When Joseph is sent by his father to visit his brothers he gets lost on the way. He meets a man who asks him what he is seeking. Famously, Joseph replies ‘I am seeking my brothers’, whereby the stranger points him in the right direction. This is, of course, in ironic contrast to the attitude of the brothers of whom it is said: ‘before he even reached them they plotted how to kill him’. Joseph seeks his brethren; yet they reject him before he even arrives. The story of Joseph is in many ways the ‘original sin’ of Jewish theology; the basic fracture that reverberates down through the generations. The prophet Amos, in our Haftorah, sees it as a metaphor for the oppression of the poor in his own day: those that ‘sell the righteous for money and the poor for a pair of shoes’. Our generation can also learn from this story, and especially the ironic paradox mentioned above. In our days we have many Jews that are estranged from Judaism. Whether because of an assimilated upbringing, youthful rebellion or intermarriage, they have had little or no connection with Judaism or the Jewish community. Yet many of these lost Jews are seeking a way back. They approach our synagogues searching for an entrée into the Jewish world they have lost or never known. Like Joseph, they would reply to a enquiry about their intentions by saying ‘I am seeking my brothers’. Yet how many Jewish communities welcome these people with open arms, and how many behave like Joseph’s brothers. How many of our synagogues before they even ask for anything, reject them out of hand. Because they may be intermarried, assimilated or have some other defect, before they even reach us, we plot ways of getting rid of them. Rather than being more lenient with these lost souls, we are more strict; rather than showing kindness, we display callous disregard. Joseph’s brothers are condemned precisely because they do not recognise Joseph as their brother, while he approaches them in precisely this spirit. He stretches out his hand in brotherly love; they bite it off. Are we not guilty of the same crime, when we reject fellow Jews simply because of their background. Joseph’s brothers later pay a terrible price for their actions. What future price will we have to pay for not learning from their mistake.

ALIYAH BY ALIYAH SYNOPSIS