Yaakov Avinu told Yosef to go see how his brothers were doing down in Shchem. So Yosef went, and found a man who was lost on the way. The man asked “What do you seek?” to which Yosef replied “I am looking for my brothers, tell me where they are shepherding”. The man replied “They went from here and I heard them saying ‘Let us go to Dotan’”. Our Sages tell us that this man was the angel Gavriel.
We know that angels are sent with only one task to perform, and that every time they appear, it represents a different facet of the same task. Gavriel’s mission is as his name states: to show the might and strength of Hashem. We see this, for example, when he was sent to destroy the city of Sodom. It would also seem that there is an important principle that only when there is a large force going against the will of Hashem would it be necessary to send an angel to counter against that force.
If so, the question is twofold: what was the force in our case which was going against Hashem’s will that required the sending of such a “powerful” angel as Gavriel? And more, Gavriel ended up directing Yosef to his brothers in Shchem causing him to then be sold as a slave to Egypt, which most commentaries hold to be the beginning of the exile of the Jewish people, so why would Gavriel do such a thing in the name of Hashem?
VAYEISHEV "And Joseph's master took him...................................."(39:20)
A very curious question can be asked, as follows: Usually a servant is known by his master, yet here we find that the master is known by his servant, namely Joseph's master? It appears that Joseph is more dominate a figure than his master. What lesson is the Torah teaching us by telling us this fact? I would like to propose an original answer, Bezrat Hashem. In Taanith 21b, it states the following:Rabbi Yose stated, "It is not the place that honors the man, but it is the man who honors the place." (End of quote)(Please refer there for further details.)
This is a very significant statement especially regarding Joseph. In all types of relationships, there is a dominate person and the subservient partner. It is very rare to find equal partners.Joseph's presence was having an effect on Egypt and especially on his master. His master was not the same, he was actually being influenced by Joseph for the better. When people saw POTIPHAR
After all the obstacles Yaakov has had to overcome in order to reach Canaan, the first word of this weeks parasha implies that at last Yaakov can finally ‘שב/shev’, sit or settle, in the land. As the famous phrase goes however, 'there is no rest for the righteous'! Rashi teaches us that, although tzaddikim are obviously entitled to peace, Yaakov had not yet completed his mission as he still had an important part to play in preparing the way for the future of the nation. Bringing down a Midrash he goes on to explain that, although the righteous seek tranquility, Hashem asks… ‘Are the righteous not satisfied with what awaits them in the World to Come that they expect to live in ease in this World too?’. This Rashi also provides interesting insight into how we are judged according to our own unique standards set by Hashem based on our individual situation and ability etc. We therefore see that Yaakov, being at the top of the food chain when it comes to serving Hashem, should have known better than to try and ‘sit’ his final days out. Another lesson to be learnt from this is that as Jews we should never be static in life; a Jew should always be looking to improve on himself...
In this weeks parsha we find a rare cantillation mark known as a shalsheles. The musical trop appears in only 3 other places in the Torah (7 times in total when including Nach); lech Lecha regarding Lot leaving Sdom, Chayei Sara regarding Eliezer taking a wife for Yaakov and later on in Tzav regarding Moshe Rabbanu’s transference of the Kohen Gadolship from himself to Aaron. In each occurrence of the shalsheles there appears to be an inner hesitation before a conclusion is reached which is almost represented by the musical to and fro of the note before a sharp sudden ending.
VAYEISHEV – THE WRONG KIND OF JOY By Yehonasan Gefen
“And Yosef dreamt a dream, which he told to his brothers, and they hated him even more. And he said to them, ‘please hear the dream that I dreamt: ‘Behold, we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, when, behold, my sheaf arose and also stood; then behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
The beginning of the Parsha relates the sequence of events that led to the sale of Yosef. The Torah tells us that the brothers hated Yosef because they saw that Yaakov loved him more than all of them. When Yosef related the contents of his first dream to his brothers, their hatred of him increased. The Torah states: “And they hated him more, because of his dreams and because of his words.” The commentaries ask that since the Torah already stated that they hated him because of his dreams, what does the clause, “because of his words”, refer to?
The first word, and title, of our sedra is not a happy one. As the gemarra (Sanhedrin 106a) tells us, the word ‘vayeishev’ connotes and introduces a painful event. Similarly, Rashi (37:2) reveals that it was when Yaakov ‘wanted to sit in peace’ that the Yosef story (the brothers selling him, etc.) was thrust upon him. Why is sitting down so painful? The idea is that sitting down connotes a degree of stagnation. In Judaism we are constantly seeking to spiritually grow; being still is not an option. This is one idea of the mizbeyach having a ramp instead of stairs. Just like a ball on a ramp either moves up or down - it cannot just stay there motionless - so too in order to achieve closeness to HaShem we need to realise that we cannot ever stay spiritually still; we are either moving up or down. This is why vayeishev connotes pain. For sitting down is the ultimate representation and manifestation of being still - not moving. Thus, sitting still is spiritually damaging, which can cause HaShem to send physical trials and tests in order that we move and become proactive in doing something to further our religious level. So, on Yaakov’s supernal level, at some level he wanted to ‘sit back’ and enjoy a more comfortable life free from his past tragedies and pains. But HaShem disagreed; this world is not for being comfortable, and so HaShem sent him the Yosef episode to test Yaakov and further his emunah.
After all the obstacles Yaakov has had to overcome in order to reach Canaan, the first word of this weeks parasha implies that at last Yaakov can finally ‘שב/shev’, sit or settle, in the land. As the famous phrase says however, no rest for the righteous! (For the record, I never rest). Rashi implies that although the righteous are obviously entitled to tranquility, Yaakov had not completed his mission yet as he still had an important part to play in preparing the way for the future of the nation. Though the righteous seek tranquility, Hashem asks… ‘Are the righteous not satisfied with what awaits them in the World to Come that they expect to live in ease in this World too?’ This provides insight into how we are judged according to our own unique standards, set by Hashem based on situation and ability etc. Yaakov, being at the top of the food chain when it comes to serving Hashem should have known better than to try and ‘sit’ his final days out.
We read in Parshas Vayeishev that Yosef held firm to his faith in Hashem, no matter what was thrown at him. His never give up, never surrender attitude served him well throughout his life. To Yosef, despite the apparent difficulties of his situation, all that counted was that he maintained the attitude and action of a faith-based person, to keep moving forward.
We all memorized Adon Olam in our youth, but how many of us actually base our decisions on its last stanza, which is commonly translated: I rest my spirit
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