The current Torah readings relate the intense and dramatic rivalry between Joseph and his brothers.

Joseph, 17 years of old at the time, was asked by his father Jacob to go visit his brothers, who were shepherding their flock near the city of Shechem.

The Midrash relates that Jacob’s last lesson with his beloved son just before he left dealt with a law concerning an unsolved murder, which involves the unusual offering of a calf.

When Joseph met his brothers, they stripped him of his coat of many colors, cast him into a pit and then sold him into slavery. Joseph worked for an Egyptian nobleman, was thrown into a dungeon and finally became viceroy of that country. Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and his plan saved Egypt and the world from starvation.

After missing his son for 22 years, Jacob finally received word that Joseph was alive, but he could not believe it. The Midrash relates that Joseph sent his father a coded message to authenticate and verify his identity: “Tell my father that when I left him 22 years ago we had just completed studying the procedure of atonement for an unsolved murder.”

This explains the biblical verse: “...But when they told him all the words that Joseph had spoken to them, and he saw the wagons that Joseph sent..., then Jacob’s spirit was revived.”

The Hebrew term “agalos” used here for wagons can also be translated as calves. “When Jacob ‘saw’ the calves that Joseph sent,” i.e., when he realized that this Egyptian Viceroy knew the content of the last Torah lesson that he taught his son Joseph, Jacob realized that this was indeed his long lost son.

Unsolved Murder
This law that Jacob taught Joseph is discussed in the book of Deuteronomy:

“When a corpse is found in the field and the murderer is unknown, your elders and judges must go out and measure the distance to the closest city,” where we assume the victim had last been before his murder. A delegation of five members of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem would come to the field where the victim was found and take the measurements to the closest city. The elders of that city closest to the corpse were obliged to go out and bring a heifer to atone for the slain.

The elders would then declare, “Our hands have not spilled this blood and our eyes have not seen it.” The Cohanim would then beseech G-d: “Forgive your people ...do not allow the guilt for innocent blood to remain with Israel.”

The Torah concludes: “The blood shall thus be atoned for. You shall thus rid yourself of the guilt of innocent blood in your midst, since you will have done what is morally right in G-d’s eyes.”

Was it mere coincidence that the last piece of wisdom Joseph received from his father before their 22-year separation focused on the Jewish response to a homicide? Or is there a deeper meaning and message in this final exchange between father and son?

National Crisis
The Torah’s teachings are forever relevant and the ancient eglah arufah ritual speaks directly to our day and age, particularly to our troubled teenagers.

Let us examine the purpose and meaning of the enigmatic ritual for the discovery of a slain victim — where members of the most exalted and distinguished Supreme Court were required to come down and take measurements; the elders of the city were personally obligated to offer atonement and the cohanim had to beg forgiveness.

The Torah commentaries explain the ritual:

1) This was a means to generate publicity about the tragedy, to increase the chances of apprehending the murderer and bring him to justice. It also sends a warning to criminals that they would not get away with murder.

2) The Torah views each member of the nearby city indirectly responsible for the murder. The verse states: “Forgive your people; do not allow the guilt of innocent blood to remain with your people Israel.”

Would it occur to anybody that the court elders are suspected as murderers?

The Talmud explains that “perhaps we did not notice him leaving and we sent him off without food and without escort.” Had we looked better after this traveler, he may not have been killed. If he was given shelter, food and company, he might have eluded his horrible fate. What was he doing out alone in no-man’s land? Why did nobody look after him?

The entire community of Israel, starting with the members of the Supreme Court, had to measure up and ask themselves tough questions, and were required to make resolutions for the future.

The DROPOUTS
In addition to its literal interpretation, each Torah law also contains a psychological and spiritual dimension.

Every community has “dropouts” who at some point, particularly during adolescence, abandon the shielded “city” and enter the unguarded “field” with all that is available out there. Many lose their souls in the process and end up in an abyss, emotionally slain in the killing fields of addiction, despair and moral indifference.

The Torah teaches us that each of these souls who end up in the “field” and encounter a death of innocence, of hope, of dignity and of meaning is the concern and responsibility of each and every member of Israel, including the Supreme Court in Jerusalem!

When a fellow wanders out to the scary fields of hopelessness, every individual of the community, particularly its spiritual teachers and leaders, must ask themselves, “Perhaps we didn’t notice him leaving and sent him off without food and without escort.” Was this young boy or girl craving for love, encouragement and inspiration, and couldn’t find with whom to discuss his frustrations and doubts?

Each of us must ask ourselves: “Are we not responsible in some way for this youth’s mental and psychological deterioration?”

Educators and communal leaders may dismiss it with statistics. “Statistics show that a certain percent of high school kids end up...” When the future of a particular child in put in question, they readily answer: “What do you expect? He or she is a statistic.”

I don’t mean to be harsh, but we must remember that it was Joseph Stalin who said, “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” The value and sanctity of an individual destiny is infinite, absolute and eternal.

The moment a single life loses its absolute value, a thousand lives, even a million lives, are ultimately not of value; they are merely more shocking numbers.

This is the message behind the mitzvah of turning the murder of a homeless person found in an isolated field into a major national event. The Torah teaches us that if hell does not break loose with the undeserving death of a single individual, we are all well on our way to moral decomposition; we have forfeited the most important staple of viewing each life as a reflection of G-d.

YES, You Matter!
Above all, this loaded ritual provides an inspirational message for those children or adults who find themselves lost in the “field” of confusion and depression.

From G-d’s perspective, your individual life and destiny contains endless value and significance. If you “die,” G-d expects everybody to feel the pain, to take part in introspection. Your journey, your personal struggle, your future is of great importance to G-d, to the world, to history. Know that every deed counts, that each word has infinite power. Fashion each day of your life as if it were a piece of art.

Providence had Jacob teach this lesson to Joseph hours before he was cast into a very harsh reality. This was the message that rescued a vulnerable Joseph from falling into the abyss, after being brutally torn from a sheltered and sacred “city” and cast into the most depraved “field” on earth. The last lesson that Joseph heard from his father imbued him with this vital concept that his life, each moment of it, is eternally significant; that his choices had divine significance.

Twenty-two years later, when Jacob heard that Joseph did not forget that final lesson, a father’s soul was revived and calmed. Jacob recognized that despite all the pain Joseph had endured, his son did not lose the inner spark that gives each of our lives purpose and meaning.