{"id":1824,"date":"2017-12-18T12:39:30","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T12:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=1824"},"modified":"2017-12-18T12:39:30","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T12:39:30","slug":"parashat-vayigash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2017\/12\/18\/parashat-vayigash\/","title":{"rendered":"Parashat Vayigash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shabbat Table Talk<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Parashat Vayigash <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Erev Shabbat 23 December <\/em>2017<\/em><\/p>\n

Week of 17-24 December 2017<\/p>\n

Torah portion:<\/em><\/strong> Genesis 44:18-47:27 Haftarah:<\/em><\/strong> Ezekiel 37:15-28<\/p>\n

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V<\/em><\/strong>ayigash \u2013 \u2018<\/em>he approached\u2019 – tells of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers; his forgiveness of them; and their re-uniting after some twenty-two years of separation. The brothers then return to their father, Jacob, laden with gifts and an invitation to Israel \u2013 the whole family and possessions of Jacob \u2013 to travel down to Goshen in Egypt to live there. Genesis<\/em> which narrates the beginning of the world and the calling and growth of a Nation, covenanted to God to be a people and to possess their own land, is coming to an end. Egypt is not the land promised by God so the four remaining books of the Torah will tell about the long journey ahead to the Promised Land.<\/p>\n

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Preceding this Parashah is the eight-day celebration of Chanukah meaning a \u2018Tree of Light\u2019, the first day of which is celebrated on 13 December (Kislev<\/em> 25) and continues until 20 December (Teve<\/em>t 2). The historical sources concerning Chanukah are in the Septuagint (Maccabees 1 and 2). My source Symbols of<\/em> Judaism <\/em>(New York: 2000), p. 79 states that light is only possible through dialogue between cultures (here Hebrew and Greek) and thus \u201cthe lights of Hanukkah are like hands of light extended outward in the name of dialogue and peace\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Pharaoh and the Egyptians welcome Jacob and his family and they are given good land because of Joseph whom the Lord had sent before them to rescue them.<\/p>\n

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Almost immediately after this Parashah is the Christian celebration of Christmas: a celebration of light and salvation through Jesus whose life is not unlike that of Joseph who is seen in Christian Theology as a prefiguring of Jesus. This celebration is held on 25 December and the message of the Angel to the shepherds is: \u201cGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward (people)\u201d (Lk 2:14).<\/p>\n

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This Parashah and these two celebrations \u2013 one Jewish and the other Christian \u2013 are about the gathering-in and reconciling of, first of all, families and then of Nations. Matthew\u2019s Gospel, the first book of the New Testament, links the Judeo-Christian tradition by means of the genealogy of Jesus which begins with Abraham (Mt 1:1-17).<\/p>\n

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The Haftarah describes a vision of Ezekiel where he is told by God to bring two sticks together into a unity. These two sticks represent the separate Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel and Judah respectively. God wishes to bring these together again and to renew the Covenant and extend it as a brit<\/em> shalom<\/em> with the unified people.<\/p>\n

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The Women\u2019s Haftarah Commentary <\/em>quotes a Midrash from Exodus Rabbah <\/em>5:9. It relates how the word of God from Mount Sinai came to each Jew according to his\/her capacity. The various states of Jews are named: \u201cthe elderly, the young men, the children, the infants, and women\u2026.even pregnant women heard according to their capacities\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Genesis 1 and 2 describe how God the Lord created the universe in harmony and order. In the first account we read: \u201cGod saw everything that He had made and indeed it was very good\u201d (Gn 1:31). The Covenant that God initiated with us is about a relationship of love and reverence for God and love and respect for human beings and all of creation.<\/p>\n

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Reflection:<\/em><\/strong> How am I going to renew brit shalom <\/em>with the Lord, myself, my family and my world at this time of peace, light and salvation?<\/p>\n

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Bibliography<\/em><\/strong>: Eskenazi, T. C. Weiss, A.L.\u00a0 A Women\u2019s Commentary <\/em>(New York: 2008); Goldstein, Rabbi Elyse (ed.) The Women\u2019s Haftarah Commentary <\/em>(Woodstock: 2004); Ouaknin, Marc-Alain. Symbols of Judaism <\/em>(New York: 2000); NKJV<\/p>\n

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This week\u2019s teaching commentary is by<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bernadette Chellew, Durban, South Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bat Kol alum 2008<\/p>\n

Email: btrnchellew@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 [Copyright \u00a9 2017]<\/strong><\/p>\n

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PLEASE NOTE<\/em><\/strong>: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol.\u00a0\u00a0 The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes.\u00a0 Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1983-2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cChristians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Website:<\/em><\/strong> www.batkol.info<\/strong><\/a>; Parashah Admin.: <\/em><\/strong>gill@batkol.info<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shabbat Table Talk Parashat Vayigash \u2013 Erev Shabbat 23 December 2017 Week of 17-24 December 2017 Torah portion: Genesis 44:18-47:27 Haftarah: Ezekiel 37:15-28 Download \u00a0 Vayigash \u2013 \u2018he approached\u2019 – tells of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers; his forgiveness of them; and their re-uniting after some twenty-two years of separation. The brothers then return…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":1825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}