The Power of a National Story
“Our fatherland is still filled with wealth of material all over the country that our honest ancestors planted for us, and that, despite the mockery and derision heaped upon it, continues to live, unaware of its own hidden beauty and carries within it its own unquenchable source. Our literature, history, and language cannot seriously be understood in their old and true origins without doing more exact research on this material. Consequently, it is our intention to track down as diligently as possible all the following items and to write them down as faithfully as possible: . . . .”
— “Circular-Letter Concerned with Collecting of Folk Poetry” sent by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, also known as the Brothers Grimm, in 1815.
This section of the letter was an appeal to colleagues and friends to send for and collect as many folktales, as authentically preserved as possible, for the brothers’ collection.
Contrary to popular belief, the Grimm Brothers were not the authors of fairy tales such as Little Red Ridinghood, Cinderella, the Sleeping Beauty and Snow White (just to name a few). They were actually collectors of stories like these as part of their work as scholars and librarians.
The Grimm Brothers’ project was not intended for the entertainment or education of children, as fairy tales are mostly used nowadays. Titled Kinder-und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales), their first edition dating to 1812 had a different goal, a goal which is embedded in their plea. That goal was to rediscover German identity in the aftermath of Napoleonic conquest of Germanic lands, restore a common sense of German history and spirit and encourage German unification.
Our Torah portion this week, Vayeshev, begins with a story which is almost a fairy tale in and of itself: the saga of Joseph. Driven out of his home as a child due to sibling jealousy, Joseph goes from rags to riches, back to rags and back to riches again, serving kings, solving dreams, reuniting with his family in a happy-ending style story, full of tension, deception, and ups and downs — all tropes and components of many of the fairy tales the Brothers Grimm collected.
A midrash on our portion (Tanchuma on Vayeshev 8:2) offers a message very similar to the Brothers Grimm’s mission.
The Torah tells us that Joseph was very successful in the Potiphar household, the man who bought Joseph after his brothers sold him to slavery.
וַיְהִ֤י יְהֹוָה֙ אֶת־יוֹסֵ֔ף וַיְהִ֖י אִ֣ישׁ מַצְלִ֑יחַ וַיְהִ֕י בְּבֵ֖ית אֲדֹנָ֥יו הַמִּצְרִֽי׃
יהוה was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he stayed in the house of his Egyptian master.
וַיַּ֣רְא אֲדֹנָ֔יו כִּ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה אִתּ֑וֹ וְכֹל֙ אֲשֶׁר־ה֣וּא עֹשֶׂ֔ה יְהֹוָ֖ה מַצְלִ֥יחַ בְּיָדֽוֹ׃
And when his master saw that יהוה was with him and that יהוה lent success to everything he undertook,
וַיִּמְצָ֨א יוֹסֵ֥ף חֵ֛ן בְּעֵינָ֖יו וַיְשָׁ֣רֶת אֹת֑וֹ וַיַּפְקִדֵ֙הוּ֙ עַל־בֵּית֔וֹ וְכׇל־יֶשׁ־ל֖וֹ נָתַ֥ן בְּיָדֽוֹ׃
he took a liking to Joseph. He made him his personal attendant and put him in charge of his household, placing in his hands all that he owned. “
The Torah however doesn’t give very many details about what made Joseph so successful. The Midrash describes Potiphar as a difficult master, one who asks for something only to quickly change his mind and ask for something else. For example, asking for a certain wine, and when Joseph brings it he changes his mind to a different wine. The midrash tells that in those moments God would simply change the wine in the cup to Potiphar’s liking and in this manner would always keep Potiphar happy and trusting Joseph. So much so that Portiphar ended up entrusting his entire estate to the management of Joseph.
But here is the important part in the Midrash:
כֵּיוָן שֶׁרָאָה יוֹסֵף אֶת עַצְמוֹ בְּכָךְ, הִתְחִיל אוֹכֵל וְשׁוֹתֶה, מְסַלְסֵל בְּשַׁעְרוֹ, וְאוֹמֵר בָּרוּךְ הַמָּקוֹם שֶׁהִשְׁכִּיחַנִי בֵּית אָבִי. אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, אָבִיךָ מִתְאַבֵּל עָלֶיךָ בְּשַׂק וָאֵפֶר, וְאַתָּה אוֹכֵל וְשׁוֹתֶה וּמְסַלְסֵל בְּשַׂעְרֶךָ, הֲרֵי אֲדוֹנָתְךָ מִזְדַּוֶּגֶת לְךָ וּמְצֵרָה לָךְ.
As soon as he realized his own importance, he began to eat, drink, and curl his hair, and say: “Blessed be the Omnipotent One who has caused me to forget my father’s house.” Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked him, saying: Your father mourns for you in sackcloth and ashes, but you eat and drink and curl your hair; therefore, your mistress will impose herself on you and will torment you.״
According to this Midrash, Joseph was punished for forgetting his ancestors. It was for this reason that from the height of management in high society, he found himself thrown in jail with bandits.
Joseph would continue to become even more successful in the future as viceroy and manager of the entire region’s food supply during famine. This greatness, warns the Midrash,, is worth very little if Joseph alienates himself from his family and leaves them behind. Joseph reconciles with his family and even brings them to Egypt.
Generations later, when the Israelites are enslaved, it is precisely the memory of their ancestors that is used in order to bring them together.
When Moses is called by God to liberate the people, Moses asks God: When the people ask for your name what shall I tell them? Famously, God gives no name, and says this:
וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ ע֨וֹד אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה כֹּֽה־תֹאמַר֮ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ יְהֹוָ֞ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֗ם אֱלֹהֵ֨י אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִצְחָ֛ק וֵאלֹהֵ֥י יַעֲקֹ֖ב שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם
זֶה־שְּׁמִ֣י לְעֹלָ֔ם וְזֶ֥ה זִכְרִ֖י לְדֹ֥ר דֹּֽר
And God said further to Moses, “Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: יהוה, the God of your fathers’ [house]—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you:
This shall be My name forever,
This My appellation for all eternity.”
God’s answer here is very important. The Israelites will not be united by a metaphysical God, but rather by their collective past. By memory, culture and tradition, by mutual ancestry.
This was exactly what the Brothers Grimm felt when their lands fell into French rule in the early years of the 19th century. Like Moses, they embarked on a mission to unite their nation through stories and through memory. They were students of the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) who said that the spirit of the nation can be found in folk tales, poetry and dance.
As much as the Grimm Brothers relied on Romantic sentiments and nationalistic tendencies, they were liberal in their world view and strove to do away with absolutism. Unfortunately, their nationalistic sentiments were later adapted by the Third Reich; their heritage was celebrated by the Nazi party, so much so that their stories were banned in parts of the world after the war. Their antisemetic tropes often appear in their stories (naturally, as the collection includes medieval European folk tales) resurfaced in a racial context.
Where is the line between the pride and the preservation of collective memory and the oppressive and murderous nationalistic tendencies that it can evoke? In the 21st century, this question is still relevant to all of us, just as Cinderella and Snow White are still ever so popular.
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