VayeshevBereshit (genesis)

Jacob and Joseph
As we saw above, in the year 2208 Jacob settled safely in Hebron, the region where his father had lived, which is in Canaan. In the year 2214, Leah died, at age 43.

The following narrative – which continues until the end of the Torah – is the chronicle of the descendants of Jacob, how they came to live in Egypt, eventually receive the Torah, and return to settle in the Land of Israel: It began in the year 2216, when Joseph was 17 years old and was pasturing the flocks with his brothers. On the one hand, although he was already 17, he acted like a young, immature boy, grooming and styling his hair and eyelashes in order to look handsome. On the other hand, he was very sensitive; he had long noted how Leah’s sons shunned Bilhah’s and Zilpah’s sons because their mothers had been bondwomen; for this reason, he spent time with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah to cheer them up and affirm their full status as his father’s wives. Because of the deepening enmity between him and the sons of Leah, Joseph brought their father evil reports about any unseemly conduct he found in them.

Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because (1) he was the son of his old age; (2) he was his most studious son, who absorbed all Israel had learned from Shem and Ever and had in turn taught him; and (3) his studiousness was reminiscent of Israel’s own studiousness as a youth, and this resemblance was reflected in their physical resemblance. As a sign of his affection for Joseph, Israel made him a robe of fine wool. This robe aroused the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers, and was therefore the indirect cause of all his impending misfortunes.

His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, so they hated him, and, being honest men who could not act duplicitously, could not speak with him peaceably.

Joseph’s First Dream
Then Joseph had a dream and told it to his brothers, and because of this dream, they hated him even more.

He said to them, “Please listen to this dream I had.

There we were, binding sheaves in the midst of the field, when my sheaf stood up and remained upright. Then your sheaves formed a circle around my sheaf and prostrated themselves before it.”

His brothers said to him, “Would you really seek to reign over us? Would you really seek to rule over us?” They now understood that his slandering them to their father was not just idle talk but part of his scheme to gain power over them. Thus, they now hated him even more, because his dreams proved that his talk was insinuating and because his talk proved that he took his dreams seriously.

Joseph’s Second Dream
He had another dream and told it to his brothers. He said, “Look, I had another dream, and there were the sun, the moon, and 11 stars prostrating themselves before me.” This dream indicated that Joseph saw himself assuming authority not only over his brothers, but over his parents as well.

He re-told the dream to his father in his brothers’ presence. His father chided him. Seeking to allay Joseph’s brothers’ hatred, Israel said to Joseph in their presence, “What nonsense is this dream that you had! Will I, your mother, and your brothers indeed come and prostrate ourselves on the ground before you?!”

However, Israel’s attempt to mitigate his other sons’ hatred did not succeed; Joseph’s brothers remained jealous of him. But his father waited expectantly for the matter to unfold as Joseph had dreamed it.

His brothers (except for Benjamin) left, ostensibly to pasture their father’s flocks in Shechem, but in reality they sought to be alone in order to privately discuss what course of action to take.

Israel then said to him, “Please go and see how your brothers and the flocks are faring, and bring me back a report.” He thus sent him to embark on the journey that would fulfill the profound, prophetic vision of Abraham, who was interred in Hebron. Joseph arrived in Shechem.

The angel Gabriel, appearing in the guise of a man, found him wandering in the fields. The “man” questioned him, saying, “What are you looking for?”

He replied, “It is my brothers that I am looking for. Please tell me where they are pasturing.”

The man answered, “You refer to them as brothers, but they have clearly distanced themselves from such brotherly sentiments, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dotan [“legalities”],’ and – in consonance with the meaning of this place’s name – they were seeking some legal pretext to kill you!” Despite this warning, Joseph remained true to his father’s mission, followed his brothers, and found them in Dotan.

They saw him from afar, and before he reached them, they conspired against him to put him to death.

Simeon said to his brother Levi, “Look, here comes that dreamer!

The Brothers’ Plot
So now let us go and kill him and throw him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’” But God said, “You would have done better to confront your father with your grievances rather than to presumptuously take matters into your own hands. We will see which succeeds: your plans or Joseph’s dreams, which accord with My will!”

Reuben heard his brothers’ plan and realized that if they killed Joseph, he, as the firstborn, would be held responsible. He therefore rescued him from their hands, as follows: He said, “Let us not strike him a mortal blow! Are we so sure he deserves to die? Perhaps we are wrong, or perhaps he has some other merit that outweighs any capital offense he is guilty of. If such is the case and we kill him, we will be guilty of murder!” In deference to his status as the firstborn, Simeon and Levi acceded to him, but they asked what they should do instead about Joseph’s arrogance.

Reuben then said to them, as a compromise, “Do not shed his blood directly. Throw him into this pit here in the desert, so he will surely die, but do not lay a hand on him!” In truth, Reuben suggested this course of action in order to rescue him from their hands and bring him back later, when they were not around, to his father. Reuben hoped that after this attempt on Joseph’s life, Jacob would resolve the conflict personally.

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his shirt and of the fine woolen robe that he was wearing.

They took him, and Simeon threw him into the pit. The pit was empty in that there was no water in it, but there were snakes and scorpions in it. Even though this normally spells certain death, Reuben reasoned that Joseph’s chances were better with the snakes and scorpions, which do not possess free choice and therefore would not be able to kill Joseph if he did not deserve it. And indeed, the snakes and scorpions did not harm Joseph. Still, Joseph pleaded with them to remove him from the pit, but they ignored his pleas.

The Sale of Joseph
The brothers then sat down to a meal. Reuben did not join them, for it was his custom to fast periodically as part of his repentance for having meddled in his father’s private affairs, and it just so happened that he was fasting that day. While they were eating, he left for Hebron, for it was his turn to attend to Jacob and he was confident that Joseph was safe. As the brothers were in the midst of their meal, they raised their eyes and saw that there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from the direction of Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, stacte, and lotus, on their way to take them down to Egypt. Even though the Ishmaelites typically traded in kerosene and tar, which have a foul smell, Divine providence arranged that this caravan carry fragrant spices in order to not subject Joseph to unnecessary suffering when he would be in their company.

Judah said to his brothers – in particular addressing Simeon and Levi, who had been eager to kill Joseph – “What is to be gained if we kill our brother and then have to conceal our responsibility for his death from our father?

Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let our hand not strike him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers heeded him.

In the meantime, a caravan of Midianite merchants also passed by. The brothers hauled Joseph up from the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites in turn sold Joseph to the Midianites, and they brought Joseph to Egypt.

The next day, Reuben returned. When Reuben went back to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes.

He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! And I – where can I go to avoid witnessing our father’s grief? He will certainly hold me responsible for his disappearance.”

The Brothers Deceive Jacob
They took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a young goat, and dipped the robe in the blood.

The brothers were reluctant to show Jacob the robe themselves. They sent off the fine woolen robe via an emissary and thus brought it to their father. They said, via their emissary, “We found this; please identify it. Is it your son’s robe or not?”

He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A wild beast has devoured him!” With these words, he unwittingly prophesied that Joseph would be attacked by a “wild beast” of a person, as indeed occurred when the wife of the person to whom he was eventually sold attempted to seduce him. He continued, “Joseph has been torn to pieces!”

Jacob rent his clothes, put on sackcloth around his waist as a symbol of mourning, and mourned for his son unabatedly for many days, i.e., for the next 22 years (2216–2238). In this way, God arranged for Jacob to atone for the 22 years in which he did not honor his own parents by attending to their needs while he was away from them in Laban’s household and tarried on his return journey (2185–2207).

Meanwhile, the Medanites (i.e., Midianites) had sold Joseph to the government of Egypt, specifically, to Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and chief of his butchers.

Judah Leaves
Seeing their father’s inconsolable grief, the brothers turned on Judah. They told him, “We went along with your idea to sell Joseph. Had you suggested that we return him to our father, we would have also listened to you.” At their insistence, Judah stepped down from his position of leadership over his brothers at that time. He moved away from them and entered into a business partnership with a man from Adulam by the name of Chirah.

Soon thereafter, Judah saw the daughter of a certain renowned merchant there named Shu’a; he married her and engaged in marital relations with her.

She conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Eir.

She again conceived and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan.

Once more she gave birth to a son, and she named him Sheilah. When she gave birth to this child, Judah was in a place that would later be called Keziv [“ceasing”]. From then on, his wife ceased bearing him children; for this reason, the place he was when their last child was born became known as Keziv.

In the year 2224, Judah took a wife for Eir his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. Tamar was the daughter of Shem, who had died 66 years prior to this; thus she was at least 65 years old at this time.

The Punishment of Eir and Onan
Despite her age, Tamar was still very beautiful. Afraid that bearing children would mar her beauty, Eir interrupted his marital relations with her, spilling his seed. Since deliberately wasting seed contravenes God’s commandment to be fruitful and multiply and is considered tantamount to murder, Eir, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in GOD’s eyes and liable to the death penalty. Eir did not regret his act, so GOD therefore made him die.

Like the rest of his family, Judah endeavored to keep the Torah whenever possible, even though it had not yet been formally given. The Torah’s law of levirate marriage obligates a man whose married brother dies childless to marry his widow. Judah therefore said to Onan, “Marry and engage in marital relations with your brother’s wife and thus fulfill the duty of the brother of a deceased husband to her.” In addition, Judah told Onan, “In this way you will produce offspring for your brother, for you will name your first child after him,” even though the Torah does not stipulate doing so as part of the institution of levirate marriage.

Onan knew that the offspring would not be considered his, so when he engaged in marital relations with his late brother’s wife, he too – unaware of why his brother had died – let his seed go to waste on the ground, so as not to produce offspring for his brother.

Although his motivation was different than his brother’s, his act was identical, so what Onan did was likewise evil in the eyes of GOD. Since he, too, did not regret his act, God made him also die.

Many days, i.e., a year or so, passed, and Shu’a’s daughter, Judah’s wife, died. After Judah was consoled, he went up, together with Chirah, his Adulamite friend, to Timnah, which was situated on the slope of a hill, to supervise the shearers of his flock.

Judah and Tamar
Tamar was then told as follows, “Your father-in-law is now going up to Timnah to shear his flock.” Since she was told that he was going up to Timnah, she knew that he would be approaching Timnah from the foot of the hill rather than from its summit.

When Judah saw her sitting at the crossroads, he mistook her for a prostitute. Because she had covered her face, he did not recognize her. Even though Judah knew that Tamar was eager to bear his progeny, he did not suspect that this prostitute could be her, because she had always covered her face when she had visited his house as his daughter-in-law, thus showing herself to be a paragon of modesty and righteousness.

He said, “I will send you a kid-goat from the flock,” and she replied, “Provided you give me a pledge for security until you send it.”

He asked, “What pledge should I give you?” and she answered, “Your signet-ring, your special, additional cloak that is a sign of your special status in your family, and the staff that is in your hand.” Tamar specifically requested these three items because she was sure that Judah would try to get them back; she could also later use them to prove his identity. He gave them to her and engaged in carnal relations with her, and she conceived from him.

She arose and left, took off her veil, and once again donned her widow’s garb.

Judah sent the kid-goat with his friend the Adulamite in order to get the security pledge back from the woman, but he could not find her.

He questioned the people of her area, saying, “Where is that prostitute who was at the crossroads by the wayside?” They replied, “There was no prostitute here.”

He returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her, and even the local people said, ‘There was no prostitute here.’”

So Judah said, “Let her keep what I gave her as a pledge, lest we become the object of public scorn. Look, I did send her this kid-goat, but you did not find her. What more can I do to fulfill my word?” Because Judah had deceived his father about Joseph with the use of a kid-goat, Divine providence arranged that he himself be deceived with a kid-goat. In this year (2228), Isaac died.

Tamar is Pregnant
Some three months went by, and Judah was informed as follows: “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has not married anyone else since her second husband died, but she has been having relations. She is therefore guilty of licentiousness, the proof being that she is even visibly pregnant from it.” Judah therefore said, “Bring her forth and have her burned.”

Judah recognized these items as being his. Even though he had not technically committed any wrongdoing, since prostitution was not forbidden before the Torah was given, it was still embarrassing that a member of Jacob’s family had indulged in such an apparently purely carnal union. Nonetheless, Judah chose to suffer public disgrace rather than let Tamar be killed. He said, “She is correct; she is pregnant by me. She was justified in contriving to conceive by me, since I did not give her in marriage to my son Sheilah as I had promised I would, and she felt that I was ignoring my duty to ensure that she bear children from my bloodline.” Once it was clear that Eir and Onan had died because of their own sins rather than because of any fault of Tamar’s, Judah married her, so he was never again intimate with her in the same questionable way he had been before.

The Birth of Peretz and Zerach
As Tamar was giving birth, the midwife saw that there were twins in her womb. Both twins were destined to be righteous; in this merit, God shortened the length of Tamar’s pregnancy and she gave birth prematurely, in her seventh month.

While she was in labor, one of the babies stuck out his hand from the womb. The midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand to signify, “This one emerged first.” The baby then withdrew his hand.

But as soon as he withdrew his hand, his brother emerged, and the midwife said, “With what vigor have you pushed yourself ahead!” So Judah named him Peretz [“breaking through”]. Since primogeniture is determined by which baby’s head emerges first, Peretz was therefore the firstborn.

Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his hand, emerged, and Judah named him Zerach [“shining”], after the shining scarlet thread.

Joseph in Potiphar’s House
As mentioned above, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar – a courtier of Pharaoh and chief of his butchers, a prominent Egyptian – had bought him from the Midianites, who had in turn bought him from the Ishmaelites and had brought him down there. Potiphar bought him because he was attracted to his good looks, but God made Potiphar partially impotent so he could not act on his evil intention. From then on, he became known as Potiphera, phera meaning “mutilated.”

GOD was with Joseph and thus he became a successful man, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. Nonetheless, he was still a slave, and therefore had no means to let his father know that he was alive.

Joseph’s master saw that Joseph was deeply aware of God’s presence, since Joseph always articulated his awareness that it was GOD who was with him, granting him success in all he did. Potiphera therefore understood that it was GOD who had granted Joseph success in everything he did.

Joseph thus gained favor with him and became his attendant. His master put him in charge of his household, entrusting all that he owned into his care.

As soon as he had put him in charge of his household and all that he owned, GOD blessed the Egyptian’s household in Joseph’s merit. GOD’s blessing was evident in everything Potiphera had, both in the house and in the field.

He left everything he had in Joseph’s care, and did not concern himself with any of his own affairs other than “the bread he ate” – a euphemism for his wife. After being in charge of Potiphera’s house for ten years, Joseph began eating and drinking fine foods and curling his hair in order to counteract the detrimental effects of his journeys on his health and appearance, thereby restoring and emphasizing his beautiful facial form and complexion. Joseph’s attention to his looks evinced gross insensitivity to the fact that his father was in mourning over having lost him. God therefore set about to correct this insensitivity by initiating a chain of events that would lead to his imprisonment.

So, immediately after Joseph began primping himself and God articulated His intention to correct this insensitivity, Joseph’s master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph. She saw through astrological means that she was destined to be an ancestress of Joseph’s progeny. Although she was correct, for Joseph later married her daughter and the children born to them were thus her progeny, she mistakenly assumed that she herself was to be the mother of this progeny, and was eager to bear the children of such a righteous individual. With these noble (albeit misguided) intentions, she approached Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”

Potiphar’s Wife
He refused to submit to her overtures and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not concern himself with what I do in the house, and all that he owns he has entrusted to my care.

There is no one in this house having more authority than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except yourself, since you are his wife – so how could I commit such a great wrong as betraying his trust, and at the same time also sin before God? Certainly you know that God prohibited adultery to all humanity!”

Potiphera’s wife, however, persisted in trying to seduce Joseph. But although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her, not even agreeing to lie next to her without having relations, for he knew that this might lead to having relations with her. Besides not wanting to commit adultery, Joseph also knew that having relations with her would mean that he would have to be with her in the afterlife, to be cleansed in Purgatory for having thus defiled himself.

She caught hold of him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me!” He left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.

When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she realized she could use it to take revenge on him for having rejected her.

Potiphar’s Wife Accuses Joseph
She called the members of her household, who had by that time returned from the holiday ceremonies, and said to them as follows, “See! My husband brought us a Hebrew man – a foreigner, from far away and of a different race. No wonder he has no respect for us; he tried to mock us! He came to me to lie with me, but I cried out loudly!

So when he heard how I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment with me and fled, and went outside!”

She kept his garment with her until her husband, Joseph’s master, came home,

and spoke to him along these lines, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought us came to me to mock me by trying to seduce me!

Then, when I screamed at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me and fled outside!”

At first, Joseph’s master found it hard to believe that he could have done this, and in any case was loath to punish him because he had managed his household so ably and impressively. But later, when his master was engaging in marital relations with his wife and he heard the words that his wife then spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did these kinds of things – that you are doing now – to me,” he was furious.

Joseph’s master, who, in addition to being the chief butcher, was also in charge of the royal prison, took hold of him and placed him in the prison where the king’s prisoners were incarcerated, and he remained in that prison. This scandal became the subject of everyone’s gossip.

GOD was with Joseph and made him well-liked among the inmates. He also made the warden of the prison favor him.

The warden of the prison placed all the prisoners who were in the prison in Joseph’s charge, and whatever was done there was done under Joseph’s direction.

The warden of the prison could not find fault in anything that was under Joseph’s charge, for GOD was with him, and GOD granted him success in whatever he did.

Pharaoh’s Courtiers
In addition to causing Joseph to be well-liked among the prison staff and inmates, God also arranged for Egyptian society to be distracted from his defaming involvement with Potiphera’s wife by giving them something else to gossip about. Furthermore, this new incident eventually led to Joseph’s release from prison and his subsequent rise to greatness. Thus, soon after Joseph became the subject of everyone’s conversations, the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh found a fly in his cup and a stone in his bread.

Pharaoh was incensed with his two courtiers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

and he had them imprisoned in the prison adjoining the house of the chief butcher, which was the same prison in which Joseph was incarcerated.

The chief butcher assigned Joseph to be in charge of them, so he attended them. They were in prison for a year.

When Joseph came to them in the morning, it was clear that they were in a melancholy mood.

He asked Pharaoh’s courtiers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”

They answered him, “We each had a dream, but there is no one to interpret it.” So Joseph said to them, “Surely interpretations belong to God! Please tell me your dreams.”

The Cupbearer’s Dream
The cupbearer related his dream to Joseph. He said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me.

Joseph understood that God had arranged for the cupbearer to be imprisoned so that through his release he could petition Pharaoh to release Joseph, as well. Since the cupbearer’s dream clearly indicated that it was time for this to happen, Joseph concluded that each branch symbolized the shortest meaningful unit of time – a day. Thus, Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: The three branches symbolize three days.

You will then wield some influence at court. I know that since some time may elapse before the opportunity to help me presents itself to you, and your release from prison will be a great upheaval in your life, you might forget about me. Still, if, despite this, you keep me in mind when things go well for you as I have predicted, please do me the kindness of mentioning me to Pharaoh, and thus you will get me out of this prison-building.

For in fact I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and here, too, I did nothing to warrant them putting me in the dungeon.”

The Baker’s Dream
When the chief baker saw that Joseph had interpreted well – for, as stated above, he had dreamed the chief cupbearer’s dream’s correct interpretation – he said to Joseph, “In my dream, likewise, there were three wicker baskets on my head.

In the top basket there were all kinds of baked goods that Pharaoh eats, and birds were eating them from the basket above my head.”

Joseph replied as follows, “This is its interpretation: The three baskets symbolize three days.

On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his servants, and counted the chief cupbearer and the chief baker among his servants available to serve him at the feast.

He restored the chief cupbearer to his position of serving drinks, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

The chief baker, however, he hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted for them.

The Cupbearer’s Perfidy
The chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph on that day, and he also forgot about him thereafter. Joseph was correct in trying to extricate himself from prison, but he erred in thinking that once God had chosen to help him by means of the cupbearer, he was now dependent upon the cupbearer’s advocacy rather than upon God’s mercy. This error in judgment demonstrated that he was not yet ready to ascend to the higher social status for which he was destined. In order to correct this character flaw, God postponed Joseph’s release from prison from three days after the dream to three years after it. Nonetheless, in order to minimize this correctional period, God counted the three days Joseph would have spent in prison in any case as the first additional year. Beyond this, he had to spend two more full years in prison.