ON THE PARSHA Parshas VaYeishev by Dovid Lipman, Israel Year 2, No. 9 Introduction This parsha, which tells how a schism in the Jewish nation originated, has six parts: 1) Yoseif's Dreams [TWOTS] 2) Yoseif is Sold [RAUW] 3) Yehuda's First Wife [WON] 4) Yehuda and Tamar [FTG] 5) Yoseif's Temptation [DYR] 6) Yoseif in Prison [ATTL] 1. Yoseif's Dreams -- 37:1 [Beg.] to 37:11 [Aliyah 2] Yaakov favors Yoseif over his older brothers, and makes him a special robe, arousing their jealousy. Yoseif then has two dreams, each showing him ruling over them. Upon hearing the dreams, they hate him [out of jealousy]. The World of the Supernatural (37:1) "And Yaakov settled..." Rashi says the contrast between the quick summary of Eisav's family history in last week's parsha and the detailed story of Yaakov's from here to the end of the Torah shows that Yaakov is more important. The Ramban actually says this is the style of all of B'reishis - focusing in on the good and ignoring the evil. Why does Rashi say it only here? We see that Yishma'el is 'openly rejected' - the Torah makes it clear that his family is not chosen, as he was expelled by Avraham, and the last word on him is "he fell". But Eisav, who will battle for the claim to the Chosen People with the Jews, is not expelled - we could think he's still accepted. So Rashi notes the stylistic way the Torah hints that he, too, is rejected by Hashem. 2. Yoseif is Sold -- 37:12 [Al. 2] to 37:36 [end, Chap. 37] Yaakov sends Yoseif to check on his brothers, who tend the sheep near Sh'chem. As he approaches, they plan to kill him, but Reuvain convinces them to throw him in a pit. Then, while Reuvain is away, they sell him to a passing caravan headed for Egypt; Yehuda's idea. Reuvain is stunned at the failure of his rescue plan, but he helps trick Yaakov, who indeed believes Yoseif killed by beasts, and mourns him. Rare and Unusual Words (37:24) "Reik". This word, meaning "empty" can be linked to "Ravak", the Talmudic Term for an unmarried man, for without a wife, man is truly empty. 3. Yehuda's First Wife -- 38:1 to 38:11 Yehuda marries a merchant's daughter and has three sons, Eir, Onan, and Sheilah. Eir marries, but dies soon for his sins. Yehuda tells Onan to fulfill 'Yibum', to marry his Eir's wife Tamar, but Onan, does the mitzvah in an evil way, and he too dies. Yehuda delays having Sheilah marry Tamar, and he sends her home to wait. Worthy of Note (38:11) "...until my son Sheilah grows up, for he said [to himself] 'maybe he will also die...' " The simple meaning is that he lied to her, but the Noda BiYehuda says he told her the fear of Sheilah dying only applied before he grew up. The gemara says the mitzvah of Yibum can be done even if the woman is a 'katlanis', marriage to whom is considered a danger. Therefore, when Sheilah would grow up and become a "bar-mitzvah", he could marry her - as a mitzvah. 4. Yehudah and Tamar -- 38:12 to 38:30 [End, Chap. 38] After Yehuda's first wife dies, he buries himself in shepherding, near the home of Tamar, who sees her last chance to have children. She disguises herself and is successful, taking Yehuda's personal items as security for payment. When Tamar is found pregnant, she tells Yehuda the father is the owner of those items, and he publicly admits it was him. She later has twins. From the Gemara (38:20) Chulin 113b - The word 'gedi' always means a kid goat, so why is 'goat' added? So we learn that 'kid' in the Torah includes a young sheep or even a cow, which shows that all animals' meat may not be cooked with milk, not just that of a goat. 5. Yoseif's Temptation -- Chap. 39 Yoseif is sold to the Egyptian Royal Slaughtermaster, who soon promotes him repeatedly until he runs the whole household. When his master's wife tries to seduce him, he refuses, and finally she has him thrown in prison, where he's also put in charge, caring for the prisoners. Do You Remember? - from the files of On the Parsha 1. Who claimed responsibility for Tamar's pregnancy? 2. What does Yoseif's pit teach us about Chanukah? 3. When did Reuvain admit his sin? 4. How can one avoid miscarriages? 5. Yehuda saved Yoseif from the pit - is he a hero? 6. Yoseif in Prison -- Chap. 40 Two officers of Par'oh are thrown into Yoseif's prison, and he interprets a disturbing dream for each; one is to be restored (the Chief Steward) the other hung (the Chief Baker). Yoseif asks the Steward to get him out of jail, but though he's saved, he forgets Yoseif. A Time to Laugh (40:20) "...a party for all his servants..." Why did Par'oh's party exclude the officers (as opposed to Achashverosh's parties -- Esther 1:3 and 2:18)? Well, obviously Par'oh's party included his officers, who were released from prison, buit Par'oh was so full of himself that to him, his officers were ALSO servants.