Dear Friends,
Sometimes one must call out those nearest to them.
Sometimes a family member behaves inappropriately. Sometimes a business partner will raise eyebrows. And, sometimes an office associate may cross a boundary.
In fact, to be most ethical, one should call out those most nearest. Instead, all too commonly, one protects such persons, buries the bad, and ignores the insults. It is not worth the relational risks, or sometimes the legal ramifications.
Which is exactly why we are struck by the opening messages in Jacob’s final blessing to his sons as he lay upon his deathbed near the end of the Book of Genesis. Instead of extolling his eldest three sons, Reuben, Shimon and Levi, for their leadership and forcefulness, he excoriates them. Admittedly, the three sons betrayed Jacob when they connived against their younger sibling, Joseph, and sole him brother into Egyptian slavery. Furthermore, they lied to Jacob, professing that Joseph had been attacked by jackals, additionally crushing Jacob’s broken heart. Jacob’s blessing commenced:
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“Reuben, my first-born…
Licentious one, boil up like water no more – Shimon and Levi are owls; Their talons are tools of violence. Let me not enter their council… Cursed is their wrath so fierce, I will disperse them… (Genesis 49:3-7) |
Jacob could have gone to his death letting the next generation manage their affairs and leaving old wounds alone. But instead, he did the exact opposite. He announced from the outset of his valedictory oration that the violence and betrayal was still remembered and yet governed his final blessing. Instead of assigning to Reuben, Shimon and Levi gifts of power and presence normally indicative of the eldest sons, Jacob admonished and renounced them.
Sometimes, one must call out those most near.
In fact, if one who is nearest to a perpetrator ignores it or covers it up, it hinders anyone else from
addressing the hurt or grievance, later.
This is a worthy lesson, especially during this week when America returned to the United States Capitol on January 6 to again witness the quadrennial counting of Electoral College votes. Only an ignoramus or a blind sociopath can remember the events of January 6, 2021 and claim it is not violence, but love, not an attack on democracy, but a defense of democracy. And, how disgraceful that those closest to the instigation of that perpetration have worked to rewrite history, top deny the ugliness, and to distort truth.
Thus, this week’s Torah portion is very, vey telling. It is most proper for us all, and especially those nearest to the violence, to proclaim like Jacob,
Sometimes, one must call out those most near.
In fact, if one who is nearest to a perpetrator ignores it or covers it up, it hinders anyone else from
addressing the hurt or grievance, later.
This is a worthy lesson, especially during this week when America returned to the United States Capitol on January 6 to again witness the quadrennial counting of Electoral College votes. Only an ignoramus or a blind sociopath can remember the events of January 6, 2021 and claim it is not violence, but love, not an attack on democracy, but a defense of democracy. And, how disgraceful that those closest to the instigation of that perpetration have worked to rewrite history, top deny the ugliness, and to distort truth.
Thus, this week’s Torah portion is very, vey telling. It is most proper for us all, and especially those nearest to the violence, to proclaim like Jacob,
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Their talons are tools of violence.
Let me not enter their council… Cursed is their wrath so fierce, I will disperse them… |
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
