Siblings: Not For the Fainthearted
- Leann Shamash
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
#vayeshev #vayeishev #parshatvayeishev #breisheet #seferbreisheet #joseph #esav #rivka #yitzhak #siblings #thetribesofisrael #jacob #leah #rachel #siblingrivalry #siblings
Parshat Veyeishev finds us deep into the story of Yaakov and begins a sharp transition to pivotal story of Yosef.
Yaakov, perhaps accustomed to being brought up in a household where parents held favorites, slips easily into favoring Joseph, the son of his beloved and deceased Rachel. Woven deep into the fabric of Vayeishev is the deep animosity that the brothers harbor toward Joseph, to the point that they are willing to kill him.
וַיִּרְא֣וּ אֶחָ֗יו כִּֽי־אֹת֞וֹ אָהַ֤ב אֲבִיהֶם֙ מִכּל־אֶחָ֔יו וַֽיִּשְׂנְא֖וּ אֹת֑וֹ וְלֹ֥א יָכְל֖וּ דַּבְּר֥וֹ לְשָׁלֹֽם׃
And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a friendly word to him. Genesis 37:4
Sibling relationships, even in the most well adjusted of homes, can be peppered with difficulties. In this post, which is a reflection of many households, pokes fun at the negativity of sibling relationships, but also points toward how sibling relationships can strengthen us as we go forward in life.
So, if you are fortunate enough to have siblings and have come to grips with their childhood pranks that seemed not so funny at the time, take the chance to call or text them this week. Parshat Vayeishev exposes us to the very worst of sibling relationships, but the earnest hope is that when relationships are at the lowest point there may be a slim opening for slow rebuilding.
Shabbat Shalom,
Leann
Siblings, they are not for the faint hearted
You remember that time you locked your brother out of the house.
He banged on the door and cried.
You pretended not to hear.
You loved when he was disciplined,
even when it was you who broke the window.
It’s hard to forget when your brother stole your toys,
ran off with your stuff,
gave you a very cool “haircut,”
tattooed your favorite doll with markers,
piercing your Prom Barbie with thumbtacks.
Siblings, it’s a war zone.
The weapons?
Scratching, hollering,
Biting, vicious kicking,
stinky smells,
forced feet tickles.
You pushed him,
pulled his hair,
mocked him,
capitalized on his failures,
stole her dessert,
borrowed without asking,
never returning her stuff
and denying you ever saw it.
Being a Sibling,
it’s not like school pictures
when everything seems so rosy with crooked smiles.
It’s more like the scramble to get the best place in the back seat of the car,
fighting over the last chicken leg,
and the constant feud for the remote.
Where were mom and dad in that battlefield of childhood?
Markedly deaf, blind
or suddenly absent.
Siblings: they are not for the faint of heart.
It's the decade long saga of unhinged tattling
cruel pranks,
hard noogies deep into your scalp,
unrelenting tickles,
hundreds of insincere choruses,
"I was just kidding!"
Sibling warfare is fierce boxing in the basement,
clawing and tumbling in the mud,
the noisy chase up and down the steps,
sounding like a herd of elephants
while ignoring your parents cries from downstairs,
"Stoppppppp itttt right nowwwwwww!"
But,
although when you are young its hard to see,
siblings are the multivitamins of childhood.
sharpening your wit, your muscles,
building your character from the inside out.
Despite the tears, the eyelids turned inside out
(just for your benefit),
they are yours.
You have toughened each other like old leather,
learned to put your guard up,
to speak up,
fighting every battle and getting back up again.
You are still standing and so are they.
Made with AI.
More From Words Have Wings on Parshat Vayeishev
If you would like to learn more about the story of Tamar and Yehudah.
If you would like to think more about chance meetings and where they lead.
If you would like to think about how our lives change, stripe after stripe as we grow up.
If you would like to think about how kids are all different.
If you would like to read about dreams.
וַֽיִּשְׂנְא֖וּ אֹת֑וֹ
וְלֹ֥א יָכְל֖וּ דַּבְּר֥וֹ לְשָׁלֹֽם׃
Genesis 37:4
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