Jewish Community of Helsinki - Week 52

WEEKLY PORTION vayeshev 24.12 2016 — 24TH KISLEV 5777

Fri 14:56 Candle lighting 17:30 Kabbalat Shabat Sat 09:00 Shacharit 16:17 Havdalah

Dvar Torah

This week’s Torah portion teaches us the importance of having a good and trustworthy friend. I will not explain the whole story between and , neither are we tal- king about their friendship, although their story is an interesting one (Genesis, chapter 38).

Both individuals had difficult lives, which is pretty common for a character in the Torah. Judah had just gone through the sale of and Tamar was left without a man. Promises had been given. Judah faced many difficulties with Tamar, and in the end he is forced to send her a goat as a reward of something less dignified he had done, deed of which was also unnatural for an honorable man of Judah’s status.

I believe Torah is trying to teach us that sometimes each of us makes mistakes, large and small. In those moments it is important that we have a good friend who can listen to us and help us if we have done something, which is not part of our personality and which we are ashamed of. We need a friend who will not judge us. Judah has one of those friends - Hirah Adullamite who proved his friendship also thgouh action: "Judah sent the kid of the goats through his friend the Adullamite to retrieve the pledge from the woman (Tamar)" (Genesis, chapter 38). Judah had the courage to ask a favor from his good friend, since he knew that he could rely on his friend who would also not jud- ge him.

Shabbat Shalom u’Mevorah,

Rabbi Simon Livson