“I Am Joseph; Is My Father Still Alive,” Synthesis

Joseph had managed to successfully synthesize the modern world (Joseph) with the tradition (“my father”). He also realized that he was capable of losing that connection. In order not to risk that synthesis unraveling, Joseph immediately asks for his father’s coming to Egypt.

The Proverbial Straw

One of the most poignant episodes in the Torah can be found at the beginning of this week’s Parsha. Joseph, who had been sold by his brothers, has risen to the position of Viceroy of Egypt. His prophetic dream that his brothers will one day bow down to him has materialized. He had just put his brothers through grueling times, accusing them of espionage when they had come to Egypt to purchase grain in a time of famine.

The proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” was the discovery of Joseph’s silver goblet in Benjamin’s knapsack. Joseph demanded Benjamin be held as a hostage and Judah pleads, nay, demands of Joseph to let him go.

A Strange Question

At this point Joseph could not contain himself any longer, sends out all the Egyptians present, and exclaims to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?”

Commentators are puzzled at Joseph’s strange question, as to whether his father was still alive. Didn’t Judah just get through telling Joseph how Jacob’s life depended on the safe return of his youngest son Benjamin? No less than five times did Judah mention his father in his plea to Joseph! And yet, Joseph acts as if he was completely unaware that they were just speaking about his father.

Incredulity!

One simple answer to this question is that Joseph was really not asking whether his father was alive. What Joseph was doing was expressing his incredulity. By prefacing the words “I am Joseph;” he meant to say, “I have caused so much pain to my father because of my absence, and my father is still alive?!”

But Joseph was not just saying this to express his sense of amazement that his father was still alive, but it was a preparation for a subsequent request on his part, to go quickly to bring his father to Egypt so that his father would see him before he would die.

Modernity versus Traditional

While the entire story of Joseph and his brothers is recorded in the Torah as actual occurrences, the Torah wants us to realize that these stories carry an eternal message. In every generation we must seek to apply Joseph’s exclamation, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” to our own lives.

Joseph, whose name derives from a root that means change and improvement, could represent the progress that our generation has experienced as a result of modern technology and the freedoms that we enjoy that are of a recent vintage.

The entire rivalry and conflict of Joseph and his brothers can be said to reflect the tension that exists between the old and the new. There is always going to be struggle between the trends of modernity with the traditional approaches. The old guard will not stand for the modern developments and will try to destroy it. If they cannot succeed to destroy it they may “send it south,” to Egypt. This means that these innovations cannot be tolerated in our own environment and will have to be sent elsewhere.

By selling Joseph to Egypt, his brothers, were in effect saying, Joseph’s modern approach may be good for the secular world symbolized by Egypt, but not for the progenitors of the Jewish people in Israel.

On the surface, it seems that Joseph’s brothers were correct. There is no room for change within the confines of the Land of Israel. Metaphorically speaking this means that there must be a separation between the profane and the holy. While we might want to avail ourselves of modern technology when it comes to business and other mundane endeavors, we should not allow the modern technological advances to encroach on our “Holy Land” dimension of life.

At this point Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers and says, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” implying that he was amazed that he had not lost his feeling for his father; he had not deviated one iota from the teachings of his father.

Joseph’s incredulity — at his father (read: his father’s old ways) still being alive in spite of his role as the innovator- Joseph — was justified.

Despite the fact that Joseph had managed to successfully synthesize the modern world (Joseph) with the tradition (my father), he was not cocky or arrogant about it. He realized that he was capable of losing that connection if he didn’t hurry to bring his father here; to instill the values of his father in his new and modern world. In order not to risk that synthesis unraveling, Joseph immediately asks for his father’s coming to Egypt.

Torah Most Modern Teaching

In practical terms this means that the ways of our fathers, every detail of the Torah and its commandments are as relevant today as they were 3,300 years ago, because “my father is still alive.”

Jacob, our Sages tell us, “never really died.“ The G-dly teachings of Torah, can never lose their relevancy. However, this does not necessitate shunning the modern world. As long as it does not compromise the Torah, we are permitted and indeed we ought to avail ourselves of modern technology and advances for the enhancement of Torah. But, at all times we must realize that Torah must not be watered down as a result of the constant changes that occur as a result of modernity.

Chanukah Message

Chanukah, the festival we have just observed, likewise carries the message that while the Greek’s provided us with some invaluable innovations, we must never allow them to adulterate the purity of the oil (read: Jewish wisdom and observance).

No sooner do the Syrian-Greeks put their touch to our oil in the Temple, they provoked the militant response of the Maccabees.

The triumph of the Maccabees over the Greeks was a triumph for the “I am Joseph, is my father still alive”

synthesis.

Our Generation’s Challenge

No generation in history has been confronted with the “I am Joseph!” (progress and modernity) and “is my father still alive?” (tradition and fidelity to the “old” ways) syndrome as ours.

Our generation’s challenge is unique because it is the generation that will merit ushering in the Messianic Age, a time when the synthesis of the old and the new will reach its state of perfection.

Moshiach must be steeped in the teachings of the Torah. When Maimonides describes Moshiach’s qualifications he adds that he must be steeped in Torah “as his ancestor David.”

Torah and Technology

Indeed, the Zohar, the principle work of Kabbalah predicted that in the pre-Messianic Era, there will be a parallel explosion of secular and spiritual knowledge. The purpose is to prepare us for such time when the dichotomy between nature and the Divine will be no more.

Even today, as we prepare for Moshiach, we have seen unprecedented ways of bringing the teachings of Torah— including its most esoteric levels—to the widest possible audience through the advances of modern technology. Science is living up to its intended purpose to be the instrument through which G-d and G-dly wisdom can be made a part of the consciousness of the world.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Vayigash by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.