Rabbi Daniel: Thoughts on Torah

Dear friends,

In 5786 we are reading the first triennial each week, which means starting each parsha at the beginning. The third verse of the first aliyah (37:3) is:

וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אָהַ֤ב אֶת־יוֹסֵף֙ מִכׇּל־בָּנָ֔יו כִּֽי־בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים ה֖וּא ל֑וֹ וְעָ֥שָׂה ל֖וֹ כְּתֹ֥נֶת פַּסִּֽים׃
Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons—he was his “child of old age”; and he had made him an ornamented tunic.

What is it that really gets Joseph in trouble with his brothers? Was Joseph a victim of circumstance or was his brothers' jealousy and anger of his own doing? Right from the start of Vayeshev, Joseph is apparently giving bad reports to his father about his brother's behavior herding sheep. This is even before the dreams that Joseph shares with them. The phrase used in regards to Jacob's feelings for Joseph, "child of his old age," is a curious one. 

Some commentators feel that it simply means that Joseph was the last son of Jacob. This seems unlikely because Benjamin is born after Joseph, so Joseph is not really Jacob's final child. Ramban says that the phrase means that Joseph was given the enviable position of caring for the patriarch in his old age. This would have put Joseph in a station where he would wait on his father, hand and foot, and was thus exempt from the work his brothers had to do. It seems disingenuous to put all the blame for how his brothers felt on the shoulders of Joseph himself. However, we are given a possible family structure that would inevitably cause strife between the chosen son and the other children.

A lingering question with me has always been Jacob's apparent lack of awareness that Joseph might come to some harm at the hand of his  brothers.  Repeatedly,   Jacob seems 

to be aware of the political realities that may come to pass for his family, but is completely oblivious to the dangerous internal family dynamics playing out right under his nose. As I said from the bimah this past Shabbat, though it can be difficult, members of a family must work hard to be attentive to all dynamics within a home: the personal, the relational, and the political.

The next time I send out Thoughts on Torah, it will be Hanukkah. Wishing everyone joyful days of preparation for our great festival of lights.

In peace,

Rabbi Daniel