VaYeshev Genesis (37:1-40:23)
OVERVIEW
Parshat Vayeshev begins the concluding drama of the book of Genesis, the story of Joseph and his 11 brothers, their estrangement and eventual reunion. Jacob is now settled in Canaan with all his family around him. Joseph is the favoured son, and to show his favour Jacob presents him with the multi-colored coat. Because of his haughty attitude, and their own jealousy, Jacob's brothers conspire to kill him. But big brother Reuben intervenes, and they decide instead to sell him into slavery. They grab him, throw him into a pit, and then sell him to a passing caravan en route to Egypt. They then tell their father Jacob that his beloved Joseph was attacked by a wild beast, presenting the bloody coat to him as proof.
The Joseph narrative is then interrupted by the story of Jacob's son Judah, who is experiencing some problems of his own. His son has died, leaving his wife Tamar a childless widow. Following the tradition of Leverite marriage, he gives his next son to her to father a child, but the next son perishes childless as well. Having already lost two sons, Judah refuses to give his youngest son to Tamar to provide her with a child. Tamar then decides to take decisive action. She dresses like a prostitute, entices Judah to sleep with her, and thereby becomes pregnant. Judah is outraged when he finds out what has happened, but, in the end, Tamar is vindicated, and gives birth to twins.
Joseph ends up in Egypt, serving in the home of Potiphar, the King's chief steward, and he quickly makes his way up the ranks of the servants to head up Potiphar's household. Potiphar's wife notices Joseph, and tries to seduce hum. When he refuses her advances, she has him thrown into prison, where he puts his skills as a dream interpreter to good use. He ends up interpreting the dreams of Pharoah's servants, which eventually brings him to the attention of Pharoah himself.
IN FOCUS
Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he made him an ornamented tunic. And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more then any of his brothers, they hated him.... (Genesis 37:3-4)
PSHAT
Any way you look at it, this seems to be a simple case of parental favouritism. Jacob, now successful and established in every aspect of his life, is the father of twelve sons and at least one daughter we know of, by four different women. It is easy to understand, especially in a large family, that siblings will become angry with one another, even hate each other, for any old reason. But one would hope and expect that a mother or father would try to spread around their love and attention equally. But not so with Jacob and his children. Jacob, who was raised in a family where his mother clearly favoured him and his father favoured his brother Esau, perpetuates this favouritism by noticeably loving his son Joseph, first born son of his beloved wife Rachel, more then all the other children. He even goes so far as to give Joseph a special gift, a highly ornamental tunic, or the proverbial "coat of many colours." This extravagant display of favouritism enflames the jealousy of Jacob's other son's, who are not too thrilled about their brother Joseph already. Matters are even made worse later when Joseph begins to act haughtily with his brothers, and it is then that they plot to get rid of him.
DRASH
Our tradition has always struggled with why Jacob so unabashedly demonstrated his preference for his son Joseph before all his other children. What was it about Joseph that so attracted his father's favour?
The common understanding was that Jacob favoured Joseph most because he was the son of his most beloved wife, Rachel. But, as it states in the Chassidic commentary Meshekh Hokmah,
Had Jacob shown the love to Benjamin that he showed to Joseph, the brothers would have assumed that their father loved the two because they were the children of his beloved Rachel. However, when they saw that Jacob loved Joseph more then all his brothers, i.e. even more then Benjamin, they suspected that this love stemmed from the fact that Joseph carried tales to his father, and he was building himself up at their expense.
In this explanation, it is Joseph's role as his father's "tattle tale" that drew his father's favour, and also the disdain of his brothers. This does follow from a simple reading of the text. But the Torah text itself seems to give another answer: Joseph was the son of Jacob's old age. The commentators are of many opinions about what this means. Ibn Ezra reads it literally - that Joseph was born when Jacob was already 91 years old. But Ramban objects to this simple reading, because it makes no sense; all his children were born when Jacob was old. Therefore this would not be grounds for favouritism. Ramban goes on to suggest that the correct interpretation is that, as was the custom of the time, Jacob selected Joseph among all his sons to attend to him personally in his old age. In this role, Joseph was with Jacob all the time, providing him with support and service, and therefore Joseph did not accompany his brothers when they tended to the flocks in distant places. Joseph served as Jacob's eyes and ears, and, in return, learned from Jacob and grew wise. A special bond developed between the two.
Rashi reads the passage differently, following the reading of the Aramaic translator Onkelos: ben z'kunim, usually translated as "son of his old age" really means "wise son." This is based on the Talmudic notion that the word zaken is actually an abbreviation of zeh sh'kana khokhma - "one who acquires wisdom." This idea gives merit to Joseph, that he earned his father's favour because he was such a promising student of Torah. What parent wouldn't take pride in the great accomplishments of a child?
But the modern commentator, Rabbi Pichas Peli (z"l), presents a very different idea about the bond that linked Joseph in a special relationship with his father and, at the same time drew his brother's disdain. Peli suggests that what Jacob and Joseph shared in common was dreams. He states,
In Joseph, the dreamer Jacob has found a true heir and follower. he too, as we recall, was a dreamer in his youth. Every generation has its dreamers. The dreams of Jacob were very different from those of Joseph, yet they had something in common.
Showing favouritism for one child over others is commonly used as an example of bad parenting, but, each parent does have a distinct and unique relationship with each of their children. At different times in their lives, a parent may feel closer to one child over another, based on what they have in common, and what they can share. Parents do like to see themselves in their children. Jacob and Joseph seemed to share a common gift, not only the ability to dream great dreams, but even more the insight to recognize the holy in those dreams. In the end, it was the dreams that raised them above all the others around them, and drew them closer to God. And it was probably also their dreams that drew them closer to one another.
DAVAR AHER
"The hated him, and could not speak to him..." (Genesis 37:4)
But had they sat down together, they would have spoken to one another and told one another what bothered them. Then they would have ironed out their differences. The trouble in every argument is that there is no common language and no one is listening.
