This week's Torah portion is Parashat Vayigash. This portion continues the story of Joseph, taking up from when Joseph finds the stolen goblet in Benjamin's sack and threatens to have him killed. Judah pleads with Joseph to spare Benjamin. Joseph then reveals himself to his brothers. He urges them to quickly fetch Jacob and their entire family and move to Goshen, where he can provide for them all. The portion ends with Jacob arriving in Goshen weeping at the sight of his newly found son and taking up residence in Egypt.

The story of Joseph is a recurring theme in my life. The most obvious way is that my father's name was Joseph and he was most proud of his biblical ancestor. My first study of Joseph occurred during my sixth grade religious school at Temple Beth-El of Chicago. All of the grades that year studied Joseph, culminating in a comprehensive examination. Both my sister and I scored very well on this test and were rewarded with scholarships to attend Olin Sang Union Institute, the Chicago-area version of our Greene Family Camp. That was my first summer at a Jewish camp, an experience that was to dominate my next few summers and to contribute greatly to my high school years. That first summer at Olin-Sang, our study session was, again, the story of Joseph. For me, the highlight was my introduction to “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, the Andrew Lloyd-Webber-Tim Rice rock operetta version of the bible story. Two summers later, the camp study session involved each cabin performing an archeological dig on a presumed Tel, or archeological hill site. Every cabin dug down until they found their designated artifact, such as David's slingshot, or a fragment from the Ten Commandments or a Joshua's Ram's horn. This artifact became the theme for that day's study. My cabin unearthed Joseph's multi-colored coat, of course! Since that time, I have had less frequent overlap with the Joseph story, save a made-for TV movie and the occasional Torah reading at temple.

So, I was very excited to learn that Dustin and I would lead the service that included the retelling of my favorite biblical story. It gave me the opportunity to reread the life of Joseph, this time from the perspective of an adult and father. Obviously, I can more deeply relate to Jacob's stunning loss of his son and can only imagine the great disbelief mixed with overwhelming joy he felt upon learning that Joseph was alive and doing remarkably well. I am still taken by the tale of the abandoned young man who finds opportunity within his slavery to assist Pharaoh in interpreting his dreams. Joseph becomes the overseer of the economy of Egypt, gracefully managing the surplus harvest for the time of the upcoming famine. And then during the famine, when civil war could have easily broken out, he manages to mete out the food supplies in an orderly manner that the populace finds fair. This happens even though Joseph ends up engineering the purchase of all the lands and all the cattle of Egypt. In a more modern light, one might disparage Joseph as a robber baron, capitalizing on the economic woes of the people, yet in the end, he remains revered by the Egyptians.

What struck me most upon reading the story again is the part that Dustin has just read for us. Let me first place this passage in context. After accusing his bother Benjamin of theft, with the planted goblet discovered in Benjamin's bag, Joseph is keen to see his brothers' reactions - will they abandon Benjamin as they did him so many years ago? Decidedly no! Judah pleads for Benjamin's life. Jacob, their father, he tells Joseph, would be devastated by the loss of Benjamin. Jacob has already suffered the loss of one of his cherished sons from Rachel; he could not bear to lose the other as well. In fact, Jacob had at first forbidden Benjamin from traveling to Egypt, only relenting after the brothers convinced Jacob that Joseph would not see them without all the brothers going together. Clearly, Jospeh is moved by these words. Many scholars have debated what parts of the argument swayed Joseph and what tactics were best.

However, I see Judah's speech as one of great despair. Judah cannot face telling Jacob that Benjamin is lost. Having already broken Jacob's heart by selling Joseph off to slavery, he knows that Benjamin's loss would mean death for Jacob. Judah reveals that there is nothing left in his own life if it means the end for Jacob.

Even more moving to me is Joseph's response. Here is what we heard read from the Torah tonight. Yes the brothers have passed his test. They have shown themselves to have changed from their evil ways that led to his own slavery. They love their brother Benjamin and their father Jacob even more than themselves. Nevertheless, Joseph's reconciliation is a remarkable act of forgiveness. These same brothers once were extremely jealous of him, enough so that their answer was to rid themselves of Joseph by selling him into slavery. Imagine the anguish Joseph felt when he was torn from his home, from his father, from his brothers. Imagine the sense of betrayal. Imagine the years spent in servitude in a strange land. From this depth of anger, somehow Joseph finds the strength to forgive. Revenge could well be his - he could deny the brothers food and they would surely die. Instead, Joseph reaches out to them with wide open arms, embracing them and weeping with joy upon his reunion with Benjamin. Here is an act of complete forgiveness with nothing asked in return. Joseph reunites the family, there is no enmity whatsoever.

Forgiveness comes in many shades and gradations. Joseph's act is pure. He wipes the slate clean in one sweep. He asks for nothing in return, no act of contrition is required from his brothers. This is the true act of forgiveness, completely and totally absolving the wrongdoer. When we come to Temple on Yom Kippur, it is this type of forgiveness we seek from God, and we rest assured that God will grant forgiveness, harboring no ill will and no after effects.

We should take this lesson from Joseph into our hearts for every day use. Forgiveness purifies all who are involved in an act of wrong. The perpetrator can move on knowing that the victim has absolved him. But the stain on the wronged party is only eradicated by forgiveness of the most true sort, with no strings attached. This absolution is right in the eyes of the Lord. Amen.

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