Today, We Are Jacob’s Daughters

With the events in Newtown, Conn. in hearts and minds I wanted to look to Torah.  There in the portions that surround parashat Miketz, the Torah portion of Hanukkah, we find two emotional moments echoing the events in Newtown.  In Genesis 45 we read the episode when Jacob is told that Joseph is still alive.  Think of the families who had this moment yesterday in the middle of this tragedy.  Consider what it meant to hear their son or daughter was, "...yet alive."  Then turn to Genesis 37:29-35 and we find the moment where Jacob is told the lie by the sons that Joseph was dead.  In the middle of the biblical story, are Jacob's daughters.  I believe as a nation we are Jacob's daughters today, we are those who witness the grief of devastated parents who mourn the loss of their children. Genesis 45 - JPS Old Genesis 37 - JPS Old