Parashat Vayeshev 5770
The Profound Word
Howard S. Joseph
http://TheProfoundWord.com
Why Joseph?
Genesis 37
1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
2 This is the account of Jacob.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Jacob is home. The old familiar territory of his youth. It’s time to settle down. He has met the challenges of Laban and Esau. The tragedy of Dinah’s seduction is behind him. The embarrassment of his sons’ vicious attacks on Shekhem is over. Maybe he can finally live quietly, at peace, in security. It is not to be.
Rashi, from the Midrash Rabbah:
When Jacob sought to dwell in tranquility, the troubles of Joseph sprang upon him. The righteous seek to dwell in tranquility. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, What is prepared for the righteous in the world to come is not sufficient for them, but they seek [also] to dwell in tranquility in this world!?
Jacob cannot find peace. There is still much to do. He may have learned how to deal with outsiders but what about his own family? His challenge is to provide leadership and continuity for the future without causing the kind of family intrigue and division that he experienced years ago. It appears soon enough that he is headed for failure.
What compels him towards Joseph? Is it his great love for Rachel, Joseph’s mother? Is that sufficient to risk the destiny of Abraham’s mission? And would the problems have been any less if he had chosen another from among his twelve sons? Or, would a different choice have been more acceptable to the family without the cockiness of a Joseph with his dreams and new coat?
But wait a minute. Is it Jacob who loves Joseph? Actually, not.
Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons.
Jacob now bears two names: Jacob and Israel. In his capacity as Israel, the father of the nation to be, he chooses Joseph.
Neziv [in HD]:
It does not say ‘Jacob loved’ to teach us that this love was not based on physical matters or service to him. He saw in Joseph spiritual qualities that were worthy of love…. He saw a resemblance to his own self more than the other sons who may have had other outstanding virtues…. Joseph was unique in this way… for he showed the quality of kindness and love of peace that Jacob valued in the ways of the world. In this quality Joseph was superior to his brothers.
Jacob’s interest in Joseph is because Jacob’ vision for the future required the nation to seek to live in peace with its neighbors in order to be secure and to have a chance to impact on the world: to be a blessing. Joseph, he believes, can lead them into this path. Despite his youthful immaturity he would grow in this direction. ‘his father kept the matter in mind.’ Jacob, as Israel, was impressed. For Jacob has become Israel. No longer the innocent tent dweller of his youth. He has been in the field and learned to manage. Twenty years with Laban, a serious confrontation with Esau ? he has proven himself as a man of action in the ways of the world, in the field. As his father noted during the deception scene, he has the voice of Jacob and the hands of Esau. This is the desired combination. The man of peace who knows how and when to engage in struggle, and when to pick up the sword to engage in battle.
Neziv first sees this aspect of Joseph back in the Esau confrontation. At 33;7 he points out that Joseph is the only child mentioned by name when all came to greet Uncle Esau. He seems to stand a protective manner before his mother, says Rashi.
Neziv adds:
We can add [to Rashi's comment] that Joseph here demonstrated his grasp of Jacob’s policy to humble himself before his adversaries. Therefore, he hastened to bow unlike the other children who only acted at their father’s behest and not on their own initiative. Joseph grasped his father’s virtue on this point…. So too in the future as did King Ahab before the King of Aram…. The quality of Jacob is clearly recognized.
Jacob’s choice of Joseph was not capricious or impulsive. It was based on a clear recognition that he was the most committed to Jacob’s understanding of what the future required. Humility and the desire for peace more than ego glorification was necessary. But was this sufficient?
Actually, not. There is another part of Jacob’s vision that is also necessary. Neziv repeatedly returns to this aspect of Jacob’s comprehensive programmatic vision for the future.
The Vision of Jacob
The vision of Jacob is clearly expressed in Deuteronomy 33:28:
Vayishkon Yisrael betah badad ein Yaakov.
Israel shall dwell in safety and alone, [according to] the vision of Jacob.
There are numerous translations of the Hebrew ‘ein’: eye, spring, fountain, blessing. Neziv believes in the ‘eye’ source of the world but in its present form understands it to mean the vision of Jacob which is the the vision of a people that dwells alone in security and safety, loyal to God and the ways of God, and bringing blessing into the world. Israel must maintain its unique identity and not assimilate into the nations of the world or the vision will be lost and Abraham’s blessing will be gone. That cannot be let to happen.
Jacob needs a descendant to share this part of the vision as well. Does Joseph?
Before we can answer that question, Joseph now disappears from Jacob’s life. As a result of the feud with his brothers he ends up in Egypt. There, away from family conflicts, his prodigious talents emerge.
As Vayeshev ends we are left hanging? somewhat like Pharaoh’s erstwhile baker – waiting for many answers to some profound questions.
Shabbat Shalom
Kislev 25 5770
December 12, 2009