Vayakhi / ויחי

The thighs of Leonard Cohen, a man obsessed with thighs

This is a weekly series of frum, trans, anarchist parsha dvarim. It's crucial in these times that we resist the narrative that Zionism owns or, worse, is Judaism. Our texts are rich—sometimes opaque, but absolutely teeming with wisdom and fierce debate. It's the work of each generation to extricate meaning from our cultural and religious inheritance. I aim to offer comment which is true to the source material (i.e. doesn't invert or invent meaning to make it more comfortable) and uses Torah like a light to reflect on our modern times.

Content note: Discussion of circumcision; mention of fasting

An appeal: If you're fasting today, please consider donating to a family in Gaza who is hungry and living in a tent. If you're not fasting, consider donating too.

If you're wondering when the Torah tells us that it's okay for one guy to touch another guy's penis, read on. You could also read Rashi (not this parsha, but parsha Khayey Soro) but since you're here, let me tell you.

The bris is a sacred ritual (on which I have ambivalent feelings relating to tradition, body modification, and consent) which turns the penis into a sacred object—not exactly transcending sexualization but nonetheless becoming acceptable to be viewed and touched by other men, including our immediate family.

The body is holy: holy, holy, holy.

וַיִּקְרְבוּ יְמֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל לָמוּת וַיִּקְרָא לִבְנוֹ לְיוֹסֵף וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אִם־נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ שִׂים־נָא יָדְךָ תַּחַת יְרֵכִי וְעָשִׂיתָ עִמָּדִי חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת אַל־נָא תִקְבְּרֵנִי בְּמִצְרָיִם׃

בראשית מז:כט

And the time drew near for Yisroel to die: and he called his son Yosef, and said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, put, I ask you, your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I ask you, in Mitsrayim:

Bereshis 47:29

Yakov is dying and he makes Yosef swear that he will bury him in the cave in Knaan. "Put your hand under my thigh".

.תחת ירכי

לְפִי שֶׁהַנִּשְׁבָּע צָרִיךְ שֶׁיִּטֹּל בְּיָדוֹ חֵפֶץ שֶׁל מִצְוָה, כְּגוֹן סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה אוֹ תְּפִלִּין (שבועות ל"ח), וְהַמִּילָה הָיְתָה מִצְוָה רִאשׁוֹנָה לוֹ וּבָאָה לוֹ עַל יְדֵי צַעַר וְהָיְתָה חֲבִיבָה עָלָיו וּנְטָלָהּ׃

רש“י, בראשית כד:כ

Under my thigh.

because whoever takes an oath must take in his hand some sacred object, such as a Scroll of the Law or Tefillin (Shevuot 38b). As circumcision was the first commandment given to him and became his only through much pain it was consequently dear to him and therefore he selected this as the object upon which to take the oath (Genesis Rabbah 59:8).

Rashi, Bereshis 24:2

This parsha is the second time we see this phrasing, first used in parshas Khayey Soro when Rashi explains that it's a euphemism for "place your hand upon my circumcised penis." Because Rashi already explained this to us once, he doesn't need to again this week.

Last week too we had a moment focusing on the bris object: Yosef reveals himself (quite literally) to his brothers by beckoning them near and showing them his bris object (Rashi again). Now touching his cock is the assurance that Yakov needs that his son Yosef will do right by him and bury him with his ancestors. The bris is the holy object upon which he swears.

The body is holy: holy, holy, holy.

Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!

The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy! The nose is holy! The tongue and cock and hand and asshole holy!

Everything is holy! everybody’s holy! everywhere is holy! everyday is in eternity! Everyman’s an angel!

The bum’s as holy as the seraphim! the madman is holy as you my soul are holy!

— Allen Ginsburg, first lines from "Footnote to Howl", Berkeley, 1955