This week’s Parsha is Parsha Vayeshev. One of the many lessons we can take away from this Parsha is to have Emunah and faith in Hashem, believing that He has a reason for doing anything.
Because Yosef is Yaakov’s favorite son, Yaakov gifted him a special robe (ketonet) made of fine wool. This present caused tremendous jealousy from Yosef’s eleven brothers, as they had never received anything close to that from their father. As a result of this, they avoided speaking to him at all costs.
A little bit later on, Yosef had two different dreams. In the first dream, there were eleven bundles of grains in a circle, each bowing down to a bundle of grain that was situated in the middle. The second dream showcased a sun, a moon, and eleven stars which were once again all bowing down to the middle.
Yosef relayed both of these dreams to his brothers, simply with the intention of informing them of what might occur in the future. However, his brothers completely took it the wrong way. After hearing the dreams, his brothers were even more furious with him than before, thinking that he insinuated that he would be eventually ruling over them. Because of this, they began planning to kill Yosef.
All of the brothers agreed on a plan to kill Yosef. Reuven, though, stepped in and suggested that it would be a better idea to throw him in a pit rather than having to shed blood. Reuven intended to fish out Yosef from the pit later on, but he chose to hide this from his brother.
After casting Yosef into a pit, the brothers decided to sell him to an Ishmaelite who was traveling on his way to Egypt. From there Yosef was sold to Potiphar, where he began working for him. Hashem helped Yosef in his endeavors so greatly that Potiphar put Yosef in charge of Potiphar’s estate
Since Yosef was a very handsome man, Potiphar’s wife made advances toward him relentlessly. Only after Yosef continuously refused them did Potiphar’s wife go to her husband and accuse Yosef of making advances, flipping the situation. Potiphar, being furious with the man whom he previously trusted, sent Yosef to jail. Eventually though, Yosef was able to find favor in the eyes of the prison warden, who then put him in charge of all the prisoners.
Two of Pharaoh's officers, his butler and baker, were accused of different crimes and sent to live in the prison. There, they met Yosef, who interpreted their dreams. They were both in awe of Yosef’s interpretations, as they ended up coming true. The butler was bound to return to the castle within a few days, while within those same few days, the baker was bound to be hanged.
The one consistent component throughout this story is Yosef’s unwavering belief and Emunah towards Hashem. Because of this, Hashem stayed with him through everything: from Yosef being sold to him getting out of prison, Hashem helped him through it all. Yosef clearly demonstrates how important it is to believe in Hashem and everything he does for us. As long as we do our part, we can count on Hashem to do the rest!
Good Shabbos!
By: Emilie Bensoussan (10th)
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