From:          Yeshivat Har Etzion Office <office@etzion.org.il>
To:            yhe-test@etzion.org.il
Subject:       PARSHA61 -09: Parashat Vayeshev


                   YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
      YISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
*********************************************************                             
                           
                    PARASHAT VAYESHEV

               The Fall and Rise of Yosef
                           
                    By Rav Zvi Shimon


      This  week's  parasha marks the  beginning   of  the
narrative  of  the children of Ya'akov,  which  continues
until  the  end  of  Sefer  Bereishit  and  prepares   the
foundations for Sefer Shemot.  Yosef is sold into slavery
and  taken  to  Egypt  where he is elevated,  after  many
trials and tribulations, to the position of viceroy.  Due
to  this  position, he manages to save  his  family  from
famine  and  invites  them to dwell in  Egypt,  where  he
continues to sustain them.

      Although  the characters act of their own   volition
and  initiative,  and, as opposed to the  rest  of  Sefer
Bereishit,  God's name is barely mentioned, His  presence
is   nevertheless  felt  behind  the  scenes.     God   is
functioning "be-nistar," in a concealed way.  Yosef,  for
example,  has what are apparently prophetic dreams  about
his  future  dominance  over the House  of  Ya'akov.    In
addition,  Rashi comments on the verse, "So he  [Ya'akov]
sent him [Yosef] from the valley of Chevron" (37:14):

   "But  Chevron  is  on a mountain!  [So  why   does  the
   Torah  speak of the valley ('emek') of Chevron?]   The
   valley  of  Chevron alludes to the profound  ('amuka')
   counsel  of the righteous one (Abraham) who is  buried
   in  Chevron to fulfill that which God told Abraham  in
   the   brit  bein  ha-betarim:  'Know  well   that  your
   offspring  shall  be strangers in a land  not  theirs,
   and   they   shall   be  enslaved   and   oppressed...'
   (15:13)."

Ya'akov sends Yosef to verify the welfare of his brothers
tending  the  flocks at Shekhem.  This is a  fateful  act
which  allows  the  brothers to conspire,  out  of  their
father's sight, to sell Yosef into slavery - an act which
leads  to Yosef's being taken down to Egypt.  The  simple
meaning  of  the clause "the valley of Chevron"  is  that
Ya'akov accompanied his son to a valley situated  at  the
outskirts  of  Chevron  (see  the  Sforno).   The   Sages,
however, through a play on words, homiletically interpret
the  word  "emek" (valley) as "amok" (profound) and   thus
relate Ya'akov's sending of Yosef to a divine master plan
for the creation of the Jewish people in Egypt.

      God's  part  in  the unfolding of   events  is  also
attested  to by Yosef himself after he reveals  his  true
identity to his brothers in Egypt:

   "God  has sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival
   on  earth  and  to save your lives in an extraordinary
   deliverance.  So it was not you who sent me here,  but
   God;  and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord  of
   all  his  household, and ruler over the whole land  of
   Egypt." (45:7,8)

This is also the approach adopted by the Psalmist:

   "He  [God] called for a famine upon the land; He broke
   every  staff  of bread.  He [God] sent  a  man   before
   them, Yosef, sold into slavery." (Tehillim 105:16-17)

It  is the will of God, then, that Yosef be taken down to
Egypt.    While  man  functions  independently    and   is
responsible  for his actions, he is nevertheless  also  a
tool for the accomplishment of God's will.

      Accepting  that the narrative is part of  a   divine
plan,  we must attempt to understand the outline of  this
plan.   If  God  desires that Yosef arrive  to  Egypt   in
advance  of  his  family and thus help  facilitate  their
settlement  there, why does it occur in such  a  tortuous
manner?   Why  does Yosef have to suffer the  humiliation
and  the  agony of being thrown into a pit and then  sold
off as a lowly slave?  Is there not a less painful way of
accomplishing the objective?

     I  believe the answer to these questions lies in the
narrative in the beginning of our parasha which  recounts
the  origins of the brothers' hatred towards  Yosef.   As
you  read  the  following verses, pay  attention  to  the
number of times the brothers' hatred is mentioned and the
different explanations given for this hatred.   We  shall
then   examine  the  way  various  parshanim    (exegetes)
extracted meaning from a close reading of this passage.

   "These  are the generations of Ya'akov.  Yosef,  being
   seventeen  years old, was feeding the flock  with  his
   brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilha,  and
   with  the sons of Zilpa, his father's wives; and Yosef
   brought  to his father their evil report.  Now Yisrael
   loved  Yosef  more than all his children,  because  he
   was  the  son of his old age: and he made him  a  coat
   with  long  sleeves.  And when his brethren  saw   that
   their  father  loved him more than all  his  brothers,
   they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
   And  Yosef  dreamed  a  dream,  and  he   told  it  his
   brethren:  and they hated him yet the  more.   And   he
   said  to  them, Hear, I pray you, this dream  which  I
   have dreamed: for, behold, we were binding sheaves  in
   the  field,  and, lo, my sheaf arose, and  also  stood
   upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round  about,
   and bowed down to my sheaf.
   And  his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign
   over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?
   And  they  hated him yet the more for his  dreams  and
   for his words." (Bereishit 37:2-8)

THE LAD

       Our  narrative  begins  with  an   uncharacteristic
mention of Yosef's young age of seventeen.  We may  infer
from  this  that  his  age  is  of  importance   for   the
understanding of the subsequent verses.  The Torah, then,
informs us the he was a "na'ar" (translated: a lad)  with
the  sons  of  his father's wives Bilha and  Zilpa.   The
commentators offer different interpretations of the  word
"na'ar."

     Rasag  (Rav  Sa'adia  Gaon) interprets   simply  that
Yosef grew with the sons of Bilha and Zilpa; he spent his
adolescent  years in their company.  Ibn Ezra  interprets
that  due to Yosef's young age, he was used as a  servant
by  the  sons of Bilha and Zilpa.  Thus, "na'ar" is  used
here  not in the sense of a lad (as in the interpretation
of  Rasag) but rather in the sense of a servant  (compare
Shemot 33:11).  The Ramban interprets conversely that the
other  sons  served Yosef and cared for him  due  to  his
young  age.   "Na'ar" here is, thus, being  used  in   its
usual sense, a lad.  Rav David Zvi Hoffmann, by contrast,
interprets  "na'ar" to mean a student, and suggests  that
Yosef was learning the trade of being a shepherd from his
brothers.  He, thus, connects the clause that Yosef was a
"na'ar" to the beginning of the verse, "Yosef tended  the
flocks with his brothers."

      Rashi,  building on the interpretation that "na'ar"
means a lad, expands the term beyond a description of age
to  include a description of behavior: "For he  would  do
the  things  a lad does, such as arranging his  hair  and
fixing  his  eyes so as to appear handsome."  By  stating
that  Yosef  is  a "na'ar" (lad), the Torah  informs   us,
according to Rashi, of Yosef's childish behavior.  Sforno
similarly  suggests that it was Yosef's young  age  which
caused  him to sin and bring bad reports of his  brothers
to  Ya'akov  (verse  2).   Yosef lacked  the  wisdom   and
prudence  to think of the possible repercussions  of  his
actions.   Scripture mentions that  Yosef  is  a  lad   to
explain the reason for Yosef's misguided behavior,  which
causes the animosity that his brothers feel towards him.

THE BAD REPORT

      The  end  of verse 2 states that Yosef brought   bad
reports of his brothers to his father.  Which brothers is
Scripture referring to?  Is it just the sons of Bilha and
Zilpa (Ramban), just the sons of Leah (Rashi and Rashbam)
or all the brothers (the Sages)?

       The  different  interpretations  also   effect  our
understanding  of the content of the bad report.   Sforno
connects  the  end of the verse, the bad report,  to  its
very  beginning,  "Yosef  tended  the  flocks  with    his
brothers."   He suggests that the bad report  relato  the
brothers' improper tending of the sheep; Yosef would tend
the  sheep  with  his brothers and then  report  back  to
Ya'akov  on his brothers' incompetence as shepherds.   As
opposed  to  Sforno, who connects the bad report  to  the
beginning  of the verse, the Rashbam relates  it  to  the
middle  clause: "and the lad was with the sons  of  Bilha
and  Zilpa."   He  posits that the bad  report  was   only
against  the  sons of Leah and suggests that its  content
related to their improper treatment of the sons of  Bilha
and  Zilpa,  the maidservants.  Yosef treated the  latter
respectfully, while the other brothers related to them as
slaves.

     Rashi cites an interpretation of the Talmudic Sages:

   "He  would  report to his father that they  ate   flesh
   cut  from  a  living animal (see Bereishit  8:4),   and
   degraded  the  sons of the handmaids by  calling  them
   slaves,  and were suspect regarding incest.   And  for
   these   three   reports  Yosef  was   punished:   'they
   slaughtered  a young goat' when selling Yosef  (37:31)
   and  they  did  not eat it alive; and  concerning   the
   evil  which  he told about them, that they call  their
   brothers  slaves,  as  a slave  was  Yosef   sold;  and
   concerning  the  incest  which  he  told  about   them,
   Potiphar's wife was sent against him (see 39:7)."
  
Rashi  thus  explains  all the tribulations  which  Yosef
experiences as punishment for being a tattle-tale against
his brothers.

THE BROTHERS' HATRED

      The  continuation  of  our narrative   presents  the
causes  for the brothers' hatred of Yosef.  These can  be
divided  into  two  categories  delineated  by  Scripture
itself:

1)  Verse 4 informs us of one cause of hatred: "And  when
his brothers saw that their father loved him [Yosef] more
than any of his brothers, they hated him."  It is not  so
much  an outcome of Yosef's behavior as much as a  result
of Ya'akov's conduct and preferential treatment of Yosef.

2)  Verse 8 is a second cause of hatred: "And they  hated
him  [Yosef]  yet  the more for his dreams  and  for  his
words."   Yosef's behavior and thoughts aroused animosity
on the part of his brothers.

PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT

      We  will begin by analyzing the first cause for the
brothers' hatred.  "Now Yisrael loved Yosef more than all
his  children, because he was the son of his old age: and
he  made  him a coat with long sleeves" (37:3).   Ya'akov
loved  Yosef  because he was a "ben zekunim" (translated:
the  child  of his old age) and as a result of this  love
Ya'akov  made him a special coat.  Rashi interprets  "ben
zekunim" as a determination of the time of Yosef's birth:
"For  he  was  born to him in the time of his  old   age."
Yosef  was the last son born to Ya'akov during his  years
in  the  house of Lavan, so Ya'akov had a special  regard
for  him.  This, despite the fact that Benjamin was  born
after  Yosef and was actually the youngest.  It  is  this
difficulty  which perhaps prompted the Targum Onkelos  to
translate "ben zekunim" not as "the child of his old age"
but  rather  "a wise son."  The Hebrew root "zaken"   here
takes  on  the secondary meaning of wisdom  and  not  its
primary meaning of aged.  According to Onkelos, our verse
is  not  a  chronological  determination  but  rather    a
personal attribute of Yosef, namely his wisdom.

     The Ramban offers a very novel interpretation:

   "It  was the custom of the elders to take one of their
   younger  sons  to  be with them to  attend  them.    He
   would   constantly  lean  on  his  arm,   never   being
   separated  from  him,  and he  would  be   called  'ben
   zekunim' because he attended him in his old age."

"Ben zekunim" is not a chronological determination, nor a
personal  attribute, but rather a function,  a  position.
Ya'akov  designates  Yosef to be his personal  helper,  a
then   common  practice  among  aged  parents    requiring
assistance.  This is, of course, not only a function  but
also  an  honor; Yosef is the chosen son.   This  creates
jealousy and subsequent animosity towards Yosef.

      Scripture relates that Ya'akov manifested his  love
for  Yosef  by  making him a "ketonet pasim,"  a   special
coat.  What type of coat was it?  What is the meaning  of
the  word  "pasim?"   According  to  the   Septuagint  (an
ancient Jewish translation of the Bible into Greek),  the
coat contained many colors.  According to Rashi, the word
"pasim"  denotes the material out of which the  coat  was
made,  which  was fine wool, or according to  Rav  Saadia
Gaon, silk.

      Our Sages interpret "pasim" as a designation of the
length of the garment that reached the "pas," the end, of
the hands and feet.  Shadal (Rabbi Shmuel David Luzzatto,
Italy, 1800-1865) comments that the length of the coat is
a  sign  of  stature  and liberty.  It signifies  Yosef's
freedom  from any labor, for it is not practical to  work
in  such long attire.  A similar term is used in the book
of  Shemuel to describe the clothing of the daughters  of
the  king:  "And  she  [Tamar] had  a  long-sleeved   robe
('ketonet pasim') upon her, for with such robes were  the
king's  daughters who were virgins appareled" (II Shemuel
13:18).   The brothers are jealous of the coat  not  only
for  its  beauty but also for what it represents -  power
and  nobility.  Yosef is the "ben zekunim"  and  he   dons
regal attire as a testimony to this status.

THE DREAMER

      The  brothers'  hatred is  not  only   a  result  of
Ya'akov's preferential treatment of Yosef; it is  also  a
result  of  Yosef's own behavior and, more  specifically,
his fantastic dreams: "And they hated him [Yosef] yet the
more  for  his  dreams and for his words"  (37:8).    What
"words" is the verse alluding to?  Both Rashi and Rashbam
interpret  the  "words" as the "bad  reports"   about  his
brothers which Yosef told Ya'akov (verse 2).  The  Ramban
disagrees   and   interprets  the  "words"    as   Yosef's
recounting  of the dream: "They hated him for the  dreams
and  for  relating them in a BOASTFUL manner."  Yosef  is
completely engrossed in the idea of leading his brothers.
He,  the  young  lad, is already making  claims  for  the
leadership!   The  Sforno points out  that  he  not   only
recounts  the  dreams  but  also  asks  his  brothers   to
interpret   them,  stressing  their  content   and    thus
exacerbating  the situation.  Why did Yosef  recount  his
dreams to his brothers?  Did he not know that this  would
arouse antipathy?

     Radak explains that Yosef purposefully recounted the
dreams  to aggravate and pain his brothers since he  knew
that they hated him.  The Sforno does not go so far, but,
continuing his exegetical direction (see above  regarding
"na'ar"),  explains that Yosef's recounting of the  dream
is  due  to  his lack of wisdom and his young  age.   The
purpose of the opening verse of the narrative that states
Yosef's age is to explain his absurd behavior.  Yosef  is
trying   to   impress  his  brothers   and    gain   their
appreciation.   His behavior, however,  is  accomplishing
the  exact  opposite.   He simply  lacks  the  wisdom   to
anticipate the repercussions of his actions.

      Let  us  return  to our original question:   If  God
desires  that Yosef go down to Egypt, why did it have  to
occur  in such a tortuous manner?  Why did Yosef have  to
suffer the humiliation and the agony of being thrown into
a pit and then sold off as a lowly slave?

      The  Torah describes the brothers' assault on Yosef
as  follows:  "When Yosef came up to his  brothers,  they
stripped  Yosef of his coat, the long-sleeved  coat  that
was on him, and took him and cast him into a pit" (37:23-
24).   The  brothers  first rip off his  coat,  since   it
symbolizes  the special status that Yosef enjoyed.   They
then  throw him into a pit and subsequently sell him  off
into  slavery.   Yosef experiences a dramatic  fall.   He
deteriorates  from being the preferred son  with  special
privileges  to being a powerless slave.  I  believe  this
fall is not accidental.

      Yosef,  as his prophetic dreams predict, is   indeed
destined  to  lead  his brothers.  His  special  talents,
recognized by his father Ya'akov, make him fit  for  this
task.   Yosef,  however, has a serious  problem.   He   is
completely  engrossed  in the idea  of  ruling  over  his
brothers.   He  has  become drunk with the  prospects  of
power.   He  behaves  pompously and  smugly  towards   his
brothers   and  they  hate  him  for  this.    He   reacts
immaturely  to  the prospect of being designated  leader.
He  holds  it to his merit, and instead of preparing  for
the    responsibilities   of   leadership,    he   behaves
condescendingly  towards his bro  It is this  immaturity,
pointed  out  by the Sforno, and his misunderstanding  of
the function of leadership, which require correction.

      So long as Yosef relates to his leadership position
as  he  does, he is not worthy of it.  He is stripped  of
his coat and left totally powerless.  He must realize the
true  source  and  objective  of  his  power.    For  this
purpose, Yosef sinks to the lowest stratum of society, to
slavery.    Through   his  downfall   he    realizes   his
vulnerability.   He  is no longer the  arrogant  lad  who
flaunts  his self-perceived power and importance.   Yosef
realizes  that he misunderstood his dreams.  The  purpose
of  his  future greatness is not so that his  family  bow
down to him.  The purpose of his power, intimated by  the
dream  of  the sheaves of grain, is that he  sustain  his
family during the famine.  His greatness is not his  own;
it  stems  from  God and was bestowed upon  him  for  the
purpose  of accomplishing God's plan for the building  of
the nation of Yisrael.

     It is only after Yosef comes to the realization that
God  is  the  source  of his power that  his  dreams   are
realized.   When Yosef's brothers go down to Egypt,  they
do not recognize that the Egyptian ruler speaking to them
is  none other then their brother Yosef.  This is due not
only to the change in his external appearance, but to the
change   in  his  personality.   He  is  no   longer   the
presumptuous lad who flaunts and boasts of his  greatness
at  every possible opportunity.  He is Yosef, viceroy  of
Egypt and sustainer of the House of Ya'akov.

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