OCCUPY THE LIGHT: A Christian reflects on Channukah and the 99%.

 

On the first day of Channukah, in the midst of Advent, on the eve of Solstice, we, the members of Occupy Los Angeles Sanctuary, prepare for a gathering in Pershing Square which we are calling, OCCUPY THE LIGHT. Below are my reflections as I study the story of Channukah and think about its implications for our movement.

Channukah is a story of reclaimation and God’s abundance in the midst of scarcity. It’s a miracle of the sacred expanding as needed. When one hears the Channukah story, one already knows about the eight days. The people within the story, however, don’t know. Imagine the suspense as each day passes. Will there be enough? This small amount has already stretched one, two, three... days. Will it stretch one day more?

Tonight, we gather in Pershing Square as Occupy Los Angeles Sanctuary. Occupy Los Angeles’s home at City Hall is no longer. We have been evicted from that space, which the Occupiers made sacred by their witness for justice and the common good. How does the movement continue?

Tonight, we claim public space again. We gather in our park, in Pershing Square, with its history of soapbox preachers and free-spirited artists, homeless citizens cheek by jowel with comfortably well-off families. We bring art, music, spoken word, and stories of our sacred traditions.

We celebrate that the darkest night is merely the moment before the light begins to return. We celebrate that we are here, together, Christians-Jews-Muslims-Buddhists-Atheists, Priests-Rabbis-Artists, Rich-Poor-Middle Class. We are united in our desire for our nation to live up to her storied past, to remember the lights that have moved/ are moving us forward: Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, Jr., Caesar Chavez, Lt. Dan Choi, and others. We celebrate that now, we are the lights.

We celebrate that the Occupy movement has no single hero. We are each a hero, stepping forward together take the movement through the next 24 hours, just as the sacred oil burned each night to reclaim the sacred space, for eight days. Just long enough to sanctify more oil.

We are the 99%, and tonight, together, we celebrate the light. By our presence together in Public Space, we reclaim our heritage as American People. We carry the light for one more day. And one more day. And one more day. We carry it until we find a way to sanctify more light, until the processes of our goverments consider people and the planet before the desires of power and greed. Will we make it? Will the oil last one more day? We cannot know. We cannot see the future. We have today, and today is enough.

Gray IS the Party!

Juliana Margulies (from stylelist.com)

Gray is the Party!
Sandie Richards
June 13, 2011

Juliana Margulies is a beautiful and successful American Actor. At age 45, she is also starring in commercials-- you know the ones: She’s Fighting Wrinkles. She’s Banishing Gray Hair. The picture below accompanied a press release announcing her partnership with L’Oreal’s Revitalift; not only is she fighting the look of fine lines and wrinkles, notice she has also straightened her sumptuous curls.

She’s beautiful, but  her commercial sounds ugly. It starts, “I will always be too young to be gray,"  and ends “Nobody invited gray to this party."

But, Juliana, Gray is the party!

Everyone knows that coloring a few gray hairs is no problem; but coloring a whole head of gray hairs is nothing but a fight to stay ahead of gray roots and what my pal Carrie Snow calls the gray yarmulke. You know, the little circle of roots that spirals around at the back of your head? Once I figured out that I could either embrace my gray hair or spend precious time and money dying those roots every two weeks, I made a daring choice. I stopped coloring my hair. I got a super-short hair cut (it was very chic, by the way) to get rid of all the colored portions. The cut and the natural color got loads of compliments. Would you guess from my picture (below) that I’m five years older than Ms. Margulies?

Gray hair, fine lines and wrinkles-- if we live a long time, we will spend the largest percentage of our years with such physical features.  Whether we choose to cover the gray or let it all hang out, let's at least stop denigrating the signs of aging. Ms Margulies seems to be saying "Hide your age." I'm saying, embrace your age. If we embrace aging, we’ll feel better, free up a lot of time, and save some serious cash.

Author Sandie Richards

Four months ago, I turned 50. I’m at the start of my real aging process, with the gray hair, fine lines and wrinkles, and chin just now heading south. None of these seems to be holding me back. At fifty, I no longer seem to fettered with the numerous problems and insecurities of youth. As far as I can tell, I'm healthy, I'm happy. I have meaningful work and people I love who love me back. I welcome this new adventure.

The Importance of Women Leaders in Christian Communities

September 11, 2010 Korean-Latino Christian Association of Los Angeles Breakfast

Remarks by Rev. Sandie Richards

(I was one of three religious leaders invited to give closing remarks at the end of a breakfast for Christian Unity on the 9^th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.)

Good morning! I am the Rev. Sandie Richards, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles, in downtown L.A. I am honored to be with you this morning.. I will give brief remarks on the theme, “The Importance of Women Leaders in Christian Communities.

In downtown, on the second Thursday of every month, there’s an Artwalk. It’s a big event, with art showings, music, restaurants, and lots of people. This past Thursday, cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz was autographing and selling prints of his work at a fundraiser. I bought one where a little girl has created her own cardboard version of a courtroom and is sitting ‘on the bench’; behind her is a portrait of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Because of Judge Sotomayor, every Latino little girl can see herself as a Supreme Court Justice.

It is essential that we honor and elevate the status of women in our Christian communities. There is a saying that women hold up half the sky; yet we do not acknowledge the essential nature of women’s contributions. World-wide, women do more than half of the labor, yet earn only 11 cents on the dollar compared to men. This is because traditional women’s work is unwaged: caring for children, the sick, and the elderly; cleaning; cooking; bearing and raising children. Women’s work is called ‘unskilled’ and therefore deemed unworthy of decent wages. Yet, this very work is the backbone of all societies! We can’t function without someone cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. Further, this work is far from ‘unskilled.’ For instance, anyone who cleans knows that to do it thoroughly, efficiently, and well is indeed a skill. Cooking, as well, is the amalgamation of many skills which must be learned and practiced.

As Christians, we look to Scripture for the stories of our faith. The Bible is full of examples of strong women; nonetheless, their witness is often ignored or undervalued. 

Let’s take the example of Mary Magdalene. She is the first disciple to encounter the Risen Christ. Some call her 'the Apostle to the Apostles.' And when she ran to tell the others the Good News, what did they say? They chided her, telling her that she was imagining things, Later, Mary Magdalene would be discredited as a prostitute, even though there is no evidence from scripture to confirm that she was. I hasten to add, however, that it doesn't matter whether she was or wasn't a prostitute before she began to follow Jesus.

And, what of Mary, mother of Jesus? In our Protestant haste not to worship Mary, we diminish her story as well. In saying yes to bearing Christ, Mary risked getting stoned to death because she wasn't considered a virgin before marriage. And I think we can all agree that no one would have believed her story, that she was made pregnant by God. This extraordinary young woman agreed to bring Jesus Christ into the world, for our salvation, at great personal risk. She could have been stoned to death because she wasn't considered a virgin before marriage.

How can we ignore the sacred worth of this woman, and indeed, all women? If a woman bore Jesus Christ to save the world, and a woman was the first to bear the news of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, who are we to say that women can't speak in church? If we silence women, we lose the gifts God has given us through women. And speaking of God...

Friends,God is not a man. God is not a woman either. God is God. Because we know God through metaphor, there are both father and mother images of God in the Bible. Jesus himself said “I long to gather you as a mother hen gathers her chicks...” , comparing his desire to protect God's people to a mother hen gathers her chuicks under soft pinion feathers. What a beautiful image of God!

Women deserve to be treated as people of sacred worth, the plight of women and their children taken under consideration.

Today, the 9^th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, it isn't enough to mourn the losses sustained on that day. Nor is it enough to mourn the losses of our nation's treasure and troops. During the march to war, as we cried out to feel safe on our own soil, we never thought to count this cost: Women and children bear the majority of the consequences of war. Particularly in societies where women must have male protectors (ie, fathers, brothers, husbands, or adult sons), women are at risk when their male protectors are kidnapped,killed, imprisoned, wounded, or serving in armed conflict. Because there is no way for a woman to own property or work outside the home in these societies, when a woman loses her male protectors she is at risk for kidnap, abuse, and slavery. One of the hidden consquences of the war in Iraq has been that thousands of women have had to travel to Syria, where they sell their own bodies in order to survive. Is this not like the diminishing of Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus, as war forced mothers and children into becoming prostitues? What terror have they suffered, because of our decisions? 

If we do not value women, we lose 'half the sky.' That's a big loss. As God has shown us, women are worthy to bear the Christ, and to announce Christ's resurrection. Are we not worthy as equal bearers of God's story and God's image? Are we not worthy in the world? Let us lift up and value the sacred worth and important contributions of women, and thereby receive not half, but all of the blessings God has given us. And little children everywhere will know that they are people of sacred worth, growing up to honor God and one other.

Amen.

The Bible in 90 Days: DAY FIVE Exodus 1:1-15-18

After a short list of brothers who went to Egypt with Joseph, we learn that the Israelites were prolific in pro-creation. As the Israelites grow in number, we are told that a Pharoah arose in Egypt who didn’t remember Joseph.
The new king was nervous that there were so many Israelites. He feared they would rise up against him. His solution is to work the Isrealites as slaves, to make them work very very hard. He admonishes two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to let all the Hebrew girl babies live, but to kill the boy babies. The scripture says, “But the midwives feared God and not Pharoah.” The midwives protest that the Hebrew women give birth before the midwives arrive, and hid the boys.
Pharoah changes his tactics, throwing the boy children into the Nile.
We meet a couple, both decendants of Levi. When the woman gives birth to a boy, she hids him until he’s just too big. She then makes a basket of reeds, water-proofs it with tar and pitch, and sets him floating down the Nile with his sister following behind.
An Egyptian princess and her maids are bathing at the Nile, and she spots the baby in his basket. The baby’s resourceful sister steps out of hiding and offers to fetch a ‘nurse-maid.’
The princess names the baby, ‘Moses’. And hires his own mother to nurse him. Thanks to this oft-called, ‘conspiracy of women’, the one who will lead his people out of slavery is saved.
Things get worse for the Israelites. Moses watches an Egyptian beat one of his kinsmen, and in a fit of rage, he kills the Egyptian. Then, he buries the Egyptian and runs away to Midian.
In Midian, Moses meets seven beautiful daughters of a Midianite Priest as he sits by a well. When the daughters tell their father that he was helpful to them and was a gentleman, he has them invite Moses home for dinner. Moses marries one of the daughters, Zipporah. They have a son named Gershon.
While tending his father-in-law’s sheep, Moses sees a bush on fire; curiously, the bush burns but is not consumed by the fire. Then, he hears the voice of God, telling him to take off his shoes, because he’s on sacred ground. The voice tells Moses that God has heard the cry of God’s people, and that Moses will be a great leader, and will lead his people out of Egypt.
Moses has two concerns. The first is, how will people believe him when he gives this unlikely news to his people; and the second, he is not so great at talking.
God says for Moses to say, “I AM” has sent him (or some equally cryptic non-proper-name for God), and that his brother Aaron will be able to help out. Moses will tell Aaron what to say, and Aaron will say it.
Moses is to tell the Israelites that God has heard their pleas, and will help them leave Egypt for a land flowing with Milk and Honey. But, Pharoah will never let them go ‘unless a mighty hand compels him.’ The Egyptian people, however, will be kindly disposed to the Israelites and will give them gold, silver, and clothing, which they will carry on them when they leave.
God also gives Moses a staff that can turn into a snake and back into a staff again, as more proof that Moses is telling the truth.
Moses takes his leave of his father-in-law, who wishes him well.
At a lodging place along the way, a deity meets Moses and threatens to kill him; things are dicey until Zipporah circumcises Gershon. Then, all is well.
The first request to Pharoah is to allow the Israelites to repair to the desert beyond Egypt, where they will be better able to worship their God.
Pharoah does not know this God of the Israelites, so he refuses to let them go. The Israelites protest that they must go a three-day journey into the desert, lest their God bring about plagues and pestilence. Still Pharoah refuses, and just for spite, he accuses the Isrealites of being lazy and punishes them. They will no longer be supplied straw to make bricks. Now they will have to get the straw themselves, but their quota will be the same.
The Israelites are understandably angry. Not only do they remain captive, but their job is even harder than before. Moses cries out to God. God replies that God has made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that God intends to keep; and that God never spoke to any of them as he has spoken to Moses.
Exodus 7:1-5 says:  1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, 4 he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it."
What follows is exactly that-- with the ten plagues we’ve heard of if we’ve ever been to a Seder. In between each plague, Moses through Aaron tells Pharoah to let the Israelites go, Pharoah agrees at first but later changes his mind, and another plague is unleashed:
1) All the water turns to blood for seven days
2) Frogs everywhere
3) Gnats or Lice
4) Flies everywhere
5) Diseased livestock
6) Boils
7) Thunder and Hail
8) Locusts
9) Three Days of Darkness
10) Death of the Firstborn
Before the tenth plague, the Israelites are instructed to get their belongings ready, to slaughter a lamb, and to smear lamb’s blood on the top and on each side of their doors. By this mark the Israelite first born will all be spared; but the houses without the lamb’s blood will lose their first born sons and all other first-born creatures like cattle and goats.
They are also told to bake bread but not to let it rise-- there won’t be time. They must roast the lamb all the way through and eat it while dressed in their travelling clothes. And whatever meat is left over, will be burned rather than packed and taken along.
Finally, they are told that this feast will be kept each year to remind them of their journey out of Egypt and out of slavery, freed by God’s hand.
Pharoah is finally convinced after the death of the first-born, and the Isrealites leave Egypt. God does not take them on the short route back to Canaan; if they face war against the Philistines God is concerned that the Israelites will just run back to Egypt. They get the bones of Joseph and get going.
God leads the way, a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
They take the long way, toward the Red Sea. God says that this is a plan to make Pharoah think the Israelites are just wandering around confused; God will ‘harden Pharoah’s heart’, and Pharoah will send his army after the Israelites.
As Pharoah’s army approaches the people complain to Moses, “Were there not graves enough in Egypt?” They think they could have died more comfortably at home than here hemmed in against the Red Sea.
But all is well when Moses lifts his staff, the waters part, and the people make a long procession across on dry land. Pharoah’s army follows, but the waters crash in over them and they are drowned: soldiers, horses, and chariots all.
Miriam (Sister to Moses and Aaron-- she’s a favorite of the people. More on that in later meetings) gathers the women and they sing and dance a victory song. Moses sings the song as well, a nice long song about what has happened. The verse goes something like: “I will sing unto the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously/ The horse and rider fell into the sea.” It’s a great ballad, so I hope you’ve got some time to really read it through.

My Thoughts:

How about a shout out to Shiphrah, Puah, and the Egyptian Princess, who all practice civil disobedience in order to protect the lives of the slave babies? The whole slavery in Egypt saga could be changed over to any slavery saga, and the themes would remain the same: The leaders putting slaves to death with impunity; the punishing labor; increasing the workload for the same time period.

In fact, the whole part about the Hebrews having to get the straw AND make the bricks in the same amount of time they used to just make bricks reminds me of the hotel workers. Those housekeepers have to clean more and more square feet of rooms in the same amount of time, particularly if they are trying to organize for a collective bargaining unit. Here's a couple of resources for your reference:

Hotel Workers Rising: The Big Speed-Up

Hospitality Risk Solutions: June 12, 2010, "Osha Reviewing Ergonomic Enforcement as Housekeepers Suffer"

PLAGUES:

I always feel a little sad for the death of the firstborn. Thankfully the Seders I've attended have a moment of silence for the Egyptian dead-- firstborn and army-- because everyone grieves. That helps.

The Ten Commandments: The Movie
The whole saga does read like a great movie script, which is no doubt why Cecil B. DeMille made it into a movie. I’d love it if someone would make a 21st century attempt at it.

What do you think?

The Bible in 90 Days, DAY FOUR: Genesis 40:12-50:26

 (Click the title of this blog post, and it will take you to the biblegateway.com site for the Day Four reading.)

First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles is reading the Bible in 90 Days, starting Sunday July 11, 2010. You can join us on Sunday mornings at 10am, at 1020 S Flower St., Los Angeles CA 90015, to discuss the week's readings, or you can join us online. Check out our website at firstla.org

The Joseph Saga continues!

The Baker and the Cup Bearer each have dreams; Joseph tells the Baker that his dream means Pharoah will have him killed; but the Cup Bearer will be promoted. Joseph requests that they 'remember' him after they are released. Events come to pass as Joseph interpreted they would; but the Cup Bearer forgets about Joseph until some time later when the Pharoah has two dreams and no one can figure out what the dreams mean.

In Pharoah's dreams, first seven fat cows are devoured by seven thin cows. Second, seven healthy, fat heads of grain on a single  stalk are devoured by seven sickly heads of grain, scorched by the east wind.

Joseph tells the Pharoah that both dreams are the same. There will be seven years of plentiful harvests followed by seven years of famine. He recommends that food be stored up  from the seven years of plenty, to last through the famine. Pharoah puts Joseph in charge of making sure things are well-organized, and Joseph does such a good job that Pharoah makes Joseph a very powerful head administrator.

Meanwhile, Joseph's brothers and father are affected by the famine, and while Jacob/Israel stays home with the youngest son Benjamin, the rest of the brothers sojourn to Egypt to purchase grain. Joseph recognizes them, but they do not recognize Joseph in his Egyptian garb. He inquires to be certain their father and youngest brother are still living;he accuses his brothers of being 'spies' and admonishes them not to return unless their younger brother is with them. He keeps one of the brothers in Egypt as a sort of hostage.

It isn't until the brothers stop to rest that they realize the silver they brought to pay for the grain has been restored to their sacks. They become afraid that they will be thought of as thieves.

Since Joseph is presumed dead, Jacob is adamant that Benjamin not leave his side to go to Egypt. That works until they run out of grain and are in danger of starvation. Judah convinces his father that Benjamin must go. They bring gifts for the Egyptian leader, and twice the amount of  silver to pay for the first as well as the second load of grain.

Joseph receives his brothers again; they bow down to him and let him know they brought double the silver. He lets them know that the God of their fathers has returned the silver to them; they needn't worry. When Joseph sees Benjamin he breaks down and has to go find a private place to weep. When he returns, the Egyptians and the Hebrews sit at different tables. The brothers note that Benjamin has five times the amount of food as everyone else-- they all eat.

As they prepare to leave, Joseph again has his servants fill the brothers' sacks with grain, and return the silver. This time, however, he asks that his own cup be secretly placed in Benjamin's sack.

He then accuses the brothers of having stolen his cup, saying that when it is found whoever has it will remain in Egypt as his slave. The brothers are astonished when it is found in Benjamin's sack, and they beg Joseph to let Benjamin return to Jacob. Joseph can no longer keep it together. He dismisses all the Egyptian servants, and he breaks down weeping as he reveals himself to his brothers. He weeps so loudly that everyone, including Pharoah, hears about it.

Joseph lets his brothers know that he's not mad at them, but believes instead that God meant everything to happen in order to preserve their family. He sends them home with carts to bring back their wives, livestock, and of course, their father Jacob. They are to leave their belongings back home, because Pharoah will give them much more and better stuff when they come to Egypt. 

Finally, Joseph BEGS his brothers not to quarrel on the way!

Jacob agrees to come to Egypt and the whole family is reunited; God assures Jacob through a dream that everything will be fine in Egypt and that his son Joseph will 'close his eyes' when he dies.

The remainder of this chapter (Chapter 46) gives a sort of census of the family of Jacob, enumerating sons, grandchildren, some wives, and so forth. Finally, Joseph instructs them to tell Pharoah that they tend livestock; they'll be sent to Goshen to live.

Joseph makes sure that his family is well-provided for.

In Chapter 48 we learn that the famine has grown worse; people are running out of money with which to buy the grain. Joseph offers to take livestock in payment. When the people run out of livestock, they ask for seed. Joseph agrees, but creates a kind of share-cropping arrangement where the people must agree to bring back 1/5 of whatever they grow, a rule that remains in place.

Joseph's entire family does very well, becoming quite rich. 

Jacob, however, is aging and near death. Joseph promises to bury his Jacob with his 'fathers', out of Egypt. Jacob claims Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Efraim, as his own, and blesses them. Even now Jacob/Israel is still switching out first-born and second-born sons. Manasseh, the first-born, is on his grandfather's right side and Efraim, second-born, on the left. Jacob crosses his arms so that his right hand is resting on Efraim and left hand on Manasseh. Joseph tries to correct him, but Jacob insists that's the way he will give the blessing. Efraim will be greater than Manasseh. 

Jacob bequeaths the land he took from the Amorites to Joseph and his two sons. (A bit of forshadowing here- From Israel/Jacob's 12 sons, there are 12 tribes. However, after Moses leads them back to the Promised Land, the descendants of Levi are priests and will not receive a land grant. The land will still be divided 12 ways, with the tribe of Joseph getting two portions: one for Manasseh's descendants and one for Efraim's.)

Genesis 49 is mostly the blessing of Jacob over his sons, with special praise for Joseph at the end.

Jacob dies, and there's quite a fancy funeral procession of Egyptians as well as Israelites as they take Jacob/Israel back to Canaan to be buried. The brothers fret that Joseph's going to take his revenge now that their father is dead. Joseph assures them that he has forgiven them, and that though they intended their actions to be harmful, God intended them for good.

Joseph lived a good long time, long enough to see his great-grandchildren. He reassures the families that God will restore them to the promised land, and makes them swear that when they return there they will take his bones there with them. Then he dies and is embalmed and placed in a coffin.

My Thoughts:

I think this story is so interesting! I love how human it is, with Joseph unable to contain his emotions despite his high position. Even the Pharoah hears him weep! I'm also impressed at how Joseph doesn't think his brothers have changed much over the years as evidenced in his concern that they may quarrel with each other on the way home to get their father. He apparently fears that they may throw another brother away to slave traders. The brothers, for their part, continue in their worry that Joseph wants revenge against them. How is it that he can see the big picture, that though they sold him into slavery where he endured an unjust prison term, it was all part of God's bigger plan? 

I think it centers in the dreams. Throughout the story, God gives dreams to Joseph, to the Cup Bearer and the Baker, to Pharoah, and to Jacob. Joseph says over and over again that the meaning of the dreams comes from God, not from humans; God is the one who decides.  I have heard this story used as 'proof' that all the bad things that happen are just part of God's purpose; I say that is not for us to say. It's up to God to communicate with the person who has suffered, and for God together with that person to make meaning of the suffering.

The story also proves what my friend Anna is fond of reminding us: You can't solve a problem just by getting rid of a family member! It is very difficult to cut people out. Even when you think you have, you find that you are still connected to that person/those people in ways you could not have guessed at first.

What do you think?

The Bible in 90 Days, Day Three: Genesis 28:20-40:11

(Click the title of this blog post, and it will take you to the biblegateway.com site for the Day Three reading.)

First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles is reading the Bible in 90 Days, starting Sunday July 11, 2010. You can join us on Sunday mornings at 10am, at 1020 S Flower St., Los Angeles CA 90015, to discuss the week's readings, or you can join us online. Check out our website at firstla.org

Jacobs comes to meet his bride, he falls in love with Rachel but Leah is the older one. Jacob works seven years Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah and her servant Zilpah as well. Jacob works another seven years in exchange for Rachel and her servant Bilhah, but the text seems to say that he only had to wait one week after his wedding to Leah, to actually marry Rachel.

Leah is unloved but fertile. In fairly short order she has four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.

Rachel is barren, so Bilhah her maid gives birth to sons on Rachel's behalf: Dan and Naphtali. 

Leah's no longer having children so she gets her maid Zilpah to bear children- Gad and Asher.
Rachel requests the mandrake root that Leah's son finds. (Could this be a rare fertility herb?) When Leah complains (I'm thinking something like, 'YOU WANT EVERYTHING I HAVE!"). 

Rachel, Big Love/Sister-Wife style, offers Leah an extra night with Jacob in exchange for the mandrake root. Leah becomes pregnant and names that son Issachar, conceives again, and has a sixth son, Zebulun. Dinah, Leah's daughter, is mentioned here because later on there's a situation that comes up regarding Dinah, a foreign boy, and of her brothers "defending" her honor. 

Perhaps thanks to the mandrake root, Rachel at last has a son Joseph (yes, THAT Joseph, The handsome one with the coat of many colors- but I get ahead of the story.)  

After years of servitude, Jacob asks to be let go, Laban asks him to stay, Jacob makes a deal with him. Jacob wants all the speckled spotted Sheep, the dark lambs and spotted goats.
Laban agrees, because Jacob has clearly made Laban rich and he doesn't want him to go away. Jacob then cross breeds the stronger livestock to ensure that the speckled ones are strong where as the solid color livestock were weaker. Jacob gets rich and Laban's sons gets mad.

Jacob hears from God, It's time to go! (Or, is it because his cousins are angry? With Jacob, you never know!) Rachel and Leah are sent for. Jacob explains that Laban keep changing the terms of his wages, and is unfair to Jacob. That's good enough for Leah and Rachel, and with no love lost for their father, they agree to take as much of the livestock as they can. (Naturally, they're thinking of their own sons as well.)
They pack up to go, and Rachel steals her father's household gods. She hides them under her camel saddle. Laban gives chase and tells Jacob there was no need to sneak off . Laban would have sent them off with a celebration but now, he is super angry about the stolen gods.  

There's a shouting match between these two very angry men: Jacob loses his temper and shouts about all the ways Laban has mistreated him, Laban is angry because Jacob left with lots of sheep and apparently, Laban’s household gods. Jacob, not knowing that Rachel stole the gods, vows that if discovered, the thief will be put to death.Tension mounts as Laban’s search draws near to Rachel, sitting on her camel, the gods hidden underneath her saddle. Thinking quickly, Rachel claims she can’t stand up and allow her father to search because, she claims, she is menstruating.

Finally Laban must concede he can find no stolen goods or gods, and the two men make a sort of peace agreement. They feast together and build a pillar as a marker. Each agrees not to cross the pillar to “go to the other side” to harm one another. (Sort of like our nuclear treaty with Russia, I think...)

Then Laban goes home. Jacob and his entourage (wives, children, livestock, servants) go on their way, but, (uh-ooohhh) Jacob has to deal with  Esau, the brother from whom he got the birthright. Jacob splits his camp in two groups, (Esau can only attack one- The other will escape), and sends ambassadors with gifts. He sends everybody across the Jabbock river, while he stays alone.

That night he wrestles with a man/angel and the opponent injures Jacob's hip. As day breaks, the opponent changes Jacob's name to Israel ("He struggles with God") and disappears. (Is the creature a celestial being or God's own self? The text is unclear. Jacob seems to start with the 'celestial being' hypothesis, but as day breaks he claims he's struggled with God.)

Across the river Jacobs troubles continue, as he sees Esau approaching. Jacob approaches, bowing seven times, but Esau isn't having it. Esau runs to Jacob, embrace and kisses him. Jacob introduces him to the rest of the family. Esau attempts to return Jacobs gift, but Jacob insists he keep it.

Esau offers to accompany Jacob, but Jacob is nervous that it could be a trick, so he politely refuses Esau help. Finally Jacob arrives at Canaan, buys some land, builds an altar and sets up camp.

Dinah is taken by a Hivite named Shechem who has sex with her. He falls in love with her and asks to marry her. As the law demands, he requests permission from her father and brothers, who agree to the match. The brothers say that the Hivites all have to be circumcised according to the covenant; but when the Hivites are all laying around recovering Jacob's sons slaughter them and take their wives and property. Clearly, the brothers are not interested in honor but in Hivite property and women.

Jacob is furious, but they protest that they were simply avenging Dinah's honor. However, now no one will trust them in deals, so they all have to move... again. Returning to Bethel, Jacob gets rid of all the foreign gods, sets up an altar to the God of his fathers, and has another dream. This time, it's God who tells him that he's called Israel, and bequeaths him the land of Abraham and Isaac.
Rachel has another son, dying in childbirth. She names him, Son of my troubles, but Israel names him Benjamin (son of my right hand). 

Isaac dies and is buried by both Esau and Israel aka Jacob.

Chapter 36 is a list of Esau's descendants, and gives some details about who were rulers in Edom before there were Israelite Kings.

Chapter 37 starts the saga of Joseph. Literary critics often refer to Joseph’s saga as a ‘novella’, and it certainly reads like one. 

Joseph is his father’s favorite, and as if he needed to curry even more favor, he constantly tattles on his older brothers.  They hate him. It doesn't help matters when daddy Israel makes him a fancy coat. 

Joseph has a dream where his sheaf of wheat is upright and all of theirs bow to him; and then the sun, moon, and eleven stars all bow to him. The brothers are seething with rage now, but Israel seems kind of impressed with his favorite son.
When Israel sends Joseph to check up on the brothers; the brothers plan to kill him when he arrives. Luckily Reuben softens the plan, suggesting that they spare his life. (Reuben's plan is to rescue him and take him back to Israel.) But the brothers manage to grab Joseph, steal his coat, toss him into an empty cistern, and finally, sell him as a slave to some passing Ishmaelites before Reuben is able to rescue him. One brother tears Joseph’s fancy coat, dips it in blood, and tells Israel Joseph was devoured by an animal.

While Israel mourns Joseph, Joseph is sold again to an Egyptian official named Potiphar.

Chapter 38
We leave Joseph's saga and turn to another son: Judah. This story is another misunderstood part of the Bible, having to do with the so-called, Law of Levirate Marriage. This law holds that if a man dies leaving his widow childless, it is up to the man’s brothers to inseminate his widow on his behalf.
Judah marries Shua. They have three sons: Er, Onan and Shelah. Er marries a woman called Tamar. Er soon dies. His brother Onan, by law, is supposed to get Tamar pregnant instead of his brother- but Onan refuses, “spilling his semen on the ground.” Onan dies also. Shelah is too young to help. 

Tamar is sent home to her father's house. Meanwhile, Shua dies and Shelah grows up, but Judah does not send for Tamar. 

So, when Judah goes to Shear his sheep, Tamar disguise herself as a prostitute and has sex with Judah. He gives her his seal and his cord and his staff to hold until he returns with payment, still not knowing who she is. When he comes back to redeem his seal, cord and staff, he can't find the woman and get his stuff back, but after some time passes, he learns that Tamar is pregnant by someone other than Shelah. 

Judah sends for her to have her burned to death. She proves the child is his by showing him the seal, ring and cord; he admits his wrong in not sending her to Shelah. She gave birth to twins, Perez and Zelah.

Genesis 39
Meanwhile back in Egypt, Joseph is propering in Potiphar's house. Potiphar trusts him absolutely and gives him charge over the household. But Potiphar’s wife is taken with Joseph’s beauty and tries to get Joseph in bed. Joseph refuses, and runs out, but she grabs his coat. She uses the coat as proof that Joseph tried to attack her, saying he ran off after she screamed. For this, Joseph goes to prison. There he meets the Pharoah's cupbearer and the baker in prison because Pharoah was angry at them. Each of these men have a dream but they don't know what they mean. Joseph says, “do not interpretations belong to God?” and he asks them what their dreams are. The chief cupbearer tells of a vine and he squeezes its grapes into Pharoahs cup.

My Thoughts:

I'm struck by how those who want to include women as Matriarchs often include the wives of the Patriarchs (that is, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekkah, Jacob, Leah and Rachel-- but leave out Bilhah and Zilpah. What does it mean that two slave women were matriarchs, and that their names are most often left out?

In the story of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar, I’m struck by how different our world is today! I can’t think of anything more out of my realm than the idea that I must give birth to sons or my life is useless, OR that if my husband dies I have to have sons by his brother or father. And, by the way, Onan’s sin isn’t masturbation-- it’s ‘withdrawal’. He spills his semen on the ground rather than impregnate his sister-in-law.

Ancient hearers of Tamar's story understood that Tamar is a hero, by creatively doing for herself what her husband’s family would not do for her. In our day she’d be on Jerry Springer or something. It's a big YUCK factor for my modern sensibilities, for sure.

In Dinah's story, we learn that she was taken by Shechem; there are scholars who report that this sort of abduction was often used by permission of the woman, as a way of her choosing her husband from outside the tribe. Read a sermon by Rabbi Allison Bergman Vann, titled "Giving Voice to Dinah" for some provocative possibilities. 

The Joseph saga is just starting out-- so more on that in Day Four's post.

And as for all of these stories, again I say to those who lift up Biblical Family Values: WHAT FAMILY VALUES? Trickery, theft, rape, kidnap, favoritism, murder, levirate marriage? I’d say that in these stories at least, the Bible illustrates human nature. For the sake of your family’s emotional, mental, and spiritual health, don’t do as they have done!

What do you think?