An urgent lesson from this week's Torah portion
Did you know that the catalyst that brought about our people’s Egyptian exile was parental alienation, paternal alienation in particular, and because of our ancestors’ lapse in according respect due to their fathers?
That’s right. It all came about because Yoseph was forcefully alienated from his father Yaakov for 22 years.
And in fact, his abduction and consequent alienation was caused by presumably well-meaning family members who felt they had ample legal grounds [1] to take such drastic action.
Our sages tell us that it was actually a consequence of the 22 years that Yaakov himself had been separated from his own father Yitzchak [2].
In fact, the entire sorry story of Yosef’s abduction was precipitated by the family’s general lack of respect for their father Yaakov.
Shimon and Levi had acted irresponsibly in Shechem by not consulting their father Yaakov first [3].
Reuven had acted impetuously to assert his mother’s honor but dishonored his father in the process [4].
The brothers all dishonored their father by hating Yosef as a result of their father’s loving him more [5], and not just by hating him but by acting unjustly motivated by that hatred.
According to the Rebbe’s interpretation [6], Yosef willingly endangered himself by seeking his brothers in Dothan, even though one is normally not permitted to expose himself to mortal danger, since he reasoned that this case was different. Since the brothers had been generally remiss in honoring their father for reasons stated above, he felt obliged to risk his life to demonstrate the paramount importance of respecting one’s father (since his father had instructed him to seek his brothers’ welfare [7]).
Alienated father Yaakov suffered for 22 years bereft of his son [8], and Yosef suffered as well [9], especially at the hands of the unjust Egyptian legal system to which he had become a slave and virtual prisoner due to his wrongful alienation from his father [10].
Takeaway:
The original exile of our people in Egypt, the prototype of all subsequent exiles including our present one, came about through paternal alienation.
And undoubtedly this final exile is being excruciatingly prolonged due to the same scourge of parental alienation that continues to plague us till this day.
Why is the greater Jewish community silent in the face of this shocking travesty?
How can we remain silent as thousands of Yosefs have been alienated from their loving fathers by means of a vile secularist depopulationist government that seeks to destroy the family unit and render all children “property of the state”? Why have we as a society normalized this unacceptable state of affairs?
Please reach out to an alienated father today and ask how you can help.
Even better, reach out to the alienators and let them know that this behavior is NOT okay. Teach them that our people suffer till this day from the alienation of a single Jewish child.
We must not remain silent any longer. There should be zero tolerance for this in our communities.
Remember that our redemption hinges on the reunification of these broken families, on the return of these children to their fathers and of fathers to their children, as the prophet concludes:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord, that he may turn the heart of the fathers back to the children, and the heart of the children back to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction.” [11]
Please consider these sobering words, the closing words of the entire book of our Prophets, especially at this crucial time, the “End of Days.” Parental alienation in our times has been deliberately planned by depopulationist sociopaths who seek our utter destruction.
The ongoing scourge of parental alienation harms not only one family and their future generations, but our entire people, and all of humanity.
Let’s address it once and for all and reverse this appalling trend.
There’s too much at stake.
Notes:
[1] See Rashi on Gen. 37:17, “”נכלי דתות”
[2] Ibid 37:34
[3] Ibid 34:30
[4] Ibid 35:22
[5] Ibid 37:3-4
[6] Likutei Sichoth volume 35, page 169ff.
[7] Gen. 37:14
[8] Ibid 37:34-35
[9] Ibid 41:51
[10] Ibid 39:1-20
[11] Malachi 3:23-24
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