Va-Yeshev 37:23
“So it was, when Yosef came to his brothers, that they stripped Yosef of his coat, the ornamented coat that he had on, and took him and cast him into the pit. Now the pit was empty – no water in it.” (Fox)
In this painting, we see Joseph’s pit. This act of violence seems to start the sequence of events that lead to Egypt, enslavement, and Exodus. “So it was” alerts us that the stage was already set. ‘No water’ makes us aware that the situation devoid of life and feeling.
In Dream Constellations, dreams lead us to connections between past and the present. Like a time mirror, the dream helps us understand how the past is affecting our present.
Joseph’s distinctive clothing tells us that he had already been set apart from Jacob’s other sons. The dreams he receives and tells his brothers throw fuel on a fire already burning. Rachel was Jacob’s true love and all his children live out the deep pain in the family.
This is emphasized by the statement “The pit was empty – no water in it” Water in dreams can symbolize life and feeling. In their anguish, the brothers lose the capacity to feel beyond their own suffering and so, inflict pain from a place that cannot feel the other.
We have all been thrown and thrown others into the pit, despite best intentions. May we be blessed to go beyond our own suffering and value all life.
Etja Ruth is an artist whose work bridges art and healing, exploring the places where image, movement, and voice reveal the unseen. Learn more about her Bereshit/Genesis paintings here.
