Sophie Algrant - Dvar Torah

My Torah portion is called Vayeshev. It’s in the book of Genesis. It starts with Joseph getting a coat of many colours from his dad Jacob . His brothers got very jealous and when he started sharing his dreams which made him look more important than them that was the last straw. The brothers then plotted to kill him.

One day Joseph was out in the field looking for his brothers and a unnamed man came to him and asked if he needed directions. Joseph said yes, and asked “have you seen my brothers” and the man said they went to Dotham.

When Joseph found his brothers they sold him to slavery. His master Potiphar was very high up in the Army. After he had just been promoted and been given more freedom and responsibility, Potiphars wife tried to seduce him but he refused and she twisted the story and Joseph ended up in jail. When he was in jail he read two of the prisoners dreams and they both came true, and was then called upon by Pharoah to read his dreams. After Joseph read Pharoah’s dream, Pharoah hired him to be his number two. All of Josephs other brothers came to work for him.

The section I have chosen to talk about is when the unnamed man told Joseph where his brothers had gone, because without those directions Joseph would have gone back home to his father and had very different life. This man didn’t realise that giving directions to someone would change their whole life and the future of the Jewish people. We wouldn’t be here today without those directions. Neither would I , neither would you.

Many years ago before I was born my mom and her friend Amanda were sitting in their apartment in New York. My mom said “I was invited to a party but I don’t think I’m going to go” and Amanda said “go, you never know what might happen.” So, my mom took her advice and went to the party where she met my father. They popped out two babies and here we are today.

That’s why it’s so important to be kind and thoughtful because you never know how much your words and actions can impact on someone’s life. Amanda saying those 7 words changed my mom and dad’s life and started my brother and mine.

This is an important lesson for me on my batmitzvah day because I don’t know what the future has in store for me, but I do know that life is full of mystery and unexpected twists and turns and we can only hope that we have a positive influence on other people’s lives.