Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Do you like illusions? Here's a good one. Now you see me, now you don't. Did I really disappear or is it just an illusion? Sometimes our eyes can play tricks on us. Other times we've been intentionally duped. Still other times we may not have all of the information we need to accurately interpret what we're seeing. What does all of this have to do with our understanding of our current tour portion? Stick around to find out in this week's Five Minute Torah.
[00:00:37] Shalom. And welcome back to another great episode of Five Minute Torah. I'm Darren. And before we get into the Torah commentary, let's cover a few quick facts about this week's Torah portion. This week, we're studying the portion of Avayeshev Genesis 37, 1, 40, 23. And here are the three things that you need to know about it. Number one, the dreamer introducing Joseph. It was obvious that Joseph was Jacob's favorite child. It didn't help matters, however, when God gave Joseph dreams and he decided to tell his family about them. Try telling your family you had a dream that they all bowed down to you and see how well that goes over. Anyway, Joseph and his dreams created tension between him and his brothers. One day, his brothers couldn't take it anymore, so they decided to get rid of him for good. Judah, however, stepped in and talked his brothers into selling Joseph into slavery rather than killing him. So they concocted a ruse using Joseph's coat and the blood of a goat to let their father Jacob believe Joseph had been killed, thus protecting themselves from their father's wrath. But in doing so, they set the stage for the exile and bondage of Israel in Egypt. Judah and Tamar A Taste of humble pie in one of the oddest stories of the Bible, Judah marries a Canaanite woman and has three sons by her, er, Onan and Shelah. Er, marries a woman by the name of Tamar. But he doesn't have any children because he was, quote, wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. This is Genesis 38:7. His brother Onan suffered the same fate as his brother, as we read. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. This is verse 10. Shelah was too young to marry, so Judah holds him back, secretly afraid that Tamar is some kind of black widow feeding on his children. Judah's wife ends up dying. And sometime sometime later, when he visits his friend Hira, the Adullamite, he hires what he believes to be a prostitute. It turns out, however, to be his daughter in law, Tamar, who is still trying to bear offspring for her deceased husband. A scandal ensues and Judah finally admits that he's the father of the child, declaring that Tamar was within her legal rights to behave as she did. Tamar eventually gives birth to twins Perez and Zarah and number three Joseph In Egypt, what goes down must come up. After his brothers sell him, Joseph is taken to Egypt, where he ends up being a slave in the house of one of Pharaoh's officials by the name of Potiphar. Potiphar's wife attempts to seduce Joseph and when he rebuffs her advances, she plays the victim and gets Joseph thrown into prison. While in prison, he meets Pharaoh's baker and cupbearer, who have been thrown into prison as well. One night they both had a dream. They tell Joseph their dreams and God gives him the ability to interpret them. Pharaoh has the baker executed and restores the cupbearer to his position. Before the cupbearer is released from prison, however, Joseph asks that he would beseech Pharaoh on his behalf for his release. But alas, the cupbearer forgot Last call if you want to get a copy of my 8 Lights Hanukkah devotional in time for Hanukkah this year, then don't wait. Shipping this holiday season is running behind schedule and you might miss your opportunity if you don't act now. So if you want to make this Hanukkah special as well to be a better disciple of our Master Yeshua, then grab your copy of 8lights using the link below. This week's commentary is called the Grand Illusion and comes from my book 5 Minute Torah, Volume 3. Everyone enjoys a good magician. They appear to do what seems impossible, although they can entertain people for hours on end. The craft of a magician is based on illusion and misdirection. They draw our attention to one thing in order to distract us from another. If they want us to watch what one hand is doing, then the other hand is doing the real magic. If they point to an object is generally misdirection. But we don't mind this. In fact, we pay money to be misguided and have our point of view misled. The Scriptures are continually focused on altering our perspective of reality as well. We choose to view things from the perspective of God or from the perspective of of the adversary. What we see all depends on what we're focused on. Are we focused on the good or the bad? The blessings or the difficulties? This week's Torah portion is filled with many instances that can be interpreted differently based on one's perspective of the situation. For instance, Joseph's entire ordeal, being betrayed by his brothers, getting sold into slavery, being thrown into prison for a crime he didn't commit, etc. Would have been horrible to most people and would certainly be the cause for distress and complaining. But Joseph kept the proper perspective and saw everything as God's plan being fulfilled in his life. Although this truth of choosing to view things through spiritual eyes rather than fleshly eyes is found throughout the Torah, we usually see only hints of it. For instance, when Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites, the Torah records that they were bearing gum, balsam and myrrh. This is Genesis 37:25. Why do we need to know what merchandise they were carrying? Don't we just need to know that it was an awful situation for Joseph, but we're told these little details for a purpose. The Midrash relates that normally these traders would have been carrying foul smelling merchandise like animal skins and tar. Therefore the Torah wants us to know that Hashem, the Lord always cares for his own, even in the worst circumstances. There is always a silver lining to the clouds above, if we will but look diligently enough. Joseph was not only attentive, but also entirely focused on these minor details in his life. We see the opposite perspective when Jacob was shown the blood on Joseph's garment and assumed the worst. At that moment, Jacob filtered his reality through his past experiences of pain and suffering, including the loss of Joseph's own mother. His perspective was that of hopelessness. He could do nothing other than mourn deeply again. In this week's reading, Judah perceived his daughter in law, Tamar, as a black widow, then a harlot and then an adulteress. But his perspective eventually changed and he realized that she was not the enemy, but was acting even more righteously than he had done himself. It seems, however, that Joseph was more perceptive than his entire family. Joseph could have very well felt that the Lord had abandoned him, as most would, but he saw the good in every situation. How did he do this? A famous two dimensional illustration called Rubens Vase illustrates this point. At first glance it simply looks like the silhouette of a vase. But if one looks at the space around the vase rather than the vase itself, an image of two profiles facing one another appears on either side of the vase. The picture doesn't need to change in order for a person to see the faces, only our perspective. Joseph chose to look beyond the surface and see God's other hand at work in the background. The Torah affirms the Lord's involvement in Joseph's life on several occasions, saying the Lord was with Joseph, e.g. genesis 39:2 Joseph recognized and maintains his joy in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. He could have easily given up if he didn't keep his eye on what God was doing in the background. This is the grand illusion of life. Blessings and curses are contained in the same events. It all depends on how we perceive them. Was it the Lord or the Satan who did that? It all depends on whose perspective we are seeing. From what perspective do you usually have when faced with difficulty? What steps will you take to adopt a different perspective and see things more like God sees them in your life and situations? Let me know your plan in the comments below. Blessings from Shalom Macon, the place where disciples of Yeshua learn, connect and grow.
