Second Reading: The Faculty of Might
“Now, let us go and murder him, and cast him into one of the pits. We shall say a wild animal killed him and we shall see what will come of his dreams.”
Every parashah in the Torah is divided into seven readings (aliyot). These seven readings correspond to the seven emotive attributes or the seven sefirot from loving-kindness to kingdom, respectively.
Thus, the second reading is replete with words, images, and descriptions that illustrate the second sefirah of the emotive sefirot, might (gevurah). Let us see how.
In the second reading of Vayeishev, the brothers’ hatred for Joseph manifests in action—they decide to kill him. This is not a case of self-love, where the sons of Jacob are indifferent to their brother, but about hatred leading to an action requiring force and harsh judgment and ultimately seeking to murder.
Joseph is sent by his father to the environs of Shechem, a city whose painful history has not been forgotten from last week’s Torah portion. As Rashi comments, Shechem is a place prepared for dealing-out punishment. It is filled with an air of harshness. It is there that he encounters the angel Gabriel, the archangel associated with the sefirah of might (gevurah). As Joseph nears his brothers, they plotted against, they conspired to find a legal pretext to kill him. Machinations such as there’s are considered a corruption of the sefirah of might because they use its ability to argue and litigate as one searches for a crooked and winding way to overcome an adversary.
Their original plan was to throw his body “into one of the pits,” and the pit symbolizes the void created when God’s Presence is contracted by might.
God’s Might Awakens
After the brothers plan to kill Joseph, the dreamer, we hear them saying, as if to seal their arguments: “and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” However, the sages hear these words differently, because what need did they have to utter this redundant statement!? Instead, the sages state that it was the Holy Spirit that spoke these words as if to challenge them. They thought they could overcome Joseph’s Divine destiny with their strength and God was now confronting them with his Divine might, as if to say: “Let us see whose word will stand in the end. Who is the more powerful, you or I.”
If we follow the plain meaning, then this statement is a cynical one and all cynicism belongs to the might of the soul, the source of laughter and judgment that unite in cynical statements.
Reuben’s Rescue Attempt
Reuben’s attempt to save Joseph also originates in the machinations of the sefirah of might. He too proposes to throw Joseph into the pit, but unlike the brothers who suggested killing him and then throwing him in, Reuben proposes to throw him alive into the pit so that he can return later to save him. But his motivation is itself a deprecated form of might since he was fearful that he, being the eldest of the brothers would be the one blamed for Joseph’s death.
Hidden Love
Despite their hatred, there is hidden love within it – wonderfully hinted at in the brothers’ words, “they said to one another, here comes this dreamer” (וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו הִנֵּה בַּעַל הַחֲלֹמוֹת הַלָּזֶה בָּא). The initial of the four consecutive words in bold spell “love” (אַהֲבָה). Additionally, the value of these four words (הַחֲלֹמוֹת הַלָּזֶה בָּא אֶל אָחִיו) is 26 squared, or the value of God’s essential Name, Havayah (the Name of compassion), or 4 times the value of “love” (אַהֲבָה), 13, squared, implying that the average value of each of these four words is “love” (אַהֲבָה), or 13 squared!
The hidden love in the brothers’ hearts empowers Joseph to forgive them, as he realizes that “God meant it to turn out good.” This hidden love is also present in his brothers as hidden love. By seeing this, Joseph reveals to his brothers the secret of the hidden love for God in every Jewish heart, which he proceeds later to reveal to them in the symbolism locked into his silver goblet being placed in Benjamin’s pack.
(from Amudeha Shiva, pp. 192-193)
