ר"ע תיתד תונויצל ינויערה גוחה ,םולשו זוע

"And thus it was, on the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a great drinking-feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker amidst his servants." (Bereishit 40;20)

"Let this New-Moon shall be for you the beginning of New-Moons." – By way of example: A son was born to a king, and the king made a celebration. The son was taken into captivity for many years. Eventually he was redeemed, and the king made for him a royal party. Before the Israelites went down into Egypt, they would count by the servitude; after they had gone down and were enslaved there, the Holy One performed miracles for them and they were redeemed. They then began to count by months, as is written, "Let this New-Moon shall be for you the beginning of New-Moons." (Shemot Rabba 15)

"Let this New-Moon shall be for you the beginning of New-Moons." By way of example: A son was born to a king. The Holy One performed for them miracles and they were redeemed. They began to count by months, as is written "Let this New-Moon shall be for you the beginning of New-Moons." The meaning of the explication (droosh) is like the example. Until now the king would always make the celebration on the birthday, and so with all his sons. But this particular son became special because he was taken captive, and from then on, the celebration was held on the day of his redemption. So is Israel different from all nations. It is proper that the years of the world be counted from Tishrei, which is the birthday of the world and of the first man/Adam; but because they were taken captive and redeemed, God said to him "Let this New-Moon shall be for you . . .

(Igra D'Kalla, p.180b)

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"AND YAAKOV SETTLED – A TERM OF SORROW" . . . REALLY?

"Yaakov settled in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan." Said Rabbi Yochanan: "The phrase "And he settled" is always an expression of sorrow." (Sanhedrin 106a). This is a criticism of 'settling down'. According to Rabbi Yochanan, Yaakov should have known that the tzaddik, the righteous person, cannot dwell in tranquillity in this world, only in the next one -- as the midrash says: "Yaakov desired to dwell in peace, the calamity of Joseph pounced upon him." Yaakov should have "dwelt" – temporarily – rather than seeking to settle. He should have been a "sojourner and dweller", like his father and his grandfather. Alternatively, according to an different understanding/suggestion of the midrash , he should have been busy converting non-believers, as is written in Bereishit Rabba 84:4: "What is the meaning of "megoorei aviv" (his father's sojournings)? "Megooyarei aviv" (his father's converts). He should not have sought to settle down; but because he did, "the calamity of Joseph pounced upon him." Or, as the Talmud continues, "And Yaakov settled in the land of his father's sojournings" and soon thereafter it is written "And Yosef brought an ill report of them. . ."

The parasha of "Vayeshev" is rich with tales (the selling of Joseph – Joseph in Potiphar's home – Joseph in jail – the story of Yehuda and Tamar, etc) and with subject matter (the dreams of Yosef and the later dreams of the royal cupbearer and baker – fraternal jealousy – the mitzvah of levirate marriage – the birth of the precursor of the messiah, etc.). "Vayeshev" constitutes a critical stage in the Book of Bereishit. If we focus on the important topic of the begettings ("These are the begettings of the heavens and the earth; their being created," "This is the record of the begettings of Adam/Humankind," "These are the begettings of Yitzhak son of Avraham," and in our parasha, "These are the begettings of Yaakov, Yosef"), the theme of the creation of the families of the earth -- with special emphasis on the begettings of the three patriarchs and four matriarchs – we realize that the parasha of "Vayeshev" is a crossroads.

The tribes have been born; Yaakov has received the name "Yisrael"; he has earned the appellation "his bed is complete." He seems -- in the eyes of our Sages –to have been the inheritor and synthesizer of the characters of Avraham ("his courage is righteousness") and Yitzhak ("unblemished offering"). Would it not have been appropriate to finish the Book at this point and to consider the creation of the nation completed?

It would also have seemed proper to include two more subjects in the Book of Bereishit. In line with "the Covenant between the Pieces" in which Avraham is told "Your descendants will be strangers in a land not theirs," it might have seemed fit to include the period of the exile in Egypt. Another equally suitable subject for inclusion would seem to be that central theme which is the subject of our discussion. This subject is introduced immediately with the opening words of the parasha; it is the subject of man's role in the world. The description of the begettings answers the question: "Who is man?" The question awaiting response is "Why is man in the world?"

Many thinkers have contemplated the purpose of human life. Some read the book of Kohellet as an essay on this subject (see Leibovitz, Yeshaayahu, Five Books of Faith) . This is an ancient philosophical inquiry, and is also a subject for psycho- analytical deliberation.

Man, by nature, is caught up in a dynamic struggle between his desire for development and progress and the tendency to stop and to rest; between the drive for goal achievement -- both on the personal and the ideological levels -- and the propensity for repose and tranquillity; between the craving for pleasure and the need for delaying satisfaction..

Every person deals differently with this inner dynamic, with these internal antithetical forces. Perhaps, in our parasha, Yehuda, Yosef, Dina and the ten brothers are examples of various modes of coping with the subject. And since we are in the Book of Bereishit, each of the above is both an individual and a national – or even a universal – symbol.

1. Yosef dreams great dreams of the future. He envisions a future in which he and his brother are farmers (no longer shepherds as were his fathers). This wish is interpreted by his father and brothers not as a desire for change, but as a desire for domination over them. As a result of the split between him and his brothers, he finds himself continuing in his father's steps, ostensibly against his will, as though a victim of circumstance. The midrash (Bereishit Rabba 84:5) compares the life of Yosef with that of Yaakov, detecting twenty-four parallels (including "this one lived far from his father and mother, and this one lived far from his father and mother; this one lived abroad and this one lived abroad"). This hints that, although a plain reading might suggest that Yosef strikes out on very different and unplanned path, he is actually continuing on his father's path. Some midrashim manage to argue that Yosef's behavior is under his control, in coordination with his father (e.i., Daat Zekaynim of the Baalei Tosaphot on the passage, "and he saw the wagons", Bereishit 35:27) Whether he was in control or not, Yosef realizes his dreams, and continues in the ways of his father.
2. Many commentators base the controversy between Yosef and his brothers not on fraternal jealousy, but upon a different principle. The brothers do not act out of jealousy of him; they judge and sentence him to death because of his desire to continue in his fathers' way, the way in which history progresses according to the principle of appointment and choice. They suspect him of wanting to rise above them – or even worse - of wanting to disqualify them. Therefore, they disqualify him.
3. Yehuda, on his own, goes down to a different land and raises a family. One of his progeny will be ancestor of the anointed king (Peretz, great-great- grandfather of David, son of Yishai). Thus he continues in the ways of his fathers.
4. Dina also "went out". In her "going out", together with the dramatic Shechem incident, lies hidden a special and tortuous way of secontinuation of the patriarchs' ways. Perhaps it is the search for bringing the number of tribes to the 'complete' number thirteen. So teaches Rabbi Yehuda Ashkenazi, who described Shechem as seeking – in a perverted and barbaric fashion – to join the destiny of the People of Israel.

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"And Yosef brought and ill report of them to their father." What did he say? Rabbi Meir says: They are suspect of eating flesh of a living animal. Rabbi Yehuda says: They are contemptuous of the sons of the maids, treating them as slaves. And Rabbi Shimon says: They are eyeing the local girls.

"And he brought an ill report of them [of his brothers]". In a midrash agadda which is in harmony with my explanation, he told his father 'They scorn the sons of the maids, but I respect them and am friendly with them.' Other commentators who seek the plain meaning missed the main point.

"And Yosef brought an ill report of them to their father." Certainly all the brothers, sons of the wives, disdained the sons of the maids, calling their mothers concubines and maids, and calling their sons slaves, and Yosef alone was friendly with the sons of Bilha and Zilpa, for he said that they were true wives of his father, and this is the reason that Reuven was disrespectful of Bilha, considering her to be a concubine rather than a wife, and therefore he lay with her. From he we clearly derive that all the sons of the wives reported ill of the sons of the maids, calling them slaves, and this is the meaning of "And Yosef brought an ill report of them to their father" – that same slander which the brothers spoke against the sons of the maids, Yosef brought to their father – father of the sons of Bilha and Zilpa. They should have considered their fathers' honor and not call his sons slaves. He thought that their father would defend their honor . . . and even though he too reported ill of them, "firm remained his bow", for he drew his bow and aimed it firmly in justice, for it is permissible to slander contentious persons (Yerushalmi, Peah, 1:1), and it was the brothers who had begun this quarrel by scorning the sons of the maids.

(Kli Yakar, ibid.)

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