Return to KI Home Page Return to Happenings Page Weekly Services Calendar

Parashat Va-y’chi, Genesis 47:28-50:26

When Jacob and Joseph meet at the beginning of Va-y'chi, this final portion in Genesis, the weathered, weakened patriarch approaches his son. Jacob, a stranger in Egypt, is beholden to his son for his very life. He wants to give his son a blessing to assert the traditional relationship between father and son, between one who has worn the mantle of leadership and one who will take on that responsibility. But first Jacob must insure that he will return home, if not in life, then in death. Using words of deference that he had uttered only in preparation for and in meeting with his brother Esau (33:8, 10), Jacob now turns to his second youngest son and begins, "If I have found favor in your sight." Because Jacob feared that Esau would kill him, he used these humble words to approach his estranged brother.

"If I have found favor in your sight." Jacob asks Joseph to look at him, to see him as he is. Does he ask Joseph to see the similarities between their journeys from their childhood to the present? Jacob and Joseph are two men who were suddenly separated from their families and their homelands before their maturity. Jacob, the reluctant trickster, and Joseph, the precocious dream interpreter, both suffer grievous losses of mother and the company of siblings, and both are reunited with their brothers only after years of anger and distance. Is Jacob remembering his own father's clouded vision when Jacob demanded a blessing that was not rightly his? Is Jacob now asking his own son to see him clearly as his father could not?

What does it mean to find favor in another’s sight? To be seen in the stark light of one’s own humanness, one’s own mortality? Joseph looked into his father’s eyes and saw the weight of a long and troubled life. And he promised to carry him home. In that moment, Joseph also saw himself. The words with which we conclude each book of the Torah have particular strength here: Chazak, chazak, venitchazak: From strength to strength we strengthen one another. When Jacob asked to be seen, Joseph responded. Their seeing each other became a blessing. When we look at one another, with intention and clarity, when we see ourselves mirrored in the eyes of those we encounter, we find blessing and strength.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Peter C. Rigler

YOGA—Sundays, beginning January 11, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. (not January 18 or February 15). Open to the congregation. Reservations: Religious School (215) 887-8704.

Adult Education — Jewish Nobel Prize Laureates, Dr. Norman Olson, Sunday, January 11, at 9:45 a.m.; Europa, Europa, Claudia Beechman Cohen, Thursday, January 15, at 7:00 p.m..; Survival at Auschwitz (Primo Levi) Dr. Charles Rojer, Wednesday, January 21, at 2:00 p.m. See Adult Education Brochure for more details.

Center City Lunch n’Learn—with Rabbi Sussman at Harris Baum’s office, Zarwin Baum PC, on Thursday, January 15, at noon. Reservations/information: (215) 887-8702.

Toxic Pollution in the Environment: Its Effects on Our Children and Us—Brunch program on Sunday, January 25, at 10:00 a.m., at K.I. $9/person. Send checks (payable to K.I. Sisterhood) to Michele Gusdorff, 210 Waring Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027. Deadline is Friday, January 16. Sponsored by WRJ Sisterhood, Brotherhood, and K.I. Social Action Committee.

Rabbi’s Spring Forum—Reform Judaism: A History —begins Sunday, February 29.

K.I. Heritage trip to Italy – “Torah, Art and Opera” in Rome, Florence and Venice, July, 2004. For more information, call Fayway Travel at (215) 676-3525.

Buy a Tree for Tu B’Shevat—and support Israel. Tu B’Shevat is on February 7, 2004. Purchase trees through the Jewish National Fund at www.jnf.org or 1-888-JNF-0099.

Congregational Trip to Israel—Spring 2004. Interested? Call (215) 887-8702.

Sefer Project – Please bring to K.I. new and gently used books appropriate for young readers up to 6^th grade. They will be distributed to inner city children and schools.

Sisterhood Gift Shop – Gift Certificates now available! Gift Shop is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday during Religious School hours and by appointment. Please call Mickie Levin (215) 698-0314 or Joan Kamen (215) 947-5926.

K.I. Outreach Committee – Are you part of an interfaith couple? Are you a Jew-by-choice? Are you a Jew-by-birth interested in relearning Jewish traditions? The K.I. Outreach Committee is interested in your participation and/or your input. Contact Sharon Buckingham (215) 885-9429.

Celebration Fund – Is there a special occasion occurring in the near future for you or a loved one? A milestone birthday? A special anniversary? Birth of a child or grandchild? Share your happiness with our congregational family. Contributions to KI's Celebration Fund underwrite our beautiful Oneg Shabbat. Contact the Administrative Office, (215) 887-8700, for further details.

Shabbat Shalom Tablecloth – Join our growing list of congregants who have already added their names to our beautiful name-embroidered tablecloth. ($25/one-line name). For information, contact Babe Hernes (215) 379-5438 or Doris Parker (215) 886-9267.