Chapter 37

v37:1] Settles in Canaan. Tale of Isaac’s sojournings.
v37:2] Joseph’s bad tidings regarding his brothers (לשׁון רע).
v37:3] Tunic for Joseph.
v37:4] His brothers hate him.
v37:5-7] Joseph’s first dream: The brothers’ sheaves bow down to him
v37:8] This stirs his brothers’ hatred.
v37:9] Another dream. The sun, his father, the moon, his mother, and eleven stars, his brothers, bow to him.
v37:10] When he told his father, he was angry with Joseph.
v37:11] Brothers are jealous of him. His father “ואביב שׁמר את־הדבר” — “kept it (the matter) in his mind”, “He held onto the thing”.

N: It does not represent a “thing”, a material object, but rather refers to an event. Could one say that לדבר is to literally create something? For example, Adam “naming” the animals calls them into existence. What if we thought about our words that way — would we not be more careful with them?

v37:12] “Brothers went with their flock to Shechem” – a place of dislocation, with time dilations.

Q: Shechem still exists? After it was destroyed by Simeon and Levi? Did they not just kill all the men, take the women and children and livestock? Did not Jacob flee from the site of this massacre? How come he (i) has a flock in Shechem; (ii) Is in the vicinity of Shechem?

N: This is a very strange verse. Here is where the story begins to change. What went before were the underground currents that form the background to what now occurs.

The parasha opens with the name Jacob—וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב יַעֲקֹ֔ב, and then again in the 2nd verse regarding his lineage אֵ֣לֶּה תֹּלְד֣וֹת יַעֲקֹ֗ב. Then he is called Israel, the name the angel blessed him with, in v3, regarding his loving Joseph more than his brothers.

Note By indulging in his love for Joseph, he sets up the conditions that are ripe for his brother’s jealousy. The story could have continued with a strong and abiding bond growing between the brothers, but, not only would that not be very realistic—though it always lifts our souls when we hear stories like that—what would the text be teaching us about human behaviour?

However, when we read stories that lift our spirit up, are they not fulfilling there spiritual task? Or is this another example of the simple desire, where there is a world with no evil, or death, in it? The brothers do eventually reach a place where they are bonded and harmonious, but only after crossing over the threshold, and entering a dark night of the soul. Is that not the journey of this life that we need to experience. And somewhere, not fulfilling your task, is not expressing as fully as you are able, that vivifying energy that courses through all our veins.

So when Jacob as Israel sets up the imbalance–which begins at the first instance–which is necessary for things to move in v13. The die has been cast. Here in this verse, Israel (not Jacob) implements the action, by sending Joseph to check up on his brothers רואה את־שׁלום אחיך in Shechem, of all places.

Then there is a word here, לְכָ֖ה, which is a form of [לך], translated here as “come”. Israel was speaking to Joseph, so why did he then call him with, “Come”, he says, “I will send you to them.” saying, “ “I will send you to them.” Q: Why was he not with his brothers, tending the sheep? Why send him now? Why would he do that now, at this point? This is contradicted by v37:2, where it says “Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers.”

But the kicker is Joseph’s response, “הִנֵּֽנִי,” he says, “I am here, present,” signifying a “change”, or potential thereof. N: Why did he, or his father, not fear for his safety? It was the perfect setup, especially with Shechem being the place of meeting.

There, strangeness only continues in the verse after then next one, v15. when he arrives in the vicinity of Shechem. Obviously he is lost, ever the dreamer, and comes upon someone wondering in the fields. The man asks him, “What are you looking for?” “My brothers,” he responds (v16). And the man just happens to know who his brothers are, and where they are. He even says, “Let us go.” Is this normal? (v17)

N: Yet now we have him wondering in the fields, presumably lost, and happens to bump into some “man” who just happens to know who and where is brothers happen to be. As if that is not strange enough, he also just happens to have heard them saying, לכה דותָינה – “Let us go to Dotan”. This is quite incredible. Almost miraculous. It is like it is a summary of the important points in the interaction.

v37:16] His brothers conspire to “kill” him - or, to use an euphemism, get rid of him.
v37:21] Rueben intervenes.
v37:23] Take his tunic. Throws Joseph into a pit.
v37:25] Sit and eat N: To sit and enjoy your dinner while your brother is stuck in a pit, crying out for help! That is heartless.. Ishmaelite caravan come past.
v37:26] Judah suggests that they sell him
v37:28] They sell him for 20 pieces of silver to the Midianite traders
v37:29] Rueven returns to pit. [N: Where was he? Where did he go, and why?]. He is upset at what his brothers did.
v37:31] Dip his tunic in goat’s blood.
v37:32] They dispatch (ישׁלחוּ) and brought (יביאוּ) the tunic to Jacob.
v37:33-35] Jacob is bereft. N Here he is known again as Jacob. Obviously, this is his human
v37:36] Potiphar :: Josph ends up in the hands of Potiphar, who is the chamberlain of the butchers (ֹשׂר הטבחים).

Chapter 38 - Tamar

v38:1] וַיֵט עד־אישׁ עַדוּלָמי וּשׁמו חִירָה – Judah leaves his brothers and goes to Chirah.
v38:2-5] He marries שׁוּעַ, Shu’a’s daughter and she has עֵר, ֵEr, and אונן, Onan, and שֵׁלָ֑ה, Shelah. N: The language here is not clear, until later, in v12.
v38:6] Tamar marries Er.
v38:7] Er dies
v38:8-9] Onan is wed to Tamar. Onan, knowing that the offspring would not count as his, withholds his seed from Tamar. This is considered an evil deed.
v38:10] So he dies.
v38:11] Tamar is taken into Judah’s house, to wait till Shelah grows up. But they are reluctant to marry him to Tamar, as her other two husbands have already died.
v38:12] Shu’a’s daughter, Judah’s wife dies. Q: [Is it not interesting that we learn of the name of the mother of the Judah’s wife, but not the name of the wife herself?]
v38:13-23] Tamar tricks Judah by pretending to be a harlot, “she covered her face” (v15). After lying with her, she demands a pledge. He gives her his seal, his cord and his staff. Then, when he sends her payment, no-one can find her.

v38:24-26] Three months goes by, and Tamar is now pregnant—a grievous sin. She is threatened with burning. Tamar sends the pledge given her by Judah, who recognises them, and acknowledges that, “She is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” Gives birth to Perez

v38-27-30] She is pregnant with twins. The first is Perez—whose line goes to Boaz who marries Ruth, from whom David HaMelech is descendent—and Zerach.

Chapter 39 - The trials of Joseph

וַיֵט אליו חסד — Mercy was placed upon him or “he was blessed”.

Now begin the trials of Joseph, which he seems to breeze through, because “יהי ה’ את־יוֹֹסף”, The Lord was with Joseph (v2).

v39:1-5] Potiphar, a prefect (the chamberlain of the butchers) bought him. He recognised the G-d was with him… “The Lord appeared to him; He spoke to him; appeared to him in dreams for ‘The Lord was with Joseph’. N: [Here again we have an instance where the Goy (an Egyptian) recognised G-d], The result was that he was successful and prospered and become the chamberlain of Potaphar’s house.

v39:6-10] Joseph was handsome. Potiphar’s wife “cast her eyes” upon him, and wanted him to lie with her. But he refused, “How then could I do this most wicked thing, and sin before God?” (v9) and would not yield to her

v39:11-20 ] One day she corners him alone in her house, grabs hold of his garment, and says, “Lie with me”. Whereupon he tears himself from her grasp and flees, leaving his garment in her hand. She then claims that he tried to lie with her, and she screamed, and he fled, leaving his garment in her hand. When she told Potiphar her story, he was furious, and put Joseph in prison.

N: Love is as strong as death, and envy as harsh as the grave.

v39:20-23] Even in prison the Lord was with him (charisma?) and he ends up in charge of the prison for the chief jailer.

Chapter 40

In jail, Joseph interprets the kings cupbearer’s and baker’s dreams. He prophesies that the cupbearer will be reinstated in three days, and asks him to remember him, Joseph. The baker’s dream is not so fortunate, and his fate is to be executed in three days. And, lo and behold, it transpires just as Joseph had predicted.

Notes

Could Joseph, thrown into slavery by his brothers rise so quickly to become the Chamberlain in Potiphar’s house by following the straight and narrow road? By being always straight, never bending, full of integrity and honesty?

Not in our reality, say I. Never, in the history of humankind has anyone risen to power without being able to negotiate the shark-infested waters of power politics. The exceptions are those who ascended the throne through some unexpected destiny, but had not sought it at all during their lives.

Thus perhaps Joseph was having an affair with Potiphar’s wife? Perhaps that is part of his ascendence, and subsequent jailing — as a consequence of his lack of integrity. Does it not say (verse) that “the Divine abandoned him” at some point. Perhaps he got too cocky in his rise to power. We all have to taste those bitter waters to realise that power only comes from G-d, otherwise it is perverse and will become demonic.