{Originally posted to The Foundation Stone website}
I need just a moment to adjust the lights over my desk. I had visitors yesterday and I moved some of the overhead lamps so that we could see each other without the glare of the bulbs and the shadows they cast over the room. Everything was perfect before they came. The lights were positioned in such a way that my computer was at the center of the light and there was shadow all around me as I wrote. I was attempting the halo effect. Light is wonderful and absolutely necessary, but we should not forget that shadows are an important part of the gift of light.
My favorite part of the Bible is not the light, but the shadow. The text is always perfectly positioned to afford just a glimpse of a story or message. The light casts a mysterious shadow; what were they thinking? How did the prophet get his message across? The shadows draw me in through the door, challenging me to explore the silhouettes, the shade, the outlines presented by the text. I will discover my own light within those shadows. Those are the places made just for me.
This week’s portion, Vayechi, begins with a shadow cast over Jacob’s family. The text of a Torah scroll is closed at the beginning of the portion to hint to the shadow of danger and confusion. Jacob’s vision shone with a bright light and, just as he was about to share his light with his children, a veil appeared and Jacob had to make do with the blessings we read in our text. There are shades of unease hovering over the brothers who are worried that Joseph was simply biding his time until Jacob’s death, and would now avenge his sale into slavery. Yet this portion of shadows is named “Vayechi” – Life.
Many of us feel that we are living in a time of dark shadows; there are shadows everywhere, yet we can accept those shadows as an invitation to explore the dark corners and discover our own light.
We thank you for joining our virtual community of explorers who accept the call of the shadows to discover new sources of light. Rabbi Irwin Katsof shines his unique light with Words Can Heal. His son, AY, now serving in the IDF shares his special glow with his A Soldier’s Story. An anonymous contributor chose to share some of Reb Tzaddok HaKohen’s shine on the weekly portion. King David offers some gentle beams to Solomon in “Be A Man”, and The Music of Halacha warns us about ignoring shadows in “I Just Don’t Care” We hope that our new weekly podcast Preparing For The Shabbat will brighten your Shabbat as will the many additions to i-Pray and i-Grow.
I hope that we will succeed in chasing away the dark shadows and continue to discover new sources of light in our lives.