Ziv : Parashat Vayeshev

Joseph the saint

We begin this week reading the story of Joseph and his brothers which will go on to the end of the book of Genesis. Its title is: “and he settled”… Jacob yearns for calm and peace, and he decides to dwell in the midst of the sons of Esau. He thinks that he has at last found peace and rest… but the life of the sons of Israel, and therefore, of the patriarchs, is not made for easy living. Jacob will learn this through his favorite son, the young Joseph.

Many commentaries sought to understand the complex personality of this patriarch. He is often described as sure of himself, proud and giving bad reports of his brothers. Because of this he is loathed by his siblings. He is introduced as the favorite son of his father, who gives him a magnificent robe. He is sent to meet his brothers in Shechem, in spite of his father knowing of the resentment of his brothers. He is thrown into a pit and sold to some Midianite merchants. He is bought for the service of Potiphar, and thrown into prison again. He will be liberated, and will find himself overnight at nearly the same rank as Pharaoh himself.

This story gives the feeling that Joseph is no more than a puppet on a string manipulated by somebody else… He seems to be the mere toy of blind fate, with no master at all over his life. For instance, both Jacob and Joseph knew that he was hated by the other brothers and yet, he is sent, and he does not object to the order. On the contrary, he goes through to the end. He does not only look for his brothers in Shechem, as Jacob told him, but also as far as Dotan, where he risks his life… Rashi even says that he came to them with praise and compliments. Joseph is in fact led by naive innocence, a blind trust in others. He is simply not able to imagine evil, as a true “tsadik”, a just man, and this is the key of his story. He is unable to imagine the evil that is not in his own heart… He trusts his brothers and Potiphar’s wife. He does not hesitate to be alone with her, in spite of many hints of the lurking danger. He even tries to teach her how to fear God… and he also does not think that Pharaoh’s cupbearer will forget him. All his sufferings are rooted in this mark of his character: Joseph cannot see the evil around him. He can only trust, and therefore, he falls in all the traps prepared for him…

It is this innocence that is behind his hardships, and not blind fate. History will show that he is right: it is for a greater good that Joseph had to descend to Egypt. He will then begin to realize the promise made to Abraham during the “covenant between the pieces” (cf. Genesis 15). Shabbat shalom.