Dear Friends;
I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” Parsha in a Nutshell “
Jacob settles in Hebron with his twelve sons. His favorite is seventeen-year-old Joseph, whose brothers are jealous of the preferential treatment he receives from his father, such as a precious colorful coat that Jacob makes for him. Joseph relates to his brothers two dreams he has which foretell that he is destined to rule over them, increasing their envy and hatred towards him.
Jacob sends Joseph to check up on his brothers who are tending the flock away from home, and upon seeing him approaching they plot to kill him. Reuben convinces the brothers not to kill Joseph, but is unable to totally save him as the brothers sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. The brothers dip Joseph’s special coat in the blood of a goat and show it to their father, leading him to believe that his most beloved son was devoured by a wild beast.
The Torah deviates from Joseph’s story to relate the story of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar.
The narrative then returns to Joseph in Egypt, where he becomes an extremely successful slave and is placed in charge of his master Potiphar’s household. Potiphar’s wife repeatedly tries to seduce Joseph, and when he refuses her advances, she screams and claims that he tried to rape her. Joseph is thrown into prison where he is once again placed in a position of leadership, this time being put in charge of the prisoners. Ten years later, Pharaoh’s chief butler and baker are thrown into the same prison. One night they each have a perplexing dream which Joseph accurately interprets, and the portion concludes as the butler is returned to his former post and the baker is executed, just as Joseph had predicted. But the butler forgets all about Joseph and does nothing for him.
” Dvar Torah “
In this week’s Parsha, we are introduced to Joseph! Joseph is by far the most beloved biblical character in the entire Torah. He is adored by all ages, from children to elderly. The story of Joseph brings tears to our eyes, year after year after year. The Torah dedicates more Parashiot to Joseph than to our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Four Parashiot to be exact is dedicated to our beloved Joseph. Although he was famous for his charm and beauty, but our sages give him the title of “Yosef HaSadik”, Joseph the righteous. Joseph earned his title of righteousness (HaSadik) because he had control over his desires, and because he was trustworthy and honest. His honesty, gained him the full trust of his master, his prison warden and the King Pharaoh himself. But the name “Yosef HaSadik” wouldn’t have been sealed, if he wouldn’t have forgiven his brothers for the cruel act of selling him into slavery and separating him from his father for so many years. The Chachamim say, in order to be a Tzadik, you have to be able to forgive! And because of this unexpected act of forgiveness, not only Joseph is adored by everyone, but he became the symbol of righteousness!
But it seems that even the best of us are not flawless. The Torah reveals to us that Joseph didn’t go through life mistake free either. At the beginning of the parsha the Torah says: “Joseph at the age of seventeen, was a shepherd with his brothers, but he was a “Na-ar” among the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah,…..”
The word “Na-ar” means a young lad, a teenager, but Rashi explains that when the word Na-ar is used in the Torah, it’s a sign of immaturity. Rashi says that Joseph used to fix his hair and touch up his eyes so that he would look handsome, and that was the immature act that labeled him as a Na-ar. But sometimes, even Rashi’s commentaries needs explanation. Just because Joseph was fixing his hair, does not justify to call a Tzadik immature! Yosef was 17 years old at the time, and fixation of hair is not unusual behavior for a 17 year old to do. For some of us, it’s a dream to run that comb through our hair or use a hairdryer once in awhile! I would even do it at this age, if I had the opportunity!!
Rabbi Shimon Schwab gives a beautiful explanation to why Joseph was called immature. He says that Joseph’s immature act wasn’t about looking handsome at all, but rather, it was something else. The Torah uses the term “Naar”, once before, in last week’s parashat VaYishlach in reference to Shechem, son of Chamor. “And the ‘naar’ did not delay to carry out the matter (of circumcision) because he desired Yaakov’s daughter.” At this point in time Shechem son of Chamor was not a teenager. He was in fact one of the most prestigious people in the city. So why does the Torah refer to him as a ‘naar’? Rav Schwab explains that Shechem may have been an adult, he may have been a respected individual, but he still acted immaturely because he rushed into the agreement proposed by Shimon and Levi without thinking it through. And that is the definition of a ‘naar’ or immaturity; someone who rushes into making a decision without thinking it over!
Rav Schwab says, Yosef knew that he would be a leader over his brothers. Yosef foresaw this, prophetically, in his dreams. He, rightfully, envisioned that they would bow down to him and that he would be a King one day. One of the laws of monarchy is that the King has to be physically prominent. The Talmud states that a King must groom his hair daily. He represents the people and he must have the type of handsome appearance that people can respect. So, when the Torah says that Yosef acted as a ‘naar,’ he explains that Yosef’s mistake was that he already saw himself as the King at the age 17– it was not an adolescent fixation of the hair! He saw himself as the ruler over his brothers before the proper time for that relationship has developed. He wanted to be a king so badly that he forgot that he is still a “na-ar’, a young lad who is not mature enough to be the King yet!!
Yes my friends, rushing into making quick decisions is considered to be an immature behavior, while patience and thoughtfulness is a sign of wisdom and maturity. Unfortunately, many of us still act like a “Na-ar”! We all want everything to be done for us, ‘yesterday’. We all want to get rich quickly. We all want to find our soul-mate in no time. When we are faced with problems or misfortunes in our lives, we quickly become impatient and we wonder why are these things happening to us. Remember that Joseph went through a lot of hardship in his life, until finally, he became the ruler of Egypt. We should not rush into making decisions. We should think things over and weigh things out before making a decision. Marriage relationships have been lost over a simple disagreement. Lifetime friendships have been lost over a feud. And all because they made a quick irrational decisions!
So my friends, for those of you who have a full set of hair, go ahead and run that comb through them. Use your hairdryer and hairspray. We might be jealous of you, but we would certainly not think of you as being childish……
Shabbat Shalom, Happy Chanukah & Regards;
Martin