for his other grandchildren — you can imagine how that went over with his other sons and grandsons, especially the sons of Judah who became the tribe of the scepter or the ruling tribe.

There are two rival traditions as to why the Sea of Reeds split. One was the merit of Joseph as his offspring were carrying his coffin in view of the sea at the top of the levee. The other was the merit of Nachshon ben Amminadav, a man of Judah who was the first to dive into the sea. As the tradition goes, when the water got above his nose the sea parted. Another tradition has him diving in and the sea splitting so that he hit the dry riverbed! The early advent of such rival traditions are evidence or the re-emergence of enmities, especially between the House of Judah and the House of Joseph.

We saw that the name, "Joseph" was given to indicate that a reproach (of being barren) was taken away and his name literally means multiplier. So Joseph becomes the prime candidate for the family to fulfill the Promise made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of children so numerous they cannot be counted.

In portion Vayishlach, we learned that the conflict between Esau and Jacob has spiritual dimensions which only the children of Joseph may be equipped to resolve at Esau’s demise. We submitted that the unannexed territories provide the backdrop against which to see the conflict between the House of Joseph and the House of Esau unfolding — in our day.

In portion Vayeishev, we learned that Judah cannot reign successfully without Joseph’s help in the same way that King David needed the alliance of the House of Joseph provided to him through his friend, Yonatan, who was the rightful heir to the throne of his father, Shaul.

We also saw the mystical after-effects of Joseph being thrown into an empty pit without water; that only Joseph and perhaps his descendants would become partakers of the “indwelling ruah Ha-kodesh.”

In parashah Mikeitz, we explained the mystery of Tzaphnat Pane’ah as the mystical imprint in Joseph’s soul which could serve to identify Joes today. We also saw how Manashe's name reflected that Joseph had become so assimilated that he had even forgotten his father’s house, yet he held on to the Torah of the exiles he learned from his father. We also saw how Benjamin became part of the House of Joseph and that even so, the Haftorah of Solomon’s choice between two women who both claimed the same child, showed that Benjamin should be allowed to return to the family of Judah. We mentioned Chanukah as the propitious time for the spirit of Joes to confront the spirit of Esau in prayer.

In parashah Vayigash we saw how the soul of Benjamin and the soul of Jacob are intertwined and how mystically Jacob lives today through Benjamin. That may also be how Joseph will emerge as part of Jacob as well.

And this week, we examined how prophecies about Ephraim specifically have dovetailed in Christian writings and how those same writings require the foundation of Torah to be properly understood. Nevertheless the picture emerges that the initial Gospel accounts were strictly intended to seek out and restore the Assimilation of the non-Jewish House of Israel.

If there is a bottom line to this study it may be that the House of Joseph is destined to return. That good news may even have been the original intent of the reNEWed Testament before it was obscured by all manner of pagan doctrine and religiosity in its interpretations. But better that this return begin with the support and perhaps the invitation of Judah … else how can it be a true reconciliation?
 

Shabbat Shalom & Hashem's love & blessings,
Maggid ben Yosef

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