weekly shabbat parsha thoughts - Va-Yishlach and va-yashev - 12.4.2009 and 12.11.2009

I am a few weeks behind - but there is a good excuse – a newborn baby boy!

But I want to catch up with some brief thoughts on the two parshot that I missed.

Two weeks ago we have the story of Jacob wrestling with the stranger/angel and last week we have the story of Joseph, his brothers, his being sold into slavery.

Looking over these two stories you see an interesting overarching theme about the place of humility and its importance to leadership and development.

With Jacob you have the contrast of his struggle to tie the angel as compared to the youngster who deceived his father to win a blessing earlier. While that may have given him some rights he does not realize his true destiny and position (and the name of Israel) until he wrestles with the angel. And what is important here as a lesson to me is that while he did wrestle with the Angel - Jacob did not WIN. This sets up the pattern we still see to this day with good Jewish expression - which is wrestling with ourselves and fitting it into a healthy reality.

When we think too much of ourselves we often get ourselves overextended and in trouble. We sometimes focus on winning so much in the moment we forget the objective and end result we are truly concerned about. Jacob's draw with the angel is a superb story to remind ourselves that victory in the moment for our pride is nothing compared to the end object that we are all working towards.

Similarly in last week’s parsha we have the story of Joseph, his pride and the trouble it gets him into. In Egypt Joseph uses the same skills and talents to find favor (some of which still get him in trouble) but these set him up for the successes to come in the future. In the beginning he was proud and boastful and angered those who should have loved him the most. In Egypt he used his talents and skills the same as before but without the same boastful pride. He even gives HaShem credit for the interpretation of the dreams in the prisons of Egypt.

In humbly portraying similar skills and information that got him into trouble in the first place (i.e. dreams) Joseph shows that humility changes the impact. He does not deny talent or ability but by putting it in the humble context he sets up his ultimate success.

So we should remember that the Torah asks us to humbly serve and lead. Not to deny our skills and talents, but to recognize that their use is not for simple zero-sum victories or boastful pride but important tools to help us build that which really matters.

Hope this finds everyone well.

Shabbat Shalom for the last two weeks!