Sermons

Passover - 11 April 2015 / 22 Nisan 5775: Who Stands Before You
Apr 13th 2015

A few years ago, I spoke about Philip Roth’s book The Plot Against America, and the Yiddish Policemens Union, by Michael Chabon. Each of them imagines a different outcome to the decade from 1940-1950.

Turns out, this is not just an approach to fiction. Jeffrey Gurock, Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University, has published a book, The Holocaust Averted: An Alternate History of American Jewry. In it he imagines how American Jewry would have been different if the Holocaust had been averted.

There is an emerging genre of doing history called “counterfactual history. It uses the “what if” story you are telling as a backdrop to ask questions about what real history was all about.

So imagine…. What if Chamberlain had been right and the Munich Agreement had averted war? What if Roosevelt had not run for a third term? What if Japan had not attacked Pearl Harbor? Would Israel have been created in 1948? Would the centre of Jewish life still be in Europe? Would North American Jewish life be as strong and confident?

There are pivotal moments in history. We may be at such a time regarding Iran. In the Bible, the parting of the Yam Suf, the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, is such an inflection point. Had we not escaped, had we been trapped by the Egyptians, how would our national religious saga have been different? Would we have said dayyenu?

In Hallel, we describe the Sea scene by saying “הַיָּם רָאָה וַיָּנֹס~ The sea saw it and fled” (Psalms 114:3).  What question should you ask here? The same one that a Midrash asks. “מה ראה? What did the sea “see” that made it split?” The response: “ראה ארונו של יוסף יורד לים~ The water saw the casket of Yosef entering the sea.”“Dem bones”—the bones of Yosef that Moshe collected and brought with the people of Israel as they left Egypt. Those bones made the sea split. 

What should your question be here? What was it about Yosef’s bones that had this special power? Why were these bones the cause of the sea splitting? Our midrash continuesאמר הקב"ה ינוס הים מפני הנס מן העבירה ~ The Sea fled out of respect for the one who fled from sin. 

What’s your question now? This sin refers to the encounters between Yosef and Mrs. Potiphar. He was a hottie and she was interested. She was interested and he was tempted. What do you do if it is too hot in a room? You open the window or you step out. In the heat of the moment, Yosef ran out of Potiphar’s house and fled from Mrs. P.

I listen to the stories of individuals who—caught in a moment of passion or in their own imagination—didn’t step outside. We each know moments when we have been tempted to cross a line. We know how strong our desires can be.

What enabled Yosef to resist the constant overtures? Imagine that he was a young man, just past his teens, living alone, in a strange land, without family. Quite emotionally vulnerable. The Biblical equivalent of Mrs. Robinson beckons. What enabled him to resist? For film fans and younger people, who was Mrs. Robinson? Who played Mrs. Robinson? (The Graduate: Anne Bancroft)

A rabbinic tradition suggests a powerful influence on Yosef’s decision: באותה שעה באתה דיוקנו של אביו ונראתה לו בחלון~ At that moment, at the inflection point, Yosef saw the icon, the image of his father, Yaakov, standing before him.

דיוקנו של אביו. At a critical crossroad, the memory of his father keeps Yoseph’s life headed in the right direction. דיוקנו של אביו . That image carried the associations and values that his father had bequeathed him. דיוקנו של אביו .

Along with Rabbi Jay Weinstein, who suggested this theme, I imagine that the image of his father addressed difficult questions to Yosef. Do you understand what’s being passed down to you? Do you realize what is being entrusted to you? Do you see the role you can play? The image and the questions guided Yosef to make the right decision. 

A few years ago, our young people travelled to Tennessee to visit the Paperclips Exhibit. Instead of imagining the Shoah as six million paperclips, think of the Jewish tradition, of your family as a chain of paperclips. Pull on that chain of paperclips. Which ones hold and what gives way? We are each a paperclip in a long chain of tradition. Will we be firm when we are stressed?

What about “counterfactual history”? What would have been different had Yosef acceded to Mrs. Potiphar? What if Yosef’s personal vulnerability and desires had flooded his mind and overwhelmed him? The rest of the Torah and Jewish history might have been very different.

As we recite Yizkor, who stands before you? For those who had loving relatives and positive friendships, this time is an opportunity to see a reflection of someone who made a powerful impact on us. A grandparent, a life-partner, a brother or sister, a father or mother.

If the relationship was problematic, we might ask the counterfactual question. What if it had been different? What might have been better?

As we reflect on their images, try to identify one significant and positive value that we saw in our parents and loved ones. Does it still play a role in your life? Is it still guiding you?

If you can affirmatively answer these questions, you will bring ultimate merit to your loved one. For that person’s life continues to affect you, to give direction to your lives. דיוקנו של אביו . Who stands before you?

Suggested by a sermon by Rabbi Jay Weinstein, Young Israel of East Brunswick, N.J., distributed by JFNA Rabbinic Cabinet.