Vayeshev | Yosef the Dreamer

 

Introduction

 

The remainder of the book of Breishet describes the epic saga of Yosef and his brothers.  With Yaacov's greatest personal accomplishments and challenges behind him, his twelve sons have started to establish themselves in Canaan and to take the first halting steps towards the building of the nation.  Quite suddenly and unexpectedly, the entire endeavor appears in danger of collapse, as Yosef's brothers, fueled by jealousy and rage, resolve to rid themselves of him.  Quickly realized, their nefarious plan catapults Yosef into situations and circumstances that can seemingly best be described through the brash and brazen medium of a Broadway musical.   A closer examination, however, will in fact reveal that this is not a simple and superficial tale of arrogance, envy, and intrigue.  Rather, we will find it to be a complex and profound statement about the subtle interplay between Divine Providence and human deed, between destiny and moral will.  This week, we shall begin to closely examine the story; we shall continue to do so next week as well.

 

 

Yosef's Undeveloped Character

 

"Yaacov dwelt in the land of his father's sojourning, in the land of Canaan.  These are the generations of Yaacov: Yosef was seventeen years old and shepherded the flocks with his brothers; he was a lad with the sons of Bilha and the sons of Zilpa, his father's wives.  Yosef brought an evil report of them to his father.  Yisrael loved Yosef more than all his brothers, for he was the child of his old age, and he made for him a coat of colored stripes.  His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his other sons. They hated him as a result, and could not speak peaceably with him…"

 

These verses constitute the Torah's first substantial prologue to Yosef.  We are told about his age, his pursuits, his relationship with his brothers and his father, as well as about his favored status.  The singular characteristic that emerges from the many details, however, is less than flattering: Yosef is terribly immature.  Thus, although almost an adult, he seems to spend much of his time prattling about his brothers' perceived misdeeds.  Oblivious to the sensitivities of his siblings, he delights in reminding them of his special rank as his father's favorite.  Full of arrogance and pride, and flushed with youthful vigor, he feels invincible.  To quote the colorful language of the Midrash, "How can the Torah refer to a young man of seventeen years as a mere lad?  Rather, Yosef behaved like a lad.  He would pretty his eyes, walk with  haughtiness, and primp his hair" (Bereishit Rabba 84:7).  In other words, the Midrash understands Yosef to be occupied with activities that are childish and exclusively self-centered.  Like many youngsters, he is unable to see beyond the immediate horizon of his own shallow concerns and desires.

 

"Yosef had a dream and told his brothers about it, and they hated him even more.  He said to them: 'Listen to the dream that I had!  Behold, we were gathering sheaves in the field and my sheaf stood up tall.  All of your sheaves turned towards it and bowed down to my sheaf!'  His brothers said to him: 'Will you then be king over us and rule us?!'  They hated him even more because of his dreams and his words."

 

In his dreams, Yosef betrays his ambitions and his egocentricism.  He believes himself to be superior to his brothers and to deserve their adulation.  He not only recounts to them his dreams, but also no doubt freely proffers his rather obvious interpretation.  In short, he seems to derive a special pleasure from arousing their rage.

 

"Yosef had a different dream and recounted it to his brothers, saying: 'Behold, I have had another dream!  The sun, moon and stars were bowing down to me!'  He told his father and his brothers about it, but his father rebuked him saying: 'What is this dream that you have had?  Shall I, your mother, and your brothers bow down to you to the ground?!'  His brothers were jealous of him, but his father guarded the matter expectantly."

 

On the surface, this dream seems to be an even more extreme statement of Yosef's conceit.  Not only does he see himself as the center of his family, but as the center of the universe.  The sun, moon and stars  - the celestial bodies - pay homage to his greatness.  Even Yosef's father, who has apparently remained silent up until now, deems it necessary to set him straight by publicly ridiculing his narcissistic visions of self-aggrandizement.

 

Thus far, we have been introduced to a young man saturated with hubris, self-admiration and  overbearing confidence.  The recurring phrases in Yosef's descriptions are all possessive:  'my dream,' 'my sheaf,' and 'me.'  His brothers, on the other hand, are consistently described as 'hating him,' 'jealous,' and 'full of enmity.'  At the same time, however, there is another aspect to the account:  "Yisrael loved Yosef more than the other sons, for he was the child of his old age.  He made for him a coat of colored stripes."   Why does Yaacov love Yosef more than the other brothers?  What is the exact significance of this curious coat?

 

 

Yosef's Great Potential

 

At first glance, Yaacov's special attachment to Yosef is readily comprehensible.  After all, Yosef is the son of beloved Rachel, Yaacov's first and only true love.  In the aftermath of her tragic and untimely death, Yosef and Binyamin are all that remain of her memory.  The Torah, however, introduces another aspect by suggesting that Yaacov's love of Yosef was predicated on the latter being the "child of his old age." This is a curious expression in light of the fact that Yissachar and Zevulun, Yosef's older half-brothers, could not have been much older than Yosef himself, and would therefore also be children of Yaacov's old age.  On the other hand, the expression cannot mean the 'youngest child' since Binyamin possessed that distinction. 

 

These difficulties prompted the Ramban (13^th century, Spain) to explain that "it is the custom of elderly parents to select one of their younger children to be with them and to assist them.  This child remains in close proximity to the parent and is referred to as a 'ben zekunim' (child of old age) because of this role.  It was Yosef whom Yaacov chose for this task, and that is why we find later on that Yosef did not go with his brothers when they grazed their flocks in distant pastures."   In other words, Yosef remains close to his father because his father can depend on him to provide reliable and responsible help.  In spite of his character flaws, it seems that Yosef is nevertheless a capable and industrious youth, who can be of critical assistance to his father. 

 

The narrative continues by informing us that in light of their special relationship, Yaacov made for Yosef a 'coat of colored stripes.'  The exact appearance of this article of clothing cannot be described with certainty, and we know of only one other biblical citation that mentions a similar garment.  This is in the context of the distressing tale of Amnon and Tamar recorded in the Book of Shemuel/Samuel 2, chapter 13.  What is significant for our purposes is to note that Tamar, one of the royal princesses, was clothed in a 'coat of colored stripes, for this was the customary garb of the king's virgin daughters.'  It would therefore seem that this particular coat was not only a fine and beautiful article of attire, but was actually associated with royalty.  Those who wore it carried with it the marking of a special office and a unique role of leadership. 

 

Beginning to weave together some of the threads of our investigation leads us to the conclusion that Yaacov does not favor Yosef for arbitrary or superficial reasons.  Yaacov ascertains that Yosef his beloved son also happens to be the most gifted and talented of his children.  He remains in Yaacov's constant company not only to help his ailing and aged father, but also to receive his instruction.  The putting on of the coat of colored stripes constitutes the donning of the proverbial  mantle, for Yosef is being carefully  groomed to succeed his father as head of the household and leader of the budding tribes. "This coat," suggests the Seforno (15^th century, Italy), "indicated that Yosef was to be the leader in the house and field, just as we find Elyakim being figuratively enrobed with  the mantle of Shevna, as an expression of his assumption of authority" (see Yishayahu/Isaiah 22:21). Yosef may have been an immature and arrogant youth, but his father is perceptive enough to recognize in him the prodigious natural talents and enormous latent abilities that if realized will allow him to leave his imprint on human history.

 

Put differently, of all of the brothers, only Yosef has the audacity to dream of greatness and achievement.  Alone among his siblings, he dares to imagine a life beyond the pastoral and plain pursuit of tending sheep.  Understood this way, the rage of Yosef's brothers becomes coherent.  Yosef's brothers despise him not only because he conducts himself with superciliousness, but also because they know, in the depths of their hearts, that he does in fact possess more aptitude than they and is destined for more renowned accomplishment.

 

This first section of the account aptly concludes that "his brothers were jealous of Yosef, but his father guarded the matter."  To this, the Midrash portentously comments: "Rabbi Levi said: Yaacov took a stylus and recorded the day, hour and place (of Yosef's dreams, for he knew that they would be fulfilled)" (Breishit Rabba 84:12).

 

 

The Fateful Encounter

 

Yosef's brothers depart, taking the flocks to the greener pastures of Shechem.  "Yisrael said to Yosef: 'Behold, your brothers are grazing the flocks in Shechem.  Let me send you to see them,' and Yosef responded: 'I am ready.'  Yaacov said to him: 'Go and see how they and the sheep are doing and return to me with the report.'  Yaacov sent him from the valley of Chevron, and he journeyed towards Shechem.  A man found him wandering in the fields and asked him: 'what are you looking for?'  Yosef answered: 'I am searching for my brothers.  Do you know where they are grazing the sheep?'  The man said: 'they have traveled from here.  I heard them say: 'let us go to Dotan.'  Yosef followed his brothers and found them in Dotan.  The brothers from afar saw him approaching.  Before he had come close to them they prepared a plan to kill him."

 

These verses constitute the critical link between the earlier story of Yosef's dreams and the later story of the brothers selling him to the passing Yishmaelite caravan that eventually brings him down to Egypt.  What is the significance of the introductory exchange between Yisrael and Yosef, to which Yosef responds: 'I am ready'?  Why is it necessary for us to know the place name of the location from which Yosef is sent ('the valley of Chevron')?  And, perhaps most peculiar, why does the Torah record the chance encounter that takes place between Yosef and the man who directs him to his brothers' whereabouts?  If one were to go on a journey and experience many adventures and memorable moments (good as well as bad), it seems doubtful that a passing episode of becoming lost and asking for directions would be a detail deemed worthy of retelling at all.  Yet here, the seemingly minor incident of Yosef becoming confused and requiring guidance, is given exceptional prominence in the narrative!

 

As stated in the opening passage of the Parasha, Yosef and his brothers had a tense and hostile relationship.  The brothers resented his arrogant demeanor and were infuriated by his self-serving words.  They were jealous of the attention that their doting father showered upon him.  How they despised that coat and all that it represented!  Yosef for his part did nothing to extinguish the smoldering animosity and instead reveled in stoking the coals.  Now his father asks him to leave the protective embrace of home and hearth and to travel far away, towards an encounter with his brothers on alien turf.  Is there perhaps a note of hesitation in Yaacov's words, a subconscious fear of fate about to unfold?  Can we faintly hear in Yosef's 'Hineni' (here I am) a brash attempt to brush off his father's misgivings and to dispel his own ambivalence towards the mission?

 

Yosef embarks on the journey but becomes lost.  Wandering aimlessly, he encounters a man who helps him find his way.  This stranger, otherwise anonymous and unknown, provides Yosef with the critical piece of information concerning his brothers' whereabouts that will allow him to find them.  How significant that the man is so non-committal in his words: "I (over)heard them say: 'Let us go to Dotan,' as if he himself does not know their plans for certain!  And how striking indeed that the Torah carefully indicates not that Yosef encounters the man, but rather that the man 'finds him'!  Clearly, the appearance of the stranger introduces a new and profound dimension to the story.

 

The Ramban explains:

 

"Yosef had strayed from the path and knew not which way to go.  He entered the fields because he knew that his brothers were to be found in grazing land.  The Torah describes these things at length to indicate that many setbacks transpired that should have given Yosef pause, and caused him to return home.  Yosef, however, out of love and deference for his father, pressed onwards.  Also, the text indicates to us that the Divine decree is true and attempts to foil it are false, for God provided Yosef with a guide who unwittingly delivered him into the clutches of his brothers.  This is what our Sages meant when they explained that this stranger was an angel, for this entire incident was meant to teach us that God's counsel will be established."

 

By all indications, Yosef should have never met up with his brothers.  He became lost and could not find them, for they had moved on.  Probably unenthusiastic about his father's request in the first place, he now had ample reason to abandon it and to go back home.  Suddenly, a 'man' finds him and fatefully points him in the direction of his brethren.  In so doing, a convoluted but inexorable chain of events is released that will culminate in the descent of the Tribes of Israel to Egypt.  There, the incremental process will continue to unfold with their initial welcome, their eventual subjugation, and their final emergence as a nation tempered by the iron furnace of enslavement.  Only then will the Divine promise vouchsafed to Avraham at the 'Covenant Between the Pieces' (Brit bein HaBetarim) be fulfilled: "You shall surely know that your descendants shall be sojourners in a land not theirs, and shall be enslaved and oppressed, for a period of four hundred years. The nation that they will serve I shall judge, and then they shall depart with great substance" (see Bereishit Ch. 15).

 

 

Divine Providence and Human Will

 

Thus, with his terse words, the Ramban acquaints us with the fundamental principle that underlies the entire story of Yosef and his brothers: there is a Divine design at work in human history, a cosmic orchestration of events calculated to bring about a deliberate and purposeful end.  Human beings are the instruments that achieve that goal through the exercise of their completely autonomous faculty of freedom of choice.  Most of the time, human beings remain wholly unaware and oblivious to the transcendent consequences of their actions, but no encounter in life is accidental and without reason.  God's counsel will be established and cannot be thwarted, but the exact path that its fulfillment will take is a function of the choices that people make within the circumscribed boundaries of their own limited lives.

 

Yosef and his brothers live out their petty animosities, their father unintentionally exacerbates them through the provision of a trivial cloak, and the friendly stranger provides directions to where he thinks the brothers may have gone.  Each one of these 'players' acts independently, completely unfettered by any Divine fiat, and unburdened by any thoughts of a cosmic design.  But in the end, the twisted threads of Destiny are painstakingly woven together to reveal the unmistakable pattern of Providence.

 

 

The Self-Made Man

 

And so, Yosef is brought down to Egypt.  Purchased by Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's chief ministers, he promptly establishes himself as an accomplished servant.  "God was with Yosef and he was successful, and remained in the house of his Egyptian master.  His master saw that God was with him, for everything that Yosef did, God crowned with success.  Yosef found favor in the eyes of his master and served him, and his master appointed him over the house and over all of his things.  From the time that Yosef was put in charge of the house and all else, God caused the household of the Egyptian to be blessed on Yosef's account.  God's blessing extended to everything in the house and field.  Potiphar entrusted everything to Yosef's care and supervised nothing except for the bread that he ate.  Yosef was beautiful in form and appearance."

 

The recurring phrases in this passage refer to 'success,' 'favor,' 'and blessing.'   Beginning to live up to his potential, Yosef quickly rises through the ranks.  Showing initiative, ambition, and conscientiousness, he gets the job done and done well.  Potiphar is so impressed with him that he continually adds to his responsibilities, until Yosef is finally in complete charge of the household.  Everything that Yosef does yields desirable and impressive results.  Like a proverbial tale of rags-to-riches, the Semitic slave boy from Canaan has become a self-made man. Yosef's dreams of success and achievement have been fulfilled through the tried and tested methods of setting goals, working hard, and utilizing natural talents.  Scarcely seventeen when he is sold into slavery, alone and completely indigent, he is probably now in his mid-twenties and well on the way to financial security and political power.  He has achieved so much in spite of difficult circumstances, and in the meantime his brothers have been tending the sheep. 

 

In fact, Yosef's transformation is so unusual, that even Potiphar can only understand it by ascribing it to (his pagan version of) Divine intervention.  The hand of Providence, so evident in guiding the events of Yosef's life up until this point, seems to be at work again. Certainly, the Torah itself indicates this, for at every step of Yosef's exploits, God's involvement is emphasized:  'God was with Yosef,' 'God was with him,' 'God crowned with success,' 'God caused the household to be blessed,' 'God's blessing extended.'  Beforehand, though, in the earlier stages of Yosef's life, God's involvement was hidden, shrouded by layers of mundane human foibles, random encounters,  and seemingly insignificant trivialities. At this point, however, His Providence is far too conspicuous to be mistaken for coincidence or chance.

 

It seems that there is only one individual who remains completely oblivious to the Divine element in the whole enterprise, and that is Yosef himself!  Blinded by his attainments, deluded by the illusion of self-achievement, Yosef fails to recognize any Higher Cause behind his meteoric rise.  Like the immature youth of seventeen who dreamt a dream but was too self-absorbed to hear the faint voice of Destiny that accompanied it, Yosef continues to believe that a man's accomplishments are his alone.  Did he not labor long and hard under Potiphar's watchful gaze?  Was he not a punctilious servant with a penchant for business and an eye to self-advancement?  Who else was the cause of his promotion if not himself?

 

 

Coming Full Circle

 

The passage concludes that  "Yosef was beautiful in form and appearance."  Besides all of his other talents, Yosef is also blessed with handsome features.  Who could not be desirous of the young, talented, beautiful bachelor who enjoys the confidence and trust of his master and the respect of his subordinates?  Clearly, this phrase serves as the segue to what follows next, but the Midrash sees in it another familiar aspect:   "Yosef at this juncture may be likened to a hero who stood in the marketplace fixing his eyes, primping his hair, walking with haughtiness and saying: 'I am handsome and I possess beauty.  Am I not a hero?!' (Bereishit Rabba 87:3).  It will be recalled that this is almost the exact formulation that the Midrash employed to describe Yosef's immaturity on the eve of his first dream!  Then, he was a selfish young man who behaved like a child and made choices that reflected exclusively egocentric and largely frivolous concerns.  Now, suggests the Midrash, Yosef has come full circle.  However, having realized the material success promised in the dreams, his spiritual and emotional development still lags far behind.  And in both cases, implies the Midrash with typical candor, the cause for this sad state of affairs is the same: an inability or unwillingness to see the guiding hand of God. 

 

What is so terribly important about acknowledging God's role in our lives?  What difference does it make if a person thinks that he/she has succeeded due exclusively to their own efforts or because of God's ongoing intervention?  The distinction, suggests the Torah, is actually immense, for the frequent consequence of ignoring God's involvement is the development of a character that is self-serving, self-centered and unconcerned with ultimate issues.  We tend to become consumed with material pursuits and mundane concerns when we lose sight of the fact that life has a higher purpose and a spiritual goal.  Flushed with our success at wringing sustenance from the unyielding earth, we overlook the soul aspect of our humanity.  Caught up in the realization of our autocentric dreams, we fail to heed the call to fulfill the divinely ordained role that each one of us possesses.

 

What will it take for Yosef to finally cast off his fetters and embrace his Destiny?  Or to phrase the question differently, why is it that the significant pivotal events of Yosef's life are bound up with dreams at all?  Even more important, what event will serve as the catalyst to transform Yosef from a dreamer into an interpreter of dreams? 

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

Shabbat Shalom