Parshat Vayeishev

Yosef was Yaakov’s favorites son. Yaakov made a coat of many colors for Yosef as a sign of distinction between him and his brothers. This made the brothers very jealous. Yosef has two dreams. In the first dream, the sheaves of his brothers bowed down before Yosef’s sheaf. In the second dream, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars all bowed down to him.

The meaning of these dreams was that Yaakov’s family, his brothers and father, would all be subservient to him. The brothers became so angry with Yosef that they conspired to kill him. One day, while attending their father’s flock, they saw Yosef coming toward them. They planned to kill him, throw him into a pit, and claim that a wild beast did it. Reuven, the eldest, knew that it was wrong to kill Yosef. He convinced his brothers to throw Yosef into the pit alive and let fate take its toll (Reuven could always come back later to save him).

After being thrown into the pit, a caravan of Yishmaelites was traveling to Egypt. Yehudah (since Reuven was away) decides to sell Yosef as a slave. Reuven returns later to find no trace of Yosef. The brothers dip the coat into goat’s blood and bring it to their father saying that Yosef had been killed by a wild beast.

Yosef, now a slave in Egypt, is being sold and re-sold many times. He finally ends up with Potifar, an officer in Pharoah’s house. Yehudah marries the daughter of Shooa and has three sons with her. The oldest son marries Tamar, but soon dies after the marriage. The second son, by custom, now marries his sister-in-law. The second son also dies soon after the marriage. Yehudah now fears that his third son will die if he follows custom a third time. Yehudah convinces Tamar to wait until the youngest son is older before marrying. Tamar, through prophesy, understands Yehudah’s prominence in the future of the nation, disguises herself and tries to seduce Yehudah and bear his child. When the pregnancy is discovered, Yehudah, not knowing he is the father, condemns Tamar to death as a “harlot”. Tamar proves that Yehudah is the father and he openly saves her by admitting in public, that he is the father of her child.
Hashem stays with Yosef while he was with Potifar. Yosef is appointed overseer of his house and is seduced by Potifar’s wife. Resisting her advances, the wife accuses Yosef of molesting her and Yosef is thrown in prison.

While in prison, Yosef is again blessed and placed in charge of all the prisoners. He is given by Hashem the power to interpret dreams. Pharoah’s chief butler and baker were sent to prison and awaiting their fate. Each has a dream and they both go to Yosef for help. Yosef tells the butler that he will be pardoned and that the baker will be executed. When the events happen as predicted, the butler forgets to help get Yosef out of prison like he had promised.

And a certain man found him and behold he was wandering in the field and the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

Yosef was searching for his brothers in the field when he meets a stranger (just like Yaakov, the word “ish” is used). Yosef’s brothers are waiting to kill him. Had this stranger not intervened, perhaps Yosef might have been spared his ordeal. Who was this stranger? The Torah does not say. We do know that this encounter sets off a sequence of events that leads to the descent of Yaakov and his family to Egypt, the enslavement of the Israelites, and the ultimate redemption by Hashem.

Yosef was his father’s favorite son. This display of preference created jealousy in the other brothers. While it is not entirely Yosef’s fault (he was only seventeen at this time), Yosef should have been able to control his feelings of superiority. The Kotzker Rebbe writes that the question to Yosef was a spiritual one; “What are you seeking?” In other words, “what are your goals and what are your needs in following the ways of Hashem?” At home, he was under the influence of his father Yaakov. In the field, he was alone and vulnerable.

When Yosef languished in prison, he never attributed any of his special gifts to himself. He always said that his ability to interpret dreams was a gift from Hashem. He kept his own name even though Pharoah eventually gave him a new one (Tzafenat Paneach; “Explainer of Hidden Secrets”). He resisted the temptations of Potifar’s wife and maintained his own faith and language. He refused to become assimilated into the Egyptians ways. For this reason, we refer to Yosef as “Yosef Ha-tzadik”. Yet, at no time is Yosef in direct contact with G-d. G-d never calls to him or appears to him in a vision. He is struggling to find his place in the world while struggling with his faith. He is, for us, the first truly modern Jew (not unlike Esther in the court of King Achashuerous).

And Yosef’s master took him, and put him into the prison

I have wondered why the word sohar ( ) which means “prison”, is similar to another word used for moon ( ); sahar . Usually, the Torah uses the word l’vanah for Moon since lavan means “white”. If we think about it, the moon is a prisoner of the earth and sun. The moon orbits around the earth , held captive by its gravity. The moon does not give off its own light, but reflects the light it receives from the sun.

You will remember that Yosef’s dream involved a sun, moon, and eleven stars. Yosef is compared to the moon just as the Children of Yisroel are. Just as the moon reflects the light from the sun so too the Jews reflect the divine light of Torah and Hashem. Just as the moon waxes and wanes, so too the fortunes of the Jews wax and wane.

However, this captivity is two ways. Forces of nature do not act by themselves but interact in pairs. According to the laws of physics, “For every action, there is an equal, but opposite reaction”. Thus, the moon’s gravity affects the earth by causing the tides. Similarly, the earth does not emit its own light but reflects the light from the sun. Some of this light, in turn, is directed toward the moon and reflected back again (called “earthshine”, in Astronomy).

This reciprocity is seen time and again in Jewish philosophy. For every action on earth, there is a corresponding action in Heaven. When we put on tefillin, G-d puts on tefillin. When we pray, G-d prays (clearly this is only anthropomorphic and G-d’s “prayers” are not the same as ours and we should not take the concept of G-d praying, literally). When we suffer, G-d feels our suffering. When we do an aveirah (a sin), there is a distancing from G-d in the sense that as we move away from G-d, G-d moves away from us. But, when we do a mitzvah, there is a strengthening of the connection between us. The korbanos were more than sacrifices. The word derives from the concept of “drawing near” (see Sefer Vayikra).

Yosef is similar to “kesef”(silver). Silver reflects sunlight similar to the moon. The comparison to Yosef is his ability to draw down spiritual light to reflect on the world around him. Another closely related word is asaf ( ) which means to gather or harvest. This ha s connotation of “hiding” since the word is used to refer to gathering a harvest and then taking away. Yosef was taught the hidden aspects of Torah just like his father was. The Ramban interprets the phrase “ben z’keinim” to mean not just that Yosef was Yaakov’s “son of old age”, but that Yaakov revealed the secrets of Torah to him. The lessons, for us, are only just beginning!

	Oceanside Jewish Center Weekly Parsha By Jonathan Wolf
	Parshat Vayeishev Yosef was Yaakov’s favorites son. Yaakov made a coat of many colors for Yosef as a sign of distinction between him and his brothers. This made the brothers very jealous. Yosef has two dreams. In the first dream, the sheaves of his brothers bowed down before Yosef’s sheaf. In the second dream, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars all bowed down to him. The meaning of these dreams was that Yaakov’s family, his brothers and father, would all be subservient to him. The brothers became so angry with Yosef that they conspired to kill him. One day, while attending their father’s flock, they saw Yosef coming toward them. They planned to kill him, throw him into a pit, and claim that a wild beast did it. Reuven, the eldest, knew that it was wrong to kill Yosef. He convinced his brothers to throw Yosef into the pit alive and let fate take its toll (Reuven could always come back later to save him). After being thrown into the pit, a caravan of Yishmaelites was traveling to Egypt. Yehudah (since Reuven was away) decides to sell Yosef as a slave. Reuven returns later to find no trace of Yosef. The brothers dip the coat into goat’s blood and bring it to their father saying that Yosef had been killed by a wild beast. Yosef, now a slave in Egypt, is being sold and re-sold many times. He finally ends up with Potifar, an officer in Pharoah’s house. Yehudah marries the daughter of Shooa and has three sons with her. The oldest son marries Tamar, but soon dies after the marriage. The second son, by custom, now marries his sister-in-law. The second son also dies soon after the marriage. Yehudah now fears that his third son will die if he follows custom a third time. Yehudah convinces Tamar to wait until the youngest son is older before marrying. Tamar, through prophesy, understands Yehudah’s prominence in the future of the nation, disguises herself and tries to seduce Yehudah and bear his child. When the pregnancy is discovered, Yehudah, not knowing he is the father, condemns Tamar to death as a “harlot”. Tamar proves that Yehudah is the father and he openly saves her by admitting in public, that he is the father of her child. Hashem stays with Yosef while he was with Potifar. Yosef is appointed overseer of his house and is seduced by Potifar’s wife. Resisting her advances, the wife accuses Yosef of molesting her and Yosef is thrown in prison. While in prison, Yosef is again blessed and placed in charge of all the prisoners. He is given by Hashem the power to interpret dreams. Pharoah’s chief butler and baker were sent to prison and awaiting their fate. Each has a dream and they both go to Yosef for help. Yosef tells the butler that he will be pardoned and that the baker will be executed. When the events happen as predicted, the butler forgets to help get Yosef out of prison like he had promised. And a certain man found him and behold he was wandering in the field and the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?” Yosef was searching for his brothers in the field when he meets a stranger (just like Yaakov, the word “ish” is used). Yosef’s brothers are waiting to kill him. Had this stranger not intervened, perhaps Yosef might have been spared his ordeal. Who was this stranger? The Torah does not say. We do know that this encounter sets off a sequence of events that leads to the descent of Yaakov and his family to Egypt, the enslavement of the Israelites, and the ultimate redemption by Hashem. Yosef was his father’s favorite son. This display of preference created jealousy in the other brothers. While it is not entirely Yosef’s fault (he was only seventeen at this time), Yosef should have been able to control his feelings of superiority. The Kotzker Rebbe writes that the question to Yosef was a spiritual one; “What are you seeking?” In other words, “what are your goals and what are your needs in following the ways of Hashem?” At home, he was under the influence of his father Yaakov. In the field, he was alone and vulnerable. When Yosef languished in prison, he never attributed any of his special gifts to himself. He always said that his ability to interpret dreams was a gift from Hashem. He kept his own name even though Pharoah eventually gave him a new one (Tzafenat Paneach; “Explainer of Hidden Secrets”). He resisted the temptations of Potifar’s wife and maintained his own faith and language. He refused to become assimilated into the Egyptians ways. For this reason, we refer to Yosef as “Yosef Ha-tzadik”. Yet, at no time is Yosef in direct contact with G-d. G-d never calls to him or appears to him in a vision. He is struggling to find his place in the world while struggling with his faith. He is, for us, the first truly modern Jew (not unlike Esther in the court of King Achashuerous). And Yosef’s master took him, and put him into the prison I have wondered why the word sohar ( ) which means “prison”, is similar to another word used for moon ( ); sahar . Usually, the Torah uses the word l’vanah for Moon since lavan means “white”. If we think about it, the moon is a prisoner of the earth and sun. The moon orbits around the earth , held captive by its gravity. The moon does not give off its own light, but reflects the light it receives from the sun. You will remember that Yosef’s dream involved a sun, moon, and eleven stars. Yosef is compared to the moon just as the Children of Yisroel are. Just as the moon reflects the light from the sun so too the Jews reflect the divine light of Torah and Hashem. Just as the moon waxes and wanes, so too the fortunes of the Jews wax and wane. However, this captivity is two ways. Forces of nature do not act by themselves but interact in pairs. According to the laws of physics, “For every action, there is an equal, but opposite reaction”. Thus, the moon’s gravity affects the earth by causing the tides. Similarly, the earth does not emit its own light but reflects the light from the sun. Some of this light, in turn, is directed toward the moon and reflected back again (called “earthshine”, in Astronomy). This reciprocity is seen time and again in Jewish philosophy. For every action on earth, there is a corresponding action in Heaven. When we put on tefillin, G-d puts on tefillin. When we pray, G-d prays (clearly this is only anthropomorphic and G-d’s “prayers” are not the same as ours and we should not take the concept of G-d praying, literally). When we suffer, G-d feels our suffering. When we do an aveirah (a sin), there is a distancing from G-d in the sense that as we move away from G-d, G-d moves away from us. But, when we do a mitzvah, there is a strengthening of the connection between us. The korbanos were more than sacrifices. The word derives from the concept of “drawing near” (see Sefer Vayikra). Yosef is similar to “kesef”(silver). Silver reflects sunlight similar to the moon. The comparison to Yosef is his ability to draw down spiritual light to reflect on the world around him. Another closely related word is asaf ( ) which means to gather or harvest. This ha s connotation of “hiding” since the word is used to refer to gathering a harvest and then taking away. Yosef was taught the hidden aspects of Torah just like his father was. The Ramban interprets the phrase “ben z’keinim” to mean not just that Yosef was Yaakov’s “son of old age”, but that Yaakov revealed the secrets of Torah to him. The lessons, for us, are only just beginning!