Unity Through Diversity: The Path to Redemption
(Based on a shiur by Rabbi Paul Bloom)
As Sefer Bereishit concludes, Yosef’s brothers fear retribution after their father’s death. They convey a message: “Your father commanded before his death… please forgive the transgression of your brothers” (Bereishit 50:16-17).
Our sages tell us Yaakov never actually said these words—the brothers altered the truth for the sake of peace. Yet perhaps they spoke a deeper truth. Before blessing his sons, Yaakov had commanded: “הֵאָסְפוּ—Gather yourselves” and “הִקָּבְצוּ—Come together” (Bereishit 49:1-2).
His repeated call for unity conveyed an unmistakable mandate: redemption requires unity, and unity requires forgiveness.
Yosef’s response confirms this reading: “You intended evil against me—but God transformed it into good” (Bereishit 50:20). Forgiveness isn’t denial of pain; it’s commitment to the future.
Yet if unity is paramount, why did Yaakov emphasize each son’s distinct destiny through individual blessings? The answer emerges in Bamidbar, where each tribe camps separately under its own banner, yet all surround and face the Mishkan. Unity doesn’t require uniformity—diversity flourishes when oriented toward a shared spiritual center.
The Zohar teaches that a synagogue should ideally contain twelve windows corresponding to the twelve tribes. Each shevet’s prayers ascend through different spiritual channels—different nuschaot, tunes and liturgies, different paths, but one destination. We have 12 windows above our ark inside the Or Zarua sanctuary for this purpose! Each of us who comes to pray offers our own unique version of the standardized liturgy, and we add personal prayers.
When the brothers plead as “servants of your father’s God,” they reveal what ultimately unites us. Even when human bonds strain, we’re bound by something deeper: shared faith in the God of our Fathers and Mothers.
Bereishit closes with this blueprint for redemption: a people of distinct voices, united by faith, sustained by forgiveness, committed to shared destiny. That is our strength—and our path to stronger future.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bolton