Inside Parsha

For those who are into self, there are two forms of doing it well: self-actualisation and self-transcendence. The former connotes a path of achievement, fine-tuning ones G-d given talents and developing new ones with perseverance, grit and determination. The latter describes a lifestyle focused upon the other – upon ones fellow, meaningful causes as well as cleaving to the Divine – in which ones own needs are made secondary to, or are perhaps fulfilled via, an outwards focus. So, which is better? Can one have both? When Moshe is born, the Torah describes how it was apparent to observers that “he was good” (Shemot 2:2). In Zohar a debate surrounds the nature of the ‘goodness’ that manifested itself before those who gathered around the young bub. Rabbi Chiya says that Moshe was born circumcised. Rabbi Yosi says the house was filled with light. Being a Kabbalistic work, the Zohar appears to be pointing us to a deeper debate. Circumcision is code for self-actualisation. Just as...

How do we look when we are uninspired? Do we let go of the values that define us, throwing in the proverbial towel, or hang on to them for dear life, praying for our next spiritual uplift? Inspiration, by definition, is short-term. It’s a burst that needs endless replenishment. Important, but not reflective of our real selves. What’s truly worth our time and energy is identifying   and shaping our lowest common-denominator, the person we are when our role models are on holiday and our texts don’t speak to us. Midrash on Parshat Vayechi tells us that Yaakov wished to reveal the date of the final Redemption to his children, yet he reneged in the last moment. What was the rationale for the change of heart? Knowing the potential date of Redemption is inspirational, it gives us the push we need to keep up our commitment, knowing that we only have a short distance still to cover. However, the very notion of the final Redemption is one of a fundamental change to reality....

Dream interpretation seems somewhat out of vogue these days. Talmudic wisdom seems to have it that dreams are simply a concoction of what one experiences over the course of their waking hours (Berachot 55b). However, beneath the nightmare of thirsty sea-creatures meandering upon dry land, gulping from giant bottles of gurgling goop, there lies our most primal fears, anxieties and aspirations. Our subconscious lets loose as it weaves metaphors of childhood neglect (the thirsty sea creatures) which drives our insatiable appetite for approval at work (the giant bottles of gurgling goop). Obviously, this matter requires copious therapy if its seemingly far-fetched significance is to be fully unravelled. No different are the dreams that abound in Genesis. The colourful characters of the Bible were as iconoclastic in their sleep as they were in their waking hours. Jacob dreams of ladders, angels and sheep, Joseph dreams of stalks and stars, the butler and baker dreams of wine and b...

Zhou Enlai, one the Communist leaders of China in the 20 th Century was once (quite famously) asked his opinion on the ramifications of the French Revolution of 1789. His wonderful answer was “too soon to say.” Us Jews, like the Chinese, have been around for a long while. And with that, comes an understanding of the long arc of history. What looks like a historical shift to the person on the street, is, too the individual steeped in history, a small tremor on a graph – a graph which could very well be flowing in the opposite direction of that very shift. Yaakov was different to his father and grandfather. Both men achieved much whilst in the land of Israel, in a spiritual domain, whilst Yaakov’s main accomplishments occur in the house of his uncle Lavan in Charan - the diaspora, a place of crass materialism. While Avraham and Yitzchak accessed truth as it is in heaven, Yaakov’s task was to bring this truth down to earth. To struggle with opposition, and to overcome it. Inter...

For the contemporary minded, there’s a deeply troubling introduction to a deeply troubling episode in Parshat Vayishlach. The tragic saga of Dina’s violation by Shechem, followed by the retributive massacre of the city, raises the eyebrow of the critical reader at a rate of something like twice per verse. Resolutions remains a touch out of grasp. What this a case of love or lust (see Bereishit 34:2-3)? Where Shimon and Levi even remotely justified in their vengeance? What was Ya’akov’s opinion on the matter? What outcome would Dina have wanted? Perhaps most perplexing of all is the introduction to the debacle – “and Dina, the daughter of Leah who had been born to Ya’akov, went out to see the daughters of the land.” Rashi, the foremost commentary on the Torah focuses on the superfluous rendition of her lineage and writes “due to her outgoingness she is labelled ‘the daughter of Leah’, for her mother too was an out-goer, [evidenced in the episode of the duda’im flowers (see B...

Back in my footballing days, my preferred position was full-back. It lacked the glitz of the full forward position, but I never felt less useful. While his role was kicking goals, mine was to prevent them. You might be familiar with the formula of “job, career and calling” – three modes of relating to one’s particular occupation. Dr. Amy Wrzesniewski, an Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour, found the people with the highest level of satisfaction in their workplace saw their work not just as a way to earn money (job), or a path towards self-fulfilment (career), but rather as a way of perfecting the world (calling). Often we define successful individuals as those who lead innovation, galvanise public opinion and accrue fabulous wealth, while the administrative assistant and the office cleaner are merely their support staff. Dr. Wrzesniewski demonstrated that in terms of subjective happiness, this association is false. I recall one of the cleaners at the school I...

Self-care is important. Success is all too often measured in terms of the measurable; possessions, popularity and performance. Spending time alone, nurturing one’s mind and heart, doesn’t attract attention in the marketplace of achievement. Some people chase opportunities, others are chased by them. Avraham was the former, his life was perpetual motion, from city to city and town to town, raising awareness and inspiring change. Yitzchak was the latter, never moving from the Holy Land, a settled existence, a waterhole of sorts eagerly sought by thirsty souls. Consolidation and progress are the yin and yang of real life. Neither can exist without the other. Yet consolidation is often sacrificed on the altar of progress. (Avraham nearly did slaughter Yitzchak, come to think of it). Whilst spreading the word might be the goal, the words spread need to have meaning. For it is only the consolidated word that lasts forever. Yitzchak’s story is a brief one, but tellingly, his p...