By John Planer

I don’t study these texts to discover God’s overt or hidden messages, or to discover history in the form of documented fact. Rather, I study these human documents to discover the plain meanings of the words, the problems inherent in discerning these meanings, and, most important, the insights into human behavior—then and now—which underlie the words.

For example, there is great wisdom in the Joseph story. We learn that suffering can teach us wisdom if we choose to learn, as did Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, carried to Egypt, accused of attempted rape by Potiphar, and imprisoned. Jacob’s spoiled, arrogant, favored son became a slave, then master of Potiphar’s household, then again a prisoner.

But Joseph chose not to become cruel, cynical, or vengeful; instead, when he confronts his brothers, he weeps and forgives them. Stated differently: in adversity we have a choice—to become bitter or to become better. We learn that disaster ensues when we treat our children unequally—think of Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers. We learn that sowing hatred often reaps evil, and that compassion delayed invites tragedy—as when Reuben delays in returning Joseph to his father and in the interim Joseph is sold into slavery.

We learn that we should forgive the truly penitent, as did Joseph his brothers.

And perhaps most important: we learn from Torah that beneath seemingly random events may well lay an order, logic, and justice that we cannot fully perceive. For example, Joseph’s arrogance and mistreatment leads to the salvation of his family (as well as the Egyptian populace) during the famine. Thus the meaning of our lives may become evident only in retrospect, or viewed from a vantage far beyond our own.

Print

Email

Comment

Post a comment