"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  I am not a teacher, only a fellow student."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

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A FEW PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON

The Winding Road and the Dreams Unfolding
We're in technicolor dream-coat territory now. Below are a couple of goodies, followed by a plug for a failed hero...

First,  a nice little snippet of a drash from Lawrence Kushner (taken from Five Cities of Refuge). 

By interpreting all three sets of double dreams, Joseph is able to accurately foretell the future. But the only good it does him is to seal his destiny. The first time his dreams get him sold into slavery. The second, his interpretations establish his reputation. And the third, he's made king of Egypt. The act of dreaming (or interpreting) the future only seals it!

The Hebrew word for "dungeon" here is bor, or pit, the same word used to describe the cistern into which Joseph was thrown by his brothers (Genesis 37:24). There, the obvious meaning of his own dreams (sheaves, then planets bow down to him) gets him thrown into a bor. Now his astonishingly accurate interpretation of the baker's and the butler's dreams gets Pharaoh to raise him up from the bor, the dungeon.

The first pit shows up again in Midrash Tanchuma. The whole family has settled in Goshen and Jacob has died. In accordance with their father's wish, the brothers bury him in Canaan. As they are returning to Egypt, Joseph leaves the caravan for a short time - unaware he is under the secret surveillance of Shimon and Levi. When they follow him to the same pit they once intended to be his grave, they are horrified and certain that, now that their father is dead, Joseph will finally take his vengeance on them. If they had been within earshot, however, the midrash explains, they would have overheard him recite a simple blessing: “Praised are You, O God, who has done a miracle for me in this place!"

[Rubinstein's 2 cents: Too often, we find ourselves constructing narratives and motives about other people. We don't bother to check if we are right about these assumptions. Too often, we are mistaken. In the meantime, we misjudge other people, and our interactions with them are clouded by a jaundiced eye.]

Second, check out this wonderful short bit from G-dcast: 
www.g-dcast.com/vayeshev
well worth your watching!

Lastly, I need to put in a few words for poor Reuben. In this parasha he is credited with saving Joseph's life. The brothers want to kill Joseph on the spot. Reuben, thinking on his feet, aims to deflect their murderous rage. He hopes to return to the pit, pull the little trouble-maker out, and take him home to Dad. We know, of course that things take an unexpected turn. Reuben feels terribly guilty. And his failed try brings him no credit or praise. Very tough to play the failed hero, to win the blessings of a selfish father...Reuben's tragic narrative took a dark turn back in parashat vayishlach [Genesis 35:22], when he, in a gesture of hostility and rage, slept with Bilhah, one of Jacob's wives. When Jacob hears of the incident, he says nothing - but upon his deathbed, Jacob curses Reuben, uttering terrible words of doom. Did he deserve them? You decide. But how can a parent leave a child in this way?

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Aaron