miketz: i am but a heap of bones
sholem aleichem,
another short note, alas, as we dive into the final weeks of the semester. so this week, have some Quick Torah Hits in the form of my raw notes from reading the portion (apologies):
in this torah portion, yosef marries an egyptian, assimilates into egyptian culture, and saves the egyptians and jews from famine. i think this is worth remembering especially during chanukah, amid much celebration of maccabees and disdain for "assimilators"
the gematria for חלום (dream) is the same as ידע (to know)
when he sees his brothers, we learn that yosef "recognizes them" and "acts like a stranger" toward them -- in hebrew, ויכרם ויתנכר. both these words come from the same root נכר which can mean both "know/recognize" and "disguise/act strange." the numeric difference between the two forms of this root we have here is 410, the same as משלם (completion). this teaches about the infinite possibilities available in the space between truly recognizing the other and disguising the self.
yosef disguises himself and leads his brothers to believe that they and all their people will die due to their actions towards yosef. rebbe nachman teaches: "there is no greater punishment than this: when a person sees the blemish he caused." this, to rebbe nachman, is the difference between an ordinary person and a tzaddik. not that the tzaddik is blameless and the ordinary person sinful, but that the tzaddik sees the full consequences of their actions.
this teaching of rebbe nachman is in reference to the talmudic phrase: "he set his eyes upon [another] and [that other] became a heap of bones." bones are often used to refer to our inner essence. when we really see the consequences of our actions, the harm we have caused, we shatter into pieces. in an earlier teaching, rebbe nachman writes: "And this is the connotation of aveyrah (transgression): the AVeyRah letter-combination OVeR (crosses) within his bones, from AyVeR to AyVeR (side to side). The word mitzvah, however, connotes joining together. When a person performs bundles of commandments, he binds together the shattered fragments of his bones". when we see the harm we have caused, we shatter into a heap of bones. when we perform mitzves, we bind ourselves back together.
one final note: you all are probably aware, but we have received a great chanukah gift this year in the form of brin solomon's newly released siddur davar chadash!
gut shabes un a freylakhn khanike,
ada