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Certain unique landscapes in the Torah carry a strong association with a particular kind of experience. A garden reminds us of innocence (Genesis 2:25). A mountain is a place of revelation (Genesis 22:14, Exodus 19:20). At a well, one might find love (Genesis 24:11-13, 29:9-11, Exodus 2:15-21). A far more common landscape in the Torah is the field. The field is not usually where the main action takes place. We take it for granted as a background setting, where work happens, or through which travelers pass. So when we come upon Yosef wandering through a field in Parashat VaYeishev, we may not make much of it. According to a midrashically-styled reading by the Keli Yakar, however, a deeper understanding of the field is precisely what might have saved Yosef from all the disaster that will follow.
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Certain unique landscapes in the Torah carry a strong association with a particular kind of experience. A garden reminds us of innocence (Genesis 2:25). A mountain is a place of revelation (Genesis 22:14, Exodus 19:20). At a well, one might find love (Genesis 24:11-13, 29:9-11, Exodus 2:15-21). A far more common landscape in the Torah is the field. The field is not usually where the main action takes place. We take it for granted as a background setting, where work happens, or through which travelers pass. So when we come upon Yosef wandering through a field in Parashat VaYeishev, we may not make much of it. According to a midrashically-styled reading by the Keli Yakar, however, a deeper understanding of the field is precisely what might have saved Yosef from all the disaster that will follow.
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