Went to torah study this morning. It was my first time visiting Eitz Chayim.
I was charmed.
The building was an adorable blue house on Magazine St. with a banner that said “The dreidl stops here.” The folks around the table were classic People’s Republic of Cambridge — among whom I’d like to number myself.
The portion was the beginning of Joseph’s story; thank Yahweh, we’re still in Genesis. The Jster was quite the tattle tale. Bitching about the brothers, the wives. No wonder they sold him. It’s impossible to ignore the Genesis pattern: youngest male child subverting the privileges of primogeniture, major family stress as a consequence.
some interesting bullets from the study:
- The story is about our partial knowledge of reality, the inevitability of our destiny? (see final bullet)
- Narrative (Jewish) v. doctrinal theology
- Joseph says Hineni in response to his father’s request that he find and look into the wellbeing of the boyz. Intense.
- One of the most significant encounters in the passages we read was one of the most seemingly insignificant. Joseph goes to find the guys in Shechem. An anonymous man informs him, unsolicited, that they’ve taken off for Dorthan. This chance encounter changed Everything.
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