A Rainbow, A Coat And JFK

A Rainbow, A Coat And JFK

Thanks to the Broadway show, most people know about Joseph's "Coat of Many Colors". On the most basic level, a coat represents a sentiment of care and love. Over the centuries this one article of clothing has captured our imagination because of the hope and disappointment woven into it.

What was it about this coat - what my 5 year old calls "a striped sweatshirt" - that was so special? This coat of many colors was a mechanism to express Jacob's special relationship to Joseph. Some commentators also understand the gift as an explicit gesture to highlight Joseph's leadership potential.


In light of Joseph's dreams and statements of grandeur, we might wonder if giving Joseph this coat was such a good idea. The gift and its expressive tones had the potential to provoke conflict and jealousy, and it ultimately did.

I believe that Jacob knew what he was doing, and the coat's rainbow colors give us a clue of his intentions. This famous multicolored coat reminds us of the rainbow after the flood. God makes a brit, a covenant, with humanity with a rainbow to symbolize a return to peace and security. 

The question has been asked, why would a covenant be symbolized by a half bow rather than a full circle? Rabbi Shlomo Riskin explains that the half bow is a symbolic challenge. While God pledges to not destroy humanity ever again, humankind is responsible for not destroying ourselves.

Jacob gives Joseph a rainbow coat as an attempt to declare boldly that the age of brotherly pettiness,  divisiveness and fratricide is over. 

Jacob dares to hope of a new age, of a new way of being. Unfortunately, his sons and their generation are not ready.

Shortly thereafter, Jacob's other sons show up with a torn multicolored coat drenched in blood.

This Shabbat we remember JFK, another dreamer. His youth, vitality and dreams were electrifying. He challenged us to re-imagine society, to stand up against injustice, and even to reach for the moon. 

Fifty years ago today, we were confronted again with another dreamer cloaked in blood.
 

While I am sad about the loss of JFK, my heart still aches for the 20 children and 6 adults  murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the 3 killed and hundreds of wounded in the Boston Marathon bombing, and the 1,000 Syrian men, women and children killed by their own government in August.

The sad reality is that the problem of violence in society and the fear associated with it have been a part of human civilization and Jewish life forever and is not going away so fast. 

One response could be to run away and hide. But this exactly what the hate crimes perpetrators want.  

The response to Boston Marathon bombings was like a shofar blast heard around the world: "Boston Strong". Boston Strong is more than a slogan. It is a principled, courageous position that we are not giving into the fear, the hate and the violence.

We have no time to live in fear. We have coats to deliver, dreams to fulfill and, most importantly, another half of the rainbow to create.

While we may wonder whether we are ready, our patriarch Jacob urges us then and now not to hesitate. The future of humanity depends on us to lead the way cloaked in coats of many colors.