Parashat Vayeshev
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Synopsis
The Parashat Vayeshev starts describing the huge love of Jacob for his son Joseph, what generates the anger of the others sons. The jealousy increases when Joseph tell them the two dreams that indicate that they are going to be subordinate to him.
Jacob sends Joseph to watch his brothers that are keeping the flock far away from home, and when they see him approaching, they plan killing him. Reuven persuade the brothers to do not kill Joseph, but he is unable to completely save him when the brothers sell Joseph as a slave in Egypt. After soak Joseph’s coat in blood, they turn back to their father, who belives that his loved son was dead by a wild animal. The Torah goes back to tell the story about Yehuda and his daughter in law, Tamar.
The narrative goes back to Joseph in Egypt, where he become a slave that get success and is in charged of his owner, Potitar, family’s business. Potitar’s wife try for several times seduce Joseph, and when he refuses she screams saying that he tried to force she. Joseph is send to the jail where again he is seen in a leadership position, this time in charged of the prisioners. Ten years later, the Farao’s chief butler and the baker are sent to the same prision. One night they have an intriguer dream, that Joseph interprets in an accurate way, and the story finishes when the butler goes back to his old position and the baker is killed as Joseph said before.
Message
Some biblical interpretors extract from the favoritism that Jacob shown to Joseph that people should never treat one of the children in a special manner. Although Jacob just gave the value of two coins more to Joseph than to the others sons, Joseph brothers got jealous and sold him as a slave. The most important consequence of this was the exile of our ancestors in Egypt. The Torah describes Joseph as being an old father to Jacob. Rashi adds that Joseph was the most studious student of Jacob, and that Jacob taught him everything that he had learned. Rabi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that the coat was a symbol of knowledge transmission from father to son, and this is what makes Joseph special. Jacob saw Joseph as a continuity of the Patriarchs that started with Abraham.
That was a main problem to highlight Joseph. His brothers do not jeer the father’s knowledge as Esau did with com Yitschak and Yishmael did with Abraham. The brothers just wanted to be a part the tradition chain and receive the rewards for their father’s knowledge. Feeling that Jacob did not give the attention that they feel deserve, they hated Joseph. The brothers felt that Joseph and his coat were a signal of their inferiority. The jealousy blocked communication with Joseph. When they were mean to Joseph the referred to him as “he” and never by his name. They coveted their father’s love so much they just saw Joseph as “he”, available to be thrown out, if it was necessary. Just Yehuda stands up and calls Joseph as our brother. Just recognizing that he was from the same family, what includes responsibility and a way of possession (OUR brother), the brothers behave their selves better with Joseph. Clearly , the Torah shows that the consequences of different treatments by parents to their children can be disasterous and it is important to each one to recognize the individual qualities of each one.
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