PARASHAT Vayeshev

Torah Gems - December 19th

2008 / 22 Kislev

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Anochi Atoncha

PARASHAT Vayeshev

Angelology - Part III

A man found [Joseph], and behold! -- he was blundering in the field; the man asked him, saying, "What do you seek?" (Beresheit 37:15)

Yonaton ben Uziel Gavriel, in the form of a man, found Joseph...

Oznaim LaTorah Why was Gavriel sent from Heaven to show Joseph the way to his brothers? After all, his brothers were planning to kill Joseph, or at best, to sell him into slavery! Could it be that God sent the angel in order to relieve Jacob's burden of guilt, inasmuch as he knew his sons hated and were jealous of Joseph?

Rather, the angel came to show Joseph the way to Egypt, to teach us that the entire episode comes from Hashem. The time had come for Jacob and his sons to descend to Egypt. The matter was hidden from Jacob's wisdom and intellect, and he sent the son of his old age, whom he loved as much as life itself, to his brothers, who were planning to kill him. Therefore the Holy One, Blessed be He, sent an angel to protect Joseph on the way to Egypt.

Yonaton ben Uziel and Oznaim LaTorah address a problem with our text: who is this unnamed man and what is he doing in the field? The tradition teaches that Torah does not waste words. Every seemingly trivial detail must convey meaning. So it must be with a seemingly chance encounter between Joseph and an unnamed man.

The traditional interpretation holds that the man is an angel. The text provides several clues as to his identity: first, the man finds Joseph, rather than the other way around, as though the man had been looking for Joseph; second, the Torah states 'the man asked [Joseph], saying... (Va'y'shalayhu ha-ish laymor).' In Sefer Beresheit, the combination of verbs derived from the roots shin-alef-lamed + alef-mem-resh usually refers to communication with a malakh, human or Divine (e.g. 24:47, 32:18, 32:30). Finally there is the curious exchange between Joseph and the man:

And [Joseph] said, "My brothers do I seek; tell me, please, where they are pasturing." The man said: "They have journeyed on from here, for I heard them saying, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" (37:16-17)

The man's answer begins with a seemingly superfluous comment: 'they have journeyed on from here.' This is obvious! Rather, the man is conveying a secret to Joseph that only a Divine being could know: that they had 'moved on from brotherhood with Joseph [for] they sought a legal basis to kill him' (Rashi to 37:17.) Furthermore, the man knows exactly where the brothers are, even recounting a supposedly overheard conversation, without first asking Joseph for any further information as to the boys' identity!

Oznaim LaTorah explains why Hashem sent an angel to Joseph. If He hadn't done so, the narrative would have ground to a screeching halt right here in Chapter 37 of Beresheit. There would be no descent into Egypt, no enslavement, no redemption, and no Sinai! Instead, the Torah teaches that Hashem guides Israel to Sinai and beyond.

One more phrase in our text deserves comment. It is the angel's wonderfully-phrased question to Joseph 'what do you seek?' (ma t'vakesh:) If we accept that the angel already knows that Joseph is seeking his brothers, why doesn't he ask 'whom do you seek?' Perhaps the angel is actually asking Joseph a philosophical question. Perhaps he is asking the boy Joseph to tell us what he has planned for his life. Will he carry on lording it over his brothers like a spoiled child, or will he grow up and respect them as equals like a grown man ought to? Though the question is surely rhetorical, it must have sounded harsh to Joseph's ears. Perhaps this is why the tradition identifies this angel as Gavriel, the angel of severity.

PARASHAT Vayishlach

Torah Gems - December 12th

2008 / 15 Kislev

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Rabbi Nechama Goldberg

PARASHAT Vayishlach

The Last Kiss

A kiss is so commonplace that we take it for granted - a kiss hello or goodbye, or perhaps as a sign of affection. It is something we do every day. So, it is somewhat surprising that kissing is mentioned a mere 11 times in Torah. Eight of those times it involves Jacob and does not stem from affection or sincerity.

The first instance occurs while Jacob is in the process of deceiving his father. Isaac asks that Jacob lean over and kiss him so that he may smell the scent of his son to identify him. Jacob leans over to kiss Isaac in the hopes that Isaac will believe that Jacob is really Esau. The kiss is not an expression of love, but a gesture of deception. (Gen. 27:26-27.)

The next kiss is an impulsive act of a self-centered youth when Jacob first spies Rachel and kisses her. (Gen. 29:11.)When Rachel brings Jacob home to her father Lavan, Lavan kisses Jacob. (Gen. 29:13.) As the story develops, we know that there is no love lost between Jacob and Lavan. Their relationship is built on deception and lies.

At the end of 20 years of service to Lavan, Jacob is fleeing with his wives, his children and his flocks. Lavan pursues him and upon not finding the
household idols that were stolen, he uses the excuse that he did not have the opportunity to kiss his daughters and grandsons goodbye. (Gen. 31:28.) We don't associate warmth or demonstrative emotion with Lavan, so when he kisses the family goodbye, we are not moved. (Gen. 32:1.)

We arrive at the kiss in our parashah, Vayishlach. Jacob is sleep deprived. He has just wrestled with an angel. He has been injured. He is afraid of the coming reunion with Esau. Esau, on the other hand, has had 20 years to heal, to forgive, to grow and to prosper. He approaches the reunion with great enthusiasm. Esau runs to greet Jacob, embracing him, falling on his neck and kissing him. (Gen. 33:4.) Here is the one sincere kiss offered to Jacob and Jacob does not know how to accept it. Jacob is cowering and addresses Esau in an ingratiating manner referring to himself as "your servant" and to Esau as "my lord." When Esau urges Jacob to travel home with him, Jacob declines, saying that he will follow shortly thereafter. Instead of following, Jacob heads in the opposite direction.

It takes Jacob a long time before he can give or receive a kiss with emotional engagement and sincerity. It only happens after Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, forgives them and kisses them. (Gen. 45:15.) As Jacob's life is coming to an end, he asks Joseph to bring his sons so that Jacob can bless them. Jacob's last kiss is for his grandsons, Ephraim and Menashe, before he offers his last will and testament to his sons. (Gen. 48:10.) As Jacob concludes this testament, he draws his last breath and is gathered to his people.

Joseph weeps over his father and lovingly places one final kiss on his lips. (Gen. 50:1.)

PARASHAT Toldot

Torah Gems - November 28th 2008 / 1 Kislev

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Rob Lindeman

PARASHAT Toldot

"And the children struggled together within her..." (Beresheit 25:22)

The twins Jacob and Esau are not merely struggling together. The verb the Torah uses here, va'yitrotzatzu, suggests they are struggling against one another. The root of the verb is resh

-tzade, meaning "run". The tzade is repeated, rendering the root resh-tzade-tzade. In ancient Hebrew, duplication of the second letter of a two-letter root suggests intensification. In this case, the verb is not only intensified, it is transformed from the intransitive "run" to the transitive "trample, crush, as underfoot." The verb is presented in the hitpalel, or reflexive, form. This suggests that whatever the twins were doing, they were doing it to each other. A more literal translation of the verse gives "And the children crushed each other within her..."

Elsewhere in Tanakh, resh

-tzade-tzade also suggests crushing, either real or metaphoric.

"...[A]nd you will be only cheated and downtrodden (ratzootz) all the days." (Devarim 28:33)

"They broke and crushed (rotz'tzu) the children of Israel..." (Shoftim 10:8)

"You have relied on the support of this splintered (ratzootz) cane..." (M'lachim II 18:21)

"You crushed (ritzatzta) the head of Leviathan..." (Tehillim 74:14)

The Torah's choice of a reflexive verb based on resh

-tzade-tzade (crush) suggests that Jacob and Esau not only trampled each other with their feet inside of Rebecca, but that in so doing they also inflicted injuries on each other. In fact, their original injuries prefigure the injuries they will inflict on one another in life. Jacob humiliates Esau through the purchase of the latter's birthright for a mess of pottage (25: 29-34.) Esau, via an angel, cripples Jacob during the wrestling match at the Wadi Jabbok (32:25-30.)

Jacob's and Esau's injuries never heal, and yet the two become brothers again. At the beginning of Chapter 33 they meet after years apart and weep in each other's arms. At the end of Chapter 35, Jacob and Esau bury their father Isaac together.

The Jacob

-Esau narratives teach that Teshuvah (return, or in this case reconciliation) is attainable even after a lifetime of epic fighting, injuring, and separation. How much more so is Teshuvah available to us after the relatively minor injuries we inflict on one another!

PARASHAT Vayera

Torah Gems - November 15th 2008 / 17 Cheshvan

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Rob Lindeman

PARASHAT Vayera

Angelology - Part I

The Hebrew word for angel, malach, is derived from the root lamed

-aleph-chaf, meaning "send." The two derivatives of this root in ancient Hebrew are malach (angel) and malachah (creative work.) In Tanakh, when God wants to transmit an idea to someone, He sends a malach. When He wants to transmit an idea into concrete form, He "sends" His idea into three-dimensions as malachah (Beresheit 2:2)

Angels in Tanakh obey the following rules:

1. An angel's message changes the course of history.

2. An angel's message compels Biblical characters to do things they wouldn't otherwise do.

3. An angel delivers one message, and then disappears.

In parashat Vayeira, three angels appear together before Abraham (18:2), deliver their messages, and disappear one by one, but not before changing the course of the narrative.

The first angel appears to tell Abraham and Sarah that they will produce a child (18:10). Sarah clearly didn't know this would happen, otherwise, why would she laugh at the suggestion (18:12)? This angel's mission was to get the very old Abraham and Sarah to engage in marital relations, so that having a baby would be possible. If there were no baby Isaac, the Torah would grind to a screeching halt at the end of Chapter 20. After delivering this message, angel #1 disappears. At the beginning of Chapter 19, only two angels come to Sodom in the evening (19:1).

The second angel destroys Sodom and Gomorrah. This angel doesn't deliver a message to anyone in particular. However, one could consider the destruction of the cities of the plain as a message to the survivors who witness the event, including Lot. The 'message' is a demonstration to Israel and the world that God will not tolerate total immorality and depravity.

The destruction occurs somewhere in the middle of Chapter 19, verse 18:

And Lot said unto them (aleihem, plural), Oh not so, my Lord (adonai, singular)

Lot prepares to speak to two angels, but one disappears before Lot can form the words. The change from plural to singular in mid

-verse suggests that the destroying angel has done his deed and disappeared.

The remaining angel rescues Lot. Despite a stern warning (19:15), Lot is reluctant to leave Sodom (19:16). He must be told to leave the city lest he remain there and die. But Lot cannot die, because he must become the progenitor of the Moabites and the Ammonites (20:37

-38.) Ruth the Moabite will become the progenetrix of the Davidic line (Megillat Ruth). If Lot does not escape, there will be no King David, and no messianic legacy. Verses 21-22 of Chapter 19 give the angel's last words to Lot. After this we hear no more from him because he has disappeared.

The Torah claims that God intercedes in human affairs, frequently by means of angels. Angels usually appear in human form, superficially indistinguishable from ordinary people. If the Torah does state explicitly that a messenger is a malach, how does one identify him as such? By means of his modus operandi: If the messenger adheres to our set of rules, he is probably a malach hashem, a messenger of God.

Question for further study (with apologies to Nechama Leibowitz):

Two more angels appear in parashat Vayeira. Where do they appear? Do they obey the rules set out above? If so, how so? If not, why not? To respond, go to http://wiKItorahchat.blogspot.com and click on the comments section.

PARASHAT Lech Lecha

Torah Gems - November 8th 2008 / 10 Cheshvan

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Francine Aron

PARASHAT Lech Lecha

Lech Lecha covers a wide range of events and emotions

- from extreme seriousness - to go forth into the unknown - to extreme happiness- being told that one will have a child; and from war to domestic concerns - and from these events we learn the character of Avraham.

First is the complete trust inwhich allows him to pack up his family and possessions at the age of 75 and venture into unknown territory.A very difficult and courageous act

- but Avraham had actually been a wanderer from his childhood - he had always strayed away from the thinking of his time, which was idol worshipping, and had tried to lead people to the understanding that there is only one God.The opening sentence of Lech Lecha tells him to go into himself - to become himself completely - by leaving his land, his relations, and the house of his father, and to go to the land where he will truly fulfill himself.It is no wonder that this difficult task is followed by sentences which contain the word "blessing" 5 times. A way of reassuring him on his journey.

Then we see Avraham in his capacity as head of his family, taking on the responsibility of caring for his nephew Lot, who is fatherless.He does this even though Lot has a very differentof life.

Very worldly.When there is a famine and Avraham and his entourage travel to Egypt, we see a human being who knows the real dangers which exist there

- the corruption and immorality - and in order to save his life, puts the honor of Sarah in danger. Human frailty is also part of his picture.

Very respectful.When he returns from Egypt with great wealthstays at the same place he had stayed earlier when he did not have much means, so as not to make the owner feel insulted.

Extremely focused.Although he wants Lot to be with him, when he sees that Lot does not share his values, he respectfully requests that they part ways.He knows the work that he must do and will not stray from it.

Much travel is undertaken by Avraham. He is told by God several times to walk across the land, and to get to know it, and thus to make it his own.This knowledge comes in very handy when he sets out to rescue Lot from the kings who have captured him.

He is very knowledgeable about war tactics.In order to rescue his nephew, he gathers his people (318 souls) and travels to the north

- to Dan and Damascus - and divides them into smaller groups and makes a surprise attack in the night, and is successful.

He has the appropriate fear that all true warriors have

- that war may sometimes be necessary but is horrible, and after his combat with the kings, Avraham is afraid - perhaps he killed good persons; even if not good, it is terrible to kill at all - perhaps they will seek revenge; or

perhaps with this victory he has used up all his rewards

- so God tells him: fear not, I will be your shield, and your rewards will be great(15:1)

And he is a very good husband

- he listens to his wife (16:12), and weds Hagar only at the insistence of Sarah.

And although his faith in God is strong

- he is still able towhen God tells him that he will have a son - him being 100 and Sarah 90!

These are only a bit of the portrait. It's for you to read this parsha and the next one closely to complete the portrait!

Hopefully some of the wonderful qualities will be present in our new leaders.

PARASHAT Noach

Torah Gems - November 1st 2008 / 3 Cheshvan

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Adam Solomon

PARASHAT Noach

There is a Simpson's episode in which Bart is playing with a pop up book of Bible stories for children. He's reached the story of the flood and as he pulls the tab of the book causing a wave of water to hit the ark, Bart yells out "...Oh, Noah, Noah! Save us! Save us!" and in Noah's voice Bart laughs and says "NO!"

(http://www.snpp.com/episodes/8F05.html).

As humorous as this vignette is, I think that it aptly illustrates traditional Jewish ambivalence about Noach. At the close of last week's parasha, HaShem was ready to destroy humanity as well as all of the animals due to man's dedication to evil except that Noach "found favor in G-d's eye".

Rashi, the prolific French Medievel commentator, notes that our sages disagreed as to Noach's merit. Some felt that it was only in comparison to his debased generation that Noach was of note. Others thought that had he lived in a more worthy era that Noach would have been even more righteous. Rashi also draws a distinction between Noach described as walking with G-d, whereas Avraham Avinu walked before G-d.

Perhaps the most distinctive difference between Avraham and Noach is the latter's lack of concern for the community. There isn't the slightest hint in the text of Noach trying to help anyone else. Rashi does note that in Midrash Hane'elam, Zohar Chadash 28a, the text says that rain came before the flood, the rain being one last opportunity for teshuva for humanity. I would say that this midrash is another expression of our tradition's discomfort with Noach's lack of effort at helping anyone outside of his own family.

If Noach represents complete lack of concern for the community - or at least turning one's back to community and isolating oneself from it, the parasha also presents the reduction to absurdity in the other direction: the Towel of Babel. In this story the community is united in an almost ridiculous attempt at building a tower to the heavens (a carbon monofilament of buckyballs is still some time away). Instead of using their unity for good, humankind forms a community in apparent rebellion against G-d.

All of this thematically lays the groundwork for the end of this week's parasha: the introduction of Avram, the person who will recognize the oneness of G-d and build a community around this recognition. Our tradition is based on the formation of community that acts in the purpose of doing good. This represents a synthesis of righteousness (like Noach) coupled with the power of a community in action (as in the Tower of Babel).

This week we have an excellent opportunity to engage in community building. The Ashrei project's action week is November 2 through the 9^th. One aspect of this week's activities is something that is particularly dear to me: KI's daily minyan.

Every weekday, at 7 AM and 7 PM our community comes together in the Rabb chapel for minyan (Sundays at 8 AM in the chapel and 7 PM at 100 Centre Street).

When you come to minyan you have an opportunity to connect with the community, engage in Jewish learning, comfort a mourner by your very presence, and daven in our emotionally warm chapel.

PARASHAT Vayelech Shabbos Shuvah

Torah Gems - October 3rd

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Rob Lindeman

PARASHAT Vayelech

Shabbos Shuvah

Jonah's Rage

Having been expelled from the belly of the fish, Jonah answers Hashem's second call and delivers his word to Nineveh: "Forty days more and Nineveh is overturned!" The entire city immediately repents with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. Hashem sees and relents from punishment. And this is how Jonah responds:

Va' yay-rah el Yona ra-ah gedolah va'yichar lo (Yonah 4:1)

And it seemed to Jonah most unseemly, and he was
enraged.

We might have expected Jonah to sing praise as he does at the end of chapter 2: "...that which I vowed I will fulfill for Hashem's salvation (2:10)." But here there is only recrimination. Verse 4:1 gives us two different expressions of unhappiness.

In the first, both noun and verb, va'yay-rah and ra-ah, derive from the root resh-ayin-ayin, meaning "be evil, bad" (BDB). The phrase suggests that Jonah is greatly displeased about something. The second, va'yichar, derives from the root chet-resh-hay, meaning "burn, be kindled, of anger." Jonah burns with rage.

It makes no sense to suggest that Jonah is both greatly displeased and enraged about the same thing. More likely, he is displeased about one thing and enraged at something else.

A clue to the source of Jonah's displeasure might be found in Nechemia 2:10, the only other place in Tanach where the expression va'yay-rah ra-ah gedolah appears. There, the expression describes the opinion of Israel's enemies toward Israel and one of her prophets. Perhaps in Sefer Yonah, the same expression describes the prophet Jonah's opinion of Israel's enemy, Nineveh. Jonah may be displeased at the unfavorable comparison of Israel to Nineveh. Israel sins, seldom repents, and often is punished. Nineveh sins, repents, and is forgiven.

What about va'yichar lo, Jonah's rage? It is useful to begin with Jonah's own explanation:

And he prayed to Hashem, saying please Hashem, was this not my

declaration when I was yet on my soil? This is why I hurried to flee to

Tarshish: because I know that You are a gracious and compassionate God,

slow to anger and full of loving kindness and relent from harm (4:2).

What does Jonah mean by "when I was yet on my soil"? Elsewhere in Tanach, we find one mention of Jonah in Israel (M'lachim II 14:24-25)

[King Jeroboam ben Johash] did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem:

he did not turn away from all the sins of Jeroboam ben Nebat that he

caused Israel to sin. He restored the boundary of Israel... like the word

of Hashem, god of Israel, which He had spoken by the hand of His

servant Jonah ben Amittai the prophet...

We don't hear the nature of Jonah's earlier prophecy. We know only that Israel sinned and yet her boundary was graciously restored. It
appears that Jonah prophesied to a sinful Israel, but Hashem relented from harming her. Jonah's prophesy, whatever it was, did not come true.

When Hashem calls Jonah to prophesy to Nineveh (1:1), he runs in the opposite direction. Jonah fears a repetition of his first prophetic
experience, which would provoke the nations to call him a false prophet (Rashi).

What explains Jonah's rage at Nineveh (4:1)? When Hashem compels Jonah to deliver a prophesy that he knows will not come true, Jonah feels as though he is being picked up and tossed overboard all over again. It is the repetition of this trauma (and perhaps the earlier trauma alluded to in M'lachim) that triggers Jonah's rage. After the sheltering kikayon is consumed by the worm, Jonah, consumed by his own rage, prays for death.

Sefer Yonah is famous as an object lesson in Teshuvah and Divine mercy. But for me it stands as the first and truest portrait of human rage from ancient antiquity until Freud.

Parashat Nitzavim

Torah Gems - September 26th

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Sam Tarlin

Parashat Nitzavim

At the beginning of the parasha, Moses tells the assembled, "And I am not making this covenant and this oath with you alone, but with the one who is here standing with us today in front of the Lord our God, and with the one who isn't here with us today."

So the question arises, is it fair that a covenant can bind future generations that had no part in accepting it? In addressing this fundamental question, Nehama Leibowitz, in her commentary, cites Abravanel's answer. A man's heirs, Abravanel reminds us, are responsible for his debts even though they weren't around when the debt was incurred. The debt, of course, is from Israel to God for God having, 1. Freed Israel

from Egyptian bondage; 2. Given to Israel the Torah (the means toward spiritual perfection) and 3.Provided as a loan to Israel the land they were to inherit. Abravanel

concludes, "Since the foundation of the covenant and this eternal subjection to the Almighty derived from the departure from Egypt, this historic fact was continually referred to by the Almighty and on the lips of His prophets, and all the feasts of the Lord were 'a memorial of the going out of Egypt'; for this indicated their eternal bondage."

Leibowitz argues with Abravanel's metaphor. "A child," she writes, "can always forego his inheritance and consequently rid himself of any obligations and debts involved. On the other hand, the binding nature of the Sinaitic revelation on the Jewish people is absolute and cannot be foregone." And it is true, I find it compelling to stress that we cannot shake off the debt since neither can we shake off our

inheritance. Today's generation of Jews would still be slaves if Israel had not been redeemed; we all benefit from the Torah in that it has had a huge impact on the world we live in; and currently Jews occupy the land of Israel.

Harold Kushner, in the Etz Hayim commentary, follows a similar line of reasoning: "Many aspects of our lives were determined by decisions of our parents and ancestors, including when and where we would be born, what skills and physical qualities we would possess, and where and how we would be educated." In other words, we each, Jew and non-Jew, inherit the covenants of our forebears because they are built into us and cannot be discarded.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, rather than choosing the metaphor of indebtedness, finds a partial parallel to the Sinaitic covenant in the United States Constitution. It is interesting to contemplate that parallel in this context (a different one than the one in which he suggests it). As Americans, we've inherited the Constitution even though we had no part in it. And we've inherited the consequences of America's acts as it has been guided by that document over the course of 230 years, even if we didn't agree with them. And as Americans we're bound to live up to the Constitution's ideals, as best we can understand them.

SHALOM

Parashat Ki Tetzey

Torah Gems - September 12th

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Danny Margolis

Parashat Ki Tetzey

From the front pages of the New York Times, the Forward, and other papers, we are learning about Jewish companies, doing business in and for the Jewish community, that treat employees poorly. Rabbi Hamilton has raised questions about the general trustworthiness of companies, owners, and supervisors who behave this way to guarantee that they are operating according to the principles and values of Jewish law. This is a particularly poignant issue because of what we learn in this week's parashah.

The following comment by Rabbi Laurie Coskey, comes from Mekor Chaim, a series of messages on the parashah by members of the United Jewish Communities' Rabbinic Cabinet, in 2004, with slight emendations and additions by Danny Margolis.

Parashat Ki Tetzey demands that we examine all aspects of our lives and the governance of our personal, social and business ethics. In America today, there is no more important ethical concern than how we treat our low wage workers, "the laborers" as they are referred to in our Torah text.

These men and women - and, unfortunately, children-- are often invisible to us. They work as home health care workers caring for our infirmed. They work as maids and janitors in our hotels and offices, they work in the fields, in the cities, and in food processing plants, earning minimum wages or just above. They are reported to be mistreated, and frequently penalized for accidents and absences; and they may not have vacation or sick days, health or dental insurance benefits.

It is here in our parashah that we find the basis for much of the halakhah and Jewish perspective on the rights of the laborer. We are instructed in Deuteronomy 24:14-15: "You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a stranger in one of the communities of your land. You must pay him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets, for he is needy and urgently depends on it; else he will cry to the Lord against you and you shall incur guilt." This law was created by our ancestors thousands of years ago to protect a worker's dignity and physical needs. The Talmud in Bava Metzia takes it a step further, "He who withholds an employee's wages is as though he deprived him of his life."

Throughout our Torah are many very specific instructions on the proper and just treatment of workers. They are often framed by a reminder that because we were workers/slaves in the land of Egypt, we must therefore show both justice and compassion for those who labor on our behalf. We must remember that though we began as 'avadim -workers - in Egypt, how easy it was for the "boss", who didn't remember Joseph, nor the
values of Tzedek- fairness and equity- that Joseph promulgated for everyone in Egypt , to subvert those basic principles and transform us into slaves. When Jews forget or ignore our basic mitzvot and values, we suffer, and the world is diminished as well.

We have a contribution to make to America as Jews: to share the wisdom of our system of values, including the protections afforded by our Torah and our Rabbinic tradition to those who earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brows.

The prophetic mandates of all religions demand that we concern ourselves with the poor, particularly the working poor. It is within our reach to help these food processors, janitors, housekeepers, dishwashers, nursing home attendants, security guards, child care workers, landscapers and many other laborers, take a step out of poverty simply by giving them their due -- just wages and benefits for the efforts of their own hands. This begins with our own employees at KI (who, so far as I know, are treated well, including our subcontractors), and extends to our influence in the larger community.

Rabbi Laurie Coskey is the spiritual leader of Chavurah Kol Haneshama in San Diego, CA