"Yosef brought evil report on his brothers." This is not to be taken literally, i.e., that Yosef, the tzaddik, was speaking lashon hara (slanderous speech) against his brothers. But the true tzaddik cannot stand even the slightest trace of falsehood. The brothers came to see that they could have no existence so long as Yosef was around their father Yaakov. They'd be pushed away by Yosef's holiness - righteousness that is above all of this world, as it says, "Your brother is a nazir" (one who separates himself from the world in a vow of abstinence). Further, Yosef is called "son of Yaakov's old age." That is, he was born in holiness and knew nothing of the evil of this world. Thus, he couldn't suffer his brother's actions even though they were also tzaddikim. It was therefore necessary for him be in exile in Mitzrayim, for then he would know and understand that his brothers were also tzaddikim (Sefat Emet, p. 164).
(After the brothers put Yosef in the pit,) "They sat down to eat bread," and this pasuk can also be read, "to feed (the world) bread." Because by dethroning Yosef the brothers made it that the whole world had an opportunity to get sustenance. Since Yosef was on such an exalted level, had he ruled without opposition it would have been considered that the world wasn't fit to be sustained but the way of the brothers was to give livelihood to the entire world. Thus, they prepared the way for all of the generations of Klal Yisrael including those on a lesser level.
The initial separation of Yosef in exile enabled the brothers to bring their own potential into the world. Thus, there is heavenly bread (Yosef) and there is earthly bread (the brothers). The 12 breads of the Mishkan represent the 12 tribes, while the levonah, the rarefied spice, is a reminder of Yosef, who is the special aspect of remembering, connecting to the highest levels of holiness.
The disagreement between Yosef and the brothers is the root of exile. The purpose of exile is to clarify the holiness that is found in all places (all the brothers). But if the B'nei Yisrael had merited, then their holiness would have shone without exile from the Mikdash and the Land of Israel, to whole world. They would have ruled from afar through the aspect of Yosef. But when there is disunity they need to be scattered all over so that Hashem can gather those that have been pushed away (p. 178).
VaYeshev
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
The six thousand years of creation are a turning, cyclical process which keeps moving things around until they return to the point where they started - in unity. It is from unity that the wheel (galgal) started and it keeps rotating until it eventually comes to rest in eternal life�The first manifestation of this return to unity is the advent of Mashiach (Kelach Pitchei Chochmah of the Ramchal, p. 188).
"�these are the chiefs of Edom according to their habitations in the land they possessed, Esav is the father of Edom. And Yaakov dwelt in the land his fathers inhabited, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Yaakov, Yosef�" (Bereishit 36:42 and 37:1-2). The Midrash Tanchumah finds significance in the juxtaposition of the generations of Esav and those of Yaakov. The chiefs of Edom are enumerated briefly like the generations preceding Noach and those preceding Avraham. Then when the Torah wishes to tells us the generations of tzaddikim it does so at great length: "These are the generations of Yaakov, Yosef." This is compared to a person sifting through sand (chol) in search of a precious stone. When he finds a pearl he throws away the pebbles and keeps the jewel.
But there is a question on the comparison of the generations preceding Noach and Avraham and listing the generations of Esav before Yaakov. In regards to Noach and Avraham the nine generations listed preceded chronologically the tzaddikim that followed. That is not the case with Esav and Yaakov. Yaakov was already living when the descendents of Esav were born.
How then can the midrash compare the generations of Esav to those preceding Avraham and Noach? How are they like the rubble that is discarded when the precious has been revealed? The answer is that in order for Yaakov to reach his level of completion, "And Yaakov dwelt in the land," it was necessary for him to face the powerful adversity of Esav's descendents. Therefore the pasuk first says, "These are the kings of Esav" and then, "Yaakov dwelt."
And really the only reason why wicked Esav achieved power was in order that the tzaddik should come to transform himself and through this reach an even higher level of holiness. This is the true understanding of the pasuk in Toledot, "One nation from the other will gain strength" (Bereishit 25:23). The additional holiness (tosefit - same root as Yosef) that is reached within comes through the challenge of the other who is outside.
This Divine purpose was the whole source of Esav's power and ascendancy. Only through Esav's power could the side of holiness come to greater potency and strength. In this sense, it is actually because of Yaakov that Esav gains power. Esav's power serves Yaakov in a hidden way. When the forces of evil are "in ascendancy" the relationship can seem to be the opposite.
The midrash compares this to the stalks in the field bragging that they are the reason that the farmer planted in the first place. But when the wheat has been collected and the chaff is blown away by the wind, then it becomes clear that it was only there to guard the wheat. And this will only really be clear when every bit of wheat has been broken out from the waste and the process is complete (Sefat Emet 165).
King Of Kings
There are different kinds of suffering that a person can undergo. We usually associate these kind of trials with a necessary atonement for sin. But there is another type of suffering which tzaddikim pass through which comes in order that he can perfect himself and the world. Yaakov's difficulties were of this nature. And his worst suffering came from losing Yosef.
More than anything we see Yaakov's response in his patience and his quiet. But from his few words we can see his pain, whether it is because of the maltreatment of Lavan or when he speaks to Paroh about the years without Yosef. Nevertheless, hovering around Yaakov's silence is a strength of faith that holds his family together in holiness. It is a faith that surpasses Yaakov's ability to remain joyous and it sometimes challenges his access to ruach hakodesh. This is a mesirut nefesh that has no grand act of bravery. The suffering of Yaakov is a holy extension of faith past the boundaries of self and it is Yosef's task to continue this way of Yaakov. While he inherits Yaakov's faith, he is also given the gift of kingship. Yosef's test is to join the exalted potential of rulership with the patience to let Hashem work out His plan through him. Over and over we see Yosef try to push things forward towards their fulfillment and over and over Hashem makes him wait. The greatness of Yosef is that he creates from his falls the foundation of an ever great ascent bringing more and more of his world into holiness when his kingship is fulfilled. In the end, Yosef's rulership in the depths of Mitzrayim sets up the conditions for Yisrael becoming a nation, acquiring the wealth of Mitzrayim and receiving the Torah. Only a patience that is greater than one's self, allowing Hashem's will to transform our plans till we become a vessel for His unfathomable will - only such a patience born of faith ultimately made Yosef worthy of the kingship he would achieve.
From The Depths
One can imagine that when Yaakov gave the coat of colors to Yosef he bestowed it with trepidation as well as love. Like it says mysteriously later on when Yaakov sent Yosef towards his future, "So he (Yaakov) sent him (Yosef) out of the valley of Chevron and he came to Shechem." Rashi comments, "But is not Chevron situated up on a hill? (Why does the pasuk refer to Chevron as a vale, a place which is down low?) "It is speaking of the profound depth of what came from the righteous man buried in Chevron, Avraham, who was told in the 'Pact between the Pieces' that his seed would be a stranger in a strange land." Yaakov gave Yosef the mantle of kingship. When he sent Yosef out alone to encounter his brothers, Yaakov must have known full well that his special relationship with Yosef had set his sons at odds. The critical moments leading to exile were about to take place.
The coat appears to have a divisive effect. Rashi says the letters of "passim" stand for four mini-exiles that Yosef experiences on his way down to Mitzrayim: "Peh" is Potifar, "Samech" is Socharim (merchants), "Yud" is Yishmaelim, "Mem" is Midianites. In some sense the history of Yosef contains in miniature the history of the four exiles of the Jewish people. And all of this springs from one source: our need to establish unity within our own family and nation. Yaakov's singling out of Yosef for the mantle of leadership may have been a true choice, but it was also fraught with danger. A danger that Yaakov knew all too well. This tension would have to be played out between Yosef and his brothers - and then many times, over and over again, throughout our history.
The Blood Of The Goat
When the brothers dispatched Yosef from the pit, they sold him to Midianite nomads headed down to Mitzrayim. The brothers then took his beautiful coat, slaughtered a goat and drenched the garment in its blood. Rashi says they used a goat because its blood is the most similar to that of a human being. Yosef's mantle, the very coat that his father Yaakov had made for him to show his special love, became the evidence presented to the father that his favorite son had been torn apart by wild beasts.
When the brothers refer to Yosef's fate they are not merely making a fiction. They are also hinting at what they actually did, joining together in a beastly act. They are expressing their guilt for sending Yosef into exile - if not oblivion. But even as they desire to disclose their actions to their father, they hide it behind half-statements for fear of the shock they would cause him. As a result, the secret of their crime against Yosef remains hidden among themselves. Thus, ironically, in spite of what they tried to do in getting rid of Yosef, he persists as the uniting force among the brothers: first in jealousy and hatred, then in guilt and, only at the end, in forgiveness and reconciliation.
While the brothers are represented by the "wild animals that have torn Yosef apart," the goat represents the young Yosef. The goat is a symbol of foolishness. It has a beard, yet it lacks wisdom. Yosef was the son of the beard, inheritor of his father's wisdom, but he had not yet matured. Indeed, we will see that when the brothers meet Yosef as reigning viceroy in Mitzrayim, they fail to recognize him because, as Rashi tells us, he has matured and grown a beard. But for now, at age seventeen, Yosef suffers from greatness which lacks compassion and mature wisdom. It is only through "burial," sending Yosef down into the morass of Mitzrayim, that the full effect of who he is can in any sense be felt. The brothers share a collective guilt for his fate and this remains covered up, buried painfully within the family until it can rise again in a unifying way. When they later seek Yosef in Mitzrayim they are looking for the way to repair the tear they have made in the family and overcome their guilt even while they lack full awareness of what their search entails. Nor do they really understand the consequences they need to face. Nevertheless, they are led by hashgachah (providence). They are brought down to Mitzrayim by famine. They are taken to the source of their guilt by "circumstance" - the only place that it can be resolved. For, as we say, Hashem leads us in the direction that we wish to go. On some level the brothers know that within them lies the key to a deep unity.
The Secret Of Gilgul
When the parashah tells the story of Yehudah, his sons and Tamar, it briefly mentions the subject of yibum, levirate marriage. The surviving brother, or relative, marries the childless widow in order to establish the name of the deceased in the world. On a deeper level, yibum deals with reincarnation, allowing the soul of the deceased to reenter the world through a child born of his widow. R. Bachya says that when the Torah placed the story of Yosef's going down to Mitzrayim next to the account of Yehudah's sons, it placed one story of gilgul next to another. The story of Yosef's brothers is one that keeps rolling over and over in Jewish history till it is consummated in the ten rabbis who where killed by the Romans - their souls finally set free. Similarly, the sons of Yehudah who died were brought back in tikkun in the twins born from Tamar: Zerach and Peretz (R. Bachya on Bereishit 38:1).
There is another way that the Torah refers to gilgul. When Yaakov Avinu was dying in Mitzrayim he made Yosef swear not to bury him outside the Holy Land (Bereishit 47:29) Rashi explains Yaakov's request, "Those who die outside the Land will not live again at the Resurrection except after the pain caused by the body rolling through underground passages (gilgul machilot) until it reaches the Holy Land." Thus, even if one is unable to reach the blessed Land through the actions of his life, he is brought there anyway. But the way underground is tortuously difficult and best avoided. On the level of fulfilling our task of serving Hashem in this world, reaching the Holy Land means being true to our higher destiny. When we don't succeed because we are distracted and detoured from our goal, the will to holiness is buried away - it goes "underground" but persists even when we refuse to acknowledge it. Because it is the truth of our existence, it refuses to be ignored completely. It thrashes around inside of us, rising to the surface in different forms. We may not recognize it but our soul continues to seek a way for us to realize it in our lives.
When Yaakov buried the coat, he was taking the middah of malchut, the human expression of Hashem's presence in the world, and returning it back to the level of potential. Something so grand had become distorted in human hands and it needed to be hidden away till a more suitable expression became possible. We can relate this to our own lives as well. Sometimes, we get so wound up in waywardness that it is simply better to let things rest awhile - to throw our confusion to Hashem, as it were, so we can be sorted out. Thus, even though our sins may ideally have the potential to be turned into merits, and even though our weaknesses can themselves become strengths, there is a time to unburden ourselves, to let things sink down into the depths as we do in Tashlich on Rosh HaShanah. "Who, Gd, is like You, pardoning iniquity and overlooking transgression for those that remain? He does not retain His wrath eternally, for He desires kindness! He will again be merciful to us; He will suppress our iniquities and cast into the depths of the sea all their sins."
Mitzvot
There are no mitzvot according to Sefer HaChinuch in parashat VaYeshev.
At A Glance