[JOI Word of Torah] Big Tent Judaism: Vayeshev

[Kerry M. Olitzky]

"Big Tent Judaism" Word of Torah

December 16, 2006/25 Kislev 5767
Vayeshev

This Torah portion begins the Joseph narrative, the largest continuous saga
in the book of Genesis and extremely important to the development of the
Jewish people. While there are many issues relevant to family dynamics that
scream out at the text, I believe that the most important issue in the
entire story comes toward the beginning in the form of a stranger. In the
midst of Joseph's strained relations with his brothers and parents, his
father sends him out to shepherd with his brothers. On his way to find them,
he gets lost: "And a man found him [Joseph], and behold he was wandering in
the field, and the man asked him, "What are you seeking?" (Gen 37:15). This
stranger doesn't ask him, "Who are you looking for?" He asks, "What are you
seeking?" The entire history of the Jewish people-its survival in Egypt
during the later famine, its redemption from slavery, its wandering in the
desert to receive the Torah, and its eventual arrival in the Land of
Israel-is dependent on this pivotal moment, on this one individual who is a
stranger to Joseph. 

This stranger sets into motion a process that has far-reaching impact. Some
might liken this to the so-called "butterfly effect"-the notion that the
gentle flapping of a butterfly's wings in one part of the world can end up
causing a tsunami in another part of the world. But what is so striking to
me is that Joseph's journey-and the consequent journey of the Jewish
people-is set into motion by a stranger, someone previously unknown to
Joseph and presumably the Jewish people. 

While some suggest that the stranger is sent as an "angel" by Gd, others
suggest that the chance encounter with the stranger was simply that-a chance
encounter. Some who are more persuaded by arguments of providence would
suggest that it was not a chance encounter at all. I wonder how often
strangers direct us on our life's paths. How often do the questions that
they ask-sometimes rather innocently-force us to take a good hard look at
ourselves, our lives and where we are going.

Perhaps that is what argues strongly for the acknowledgment of the role that
strangers play in the life of the Jewish people and in our own lives. These
strangers, regardless of their backgrounds, become an integral part of our
lives and our destiny. That is why we have to create those big tents of
Jewish community to let them in.


Dr. Kerry M. Olitzky
Jewish Outreach Institute
1270 Broadway, Suite 609
New York, NY  10001
tel: 212.760.1440
fax: 212.760.1569
 <http://www.joi.org/> www.JOI.org <http://www.joi.org/> 

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You are welcome to use these ideas in your own work and writings as long as
you would be so kind as to credit Rabbi Kerry Olitzky and the Jewish
Outreach Institute, thank you.

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