In her book Traveling Mercies,
Some Thoughts on Faith, American novelist Anne Lamott writes:
I was remembering an old story the
other day about a man getting drunk at a bar in Alaska. He’s telling
the bartender how he recently lost whatever faith he’d had after his
twin-engine plane crashed in the tundra.
“Yeah,” he says
bitterly. “I lay there in the wreckage, hour after hour, nearly
frozen to death, crying out for God to save me, praying for help with every
ounce of my being, but he didn’t raise a finger to help. So I’m done
with that whole charade.”
“But,” said the bartender,
squinting an eye to him, “you’re here. You were saved.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” says the
man. “Because finally some dang Eskimo came along . . .”
This story made me wonder what Joseph
said as he lay at the bottom of that pit, awaiting what his brothers would do
with him. Did he scream at his brothers to release him? Did he curse his
brothers for putting him there? Did he pray to G-d for help? Curiously, the
Torah is silent about Joseph as he stood in the pit, not knowing what his fate
would be. He must have been terrified. One would think this would have been the
perfect situation for G-d to speak to Joseph and to allay his fears. This would
have been the perfect time for G-d to whisper to Joseph that G-d was with him.
After all, did not G-d speak to Abraham, his great-grandfather, when Abraham set
off on the dangerous journey from his native land to the Land of Canaan? G-d
says to Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation…. I will bless those who
bless you, and curse those who curse you.” Did G-d not speak to Isaac, Joseph’s
grandfather, when famine came to the Land of Canaan? “Stay in the Land which I
point out to you,” G-d says to Isaac, “and do not descend to Egypt…… I will be
with you and bless you…..I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars
of heaven.” Did not G-d speak to Jacob, Joseph’s father, when he fled from his
home to an uncertain future? G-d says to Jacob, “Remember I am with you: I will
protect you wherever you go and will be you back to this land.” If ever there
was a person who could use those words, it is Joseph in the pit. But…..nothing.
G-d neither comforts him, nor speaks to him. In Joseph’s anguish, G-d offers
neither solace or encouragement. What does Joseph feel at that time? Does he
feel like the man in the story – that he is through with the whole charade of
religion, because G-d doesn’t seem to lift a finger to help?
As we know, Joseph is sold into
slavery and is bought by a man named Potiphar. Potiphar takes a liking to
Joseph and puts him in charge of his household. Joseph is a handsome young man,
and Potiphar’s wife also takes a liking to Joseph. But Joseph resists her
advances. He explains to her, “My master places all that he owns in my hands.
He has withheld nothing from me, except you, for you are his wife. How could I then do this wicked thing?” And here we
get an insight into Joseph’s character. Joseph could have stopped at “How could
I then do this wicked thing”, but he adds, “and sin before G-d.” Now we
understand, for the first time, that although G-d was silent when Joseph needed
G-d most, Joseph has not abandoned his faith in G-d.
Potiphar’s wife, however, accuses
Joseph of trying to seduce her, and he is imprisoned. One would think that by
now, Joseph’s faith in G-d would be shaken. After all, his life has been
threatened by his own brothers, he has been sold into slavery, unfairly accused
of violating his master’s trust in him, and, as a reward for his virtue, he is thrown
into prison. There he finds himself in the company of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and
baker. Each has a dream. When Joseph asks one morning why each seems so
depressed they reply, “We had dreams,
and there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph replies, “Surely G-d can interpret!
Tell me your dreams.”
Despite his continued misfortune,
even though G-d still has not said one word of consolation or reassurance to
him, made one utterance to mitigate his fear and his pain and his suffering, Joseph
believes that G-d is operating in the background. This pattern will continue.
When Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams, he will make certain that Pharaoh
understands that it is only through G-d’s grace that Joseph is able to
interpret his dreams. Pharaoh recognizes
that “the spirit of G-d” is with Joseph and appoints him second in command over
all of Egypt. Finally, Joseph forgives his brothers for selling him into
slavery with the words, “It was not you who sent me here, but G-d, in order to
insure your survival and save your lives.”
In this respect, we can identify
with Joseph far easier than with the Patriarchs or Matriarchs, to whom G0d
speaks at crucial junctures in their lives. We too face the challenges in our
lives without G-d speaking to us directly. We too must maintain our faith in G-d
in the absence of G-d’s forthright and immediate presence. We may wonder -- is
G-d there for us, is G-d listening? There is a beautiful song that I have
taught the children on Sunday mornings that addresses this question. It is by
musicians and Jewish educators Peter and Ellen Allard.
Are you listening G-d, are you
really there/ Are you listening G-d/ How do I know you care?
Are you listening G-d/ When I say
my prayers?/ Are you listening G-d, are you listening?
The song goes on to ask if G-d is
listening when we wake in the morning, when we go through our day, when we go
to sleep. The song answers the question in this way:
I am listening G-d, when I say my
prayers/ I am listening G-d, and yes I know you care/ I am listening G-d and I
KNOW you’re there/ I am listening G-d, I am listening.
As it says in our prayer, “Hear, O
Israel” – we are urged to listen to the message in our prayers and our
scripture, for it is there that G-d speaks to us. We need to pay attention to
presence of G-d in our lives and to the miracles that are around us.
Shabbat Shalom
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