Vayechi -- Vision and Clouds

2023-01-05 - Zimber Dvar

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Select Parsha Highlights:

The Clan of Israel, fully relocated to Egypt, has been there for some years. Jacob's life is ending.

Jacob changes the family tree, naming Joseph's sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) as his own (Jacob's), and naming any future children of Joseph as (virtually) being descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh. (This is not just a matter of claiming parentage. This act makes Ephraim and Manasseh heads of tribes that are allocated a place in the Land. -- Rashi/Baba Bathra)

This maneuver is done when Jacob is old and his eyes are dim. When Ephraim and Manasseh are brought before him, he needs to be told who they are.

The parsha refers to Jacob as both Jacob and Israel. In the declaration above, he is Jacob. When he puts his hands on their heads to bless them he is Israel.

As Israel, he switches his hands, contrary to Joseph's intent, and gives the primary blessing (that of the Right Hand) to the younger son (Ephraim).

Jacob feels his death is imminent. He calls a family meeting to pass on his thoughts.

His thoughts: A description of each Tribe. The architecture of the Nation.

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Agency & Ability. Faculty & Competence.

What are these things?

Some time ago, I visited a new-agey vision therapist. I had success with vision therapy some years earlier, and at this juncture was referred to an office full of large iris photos. Some of what she did appeared bonkers. Some less bonkers. One sentence from her has long fed thought:

-- Myopia onset at the right age in youth is positively correlated with intelligence.

This wasn't from a research paper. It was her personal observation. I have thought ever since about a possible connection to the strong (scientifically validated) correlation of working memory and 'G' (General Intelligence). A kid in a classroom, who can't read the blackboard, has to remember what the teacher says as he writes. A working memory workout. Weekdays. Does it make sense that _if_ the kid can read up close and _if_ there is a useful starting-point G _that_ myopia fosters the expansion of working memory, pushing G higher than would result with 20-20 vision?[1]

Or, conceptually: If the external is a blur, is the internal world more vivid?

This week we have Jacob, eyes dim with age, making an executive decision, over and against the stated preference of Joseph. About what? Blessing allocation. A generation earlier, Isaac, eyes dim with age, is manipulated into unconventional allocation. Jacob, a participant in that manipulation, now asserts agency and repeats the unconventional.

What can be read into these parallel / not-parallel situations?

In the case of Isaac, his family took agency from him. Whether the fault was his reasoning or his faculties, his immediate family (spouse and younger son) took control of his most valuable asset - his blessing. First by creating a pass-through (Esau's sale to Jacob). This managed for the event that Jacob dies without making the blessing explicit. Later by having the explicit blessing land directly on Jacob. The family had, for all intents and purposes, declared Isaac incompetent (in terms of this decision).

Jacob, having participated in this machination, is perhaps not susceptible to it. Or, given that he has a whole tribe of sons, it isn't the same material matter as for the prior generation. Or, given the speech he is about to make to the family, describing the character and future of each Tribe, is his agency a reflection of clear inner vision?

In both generations, the ability of the patriarch to give a blessing was unquestioned. Each generation has its assets (even if only a thin pension check). The question posed, by the family (if family is at hand) is agency and competence. Once competence is deemed lost, agency follows.

The work itself (giving a blessing, paying the bills) is mechanical. It is within the ability of the principal. Competence is both subjective and a question of caring. Today, many elders, in the U.S. and around the world (even in developing countries) are being bilked of billions.[2]

Isaac's role is crucial and quasi tragic. Whether with eyes dim and mind confused, or as part of a setpiece from the imagination of an Agatha Christie, the family dynamic is difficult to watch. Jacob/Israel is complete. Perhaps not thrilled with being pushed around by his son, but with unclouded inner vision. Declouded, perhaps by rediscovering Joseph and seeing the Clan well situated during the environmental catastrophe of the Famine.

Faculties lead to abilities. Competence supports ongoing agency.

May we be gracious in knowing when to hand over agency. We are poor judges of our own faculties.

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[1] Recent science demonstrates that childhood myopia is caused by lack of sufficient time outdoors [sunlight]. Reportedly, some asian countries have fantastic recent acceleration of childhood myopia, and have mapped it to reduced participation in outdoor sports and increased classroom hours.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30347074/

https://insights.osu.edu/health/myopia

[2] https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/illegal-call-centers-tricking-senior-165802829.html

The tech support scam is something that happened to my mother a few years ago: https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-51753362

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Sam Stone

by: John Prine

Sam Stone came home,

To his wife and family

After serving in the conflict overseas.

And the time that he served,

Had shattered all his nerves,

And left a little shrapnel in his knee.

But the morphine eased the pain,

And the grass grew round his brain,

And gave him all the confidence he lacked,

With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.

[Chorus:]

There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,

___ ____ died for nothin' I suppose.

Little pitchers have big ears,

Don't stop to count the years,

Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.

Mmm....

Sam Stone's welcome home

Didn't last too long.

He went to work when he'd spent his last dime

And Sammy took to stealing

When he got that empty feeling

For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.

And the gold rolled through his veins

Like a thousand railroad trains,

And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,

While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...

[Chorus]

Sam Stone was alone

When he popped his last balloon

Climbing walls while sitting in a chair

Well, he played his last request

While the room smelled just like death

With an overdose hovering in the air

But life had lost its fun

And there was nothing to be done

But trade his house that he bought on the G. I. Bill

For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill.

--end--