Session 1: Parashat Vayechi

"The Ethics of Democracy," John Dewey, 1888

As America enters Inauguration season, we face the uncertainty of political transition. These moments can be fraught, and given our polarized times, we need moral and spiritual sources of unity. The portion depicts Jacob’s sons afraid that they will suffer punishment for their prior acts, and the way Joseph reassures them by appealing to the big idea of God’s plan. Based on that text, this session introduces two key ideas: the way that narratives hold people together even through painful disagreement, and John Dewey’s theory that democracy rests upon spiritual bonds in the population.

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