Harry Potter and Torah ideas about the story of Joseph

Now that we're starting to read the Torah portions concerning Joseph and his dreams, descent to Egypt, and rise to power there, I thought I'd post links to book chapters and blog messages that relate. Besides the message I just posted on Joseph and the power of love, there's:

The Divine Hallows: Torah analogies to book seven's Deathly Hallows
Magical Protection: Magical protection like that which Harry received from his mother's sacrifice
Unity: A lesson to learn from Joseph's coat of many colors

And of course, see the book for more!

Harry Potter, Joseph, and the power of love

The following is revised from a previous post I made right before Book 7 came out.


Harry Potter, Joseph, and the Power of Love

Throughout the books we've read of Dumbeldore's belief that love is the the most powerful magic. Early in the series this seems to be a very abstact concept, such as in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Voldemort tries to magically enter Harry's brain but is unable to do so when Harry thinks about his love for his father-figure Serius. But in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Price (chapter 23) the magical power of love is given a more concrete meaning:

[Dumbelore said:] It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard
like Voldemort....

"But I haven't got uncommon skill and power," said Harry, before he could
stop himself.

"Yes, you have," said Dumbeldore firmly. "You have a power that Voldemort
has never had. You can ---"

"I know!" said Harry impatiently. "I can love!" It was only with difficulty
that he stopped himself from adding "Big Deal!"

"Yes, Harry, you can love," said Dumbeldore, who looked as though he knew
perfectly well what Harry had just refrained from saying. "Which, given
everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are
still yoo young to understand how unusual you are, Harry."

...

"It is essential that you understand this!" said Dumbeldore, standing up
and striding about the room, his glittering robes swooshing in his wake. Harry
had never seen him so agitated... "It is Voldemort's fault that you were able to
see into his thoughts, his ambitions, ... and yet, Harry, despite your
priviledged insight into Voldemort's world... you have never been seduced by the
Dark Arts, never, even for a second, shown the slightest desire to become one of
Voldemort's followers!"

"Of course I haven't!" said Harry indignantly. "He killed my Mum and
Dad!"

"You are protected, in short, by your ability to love!" said Dumbeldore
loudly. "The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power
like Voldemorts! In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the
suffering, you remain pure of heart...."

"But sir," said Harry, making valiant efforts not to sound argumentative,
"it all comes to the same thing, doesn't it? I've got to try to kill him,
or---"

"Got to?" said Dumbelore. "Of course you've got to! But not because of the
prophecy! Because you, yourself, will never rest until you've tried! ...
Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you had never heard that prophecy! How
would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!"

Harry ... thought of his mother, his father, and Sirius... A flame seemed
to leap inside his chest, searing his throat.

"I'd want him finished," said Harry quickly. "And I'd want to do it."

... He understood what Dumbeldore had been trying to tell him. It was, he
thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to
teh death and walking into the arena with your head held high... Dumbeldore knew
-- and so do I, and so did my parents -- that there was all the difference in
the world.

We see here that Harry's power of love is a concrete power that gives him magical motivation and strength against the black magic of Voldemort.

In the Torah this power of love, power based on relationship and based on emotion, is the power of Joseph. Joseph is the dreamer. Joseph is the only man in the Torah to be described in terms of his good looks (Gen 39:6, compare with 29:17, 24:16). Joseph is appointed leader of Egypt in a role that seems to be much more about the image of leadership than about management (Gen 41:42-43). And Joseph's blessing from his father is focused on his relationships (Gen 49:22).

On the other hand, the power of the strong rational and intellectual leader is Judah (eg Gen 44:18). Judah took charge of the plan to sell Joseph into slavery (Gen 37:26). And from Judah ultimately came King David and the royal line of kings. Judah was the source of Jewish leadership.

But, as an interesting analogue to the Harry Potter story quoted above, Judah did not have the power to withstand strong temptation from Tamar (Gen 38:15-16) while Joseph DID have the power to withstand similar temptations from Potifar's wife (Gen 39:12). Judah lost his Jewish purity in dealings with non-Jewish tribes (Gen 38:1, Rashi there) while Joseph fought to maintain Jewish seperation in Egypt (Gen 46:34).

However, as the paradigm of leadership by emotion and love and relationship, Joseph is held to a tremendously high standard. Joseph's relationships HAD to be altruistic and for the sake of the greater good. A tiny bit is self-interest (Gen 40:14) caused Joseph to be held in prison for two extra years (Gen 41:1, Rashi). If someone is going to be driven by love and emotion, it must be pure. Emotion of self-interest will not succeed.

Ultimately, the salvation of the Jews in Egypt started with Joseph, and only after that was Judah the leader. And ultimately we are told by the Prophets that Jewish salvation will come from the joining of forces between Joseph and Judah. "Take a stick, and write on it 'for Judah,' ... then take another stick and write on it 'for Joseph,' ... Join them together into one stick, so that they are one in your hand... behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations.. and will gather them on every side, and bring them to their own land" (Ezekiel 37:16-21, Haftara of VaYigash).

Ultimately the mission of the Jewish people is to combine these two approaches, as Harry had to in Book 7 in order to defeat Voldemort.

Quick note on Israel-Arab meetings in Anapolis

Hi everyone! I've always worked hard to keep my writings about Harry Potter and Torah and my writings and posts about Israel seperate, since people interested in one are often not interested in the other. But anyone following the meetings in Anapolis, or the peace process in general, might be interested in the following links, which raise issues that tend to be ignored in the press. The first is an article from the Wall Street Journal, the second is a letter I wrote in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/opinion/l09brooks.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119604260214503526.html

or you can see these collected at: http://israel-letters.blogspot.com/

I'll have more Harry Potter and Torah articles here in the upcoming week!

Angels use accio, conjunctivitis, and colloportus?

Couldn't help noticing the following verses describing the Angels rescuing Lot from Sodom:

"The townspeople shoved Lot, and tried to break down his door. The Angels sent forth their hands, bringing Lot towards them into the house, and closing the door. And the people in the doorway were struck with blindness..." (Gen 19:9-11)

The Hebrew word at the end, "sanverim," is usually translated as I said above, "blindness," but presumably is referring to some kind of eye disease.

So the angels help sounds a lot like use of accio (summoning), colloportus (door closing), and conjunctivitis (eye-damaging) curses!

Boston's Jewish Advocate: Teaching Torah by Magic and Spells

This week's Jewish Advocate, published in Boston, has an article about Harry Potter and Torah titled Teaching Torah by Magic and Spells. Here's an excerpt and link:

When Dov Krulwich had some trouble engaging his young children in religious discussion around the Shabbat table, he turned to the narrative sensation that has been engaging children and adults alike the world over: Harry Potter. In the years since, Krulwich has grown his idea into a book, and “Harry Potter and Torah” was published in March.

“I found that if I could make analogies between the Jewish texts and Harry Potter, suddenly they were interested,” said Krulwich, 42, a Maryland native who now lives in Bet Shemesh, Israel. “The adults would become more interested, too.”

(Continues...)

http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=3865

Start the Torah cycle the Harry Potter way

If you haven't bought Harry Potter and Torah, now's the time! We've just started the new cycle of Torah portions back at Bereisheet (Genesis), and Harry Potter and Torah has chapters for every Torah portion in Bereisheet, along with many throughout the rest of the Torah. So you can have Harry Potter perspectives for every week's Torah portion!

Parshat Lech Lecha (Oct 20) has a chapter on ghosts, and also relates to the chapter on Magical Protection. Parshat VaYeira (Oct 27) has the chapter with my favorite title: Mudbloods, Moabites, and Moshiach, and also a chapter titled Whomping Willows and Monotheistic Maples. (To see more sample chapters on-line, see the book's home page.)

Below is the full table of contents. Click here to buy it now!

1. In the Beginning There Were Magic Words
2. Talking Snakes and Human Souls
3. Day of Rest, Day of Magic
4. Noah's Care of Magical Creatures
5. Owl post, Raven post, and dove post
6. Ghosts and curtains
7. Mudbloods, Moabites, and Moshiach
8. Whomping Willows & Monotheistic Maples
9. Everyday Magic, Everyday Miracles
10. Nicolas Flamel and the Children of Ketura
11. When One Rises, the Other Will Fall
12. Destiny and Decisions
13. Magic Wands
14. Go to the Hippogriff, thy Sluggard
15. Creating Bodies
16. Rights of Magical Creatures
17. Dreams: Divination or Digestion?
18. Everything Happens for a Reason
19. We are as Strong as we are United
20. Magic Shows: Kosher Fun or Idolatry?
21. Magical Protection

Lecha Lecha and Harry Potter's magical protection

In the Torah portion of Lech Lecha we see Abraham's aliya to Israel, during which travels through the land, stopping in Shchem and building an altar in Beit El.

Would you believe that Abraham's doing this is similar to Harry Potter's mother dying to save Harry's life? Check out this previous blog message about Harry Potter's Magical Protection, which is an excerpt from the book Harry Potter and Torah.

Fawkes the Phoenix in the Garden of Eden and Noah's Ark

Could Fawkes, Dumbeldore's immortal phoenix, have been in the Garden of Eden or on Noah's Ark?

Read the answer in the following excerpt from Harry Potter and Torah, which was printed in the Washington Jewish Week last July:

Was Fawkes the Phoenix on Noah's Ark?

When we think about Noah collecting the animals to bring into the ark, most of us tend to imagine lions and tigers, cows and rams, and other "regular" animals. After all, Torah does not talk about mythical animals like those found in Harry Potter.

Or does it? Might Fawkes the Phoenix have been on Noah's ark?

The Talmud tells the following midrashic story about Noah on the ark:

"Noah found the phoenix hiding in the bottom of the Ark. He said to it, 'Don't you want food?' It replied, 'I saw you were busy, and did not want to trouble you.' He said to it, 'May it be God's will that you never die.' "

The midrash elaborates on the phoenix's immortality as follows: "It lives for a thousand years, and at the end of this thousand years, a fire emerges from its nest and incinerates it. A volume equivalent to an egg is left, which grows limbs and lives." The Prophet Job refers to the phoenix's immortality when he says "Like a phoenix I increase my life's days."

So we see the magical phoenix quite clearly in Torah literature! This sounds just like Dumbeldore's explanation to Harry in the middle of Chamber of Secrets (chapter 12):

"Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them
to die and are reborn from the ashes."

Interestingly, the same midrash gives a second, very different explanation of the phoenix's immortality: "Eve fed the animals and birds from the Tree of Knowledge. They all listened to her, except for one bird, called the phoenix."

Since all people and animals were immortal until eating from the tree of knowledge, the phoenix's not eating from the tree of knowledge meant it would never die.

So which is the reason that the midrashic phoenix lives forever? Is it because it did not eat from the tree of knowledge, or because of Noah's blessing?

Commentaries on the midrash give two possibilities. One is that the sages simply disagree, that the sage quoted in the midrash attributes the phoenix's longevity to the Garden of Eden, and the sage quoted in the Talmud attributes it to Noah's blessing.

The second possibility is that the phoenix's longevity was earned in two stages. It lives a long time, and does not die a natural death like other animals, because it did not eat from the tree of knowledge. Then Noah's blessing added to its immortality, either by giving it the process of rejuvenation by burning up and being reborn, or by giving it Divine protection from hunters and accidents.

Many commentaries, however, take all the biblical and midrashic discussions of the phoenix to be metaphorical. The Book of Job, for example, used the bird as a metaphor for long life, and did not refer to actually seeing one. Both the above stories from the midrash can be understood this way, as lessons about the importance of caring for other people's difficulties (the midrash of Noah) and about doing the right thing in the face of a temptation (the midrash of Eve). Each, according to the midrash, merits a lot of Divine reward, metaphorically earning long life or immortality.

Other commentaries say that the phoenix is used by our sages as a metaphor for "the soaring of the intellect, which continues even when man's body becomes weak." Others see the phoenix as a metaphor for the Jewish people throughout history, often appearing "burnt up" but always being reborn.

All in all, the magical phoenix has left us a lot to think about. Anyone intrigued by the existence of magical animals has no shortage of Torah sources for them. And anyone looking for metaphors for a soaring intellect or the everlasting Jewish people need look no further.
But, most important, we see two things that we can think about in our own lives, doing what is right when we're given a temptation not to (as in the story of Eve) and caring that others not work too hard for our own sake (the story of Noah). According to the midrash, these are how immortality is earned, either real or metaphorical. Even without spells or incantations, our own behavior can be as hot as a phoenix.


Interested in more about magical creatures in Torah? Harry Potter and Torah discusses talking snakes, owl post, and more! I also recommend Rabbi Slifkin's new book Sacred Monsters.

Material for Jewish teachers based on Harry Potter

I just came across some material for Jewish teachers based on Harry Potter that I thought readers (especially teachers and parents) here might enjoy:

http://www.babaganewz.com/teachers/index_main.cfm?cat=10&sub=1809lesson

Kudos to Babaganewz for integrating enjoyability and innovation into what look like serious educational materials!

The Lulav chooses the Jew...

A quick note some of you might enjoy:

In shul on the first day of Sukkot, when everyone had the lulav and etrog that they'd found and chosen from the several nearby lulav markets ("shuks"), a neighbor turned to me and said "it's really the Lulav that chooses the Jew, you know...."