Vayeshev | Yosef and Yehuda

 

INTRODUCTION

 

With the reading of Parashat VaYeshev, the narratives of Sefer Bereishit converge upon the sons of Ya'acov.  Ya'acov himself, though he remains alive as a significant protagonist and continues to suffer existential travail for much of the remainder of the book, is no longer the focus of the texts.  Though in the end, Ya'acov achieves the spiritual peace that he so richly deserved, finally reunited with his beloved son for his last years and upon his demise lovingly laid to rest by his children at the Cave of Machpela at Chevron, the following chapters are not at all about Ya'acov.  Instead they are about Yosef, the adored firstborn of beloved but deceased Rachel, the apple of his aged father's tearful eye, and the exclusive object of his brothers' dire derision and contempt. 

 

Few Biblical characters can match Yosef for sheer dramatic effect.  Already destined for greatness at the tender age of seventeen, circumstances quickly catapult the young self-absorbed lad into situations geographically and experientially far-removed from his simple, pastoral former life of tending sheep among the hills of Chevron.  Sold by his brothers down to Egypt, he soon enters the employ and the household of Potiphar the Captain of the Guard, and begins to realize his potential as a gifted administrator.  Earning his master's unqualified trust, Yosef is fast-tracked for promotion, but things suddenly take a terrible turn for the worse when he is unjustly accused of impropriety.  Cast into prison, his hopes are seemingly dashed, but Yosef wastes no time in attempting to alleviate his condition.  Eventually, again through a series of convoluted causes and effects, Yosef unexpectedly rises to become Pharaoh's Viceroy and eventually secures his estranged family's survival during the seven years of famine that blanket Canaan and the region.

 

 

THE IMPORT OF THE SAGA

 

It is, in fact, a full twenty-two years that elapse from the time that Yosef reaches Egypt until the cathartic moment of his self-revelation to his stunned brothers and then their own subsequent descent to the land of Goshen at his invitation.  The circle of his own narratives and the Book of Bereishit as a whole is poignantly closed when Yosef is finally reunited with his old and broken father, patriarch Ya'acov who had never ceased to yearn for his favorite son's safe return and had always been certain of his triumph.

 

It is a grave error, however, to read the story of Yosef as an absorbing but juvenile tale of personal ambition, family strife, and court intrigue, all of them impelled by a heaping dose of capricious fate.  While some of these elements are no doubt present, they are surely not the core of the story but only its muted background.  Instead, the story of Yosef is primarily about the spiritual development of one man's character, a protracted and sometimes problematical process that is fueled by oblique but undeniable Divine intervention, yet driven forward to its noble climax by the free and unimpeded exercise of the human will.

 

This week, we will compare and contrast two events that the Torah has purposely juxtaposed, though they are probably separated chronologically by many years.  While each of the two events properly requires analysis in its own right, we will instead concentrate upon more general features and necessarily arrive at more general conclusions.  The two events, one concerning Yehuda and the other about Yosef, speak worlds about the choices that we make and about the great impact that those choices have upon the weaving of our moral fiber.

 

 

YOSEF AND POTIPHAR'S WIFE

 

The first and more well-known event concerns Yosef and takes place some time after his entry into the world of Egyptian high society.  Purchased as a servant boy by Potiphar (37:36), Yosef quickly proves himself to be more than a lethargic house drudge.  Graced with an endearing charm as well as unusual talent, Yosef enjoys a meteoric rise through the ranks, and soon becomes the overseer of the entire household.  Potiphar his master trusts Yosef implicitly, and Yosef returns his master's faith in him by bringing him only success:

 

From the time that he (Potiphar) appointed him to the house and to care for all of his possessions, God blessed the house of the Egyptian on account of Yosef.  God's blessing extended to everything that was his, whether concerning the house or the field.  He (Potiphar) left everything that was his to Yosef's care, save the very bread that he would eat, and Yosef was beautiful of appearance and of form…(39:5-6).

 

What follows next is not entirely unexpected.  The wife of Potiphar, whose own husband may in fact be a eunuch (see 39:1, "seris Par'o"), takes an interest in young, dashing and unattached Yosef, and attempts to seduce him.  He refuses her advances, which only become more frequent, until "she spoke of it to Yosef daily" (39:10).  Mightily, he resists, for though he does not fear detection, he adheres to a higher law: succumbing to her wiles would constitute an unforgivable act of treachery against his master and against God!  She, however, is not dissuaded.  When the house is one day uncharacteristically empty (due to her subterfuge?), she seizes the opportunity to physically grasp hold of the startled Hebrew, and to win him over once and for all (39:11).  Yosef, however, flees her passionate embrace and runs out of the house, leaving behind his very garment still held by her perfumed hands.  She in turn cries out in alarm, and summoning the servants, vengefully accuses him of attempted rape.  When Potiphar returns that evening, she repeats her torrid allegations, and the hapless Hebrew is summarily cast into prison (39:20).  So concludes the episode, with Yosef's languishing in unjust incarceration until his later success at interpreting the dreams of the butler and the baker.

 

 

 

YEHUDA AND TAMAR

 

The other episode concerns Yehuda, and though the text indicates that it takes place "at that time" (38:1), a direct chronological link is not necessarily implied.  Briefly, Yehuda strikes up a friendship with an Adulamite in the Judean foothills and there he meets and marries the daughter of a merchant named Shu'a.  She bears him three sons: 'Er, Onan and Shelah.  'Er the firstborn eventually marries a certain Tamar, but soon dies "because he was wicked in God's sight" (38:6).  Yehuda then arranges a levirate marriage with his second son Onan, but the latter suffers a similar fate.  Tamar is then told to wait unattached until Shelah is of marriageable age, but in truth Yehuda has no intention of sanctioning their marriage.  Taking matters into her own hands, she removes her "widow's clothes" and dresses as a harlot, intercepting Yehuda who, in the aftermath of his own wife's death, has gone to shear his sheep (38:13).  Yehuda mistakes her for a prostitute and offers her a goat kid for her services, but she demands a security.  Surrendering his signet, staff and cloak, he has relations with her and she becomes pregnant (38:18).  About three months later, long after she has returned to her public status as a widow and he in the meantime has not succeeded in locating the "prostitute along the way" and paying for her services, her pregnancy becomes obvious.  She is accused by Yehuda of unfaithfulness and condemned to death by burning (38:24).  As she is led away to be executed, she produces the signet, staff and cloak, and Yehuda then acknowledges his own terrible wrongdoing and saves her from certain death when he exclaims: "she is more righteous than I!" (38:26).  Later, she gives birth to twins, Peretz and Zerach.  With that, the passage is concluded.

 

 

THE TEXTUAL INSERTION

 

What is most intriguing about the account of Yehuda is its telling textual insertion within the saga of Yosef.  The account of Yosef's sale by his brothers concludes with his purchase by Potiphar (37:36), but that narrative is then jarringly interrupted by the above episode concerning Yehuda.  The thread of the Yosef narrative is not resumed until after the birth of Yehuda's twins, but then it continues seamlessly from exactly where it left off, describing Yosef's rise to prominence in Potiphar's house and the consequent account of attempted seduction by Potiphar's wife.  In other words, the Torah has intentionally juxtaposed two disparate events that really are unrelated.

 

This is particularly so for the Ibn Ezra (12^th century, Spain) who compellingly explains that the story of Yehuda's indiscretion PRECEDED the sale of Yosef by many years:

 

When the Torah says "at that time" (38:1), it does not refer to the time of Yosef's sale (that immediately precedes it in the text), but rather to before that event…After all, only twenty-two years elapse from the time of Yosef's sale until the descent of our ancestors to Egypt.  Could it be that during that duration, Onan the second son of Yehuda could have come of age, "many days" (38:12) could have elapsed (after his death), and Tamar could have given birth to Peretz who is himself described as having two children at the time of the descent (46:12)? 

 

Why then did the Torah recount this narrative here, when the account of Yosef's sale should properly have been joined to the account of his travails in Egypt?  It was in order to contrast the matter of Yosef and his master's wife with the matter of his brother (commentary to 38:1, rearranged).

 

In other words, for the Ibn Ezra, the Torah has consciously juxtaposed Yehuda's adventures with those of Yosef so that we might consider the similarities and differences between them in order to derive some didactic conclusions.  Now armed with the Ibn Ezra's explanation (which he characteristically fails to spell out at length), we may begin to appreciate the sections.

 

 

PARALLELS AND CONTRASTS

 

Let us first consider the parallels.  In terms of theme, both episodes describe ambitious female temptresses and more passive male targets, both involve secret sexual liaisons that are considered illicit, and both introduce unfounded charges of impropriety that result in punishment.  With respect to literary motifs, both episodes pivot upon a perceived moment in time of male weakness, and both involve the seizure of clothing or other identifying items from the male that are then produced as evidence against him.  Simply based upon these comparisons, one might be tempted to conclude that Tamar's initiative was as insidious as the wife of Potiphar, or that Yehuda was as blameless as Yosef.

 

Obviously, however, the true indication of the nature of the events is better appreciated in light of their contrasts, and these are both myriad as well as profound.  First of all, while Tamar is motivated by the sincere and blameless desire for perpetuating the memory of her deceased husbands through the medium of her father-in-law's related genetic code, the wife of Potiphar acts with impetuous lust and nothing more.  While Tamar breaches the accepted trust of levirate marriage and ignores social convention by casting off her "cloak of widowhood", there is, at least, technical justification for her crime: she has been unfairly withheld from Shelah her intended in direct violation of Yehuda's pledge.  But what could possibly justify the conduct of Potiphar's wife, who is only too prepared to cavalierly betray her own husband in pursuit of Yosef's attentions?  Most damningly, while Tamar is prepared to suffer death for her crime, dangling her fate upon the admission of Yehuda that may not be forthcoming, Potiphar's wife is contrastingly craven.  Anticipating Yosef's revelation (that itself may not have come), she is prepared to condemn him to an unjust, undeserved and painful death (after all, Potiphar is Captain of the Guard) in order that she might be spared!  Thus, the conduct of Tamar is in fact much more noble than that of her Egyptian counterpart, AND THE TORAH INDICATES AS MUCH BY JUXTAPOSING THE TWO WOMEN.

 

In a similar vein, we must contrast the conduct of Yehuda with that of Yosef his brother.  Both are destined for leadership, both are regarded by their brothers and father as pivotal figures within the family.  While Yehuda sleeps with a harlot only in the aftermath of his wife's death, and thus at least does not betray their marriage, his conduct is clearly not the stuff of which nobility is made.  And how easily he succumbs, for at the first sight of the disguised harlot whose path he crosses, he is prepared to rashly part with his "ID card", entirely unmindful of the possible consequences.  How gallantly, in contrast, his brother Yosef resists, for Potiphar's wife tries to seduce him not once or twice, but continuously over a long period.  Even at the moment of his greatest weakness, when the house is entirely empty and he, the virile and conquering steward, is all alone with the alluring temptress, Yosef maintains his composure.  And unlike Yehuda who metes out the death sentence but whose own well-being is never threatened, Yosef probably knows that resisting the woman's overtures may carry its own perils.  Of what painful intrigues may she be capable in the aftermath of her spurned love?  In the end, of course, Yosef is prepared to suffer mightily not for the commission of a crime that he did not commit, but rather for an ethical principle that he held higher than life itself.  Now Yehuda's conduct is certainly mitigated by his tardy and embarrassing admission of wrongdoing, and he will not allow Tamar to be put to death unjustly for his impulsiveness.  Thus, much to our relief, he parts ways irrevocably with the Egyptian siren and redeems his posterity, but Yosef outshines him by far.  Again, we can only conclude that Yosef's conduct is above reproach while Yehuda's is less than exemplary, AND THE TORAH INDICATES AS MUCH BY JUXTAPOSING THE TWO BROTHERS.

 

 

THE IDEAL OF NOBLE LEADERSHIP

 

The overall result is thus a sort of inversion, for Yosef is virtuous though publicly declared culpable, while Yehuda's reputation seems secure though in fact he is guilty of wrongdoing.  Similarly, while Tamar is accused of impropriety, she is actually quite innocent, while Potiphar's wife presents a facade of violated virtue when in fact she is utterly vile!

 

What might be the Torah's message, over and above communicating to us the nature of these pivotal characters and their personal spiritual struggles, which so often mirror our own?  Perhaps the message relates to leadership, for not only were Yosef and Yehuda leaders among their brethren but the two tribes that later descended from them formed the core of Biblical Israel and invariably provided it with its political and religious leadership.  Perhaps the Torah wants to emphasize the two pillars of noble leadership, the foundations of the state and of the nation's success.  These might be generically described as accountability and responsibility.  Let the leaders be accountable for their conduct, let them honestly acknowledge their errors and sincerely attempt to rectify them, much as Yehuda painfully admitted his failings and, in so doing, sullied his own personal reputation but preserved Tamar and her offspring from the fire.  Even better, let the leaders recall their august responsibilities towards their constituents, always preferring the sacred trust with which the people invested them to the myriad personal opportunities for self-gratification and gain that all positions of power present.  Like Yosef, it is much preferable to resist temptation a thousand times than to succumb but once and thereby drag the state through the dust.  May Israel merit to have leaders of their caliber!

 

Shabbat Shalom