Vayishlach

Healing Broken Vessels

Adapted from Rabbi David Wolfe-Blank

As Parshat Vayishlakh begins, Ya'akov wrestles with an angel, receives a higher spiritual name, and makes peace with his brother Esav who had sworn to kill him. The parashah continues with the rape of Dinah by Shechem and the murder of Shechem's whole town by Dinah's brothers. Rivkah's nurse Devorah dies. Rachel dies. Yitzchak dies. And in the next parashah, Yosef is sold into Egyptian slavery by his jealous brothers.

One Midrash tries to repair these ruptures by telling a story in which the broken pieces of family come together: Dinah becomes pregnant by Shechem and gives birth to a daughter, Asnat. Asnat, who is not fully welcomed by Ya'akov's family, hitchhikes down to Egypt. There she is adopted by an Egyptian family named Potiphar, in whose home Yosef works. Asnat and Yosef marry. When Yosef is reconciled with his brothers, Asnat too is welcomed.

This midrash hints at the Kabbalistic creation story of the "breaking of the vessels" and the need for tikkun olam, world-repair. As the Ein Sof, God's infinite light, flooded a succession of would-be containers, each one proved too fragile to hold the light. Each container broke, scattering the sparks of the Divine towards this earth. Our task in creation is to travel everywhere we can, connect with every person we can, and bring back these misplaced parts of the Divine vehicle. Ya'akov's family, and perhaps any family, is too fragile a vessel to hold the divine light without constant attention and repair. Tikkun Olam begins at home.

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