A 100% VirJEWal Synagogue serving the needs of all backgrounds of the Jewish Community of
Central, NJ since 1983
Eli B. Perlman, Rabbi
Congregation Beit Shalom / Monroe Township is a unique Conservative Egalitarian Congregation. The difference between this and other congregations is that we are truly a family. We get together to pray, to learn, to laugh, to sing, to schmooze - and it is 100% VirJEWal. When someone is in need, we help each other in ways that continue to inspire everyone.
This Sidra explores a number of relationships: Yosef and his brothers; Yehuda and Tamar; Yosef and Potiphar's wife; Yosef and the baker; and Yosef and the steward of Paro.
Yosef's life is pivotal to the development of the Jewish nation. Yosef's beginnings are gloomy, to say the least. He is a spoiled child and the envy of his elder brothers. He has delusions of grandeur that even his father finds difficult to accept. Finally, his brothers arrange to have him kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Yosef's indiscretion is matched by Yehuda's indulgence in his affair with Tamar, his daughter-in-law. Unwilling to have his son perform the duties of a Levirate marriage, he is tricked into a rendezvous by a disguised Tamar. The episode shows the discord and disharmony among the family of the Patriarch.
Finally, Yosef is faced with temptation in Egypt. When he refuses to be corrupted, he is nonetheless framed. Cast into prison, he is to serve the steward and baker of the Paro, who themselves have fallen into disfavor with their master. Yosef interprets a troublesome dream for the duo and asks only to be freed from captivity. His pleas go unheeded for two years by the ungrateful steward.
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