| Dear Congregant,
An obvious question from our parsha, Parshat Vayigash, is why didn’t the brothers recognize Joseph after having lived with him for so long? He may have grown a beard but they should still recognize there brother that they grew up with.
To answer this question, we have to understand the difference between who joseph was spiritually versus his brothers. Joseph’s brothers were shepherds - as were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before them. Why did they choose this profession? Because caring for sheep does not involve constant activity. The shepherd has the opportunity to reflect and contemplate a deeper meaning for life and to share their thoughts and feelings with God.
Now the brothers knew that Joseph was a spiritually minded person even though he was obnoxious to them when they were growing up. When they saw a man busily involved with running Egypt’s entire economy, they thought that this could not be Joseph. The Joseph they knew would not be so involved in material things, such as buying and selling and dealing with food rations.
How is this possible that this very spiritual man be so concerned with the material world? Did Joseph sacrifice the spiritual part of him when he became Pharaoh’s second in command? My gut tells me no, on the contrary, it was precisely because of his heightened spiritual consciousness that he acted as he did.
How does this make sense? There are those people who are more spiritually oriented, and do not live in the physical world as much as the rest of us do. They look at the spiritual and the physical as opposites, and opt for the spiritual. There are, however, others whose spiritual awareness is so rich that it allows them to understand how Godliness encompasses the physical as well, how God is in everything and is in all parts of the world.
This is the meaning of the words “God is one” in the Shema. Not only that there is one G‑d, but that everything is at one with God.
Because of Joseph’s single-minded devotion to G‑d, he was not separate from God even though he was involved in material mundane tasks. God is always there for us and is with us in everything we do. We just have to remember to let God into our lives and our hearts.
Have a lovely Shabbat,
Cantor Kowitz
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Affiliated with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism