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Trouble Means: ‘Fun Ahead’
‘Yaakov settled in his fathers land, the Land of Canaan. This is the saga of Yaakov: Yosef was but seventeen when….’
On the juxtaposition of ‘Yaakov settled/Yosef was…’ Rashi comments: ‘Yaakov wished for peace and quiet. Hashem said “Is the World To Come so puny – that Yaakov should want to enjoy This World too??” So sprang the saga of Yosef upon Yaakov’.
Is seeking quiet a criminal desire? Did Yaakov NEED a hard time in Olam Hazeh?
Rashi’s language implies that its plain greedy for a tzaddik to want Olam Hazeh on top of the great reward awaiting him. Perhaps the idea is that someone anticipating great reward can disregard present discomfort. Hashem signals a tzaddik the immensity of reward awaiting him by ….. giving him a hard time in this world!
He delivers this message; ‘You don’t need Olam Hazeh; You’d be satisfied with anything in this world, knowing what awaits you’. Rather than a punishment, it’s a sign that that the tzaddik has made it!
But does a tzaddik know WHY he is having trouble? Is it a sign of awaiting reward or is it punishment for sin?
The nature and pattern of the difficulty gives the clue: punishment for sin scrapes and hurts more than just hard times. Sometimes it is the unremitting nature of the pain; it hurts without a breather here and there. Or that its suffering that is also degrading. In other words, the pattern the pain presents identifies its purpose or reason.
(As the gemarah in Berachos teaches, one can recognize ‘yisurim shel ahava’ by profiling; the pain of yesurim shel ahava do not cause one to miss learning or davvening. Other pain does.)
Pain hurts. But what does it mean?? Perhaps its a message of hope!
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Are You Sure? Really Sure?
Yosef’s dreams alarmed his brothers. They contemplated killing him, selling him instead. However the eventual embodiment of the dream – Yosef being king – was not at all as they had feared.
They were sure he would abuse his position to subjugate and lord over them. As they said ‘Are you to rule over us, be our boss?’ However, actually, when Yosef became viceroy of Egypt, turning Egypt into the food center of a famine-ravaged world, he provided food to the shvatim. They bowed before him, not as their ruler, but as the man controlling the world’s food supply. Yosef used his authority only to uplift his brothers.
It was a dream come true, but completely unlike they imagined it would.
Yosef had dreamt. It did not necessarily mean that he was gunning for mastery over them. Perhaps they ought to have judged him more favorably!
We too would do well to consider alternative meanings to events. We make altogether too many assumptions. How about thinking less, and taking nothing at more than its face value?
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The Mystery Pit
‘The pit was empty: it held no water’
What was the pit there for? Who dug it?
The answer is simple: it was a well/cistern that filled in the rainy season, but was dry during other times. There were many of these dug throughout the desert, some holding water longer than others. It was a water hole.
That’s why the Midianite merchants stopped by there and found Yosef – for they were seeking water…
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Fresh Out Of Snakes?
Wry comment of the Sefer Charedim;
The pasuk says ‘the pit [Yosef was thrown into] was empty; there was no water there’. The verse is redundant; an empty pit obviously has no water. Why repeat that ‘there was no water’?
Chazal answer; because the pit was empty ONLY of water. But it DID have snakes and scorpions!
The Sefer Charedim sees this as a metaphor; water represents Torah. People believe one can be empty of Torah yet be a good person. The message is that a pit empty of water – Torah – is surely full of snakes and scorpions – bad character.
Certainly one can learn Torah and still have negative issues. However without Torah to keep one on the beam, certainly that person will have issues!
Everyone has a religion. We humans, make sense of the world around us and build ourselves a value system. Either Torah sets values or we make them up. That explains this rule; if a person has no Torah, there will be wickedness…
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Tit For Tat
The term ‘Haker Na’ is found twice in the Parshah; once it was used to confront Yaakov with Yosef’s bloody coat, and then used by Tamar to challenge Yehudah to recognize his ring, stick and strings. (- Baal HaTurim)
The simple meta-meaning is that Yehudah was confronted with the evidence as a punishment for the way he treated his father.
Perhaps there is more to it. The way this world is set up is ‘As a person acts, so is he dealt’. This is not a punishment at all; rather it means that each person was given the prerogative of setting the treatment he will be treated with: his treatment of others, sets how he will be treated.
What power!
Yehudah chose the method, and so he received identical treatment. Maybe we should think twice when treating our fellow man – after all, we determine our own treatment!
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Yibum – Levirate Marriage
Most Torah laws are based on human universals. Torah mandates returning a theft. Is that something new? No, it was around well before the Torah, the Torah merely gave it legal parameters.
So with Yibum. A man with ten kids dies in Africa. His brother says to the widow ‘Nigoc! Come, let’s marry and keep the family going together!’ They go on to have another three kids. In a sense, those three kids have two fathers, for they are born into an extended family.
That is essentially Yibum. Those kids were born into an extended marriage, one that started with the deceased man and continued through his brother. Torah Yibum codifies this relationship. But Yibum exists independently, even in forms not sanctioned by the Torah. This is the Yibum of Yehuda and the Yibum of Boaz.
What is the theological significance of Yibum in Yehuda’s case? One idea is stated in chazal – a fuzzy lineage humbleth a man. Yibum is a nebulous bloodline, one that almost isn’t: is it Yehuda’s son? Er’s? Onan’s?
A decent manhig needs a kupah shel shratzim. Otherwise he goes despot!
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Who Are Your Experiences?
Yosef was sold to Potifar, butcher of Paroh. (Some say he butchered people: he was Royal executioner) He was also a sexual deviant, Rashi points out. By all accounts he was not your ideal roommate. Yet a few short years later Yosef married the daughter of Potifera, Kohain of On. Rashi says the two Potifars were the same man.
The Kohain of On was High Priest of On, a god. Potifar had become a theologian! How does a simple brutish butcher and deviant turn into an intellectual, a theologian!?
We think our personality is who we really are, reflecting our core. Our experiences flow from our personality.
This is false. In reality our experiences develop our personalities. Raw chocolate turns into a nut-covered nougat bar at the candy factory; heated and transformed, its taste and texture change. Very little is left of the original chocolateness! We too are nearly completely formed – and transformed – by our experiences.
Yosef was awarded stewardship of Potifar’s house. ‘Hashem was with him’, meaning that he mentioned Hashem at every turn;
“Can you finish this job by noon?” “With the help of Hashem, sure!”
“Think you can repair my car?” “If Hashem wishes!” And so on. (Rashi)
Yosef constantly expressed Hashem’s providence, and Potifar began to contemplate G-d. He considered the purpose of the universe, if it is managed by a Higher force and what would be the nature of that Force. He developed. He went so far that eventually he was chosen as High Priest of On, one of his nation’s highest theologians.
What is the moral for us? We become what we experience. Take care to experience building experiences, not those that drag us down. Take care to hang around people who mention Hashem and His providence.
Because you are what you hear and experience: you are your thoughts.
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Unhealthy Self Confidence
Yaakov is described a loving Yosef overtly – even making him a special tunic. This information is followed by Yosef sharing his dreams with his brothers. As those dreams foretold Yosef’s eventual royalty, they were not appreciated by his brothers, who were jealous, and hated Yosef as a result.
Is there a connection between Yaakov’s love and the dreams?
The love his father displayed for him coupled with his dreams to further create the jealously of his brothers, who felt sidelined by him. Even more, perhaps Yosef was so secure in his father’s love, that he took risks, sharing his dreams with his brothers. This was inappropriate.
Sometimes its not good to be too secure. Someone too secure feels invincible, and takes risks he ought not to. Does this mean we should not display love to our children? Always keep them on edge and guessing? By no means. But it does mean that there is a line between a healthy self-image and a overconfident one.
Mind that line…
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Prison Fun
Yosef, in Potifar’s house, was desired by Mrs Potifar, who tried to woo him. Yosef successfully resisted. But she almost succeeded, says the Gemara. It was really really that close.
Could Yosef have a future in that house? Not likely. He needed out. And so he was thrown into prison. In prison he turned manager, running the place. And prison was his ticket out to freedom and power, when Pharoh’s cup-bearer recommended him for interpreting Paroh’s dreams.
So was it tragic that Yosef went to prison? Well, it was sad that he was enslaved at all. But given the circumstances, given his options, prison was a salvation for him. Instead of being a house-slave, chased by his mistress, he had a peaceful and honorable position in prison.
Sometimes prison can be a good place to be. It all depends!