I would like to start with a riddle today: What do you call cattle who don’t have any courage? – Cowards!
Well, Joseph’s brothers were definitely not cowards and not cow herders but shepherds as they confirm in their brave reply to Pharaoh’s question.
Their reply was brave because Joseph warned them before their audience with the Pharaoh that Egyptians disdained shepherds as an occupation[1].
After their reply Pharaoh stopped talking to the brothers directly. “He switches to speaking about them in the 3rd person to Joseph.”[2] But still very kindly offers them his best land to settle in as well as to look after his cattle, even though they just told him that they are not cow herders but shepherds.
Why didn’t the brothers follow Joseph’s instructions and were not willing to misrepresent themselves? Too proud? Too honest? Or both proud of what they did and honest, learning from the mistakes of their youth.
It is probably easier to be brave and strong in a group. Mahatma Gandhi said: “It is easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone.”
It is easy to show courage being part of a group but every group is inspired in the first place by individual courage.
This week, it became known that Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian dissident who survived assassination attempts by poison several times and was jailed for 19 years, has disappeared. His lawyers have been unable to get in touch with him for days now. Alexei Navalny and his team have been an inspiration to millions of people around the world. Until recently, he was able to post criticism of the Kremlin via social media but if he has been transferred to the highest security prison somewhere in Russia in the recent days it will probably silence him now.
Individual courage and in countries with oppressive regimes in particular is inspirational but often the price to pay for their courage is very high. That’s why courage is inspirational.
Jimmy Lai, the founder of Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, at the age of 71 was marched out of his office by about 200 police officers on August 10th in 2020. A zealous supporter of free speech and free markets, he has a UK passport but chose not to leave Hong Kong and has now been in solitary confinement for over a thousand days without any hope for his release.
Both Alexei Navalny and Jimmy Lai paid a high price for standing up and speaking up for what they believe in. But their courage gave hope and has inspired people around the world.
And so Judah’s courage in our Parashat Vayigash has been inspiring generations of people with the belief that personal transformation is possible and we can all become the best we can be with a bit of courage.
Judah’s bravery when he approaches the second most powerful man in Egypt to plea for the release of his brother from slavery is breath-taking.
Was he scared at that very moment? Probably. The life of his brothers, his youngest brother Benjamin, his father’s life and his own life were under serious threat.
Judah starts the longest speech of the book of Genesis by stressing “the adverse impact of Joseph’s act upon their father”[3] with the culmination of it being offering himself as a slave in place of Benjamin, and the favourite of his father. “It makes no mention of the theft of the goblet or of the innocence or guilt of the accused.”[4]
Joseph was impressed with Judah’s appeal to his sense of fairness and “mercy by attempting to invoke his humanity through repeated reference to the state of their aged father”[5]. Joseph was also impressed and undoubtedly moved by Judah’s noble self-sacrifice. The one who had been responsible for the sale of Joseph into slavery now offered to become a slave to Joseph, his former victim!
During that speech Judah became a great man. He wasn’t born great but he became great. Judah’s greatness shone through him taking responsibility for his past and present actions but also learning from his past mistakes. Judah’s greatness touched Joseph’s heart, his honesty and self-sacrifice led to Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers and their full reconciliation at the end.
The Midrash says that “only when Judah became himself at his best was he able to speak as he did.”[6]
So according to this Midrash the inner work that Judah has done since selling his brother to slavery, the personal transformation he went through by growing and becoming the best person he could is what fuelled his courage and his eloquence at the time when he needed both the most
The story of Judah teaches us a very important lesson: not all of us are born great and courageous but each of us can become great and courageous.
And we can start by facing bravely and dealing with difficult but necessary decisions in our lives, by facing challenges in our relationships and addressing them, by standing up to injustice or racism individually or as a community and even embracing the changes taking place in our Synagogue or being a part of those changes!
There are so many people throughout our history and today, who display courage in their daily lives and live up to their principles and morals, there are so many people today who display enormous courage dealing with illness in their family or standing up to antisemitism.
It is also important to be courageous, as we learn in our Parashah Vayigash, not only for our own sake but also for other people’s sake. You don’t know how many people might be inspired and influenced by your courage, as big or as small an act as it might seem. As 2023 is drawing to its end let’s follow the example of our brave people, be courageous, inspire each other and face challenges and opportunities which 2024 might present to us together.
[1] Richard Elliott Friedman, Commentary on the Torah, p.153
[2] ibid
[3] The JPS Torah commentary, Genesis, p.306.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid
[6] Itturei Torah, Vol. I, p.389.
