Archive for December, 2007

Joseph wept” … I have been unable to get these words out of my mind since first reading them in the Torah portion of Miketz several weeks ago. I have a special fondness for the Joseph stories as I am sure do many of you. Much has been written on them, but I think there is another point that needs to be considered here before we move on to yet another powerful saga of the Egyptian bondage and another deliverer, Moses, whose story is recounted in the powerful book of Deuteronomy.

Our Torah portion this past week in the annual cycle is Vayechi. It ends Beresheit, Genesis, and with it, the life of Jacob or Israel and also Joseph. Going back several chapters to the account of the brothers coming home with Joseph’s bloody coat and showing it to their father, Jacob, we read in Gen. 33:37-35 that Jacob rent his garment, and wept and said that he would go down to his grave weeping. There are no other instances, however, that record Jacob ever weeping again, not even when he found that his beloved Joseph was alive or even when he was reunited with him and saw his grandchildren for the first time! This seemed somewhat strange to me. Rabbi Hirsch states in his commentary that Jacob in Joseph’s absence had led a dull and monotonous life and that all his energies had been spent in weeping for Joseph. Joseph, on the other hand had had a very eventful life, and as a result had had no time to surrender to the feelings of the separation from his father and give in to weeping. He had to expend his energies for the tasks that were set before him. Yet, in his father’s embrace, he must have truly felt the impact of the long and painful separation and he wept openly.

This passage above is what began my thinking. I knew that there were other passages regarding Joseph weeping, when he revealed himself to his brothers, etc, but I wanted to read them all, and found some that I had not really taken into account. When I did read them all, one after the other, the impact was quite strong and I was struck at how profound they are! Believe it or not, there are EIGHT passages. I will copy them below and I think that if you will read them, perhaps they will jump out at you in a similar way. The bold print, italics and parenthesis in the texts are mine.

1. Gen 42:23-24
“And they (the brothers) did not know that Yosef understood them, for the interpreter was between them. He turned away from them and wept.”

2. Gen 43:29-30
“ He (Joseph) lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin, his brother, the son of his mother, and said: ‘Is this your younger brother, of whom you have told me:’…”And Yosef hastened– for his feelings toward his brother had been stirred up and he wanted to weep—and he went into the room and wept there.” Speaking of Joseph’s deep feelings, the TEV (Transparant English Version) puts it very graphically, “his insides were inflamed toward his brother.”

3. Gen 45:1-3
“ Yosef could no longer restrain himself before all those who stood before him. He cried, ‘Everyone go away from me and go out!’ And no one remained with him when Yosef made himself known to his brothers. He gave his voice free rein in weeping; Mitzrayim heard it, and Pharaoh’s house heard it Yosef said to his brothers: ‘ I am Yosef; is my father still alive?’ The brothers could not answer him because they were bewildered in his presence.”

4. Gen 45:14
“He fell upon the neck of his brother Benyamin and wept and Benjamin wept upon his neck.”

5. Gen 45:15
“He kissed all his brothers and wept in their embrace, and afterwards his brothers spoke with him.”

6. Gen 46:29
“When he (Joseph) presented himself to him (Jacob), he flung himself upon his neck and was still weeping upon his neck”

7. Gen 49:33-50:1:
“When Yaakov had concluded the commands to his sons, he drew his feet back into the bed, expired and was gathered to his peoples. Then Yosef threw himself upon his father’s face and wept upon him and kissed him.

8. Gen 50:17
“Say this to Yosef: ‘O please forgive the crime of your brothers and their sin, that they did evil to you.’ And now please grant forgiveness for the crime of the servants of the God of your father.’ Yosef wept when they said this to him.

What hit me so strongly is that it was Joseph who was doing the weeping in passage after passage! And each time, it had to do with his family, his long lost father and his brothers…seeing them after so many years, and his brother’s mistrust of him. He did attempt to restrain himself a few times and was successful, but in the end he could no longer hold back the tears and deep emotion of seeing his family again…especially little Benjamin. Note that aside from Benjamin, his little brother and son of his own mother Rachel, none of the other brothers wept. Why was this?

I have to wonder whether there an inherent difference in the emotional/psychological make-up between Joseph and the rest of his brothers? I believe there is. If so, could that inherent difference stem from the deep passion that Jacob felt in his union with Rachel, Joseph’s mother, as opposed to his lesser feelings for Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah?

It is becoming clearer and clearer as our understanding of genetics increases, that psychological tendencies are inherited. To carry this theory further, would it not also make sense that the descendants of Joseph would reflect his personality? Is there an ancient DNA thread that can be traced back to Joseph and his brothers that would account for difference in their emotional make-up?

In light of this possible scenario of inherited psychological/ emotional tendencies, think about what happens today when we go into a church today and when we go into a synagogue. Most evangelical churches have “greeters” at the door who will greet you with a hug or a hearty handshake whether you want it or not; and some even non-appointed greeters will do the same. In most of these churches, the services can get quite emotional with weeping, raising of hands, etc. On the other hand, most synagogues do not have “greeters” and the services are more reserved with less of a welcome to visitors. I realize that there are exceptions, but could we say that those of Joseph are in general more openly emotional than those of Judah and is it as a result of an ancient DNA thread?

Perhaps this is a stretch, but I cannot help but think that it is Joseph and his children, those of the lost tribes, that are still weeping today. Rachel is weeping for her children because “he” (Joseph) is not, Jer. 31:14. Joseph is weeping because he has been lost in the land of Mitzrayim and has been separated from his family and when he finally discovers them, they do not recognize him and when he reveals himself to them they mistrust him. How often has this been the case with Joseph today when we “reveal ourselves” to our brother Judah and they don’t trust us initially.

One thing that we might need to make mention of is that in the beginning of last week’s torah portion, VaYigash (Gen 44:18), it was Judah who “drew near” to Joseph. There are definitely some of those of Judah drawing close to us, such as David Horowitz, founder of UIWU, Rabbi Chayim Richman of UTN, in addition to other rabbis, and of course our own Hanoch Young. This in itself is encouraging beyond words, and one has to wonder how close it is to the time when the final revealing of Joseph to Brother Judah will come to pass.

One day when the “two sticks” are joined, we will all be reunited and will become “one in His hand.”

In the meantime let’s think about why it would be Joseph who did most of the weeping? Is the EIGHT TIMES at all significant or did it just happen that way?

Betty/Elisheva Givin

Naomi Farrell, who serves as the United Nations representative of World Union Press, has published a very nice tribute to the late David Horowitz in the Jewish Press titled “A Life Remembered: A Tribute to David Horowitz.” It can be assessed on-line. The article is nicely illustrated with some historic photos of Horowitz with various world leaders taken from our archives. Horowitz was the founder of World Union Press in 1945. He served as its chief editor until his death in 2002. He was at the UN from the day it was founded and had the distinction of being the oldest and longest serving correspondent in the Press Corp. Horowitz saw every post-War President, king, and world leader come and go over a career of over 50 years as each paraded onto the stage of the United Nations. He met most of them, corresponded with quite a few, and became personal friends with others. The entire David Horowitz archive of documents is now preserved and housed at the David Horowitz Memorial Library, which is part of our United Israel offices here in Charlotte.

Exodus 17:16 is a very interesting verse that is translated in a variety of ways in modern English versions. It’s literal translation is quite interesting and was often commented upon by the founder of UIWU, the late David Horowitz.

The setting and context for the verse is the scene of the first battle the Israelites faced in coming out of Egypt. They were attacked by the clan of Amalek, one of the descendants of Esau through his Canaanite wife Adah, known for their brutal cruelty, particularly the murder of women, children, and the old, sick, and feeble, that were in the back of the camp on Israel’s journeys. Moses stood on the top of a hill overlooking the battle below with the “rod of God” that he held high in the air. Aaron the Priest and Hur the Prince of Judah flanked him right and left, holding up his arms. Joshua, of Ephraim was the field commander of the battle. Following the defeat we get this declaration, literal translation here:

“Because a Hand is upon the seat of Yah, war will be between YHVH and Amalek from a generation of a generation.”

Israel is later told in the Torah that they are to REMEMBER to NOT FORGET to utterly blot out Amalek for this cruelty (Deut 25:17-19).

This scene was understood to be both literal and symbolic, a kind of proleptic precursor of the “eternal war” between the forces of Amalek against the “seat of Yah.” Yes, a “hand against the throne.”  This means that in every generation, as the Rabbis tell us, the forces of Amalek will seek to work their evil and must be opposed. This is not just a “spiritual” warfare, in the sense of it having no literal historical consequences and realities. It is very spiritual in that it involves cosmic forces of darkness, but it is manifested in very real, physical, historical ways–namely the slaughter of innocents and in particular, a hatred of the Israelites/Jews and all they represent.

The first battle scene is also most interesting in that what we have represented, as a kind of generation to generation symbol, are the THREE FIGURES on the hill–Moses the Center figure, in the place of the Adon of the whole earth, the Prophet in this case, who is flanked by his two “messiahs,” one of Aaron and one of Judah. This precisely the scene we get in Zechariah 4 with the two olives branches, or “sons of fresh oil,” elaborated in Zech 6, which properly translated is two figures, not one.
Anyway, this means that “Amalek” can represent many things. On a global level there are forces that want to blot out not only those who have returned to the Land of Judah, but really all things they call “Zionist” or Jewish. Saddam talked of turning Tel Aviv into a crematorium, and Ahmadinejab has echoed the same. The same shrill voice, calling for the slaughter of the Jews used to come for hours out of Egypt when Nasser would rant and rave on the radio in the 1950s and 60s. It has been heard down through the ages, in the mouths of world leaders as well as individuals.

That first battle and the declaration of Exodus 17:16, taken with all the other references to Amalek in the Torah, indicate there is something here that unfolds from generation to generation.

UIWU was founded by the late David Horowitz in January, 1944, incorporated in the State of New York. The original By-Laws of the organization are most instructive to read 64 years later. We still have in our office here in Charlotte some original copies of this historic document. What they convey, particularly in the preamble, is not so much the rules and regulations of an organization as a Biblical prophetic vision of the founder, David Horowitz. This vision is as elegant as it is simple, particularly in terms of how membership requirements are formulated in such an open way. It is clear that Horowitz was wanting UIWU to transcend denominational and confessional boundaries, by centering and focusing on the essentials of what he understood to be Abrahamic Faith. It is also quite notable that Mr. Horowitz used inclusive gender language regarding even in 1944 with his references to “brothers and sisters” of United Israel World Union. We thought it might be instructive to post these here.

By-Laws of United Israel World Union, Inc.

ARTICLE I. Name, Standard and Greeting

Section 1. The name of the Association shall be UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC.

Section 2. The Standard of UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC. shall be: “My House shall be called a House of Pray for all Peoples.”

Section 3. The official greeting of UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC. is: Shalom, namely, Peace.

ARTICLE II. Places of Activities

Section 1. The activities of UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC. will be conducted principally in the State of New York, but also in all other States of the United States of America and in foreign countries.

ARTICLE III. Objects and Purposes

Section 1. The objects and purposes of UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC. are: To reawaken the lost tribes of Israel to consciousness of their true identity; to bring this about by means of conveying to them true knowledge of the Bible and of history, particularly by publications dealing with the identity of Israel; to unite the lost tribes (i.e. people of Anglo-Saxon-Celtic, American and kindred origin) with Judah, by means of inculcating original Biblical truths, through publications and lectures; to facilitate the return of all Israel to the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and to His republic as founded by Moses; and above all, to work and strive for that glorious peace, the plans for which are laid down in the writings containing the Blueprint of God’s ordained world order; The Bible; to establish places of devotion and spiritual guidance for its members; to appoint and install the necessary teachers for the various Units of UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC.

Section 2. UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC. further proposes on the basis of the Biblical injunction; “My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all Peoples,” and further on the basis of the words: “Whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered,” to be as universal in creed and outlook as the Bible itself is: wherefore UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC., will function as a non-political, non-denominational, non-sectarian, non-profit, religious membership corporation.

Section 3. UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC. intends to publish a monthly bulletin, which is to serve as the main organ of the corporation and the chief medium of unification for all members and units of UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC. It will contain important Bible data and messages of current interest.

ARTICLE IV. Membership

Section 1. Any person who recognizes and accepts the original Bible of Jehovah, The Father, The Creator, as the basis for his or her daily conduct of life, acknowledging further the laws of Moses, as instituted at Mount Sinai, as a foundation, may become a Brother or Sister in UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC.

Section 2. Membership is open to all, irrespective of color, race or creed, who accept the creed of UNITED ISRAEL WORLD UNION, INC. as set forth in these By-Laws.