Vayigash, Genesis 44:18-47:27, Parashat Hashavua for Shabbat December 23, 2023

Yehuda Amichai (z”l) the great Israel poet wrote, “The place where we are right is hard and trampled like a yard.” Self-righteousness is a sickness that has infected many of us. We are certain we are right and those who disagree with us are wrong. Not only are they wrong, they are dangerously wrong, fatally wrong. In this way we can never find common ground. From this perspective Israelis are racist, genocidal colonizers with no right to the Land of Israel and Palestinians are all murderous terrorists with no legitimate claim to the land of Palestine.

Conflict and violence are as old as humanity, but is it possible to find another way?

This week’s Torah portion shows us that change and reconciliation are possible, even after a lifetime of harm, pain and suffering. In a fit of jealous rage Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. Now, twenty years later they stand before him. Dressed as an Egyptian noble, Joseph is unrecognizable to them and he has set up an almost identical scenario to their deplorable act of betrayal. Joseph has framed his brother Benjamin for stealing a goblet and says he will keep him as his slave while the brothers may return to Canaan. In this moment Judah steps forward and says, “please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father unless the boy is with me? Let me not be witness to the woe that would overtake my father!” (Genesis 44:33-34)

Judah has changed. He is no longer jealous and focused on his own needs. Now he can empathize with the needs of his father and his family. Joseph sees this change and breaks down weeping, “He kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; only then were his brothers able to talk to him.” (Genesis 45:15)

Judah’s openness and empathy makes reconciliation possible. Is that something we, as individuals, as a society, and those on both sides of any conflict can do?