The Torah portion Miketz, Gen 41:1 – 44:17, tells of Joseph’s amazing journey from incarceration to second in command in Pharaoh’s court. This is a good time to reflect on incarceration and Judaism: the needs of Jews who are incarcerated as well as the responsibility of Jews in- and outside to address related issues. In addition, the holiday of Chanukah is calling us to consider our dedications, so this might be a good time to dedicate, as capacity allows, our time, energy, and financial resources to carceral issues.
In addition, a specific request to aid an incarcerated Jew who has been active in speaking up on his own and others’ rights, and experiencing retaliation in response. Please check out this recent essay from Ronald W. Clark Jr. —
Presentation title page: “Matir Asurim: Introduction to the Jewish Care Network for Incarcerated People,” Yom Kippur 5785 — Virginia Avniel Spatz. + Tzedek Chicago logo
Some of us have been worshiping together for much of the day. Others may be joining from another context. Either way, I hope this hour will bring focus to one way we can engage in teshuvah/repair for the coming year. The basic concept for this session is that I was asked to share a little about my volunteer work with the organization, Matir Asurim: The Jewish Care Network for Incarcerated People, and bring some text to link that work with Yom Kippur.
Overview, Basics, and Contacts
[SLIDE 2]. The planned shape of the session is:
Basics and contact information for myself and the organization Matir Asurim
Text exploration: Genesis 44
Matir Asurim Guiding Principles
Back to Genesis 44
Thoughts for Yom Kippur and into 5785
So, let’s get started with some basics
[SLIDE 3] Matir Asurim — “One Who Frees Captives”
Who We Are: “We are a collection of Chaplains, Rabbis, Cantors, Kohanot/Hebrew Priestesses, advocates, activists, volunteers, loved ones of incarcerated people, and people with direct experience of incarceration. We are an all volunteer group who began meeting in 2021. We live and work across Turtle Island, in territories, cities, and rural settings of the US and Canada.”
I’ve been volunteering with Matir Asurim for close to two years,
producing the monthly e-newsletter,
serving as a penpal/chevruta partner with an incarcerated Jew,
helping to create resources for readers who are incarcerated,
helping craft materials for outside readers around incarceration,
producing some additional programming,
and working on organizational infrastructure.
We’ll get into some more specifics a bit later. Meanwhile, some contacts:
[Summary] Joseph is 12th of 13 siblings in the family of Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah. In his youth, he was the favorite of his father, Jacob, and an annoyance to the rest of the family. So, Joseph’s brothers attempt to get rid of him. Their scheming takes an odd turn, however, and, although his family does not know it, Joseph becomes a powerful government leader in Mitzrayim, second in command to Pharaoh.
When famine strikes in Canaan, Jacob sends the brothers down to Mitzrayim, where grain is plentiful, to beg food. Joseph, still unrecognized by his brothers, treats the brothers to a feast at the palace and grants the requested supplies.
Joseph also orchestrates a criminal charge against the youngest brother – thus creating a situation in which the older siblings can again harm a younger brother, or they can act to avoid such harm.
Genesis 44 starts as the brothers leave the palace with the supplies.
[SLIDE 5] Genesis 44 Revised (2023) Jewish Publication Society translation, via Sefaria
1) Then he [Joseph] instructed his house steward as follows, “Fill the men’s bags with food, as much as they can carry, and put each one’s money in the mouth of his bag.
2) Put my silver goblet in the mouth of the bag of the youngest one, together with his money for the rations.” And he did as Joseph told him.
3) With the first light of morning, the men were sent off with their pack animals.
4) They had just left the city and had not gone far, when Joseph said to his house steward, “Up, go after those men! And when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why did you repay good with evil?”…
[The house steward follows Joseph’s orders, going after the brothers and accusing them of stealing the goblet.]
12) He searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the goblet turned up in Benjamin’s bag.
13) At this they rent their clothes. Each reloaded his pack animal, and they returned to the city.
[SLIDE 6] (Genesis 44 cont.)
14) When Judah and his brothers reentered the house of Joseph, who was still there, they threw themselves on the ground before him.
15) Joseph said to them, “What is this deed that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me practices divination?”
16) Judah replied, “What can we say to my lord? How can we plead, how can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered the crime of your servants. Here we are, then, slaves of my lord, the rest of us as much as the one in whose possession the goblet was found.”
17) But [Joseph] replied, “Far be it from me to act thus! Only the man in whose possession the goblet was found shall be my slave; the rest of you go back in peace to your father.”
18) Then Judah went up to him and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant appeal to my lord, and do not be impatient with your servant, you who are the equal of Pharaoh. [Link to bilingual English/Hebrew at Mechon-Mamre]
pray let your servant speak a word in the ears of my lord,
יְדַבֶּר־נָא עַבְדְּךָ דָבָר בְּאׇזְנֵי אֲדֹנִי
and do not let your anger flare up against your servant,
וְאַל־יִחַר אַפְּךָ בְּעַבְדֶּךָ
for you are like Pharaoh!
כִּי כָמוֹךָ כְּפַרְעֹה׃
va’yigash eilav…
This expression, va’yigash eilavis, is worth considering. It comes up in midrash about this Torah story and it appears in Maimonides vocabulary discussion.
Jewish Teachers Discuss “Approaching”
[SLIDE 8] This is a small portion from Maimonides Guide for the Perplexed. Part 1 has many chapters focusing on Hebrew vocabulary.
BTW, I highly recommend checking out Maimonides’ vocabulary chapters, if you can. Sefaria offers free bilingual text with live links to the Tanakh verses mentioned, and I find it a worthwhile exercise to spend some time with the words Maimonides discusses.
Part 1, Chapter 18 is about three similar words: Karov, Naga, and Nagash
קרוב – נגוע – נגוש
Maimonides writes:
“THE three words karab, “to come near,” naga‘, “to touch,” and nagash, “to approach,” sometimes signify “contact” or “nearness in space,” sometimes the approach of man’s knowledge to an object, as if it resembled the physical approach of one body to another.”
He gives examples of each usage, including Gen 44:18: “…And Judah drew near (va-yiggash) unto him”
While we pursue the exchange between Judah and Joseph, it’s worth keeping this expression and the Hebrew vocabulary in mind, more generally: What does it mean to be near to another person in terms of physical space and knowledge of another?
A number of teachers over the centuries have derived lessons from Genesis 44:18. Here are two…
[SLIDE 9] va’yigash eilav yehudah…
It is asked: Judah and Joseph are already in the same room. So, why does the text tell us that Judah vayigash, “drew near” or “came in contact”?
One answer: Jacob ben Asher says:
The last letters of these three words — vayigaSH eilaV yehudaH,shin-vav-hey — spell “shaveh, שָׁוֶה [equal].” Judah’s step forward changes the dynamic, allowing the brothers to speak directly, as equals.
Another answer: The 18th Century teacher, Or Hachayim, from Morocco, cites Prov 27:19: “As face answers to face in water, So does one person’s heart to another”
Building on his teaching, we can see Judah’s step forward as an attempt to create a face-to-face encounter. This was a struggle for Judah, to step across apparent cultural differences and the gap in their positions. The result, ultimately, was reconciliation between the brothers.
This principle of seeking face-to-face interaction can be useful for the season of teshuvah to consider when taking steps in interpersonal reconciliation.
It is also a guiding principle for Matir Asurim as an organization.
Matir Asurim Guiding Concepts
[SLIDE 10] Panim-el-Panim, seeking face-to-face approach, is a guiding principle of Matir Asurim: “Seeking ‘face-to-face’ interactions, despite difference, distance and bars; approaching one another as equals and striving to work in genuine relationship.”
This shapes our penpal relationships, our creation of resources for those who are behind bars, as well as any advocacy on legislation or change of practices, regulations, and conditions inside.
Matir Asurim seeks to provide resources that reflect realities in carceral facilities which often include circumstances that contradict assumptions in much Jewish teaching
reciting prayers or reading Torah right next to toilets;
reciting daily prayers upon waking, which might not align with shacharit, morning prayers, at all;
figuring out how to create community in isolation, when so much of Jewish life assumes access to community (not exclusively an incarceration issue, but a BIG challenge for Jew who are incarcerated)
There are enormous challenges to organizing across bars, and we know that people inside are counting on those of us on the outside to organize and advocate where they cannot.
Still, it’s crucial to take our lead from incarcerated people and those who have experienced incarceration.
All people are created in the image of the Divine.
We all carry a spark of divine goodness as well as the capacity for creative action and transformation.
Teshuva [repentance/return]:
We believe in human resilience and transformation, in our ability to make amends after experiencing and/or perpetrating harm.
We practice this relationally as conflict arises within our organizing, and also strive to create a world that uplifts restorative accountability processes rather than punishment.
Refua Shleima [Complete Healing]:
We work towards collective healing and wholeness, striving to restore balanced relationships within the broader interconnected web of creation and to heal the traumatic effects of white supremacy, colonization, and other systems of oppression that affect our minds and bodies.
Learning from every person:
Learning from every person requires honoring the contributions and voices of people who have been systemically silenced, including through incarceration. In our conversations, we strive to hold awareness around differences in identity and power dynamics.
Kol Yisrael Aravim Zeh Bazeh
[All Jews Are Responsible, One to the Other]/Communal Responsibility:
“All Yisrael is responsible, one for the other.” Jews have many universalist obligations, but we also have a special duty to other Jews.
A little more on this last principle —
[SLIDE 12] Kol Yisrael Aravim Zeh Bazeh
Matir Asurim works with non-Jewish individuals and organizations on issues, trying to address needs of folks who are incarcerated and returning from incarceration in both the US and Canada.
Many non-Jewish groups are larger and better equipped to cope with more general issues, such as solitary confinement and the death penalty. We are also trying to link up with other affected groups regarding what is often called “religious diet.”
But we also focus on specifically Jewish needs: Trying to ensure that incarcerated Jews and those exploring Judaism have access to penpals and spiritual resources. In some carceral facilities, Jews are still offered a Christian bible and told to “ignore the end.” Trying to supply more appropriate resources is one goal. We also seek to fill requests for obtaining a tallit or tefillin – often an issue for those who are not recognized by Aleph (the biggest Jewish organization working in prisons, which provides resources for some Jews but not all).
[SLIDE 13] At a more basic level, we seek to increase awareness in Jewish communities that Jews DO experience incarceration and that we cannot treat incarceration as something that happens to other people.
This awareness also leads, in turn, to more general concerns about incarceration and the toll it takes on individuals, families, and society….
And that takes us back to Maimonides’ idea that “coming near” can be a matter of knowledge as much as one of physical nearness.
Back to “Coming Near”
[SLIDE 14] Back to Genesis 44
[Summary] Judah approaches Joseph and relates the brothers’ previous visit to Mitzrayim for food rations, when Joseph insisted that they return with their youngest brother. Judah includes in his tale the fiction, from years earlier, of a brother killed by a beast and their father’s real grief over the loss. Judah says that incarcerating Benjamin would increase Jacob’s pain and so offers himself as captive instead. At this point, Joseph can no longer restrain himself, clears the room of everyone except his brothers, weeps loudly, and reveals himself.
Gen 45:4-5 – Fox (Schocken) translation:
Then Yosef said to his brothers: I am Yosef. Is my father still alive?
But his brothers were not able to answer him,
for they were terrified before him.
Yosef said to his brothers:
Pray come close to me! [geshu-na eilai גְּשׁוּ־נָא אֵלַי]
They came close. [va’yigashu וַיִּגָּשׁוּ]
He said: I am Yosef your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
This time, the same verb, nagash, that we saw in Gen 44:18 is used by Joseph to invite approach, and the brother comply. Joseph invites the brothers to hear a truth they previously did not know even though they did know they had a part in causing harm.
In the Torah, Joseph will go on to explain that it’s all good, because even though the brothers meant ill, God meant to put Joseph where he ends up. Still we can consider this verse and what it means for the brothers to hear from Joseph about his direct experience. They come close and learn something they did not know but MUST if they are to understand Joseph’s life and their own roles in the wider world which also includes incarceration as a regular part of its function.
There are ways we all can learn more about the role incarceration plays in our history and our society now and how it impacts individuals and families.
We can opt to get closer to individuals who are or have been incarcerated.
We can also opt to approach through general learning.
[SLIDE 15] They came close: approaching as a matter of knowledge
Explore the complex, interrelated stories of racism, enslavement, and incarceration; of colonialism, displacement and destruction
Learn about the over-representation of Indigenous people in US and Canadian carceral systems
Learn about the Incentive System in the Canadian carceral system
Learn about the Exception Clause in the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution
Learn about the “Auburn system” of incarceration, which predates the US Civil War and the 13th Amendment. We have a video and transcript coming soon about Freeman’s Challenge — and I recommend the book….
One of the things that Robin Bernstein, author of Freeman’s Challenge, says she was trying to do with her book is to stop letting the North off the hook in terms of responsibility for our carceral state. Many of us associate exploiting prisoners for profit with the US South and Reconstruction. But her book describes a prison for profit system that pre-dates the Civil War and originates in the North….
For me, learning about the Auburn system, which originated in upstate New York, was a real shift in my thinking. So, coming on that verse, Gen 45:5 — where Joseph says, “I am the one you sold into imprisonment,” really rings new.
More details on some of the topics above, and some related Jewish texts, are available on Matir Asurim’s Resources page — originally prepared for Passover, but also more widely applicable. For more on Freman’s Challenge, visit this page.
by what can we show ourselves innocent? וּמַה־נִּצְטַדָּק
God has found out your servants’ crime! הָאֱלֹהִים מָצָא אֶת־עֲוֺן עֲבָדֶיךָ
Here we are, servants to my lord, הִנֶּנּוּ עֲבָדִים לַאדֹנִי
so we, גַּם־אֲנַחְנוּ
so the one in whose hand the goblet was found. גַּם אֲשֶׁר־נִמְצָא הַגָּבִיעַ בְּיָדוֹ
[SLIDE 17] When Joseph orchestrates the threatened punishment of Benjamin alone, Judah says “God has found out your servants’ crime!” – ha-elohim, matza et-avon avdeikha
He then repeats the same verb, to find [mem-tzadei-aleph], and offers this poetic statement of collective responsibility:
Many teachers note that Judah seems to be acknowledging the brothers’ long-ago crime. And that verb, mem-tzadei-aleph, finding, might point us to things we might find we are complicit in, like living in a carceral state that relies on ideas of “public safety” leading to people being locked up and tortured.
Judah’s statement — “so we, so the one in whose hand the goblet was found” or “the rest of us as much as he in whose possession the goblet was found” points to an understanding of collective responsibility not unlike what we recite throughout Yom Kippur — when one of us commits a crime, we, all of us, who permitted the conditions that lead to crime, are the ones who sinned.
The brand new Koren Rav Kook Siddur presents commentary, not previously published in English, from Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook (1865-1935), first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel and a visionary Jewish thinker — including this note which sheds some light for #ExploringBabylon. (See below for book and launch info.)
Exploring Babylon Chapter 12
This commentary on Psalm 81:6-7 weaves three talmudic tales and two odd spellings toward a surprising conclusion.
When Pharaoh appointed Joseph as Viceroy of Egypt (Gen 39), Talmudic legend says, Pharoah’s advisors challenged the appointment, demanding that someone worthy of the post know “the seventy languages.” So, the angel Gabriel came to teach Joseph and, when he didn’t master all the languages at first, “added to his name a letter from the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and he learnt [the languages] as it is said: He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out over the land of Egypt, where I heard a language that I knew not” (B. Sotah 36b; Ps. 81:6).
Joseph’s name is spelled with an extra “hey” in Ps. 81:6: בִּיהוֹסֵף. Joshua’s name, on the other hand, is missing its “hey” in Nehemiah 8:17: יֵשׁוּעַ. The Talmud’s explanation for Joshua’s diminished named is that the Bible is chastising him for failing to remove the “passion for idolatry [yitsra de-‘avodah zarah” from the country (B. Arachin 32b). But Rav Kook defends Joshua and asserts the power of imagination. He goes on to insist, alluding to a third talmudic story, that trying to shut off imagination can be disastrous for individual and collective spiritual life:
The reason that Joshua did not abolish the hankering for idolatry, which is a function of the imaginative faculty, is because Joshua as a descendant of Joseph, was of the firm conviction that the power of imagination — crucial for prophetic ability — need not be abolished….
Eventually, in the days of Ezra, the Men of the Great Assembly would stop up the yitsra de-‘avodah zarah in a “lead pot” (duda de-avara), and quite predictably, that would in turn bring about the cessation of prophecy in Israel. But in Rav Kook’s reverie, “kapav mi-dud ta’avornah,” “his palms will be set free from the pot.”
—Koren Rav Kook Siddur, p.258-260
Pots and Palms
B. Sanhedrin 64a tells of leaders trapping the “passion for idolatry” in a lead pot. The result is that no eggs are produced anywhere in the Land, for the three days it is captive. The Talmud and Rav Kook take this story in different directions.
The Talmudic discussion is concerned with people “engaged in idolatry only that they might openly satisfy their incestuous lusts.” After considering their options, the leaders blind their captive and then let it go. (“This was so far effective that one does not lust for his forbidden relations”). Rav Kook looks beyond the incestuous lust of the Sanhedrin discussion, instead focusing on the underlying issue of converting the “passion for idolatry” to “holy light.”
When Ps. 81:7 says “his palms will be set free from the pot” —
Rav Kook reads “kapav” [his palms] as related to prophetic inspiration. (This is possibly related to Exodus 33:32-33, in which God holds puts Moses in the rock cleft and promises, “I will cover you with my palm until I have passed by.” Other links between “palm” and “prophecy” are suggested as well.) He concludes that, once palms are freed from the pot, “Imagination will be liberated and prophecy restored” (Kook Siddur, p. 260).
The “hey” which Gabriel adds to Joseph’s name to help him master the languages “is absorbed into Joshua’s being and empowers him to clarify the imagination, which takes in the entire esthetic dimension” (Kook Siddur, p. 258).
Exploring “the entire esthetic dimension” seems like a large project. But the idea that foreign languages and imagination and prophetic inspiration are somehow linked together seems worth pursuing at some point….
…Meanwhile, I suppose it’s time to move into a situation which “doesn’t know Joseph.”
The siddur text is the Koren Sacks (2009) bilingual edition, and Rav Kook’s teachings are prepared by Rabbi Bezalel Naor, who translated Kook’s 1920 Orot.
Psalms 81:6-7
עֵדוּת, בִּיהוֹסֵף שָׂמוֹ
בְּצֵאתוֹ, עַל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם;
שְׂפַת לֹא-יָדַעְתִּי אֶשְׁמָע
He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony,
when He went forth against the land of Egypt.
The speech of one that I knew not did I hear:
הֲסִירוֹתִי מִסֵּבֶל שִׁכְמוֹ;
כַּפָּיו, מִדּוּד תַּעֲבֹרְנָה. kapav mi-dud ta’avornah
‘I removed his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were freed from the basket.
— JPS 1917 translation, from Mechon-Mamre BACK
Dick Gregory’s Bible Tales with Commentary offers insights on the Joseph Story, begun in last week’s Torah portion, Vayeishev (Gen 37:1 – 40:23).
His remarks begin with notes on dreamers and dreaming:
Joseph found out it’s dangerous to be a dreamer. Just like Joseph’s brothers, society today has three ways of dealing with dreamers. Kill the dreamer. Throw the dreamer in jail (the contemporary “cisterns” in our society). Or sell the dreamer into slavery; purchase the dream with foundation grants or government deals, until the dreamer becomes enslaved to controlling financial or governmental interests. Society tries to buy off the dream and lull the dreamer to sleep. It’s called a “lull-a-buy.”
— Dick Gregory’s Bible Tales, p.70 (full citation below)
Gregory (1932-2017) goes on to say, in his 1974 publication, that this country used all three tactics on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., adding: “Dreamers can be killed. Dreams live on.”
Gregory then suggests: “Maybe Joseph was a Black cat. That would certainly explain his taste in clothes and the wild colors he wore.” He relates Joseph’s experience with Potiphar’s wife (Gen 39) to the many Black men in this country “falsely accused of making advances to white women” (Bible Tales, p.72).
Regarding the final story in Vayeishev, Joseph’s incarceration and interpretation of dreams for fellow inmates (Gen 40), Gregory writes:
The butler in the Joseph story symbolizes America’s treatment of Black folks. The butler used Joseph’s talent as an interpreter of dreams and he promised to tell Pharaoh about Joseph. As soon as the butler got himself comfortably back in Pharaoh’s palace, he forgot about his word to Joseph.
America was built on the sweat, toil, and talent of Black folks. But when the work was done and the talent utilized, America quickly forgot its debt to Blacks. Black folks helped lay down the railroad tracks, but they could only work as porters after the trains started running. Black slaves picked the cotton, but the garment industry belonged to white folks.
— Bible Tales, p.73
Gregory’s commentary struck me as very like the commentary of the Rabbis under Roman rule. One famous example is this teaching of Gamaliel, son of Judah (Gamaliel III):
Be wary in your dealings with the ruling power, for they only befriend a man when it serves their needs. When it is to their advantage, they appear as friends, but they do not stand by a person in his hour of need.
— Pirkei Avot 2:3
Torah of Exile, Again
The previous episode discussed the “Torah of Exile” and the Academy of Shem and Eber, offering lessons on keeping the faith when the surrounding culture seems alien, even hostile. The above-quoted passages from Gregory’s Bible Tales fit this curriculum in two importantly different ways.
First, dreams and dreamers. People from many communities — in 1974 and today — can relate to Gregory’s characterization of a system that tries to buy dreams in order to squash them. So, his comments on this comprise one kind of “Torah of Exile,” comfort and instruction for exiles.
…Let’s note, before continuing, that an individual might feel exiled around one aspect of life (gender or sexual orientation, for example) while feeling integrated into the surrounding community in other ways….
Second, the butler who “symbolizes America’s treatment of Black folks.” Gregory’s notes on the butler story are more specific to a particular form of exile. It’s not that people outside the Black community cannot relate to being used. But those of us who don’t directly experience what he is describing must pause and be sure to really hear what is said about an experience we don’t share. This is a second kind of “The Torah of Exile”: discomfort and instruction for those who are in relative safety with regard to a particular form of exile.
We should all, of course, seek to learn from many sources. We need all the ancient and contemporary wisdom we can find, and all that’s in between, to help us understand our own exilic circumstances and those of our neighbors. It’s essential, though, that we stay clear on the two kinds of Torah of Exile and be careful to learn about others’ suffering without mistaking it for our own.
Dick Gregory’s Bible Tales with Commentary, James R. McGraw, ed.
NY: Stein and Day, 1974
This volume, by the way, is very funny and oddly current. TOP
In next week’s Torah portion, Jacob is brought the many-colored coat he’d given his favorite son, Joseph. The coat has been dipped in goat’s blood to trick Jacob into believing Joseph was torn by a wild animal, rather than that his own brothers sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:23-36).
“We found this; identify, if you please: Is it your son’s tunic or not?” (verse 32; using Stone/Artscroll translation here and below)
Jacob responds: “My son’s tunic! A savage beast devoured him! Joseph has surely been torn to bits! [tarof toraf yosef]” (verse 33)
Jacob initiates no investigation. Obviously there was no forensic unit in the area to test the blood or ferret out other clues. Still, Jacob doesn’t even ask a question, as far as we know. The sons never even have to lie outright. Jacob simply jumps to a conclusion and then begins to mourn.
Later in the same portion, Joseph’s older brother Judah fails to look carefully at matters pertaining to his daughter-in-law Tamar, and she is nearly put to death by the court before he realizes his mistake(s) (Genesis 38).
In one of her studies of Vayechi, “Jacob’s Testament,” Nechama Leibowitz* discusses Joseph’s reluctance to swear to Jacob’s burial wish:
The Midrash aptly explains the difference between Joseph’s behavior and that of Abraham’s servant [when asked to swear, regarding finding a wife for Isaac]:
Said Rabbi Isaac: The servant acted servilely and the freeman as a free agent. The servant acted servilely, as it is said: “And the servant put his hand…” Whilst the freeman acted as a free agent: “And he said, I will do as thou hast said.” (Bereshit Rabbah* 96)
A servant has to do the behest of others….A free agent however is only bound by his conscience, and chooses his own actions in accordance with his own freely arrived-at decisions.
Malbim** makes a similar distinction…It was better for him to do it out of his own free will, rather than be bound by oath. In the latter instance, he could not take the credit for fulfilling his obligations freely.
This explanation may help us understand Biblical and Rabbinic disapproval of vows. Man should rather conduct himself as a free agent rather than be bound by external bonds…
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely remember [pakod yifkod] you and bring you up out of this land to the land that He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” — Stone* translation
Joseph then said to his kin, “I am dying, but God will surely take care of you [pakod yifkod] and bring you up out of this land to the land that [God] promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” — JPS/Stein* translation
Yosef said to his brothers:
I am dying,
but God will take account, yes, account of you, [pakod yifkod]
he will bring you up from this land
to the land about which he swore
to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov. — Fox* translation
And Joseph said to his brothers “I am about to die, and God will surely single you out [pakod yifkod] and take you up from this land to the land He promised to Isaac and to Jacob.” [Abraham inexplicably missing here]
— Alter* translation Continue reading Vayechi: Language and Translation
Two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine arrived, born to him by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named the first-born son Manasseh [mem-nun-shin-heh], “For God has made me forget [ki-nashani] all the troubles I endured in my father’s house.” And he named the second one Ephraim [aleph-peh-reish-yod-mem], “For God has made me fruitful [ki-hifrani] in the land of my affliction.” Continue reading Mikeitz: Language and Translation
A man should await the fulfillment of a good dream for as much as twenty-two years. Whence do we know this? From Joseph. For it is written: These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph being seventeen years old, etc., [Daniel 2], and it is further written, And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh [Genesis 41:46]. How many years is it from seventeen to thirty? Thirteen. Add the seven years of plenty and two of famine [after which Joseph saw his brothers], and you have twenty-two….
R. Huna b. Ammi said in the name of R. Pedath who had it from R. Jochanan: If one has a dream which makes him sad he should go and have it interpreted in the presence of three. He should have it interpreted! Has not R. Hisda said: A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read? Say rather then, he should have a good turn given to in the presence of three. Let him bring three and say to them: I have seen a good dream; and they should say to him, Good it is and good may it be. May the All-Merciful turn it to good; seven times may it be decreed from heave that it should be good and it may be good. They should say three verses…
This text — from Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 55b — goes on to specify verses to be recited in this circumstance: three including the word “turn,” three including the word “redeem” and three including the word “peace.” This discussion of good and bad dreams, and how to handle them, is quite extensive.
"A Song Every Day" 