Jacob has returned to the Land of Israel and once again there is tension within the family. Conflict between brothers runs right through the book of Bereishit, but in each case the conflict is resolved in the end. Joseph is Jacob’s favorite. Not only but he tells tales, he brings reports of the bad things they do, to their father.…
Parsha Vayeyshev
The Brothers
The brothers see Joseph from a far and they plot to kill him and throw his corpse into a pit. They agree that they will tell Jacob that Joseph was killed by a wild animal. We are not told which brothers. But when Reuven the eldest hears about the plot he replies, “Do not spill blood.” All well and good…
Judah and Tamar
One of the least known narratives in the Torah concern’s Yehuda’s transactions with Tamar. It is no accident that the name Tamar recurs later in the history of David’s family as another good woman who was wronged by a man (Second Samuel 13). Judah has gone into voluntary exile for his part in selling Joseph and there he mixes with…
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
The story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife has several earlier versions in Egyptian literature. But the earlier versions are, rather like European tales of bored wealthy or powerful women, deal exclusively with sexual betrayal. The Biblical narrative is more concerned with the morality and self-control rather than sex games. Joseph succeeds in rising from being an ordinary slave, to becoming…
Dreams
There are lots of dreams in the book of Bereishit (Genesis). Last week we read about Jacob’s dream as he ran away from his brother. This week we read about Joseph and his dreams as well as those of the Egyptian Pharaoh and his head baker and his sommelier. Dreams are an important part of all of our lives. But…