CHOCHMAS NASHIM: VAYEISHEV/VAYISHLACH: FAVORED NATION STATUS
By: Suri Davis
In a nutshell, this week’s torah portion discusses how Joseph, the favored son of his father, Jacob, the object of abject jealousy by his brothers, reveals to his family the dreams he has that the sheaves of wheat belonging to his brothers, bow to his sheath of wheat. In the second dream, the moon and the sun and eleven stars bow down to Joseph. The brothers are enraged. At the first chance they get, the 10 brothers throw Joseph in a pit, sell him off as a slave.
Joseph is elevated to staff in Potiphar’s home, who is royalty in Egypt. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph and he rebuffs her advances, but is not believed, and ends up in jail. In jail, Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharoah’s baker and sommelier. As they are redeemed from jail, Joseph asks them to remember him so that he may redeemed, and the parshah ends with “vayishkachehu/[the sommelier] forgets him,” tragic…leaves Joseph in jail, forgotten.
Next week’s torah portion reveals that Joseph is finally redeemed from jail. He assists Pharaoh in interpreting his dreams, and he is made a viceroy of Egypt. Joseph not only interprets Pharaoh’s dream that there will be seven years of plenty of food followed by seven years of famine, but then devises and reveals a plan that would save the country from famine. Joseph is then placed in charge of the program to save food during the years of abundance and apportion food in years of famine.
One day, he sees a group of people approaching and he recognizes that they are his brother. He has a choice of taking revenge on them for their having sold him as a slave, but he doesn’t. The Torah tells us Genesis 42:9
| 8Now Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. | חוַיַּכֵּ֥ר יוֹסֵ֖ף אֶת־אֶחָ֑יו וְהֵ֖ם לֹ֥א הִכִּרֻֽהוּ: | |
| 9And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” | טוַיִּזְכֹּ֣ר יוֹסֵ֔ף אֵ֚ת הַֽחֲלֹמ֔וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר חָלַ֖ם לָהֶ֑ם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֲלֵהֶם֙ מְרַגְּלִ֣ים אַתֶּ֔ם לִרְא֛וֹת אֶת־עֶרְוַ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ בָּאתֶֽם: |
Joseph remembered the dreams set forth in his youth re: sheaves of wheat and constellations. When Joseph revealed his dreams to his brothers, they were enraged and they scoffed. But Jacob took note of the dreams and waited for them to come to pass, it was just a matter of time. Joseph had to walk his journey so that it would come to pass.
Next week’s parshah is that moment. His brothers appear before him, minus his brother Benjamin. He could have trumped up charges against them all and thrown them into jail, but, as the verse tells us, he remembered his childhood dream, and understood immediately, that it was the fulfillment of that dream, and that it was now in play.
Joseph had full belief in G-d all along, this verse permits the reader to catch up with Joseph’s faith, to understand that all the trials and tribulations Joseph went through, was to bring him to this moment of grander, ruler over his brothers as well.
Let’s take a moment here then to pause and figure out what was going on for Jacob. Jacob has faith in G-d and understands that Joseph dreams should come to pass. What happens when his sons tell him that Joseph has died, and the dream has not come to pass. The sons show him proof of the bloodied coat, but somewhere deep inside of Jacob there is turbulence and a failure of resolution, like in music when, at the end of a piece, there is a dominant, awaiting its tonic.
Jacob mourns, but has no inner peace. Could it be that the word of G-d did not come to pass. Could it be that Joseph is out there, and his father is not there to protect him from his brothers, who represent world evil.
And once again, as has been our theme these past weeks, we see what seems to be evil and tragedy happening to Joseph and his father who is placed into mourning over his faith and his favored son. And once again, G-d reveals that in a moment that appears dark for Joseph, there is testing, which he withstands by Potiphar’s wife’s attempted seduction, by being thrown into jail, and he stays true to his faith and religion, and we see redemption.
But at this moment, why doesn’t Joseph send a messenger to his father to let him know he is alive. Why does he wait any longer to provide his father relief from his mourning? Rochel Chein at Chabad.org explains:
This question has troubled many of the biblical commentaries. How could Joseph have allowed his father to mourn him for so long? Why didn’t he let Jacob know that he was alive? Egypt is not so far from Canaan, and it was certainly within Joseph’s means to dispatch a courier to his father with the good news that he was alive and well.
Here are a few of the answers that are given:
Nachmanides explains (in his commentary on Genesis 42:9) that Joseph understood that his dreams (detailed in Genesis 37) were actual prophecies and would be fulfilled in their entirety. In Joseph’s first dream, his eleven brothers were bowing down to him. In the second, his father was included too. Joseph concluded that the first dream must be realized in its entirety before the second one would be fulfilled. Had he sent a message to Jacob, he certainly would have come to see him immediately—and the second dream would have come true before the first. He therefore waited until after all eleven of his brothers – including Benjamin – had come to him, in fulfillment of the first dream, before revealing his identity to his brothers and instructing them to bring Jacob down to Egypt.1
Iturei Torah (a collection of Torah thoughts by Rabbi AharonYaakov Greenberg) cites a suggestion that Joseph was concerned that G‑d would punish his brothers for selling him. He therefore wanted to ensure that they repented. The optimal level of repentance is when the transgressor finds himself in the same situation as when he was tempted to sin in the first place, and this time chooses not to sin. The brothers sold Joseph into slavery out of jealousy. Joseph gave his brothers gifts, and he gave Benjamin a bigger gift (ibid. 43:34) to arouse their jealousy. He arranged for Benjamin to be framed as a thief so that he could claim Benjamin as his slave. When the brothers fought for Benjamin’s release, without the slightest hint of envy, Joseph saw that their repentance was complete. He immediately revealed himself and told the brothers to let Jacob know that he was still alive. Had Joseph let his father know earlier that he was still alive, his brothers would never have had the opportunity to demonstrate complete repentance.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe answers this question (Likutei Sichot vol. 10 p. 129ff) based on Rashi’s assertion (in his commentary on Gen. 37:33) that Isaac, Jacob’s father, prophetically knew that Joseph was alive—but didn’t tell Jacob. “How can I tell him,” Isaac reasoned, “when G‑d chooses to keep it a secret from him?” Joseph simply followed the same logic. He knew that G‑d had sent him to Egypt for a reason, and that G‑d didn’t want Jacob to know where he was. Joseph, therefore, refrained from sending a message to his father—though the knowledge that his father was mourning his supposed demise must have certainly pained him immensely.
The story of Joseph which spans many torah portions is elaborate, like the machinations revealed in the Megillot of Esther and Ruth. How the tale builds and the unfolds to conclusion, reveals G-d’s hand in the details. Emunah/faith that immediately before redemption are the darkest moments.
Even down to the literal last drop. The Macabees find a small pitcher of pure oil with which to light the holy temple, why didn’t they find enough for eight days? Faith. The Macabees could have held off on lighting the Menorah until they had enough for a continuous supply, yet they took the small amount of pure olive oil they had and had faith that the oil would last until they could produce oil naturally, eight days later. Take one step towards G-d and He will complete the distance.
Thankful. Gratitude.
Happy Thanksgiving. Freilich Chanukkah.
-Suri