In this week's portion, Vayechi, there is still a current of mistrust among Joseph and his brothers. The brothers appear before Joseph and beg for their lives, offering to become Joseph's slaves.
When I was a student in the HUC-JIR School of Education, I went on a b'nei mitzvah weekend family retreat. On Shabbat morning, the Rabbi at Kehilat Israel in Pacific Palisades, California shared a story with the families. The story was a midrash, a story about the Torah portion Vayechi and a woman named Serach Bat Asher.
We are all Jacob, we are all Joseph, trying to live in the truth and splendor of who we are. Yearning to forgive, to be forgiven. To come to our final moments with the sense of having lived with purpose.
Torah Commentary
The Blessing of Jacob’s Saving Angel
How Change Becomes Possible
Serach Bat Asher Teaches us a Lesson
Between Light and Darkness