And Jacob settled in the land in which his father dwelled as a stranger, in the land of Canaan.”  (Genesis 37:1)

Having completed his Journey of Reconciliation, healing his relationship with his twin brother Esau, one might imagine that Jacob did want to settle down and rest.  (The word “vayeisheiv” has hints, not only of sitting, settling and dwelling, but also of Shabbat and teshuvah – all these words share the root letters shin and bet/vet.)

However, a generational inheritance of favoritism and deception followed Jacob and he passed this to his children.  Joseph and Judah, may be considered the two protagonists of the ongoing family drama.  In this week’s reading, Judah is able to confront his errors, admit his truth and acknowledge Tamar’s righteousness.  Over the next two weeks, the drama of Joseph in Egypt unfolds, and he, too, ultimately will remove his mask of deceit. 

So much of our work of spiritual growth is to learn what generational gifts and handicaps we have received from our families of origin and to grow through them.  As these stories teach us, the more awareness we bring to this task, the less we can fall into the traps of unconscious reenactment. 

 Once the lessons are integrated through our process of learning about ourselves, we can truly rest in the land where our fathers (and mothers) dwelled.  Because of our holy work of cultivating awareness of our personal foibles and traps, our rest can be a true Shabbat because we are no longer caught up in the dramas that have trapped us in trickery and dishonesty. Instead, we can connect with and acknowledge the underlying love that may have been masked by our families’ imperfections.  We can settle and rest in our true selves having done this work of teshuvah.

With blessing that our wisdom of heart will be the container for inter-generational healing,
Rabbi SaraLeya
18 Kislev 5772
December 14, 2011