{"id":3417,"date":"2017-12-29T19:34:51","date_gmt":"2017-12-30T01:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3417"},"modified":"2017-12-29T19:36:38","modified_gmt":"2017-12-30T01:36:38","slug":"torah-ecology-vayehi-gen-4728-5024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3417","title":{"rendered":"Torah Ecology: Vayehi (Gen. 47:28 – 50:24)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis ends with hints and an increasing sense of foreboding about the future of Joseph’s family in Egypt. The portion is sandwiched between two references to G-d as a shepherd, parallel to the role of the Israelites with their flocks.<\/p>\n

The references to animals in this portion follow:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Gen. 48:15 – In the preamble to his blessing, Jacob speaks of \u201cthe G-d who has been my shepherd from my birth to this day…\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. Gen. 49:6 – With reference to Simeon and Levi, \u201cFor when angry they slay men, And when pleased they maim oxen.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. Gen. 49:9 – \u201cJudah is a lion\u2019s whelp; On prey, my son, ave y ou grown. He crouches, lies down like a lion, Like the king of beasts – who dare rouse him?\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. Gen. 49:11 – Still referring to Judah, \u201cHe tethers his ass to a vine, His ass\u2019s foal to a choice vine…\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. Gen. 49:14 – Issachar is a strong-bonded ass, Crouching among the sheepfolds…\u201d<\/li>\n
  6. Gen. 49:17 – \u201cDan shall be a serpent by the road, A viper by the path, That bites the horse\u2019s heels So that his rider is thrown backward.\u201d<\/li>\n
  7. Gen. 49:21 – \u201cNaphtali is a hind let loose, Which yields lovely fawns.\u201d<\/li>\n
  8. Gen. 49:22 – \u201cJoseph is a wild ass, A wild ass by a spring \u2014 Wild colts on a hillside. Archers bitterly assailted him; They shot at him and harried him…<\/li>\n
  9. Gen. 49:24 – \u201cAnd his arms were made firm By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob \u2014 There, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.\u201d<\/li>\n
  10. Gen. 49:27 – \u201cBenjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he consumes the foe, And in the evening he divides the spoil.\u201d<\/li>\n
  11. Gen. 50:8 – \u201cSo Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the officials of Pharaoh, the senior members of his court, and all of Egypt\u2019s dignitaries, together with all of Joseph\u2019s household, his brothers, and his father\u2019s household; only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the region of Goshen. Chariots, too, and horsemen went upo with him; it was a very large group.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As Jacob approaches the end of his life, the last 17 years in Egypt, he summons Joseph and asks for Joseph\u2019s promise to return his bones to the burial place of his fathers in the land of Canaan. Jacob continues with blessing Joseph\u2019s sons, Ephraim and Menashe, giving the primary blessing to the younger, Ephraim. In Gen. 48:15, Jacob speaks of \u201cthe G-d who has been my shepherd from my birth to this day…\u201d<\/p>\n

    In the course of Jacob\u2019s testament, as he blesses his sons in Gen. 49:23-24, Jacob speaks of Joseph saying, \u201cJoseph is a wild ass, A wild ass by a spring \u2014 Wild colts on a hillside. Archers bitterly assailed him; They shot at him and harried him. Yet his bow stayed taut, And his arms were made firm By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob \u2014 There, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The caring, nurturing, constant, protective shepherd imagery is suggestive in two directions, describing G-d\u2019s relationship with G-d\u2019s people and the Israelites\u2019 relationship with their animals. This is the constant care and protection that sustained Jacob through a turbulent life filled with loss, that sustained Joseph through a painful youth, and that will sustain the Israelites through their trials in Egypt. It is the care and protection a shepherd provides to flocks as they travel in search of pasture. The image of G-d\u2019s relationship to G-d\u2019s children parallels the shepherd\u2019s relationship to a flock.<\/p>\n

    Eight of 12 brothers are described in terms of animals: Simeon and Levi (Gen. 49:6), Judah (Gen. 49:9), Issachar (Gen. 49:14), Dan (Gen. 49:17), Naphtali (Gen. 49:21), Joseph (Gen. 49:22-24) and Benjamin. Four brothers are not: Reuben, Zebulun, Gad and Asher.<\/p>\n

    Noteworthy among those described in terms of animals are Simeon and Levi. Like Reuben, Simeon and Levi are excoriated in Jacob\u2019s blessing: \u201cSimeon and Levi are a pair; Their weapons are tools of lawlessness. Let not my person be included in their council, Let not my being be counted in their assembly. For when angry they slay men, and when pleased they maim oxen.\u201d They are probably paired because of their joint attack (as the brothers of Dinah) on the city of Shechem. They are singled out for their violence, ruthlessness and cruelty, and Jacob dissociates himself from them. \u00a0Now the three eldest sons, Reuben, Simeon and Levi, are disqualified from assuming Jacob\u2019s leadership role.<\/p>\n

    What is powerful in this section of the testament, though, is the way cruelty and barbarism toward other people is parallel to cruelty and barbarism toward animals, whom Simeon and Levi, the brothers of needlessly \u201cmaim\u201d as a sign of their victory. In the parallelism of the poetry, both targets of violence are equally inexcusable.<\/p>\n

    Finally, we become increasingly aware through the last chapter of Genesis of a deteriorating situation in Egypt. As important as Joseph as been to the Pharaoh, as high in the administrative hierarchy as he has been, when his father dies and Joseph wants permission to carry his bones to the burial site of Jacob\u2019s fathers in Canaan, Joseph doesn\u2019t go directly to Pharaoh but instead speaks to \u201cPharaoh\u2019s court.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Despite the fact that he assures Pharaoh he will return (was there a question?), Pharaoh sends all his officials with Joseph and his family, a \u201cvery larger troop\u201d including horsemen. Did this signify that Pharaoh didn\u2019t trust Joseph when he said he would return?<\/p>\n

    If there is any doubt about the answer to that question, the latter part of the verse seems to resolve it:\u00a0\u201cSo Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the officials of Pharaoh, the senior members of his court, and all of Egypt\u2019s dignitaries, together with all of Joseph\u2019s household, his brothers, and his father\u2019s household; only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the region of Goshen.<\/i> Chariots, too, and horsemen went up with him; it was a very large group.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Perhaps the children, flocks and herds were insurance. And once again, human life parallels animal life: even if the Israelites real intention was to escape, they will return for their flocks and herds as much as for their children.<\/p>\n

    And now on to Exodus and a \u201cnew king who did not know Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Genesis ends with hints and an increasing sense of foreboding about the future of Joseph’s family in Egypt. The portion is sandwiched between two references to G-d as a shepherd, parallel to the role of the Israelites with their flocks. The references <\/p>\n

    Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-torah-ecology"],"yoast_head":"\nTorah Ecology: Vayehi (Gen. 47:28 - 50:24) - Vegetating with Leslie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3417\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Torah Ecology: Vayehi (Gen. 47:28 - 50:24) - Vegetating with Leslie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Genesis ends with hints and an increasing sense of foreboding about the future of Joseph’s family in Egypt. 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