In “A Reflection of Yosef’s Character” I discussed viewing Yosef as caught between the vectors of his own personal saga and the greater story of the destiny of the Jewish people within which he played a significant role. This dialectical tension was discussed yesterday afternoon at Congregation Etz Chaim in Kew Garden Hills, NY by Yeshiva University Professor Shalom Carmy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalom_Carmy ) , in a Shiur entitled “Yosef through the Eyes of R. J.B. Soloveitchik and R. Aharon Lichtenstein.” R. Carmy noted that two trends in lierary biblical study could be identified as: 1) focus upon the individual character, determining the psychological factors that motivate his actions, and 2) the development of Jewish history over the course of the vagaries of time. In keeping with such a dichotomy, the story of Yosef as it develops in the last four Parashiot of Beraishit could be viewed as either the description of a complex personality who goes from personal hardship to powerful political success and influence, or as a lynchpin in the fulfillment of God’s Master Plan as outlined to Avraham in the Brit Bein HaBetarim in Beraishit 15.
Yosef’s Character II
20 Sunday Dec 2015
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