Interesting Torah-portion (מקץ (mi-qeitz (from the cut-off, interruption)) of this week from www.netzarim.co.il:
The story of Yo•seiph′ is the story of the paragon Gâl•ut′ Jew. Yo•seiph′ is the ultimate image of assimilation. He was so successful in Mi•tzәr•ay′im that he became second only toPar•oh′. When he was chauffeured by, people on the street bowed as he passed. Yo•seiph′ wore the Par•oh′'s signet ring of authority. Yo•seiph′ earlier had been imprisoned rather than have an affair with the wife of his master, Potiphar.
Potiphar, or Poti Phera (41.45), was a member of Par•oh′'s royal court and a (pagan) priest of the sun-god (Egyptian On = "sun"), in charge of the country's butchers (the Egyptian counterpart of ka•shәr•ut′). Potiphar appears in Egyptian sources as Pa-di-pa-ra, "He whom Rahad given." Ra was the name of the sun-god. It seems apparent that Yo•seiph′'s marriage, arranged by Par•oh′, served to clear Yo•seiph′ of the charges of adultery with his former master's wife (for which he had been imprisoned) as well as to show that his former master no longer considered Yo•seiph′, now his son-in-law, as a slave.
Yet, how do we reconcile that Yo•seiph′ married a non-Jewess, the daughter of a pagan priest? His wife's name in Egyptian meant "she belongs to the god-dess Nat." Does this passage justify intermarriage for Jews in the Gâl•ut′?
Midrashic sources fancy that Yo•seiph′s wife was only the daughter of Potiphar by adoption and, beyond that, to convince us that she was really Dinah, who had been raped by Shәkhëm′and sent away from the house of Ya•a•qov′. Such extreme axe-grinding isn't satisfying to the serious scholar and only serves to make young Jews smirk and walk away.
Asnat is the mother of Mәnasheh and Ephrayim! Mәnasheh means "forgetting," referring to not only "all his toil," but also "and all my father's house"—the house of Ya•a•qov′. Ephrayimmeans "fruitful" referring to Yo•seiph′'s success in Mi•tzәr•ay′im. Yet, these children become patriarchs among the tribes of Yi•sәr•â•eil′. In his final words, however, Yo•seiph′ extracts a promise that his bones would be carried to Eretz Yisraeil for burial. Yo•seiph′'s assimilation is also evidenced in the embalming of Ya•a•qov′ and himself. Moreover, this is certainly testimony of paternal, rather than maternal, Jewish lineage.
Several things must be recognized.
- This occurs before the giving of Tor•âh′ on Har Sin•ai′. Indeed, many aspects of Tor•âh′ are still in flux and development, deriving from the experience of Yo•seiph′, Mosh•ëh′ and the Israelis in Mi•tzәr•ay′im.
- Yo•seiph′ did not choose to be in the Gâl•ut′. He was sent there against his will and remained there because he was detained, because he was not welcome among his brothers, and because a famine prevented him from moving back.
- Yo•seiph′ was chosen for his savior role through no design of his own. Like Ribi Yәho•shu′a, he did not volunteer to be a martyr or self-sacrifice. From the time he was sold into slavery until he achieved recognition and power from Par•oh′, Yo•seiph′ was never in control of his own destiny. He merely made the best of the cards י--ה had dealt him. Yo•seiph′ essentially went from being a slave to being a prisoner to being subject to the whims of Par•oh′.
- Yo•seiph′ did not choose to marry the non-Jewess. Par•oh′ did it.
- As apparent from his last words, his heart was always on returning to Eretz Yisraeil.
- In the time of Yo•seiph′ the Ha•lâkh•âh′ hadn't been fixed regarding embalming, and in Mi•tzәr•ay′im it was expected of persons of Yo•seiph′'s and Ya•a•qov′'s station.
- the dual—first and second—lives of each,
- the lesson of salvation for Benei Yisraeil achieved by Yo•seiph′ / Ribi Yәho•shu′a under circumstances of suffering, and
- the temporary forgetting of each by the one he had saved (Yo•seiph′ by the cupbearer).
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