"Who lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?"

“Who lives, who Dies, Who tells your story?” - Lin Manuel Miranda.
Joseph knows, perhaps even determines, who lives and who dies through his interpretation of dreams. Yet he waits and waits and waits languishing in prison as nobody tells his story. His version of events, as he described in the last chapter to the Pharaoh’s cupbearer, is one of complete innocence “I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, nor have I done anything here.”
Yet when his story is finally related by the cupbearer to Pharaoh only one important detail about the protagonist remains “a Hebrew lad, a servant to the chief steward.” Pharaoh is desperate to understand his incomprehensible dreams, but if the cupbearer is truly sorry for forgetting Joseph up to this point, and wants to convince Pharaoh to release a convicted felon, he might mention that this interpreter of dreams is a kind and decent person. One that despite being in jail he claims innocence…yet the only detail he mentions is his ethnicity. Sadly, this is not the only instance.
When Joseph rebuffs the advances of Potiphar’s wife she tells her servants “Look, he brought us a Hebrew (letzachek) to dally with us.” When Joseph invites the brothers to eat a meal with him they are served and eat separately “because the Egyptians could not dine with the Hebrews, since that would be abhorrent to the Egyptians.”
Racism is pervasive in Egypt. People are described by the color of their skin, not by the content of their character.
To Pharaoh’s credit, the racism is not in the palace. Following Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams and economic plan Pharaoh exclaims “Could we find another like him, a man in whom is the spirit of God?” Pharaoh recognizes Joseph’s abilities (due to God) and allows him to run the country. Joseph wears the finest Egyptian clothing, rides around in the poshest wagons, and Pharaoh even serves as Joseph’s matchmaker, marrying him off to the daughter of a priestly family.
Yet, while the overt racism may disappear when a Hebrew is in charge and helping the country reach unprecedented economic power, when it is not quashed it remains underground and it is only a matter of time until Joseph is an unknown, and his people are “the fifth column” ready to bring down the ruling party.
Who lives and who dies are questions that many of us leave to the Almighty (especially at this time of year) but each of us are responsible in the way we describe others, how we frame, describe and tell stories.

Rabbi Marc Gitler works for 929 North America

929 is the number of chapters in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, the formative text of the Jewish heritage. It is also the name of a cutting-edge project dedicated to creating a global Jewish conversation anchored in the Hebrew Bible. 929 English invites Jews everywhere to read and study Tanakh, one chapter a day, Sunday through Thursday together with a website with creative readings and pluralistic interpretations, including audio and video, by a wide range of writers, artists, rabbis, educators, scholars, students and more. As an outgrowth of the web-based platform, 929 English also offers classes, pop-up lectures, events and across North America. We invite you to learn along with us and be part of our dynamic community.
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