By Ben Marsh

This week's parshat hashavua is Vayigash. We join our heroes as Judah approaches Joseph, who is a close advisor to the Pharaoh in Egypt. Judah and his brothers don't recognize Joseph as their brother. Judah is asking Joseph to release their other brother Benjamin (named after a famous 58 Moshnik). Judah even offers himself as a slave in return for the release of their beloved Benjamin. Joseph is touched by their loyalty to their other brothers and reveals to them that he is their long lost brother! Judah and the rest of the brothers feel terrible because a) they didn't recognize their brother and b) they had sold him to a caravan of traders heading for Egypt 22 years earlier (oops). In the end, Joseph sets up a sweet deal so Jacob and his fam (aka the Israelites) can escape the famine in Canaan and come set up in Egypt. God promises they will prosper there (foreshadowing!).

You can find a more detailed summary here.

This parsha has a few interesting themes in it. What I want to focus on is this guy Judah. Now if you are thinking that name sounds familiar, it may be because our religion (peoplehood?) derives its name from him. Judaism. Wow, crazy that we would name ourselves after this guy who was totally down with selling his younger brother into slavery. Judah and his brothers were even going to kill Joseph initially, but then Reuben, the oldest brother stepped in. But it isn't Reubenism.

So what happened? Well in Vayigash, we see Judah's growth. He once was a jerk who got rid of his annoying little brother and lied to his father about it. But 22 years later, in front of that same brother, he cares so much for his other brother that he would rather put himself into slavery than let his youngest brother be taken. That change is what moved Joseph so much to reveal himself and help his family escape the famine in

Canaan. Jacob and the Israelites came to Egypt where they prospered and multiplied so much that they became a threat to Egypt and all had to be enslaved (but we'll save that story for the seder table).

Anyways, the main thing I think is cool about this is that is the guy Judaism is named after. Not a perfect saint, but someone who was able to change his behaviors and attitudes. Someone able to reflect on the mistakes of his past and improve himself. In Habonim Dror, we often look at the present condition of our communities and reflect on the past to think of how to make them better. Our concepts of dugma and hagshama are rooted in striving to be our ideal selves and create our ideal world. Just like Judah, we are working on improving ourselves. Sometimes people, both inside and outside of the movement, brush off the Judaism we practice in our machanot, kenim, batim, and personal lives as watered down. We like to throw qualifiers in front of it like "cultural." This story makes me think Habonim Judaism is actually the most traditional form of Judaism. Straight from my main man Judah.