Vayeshev
Gen. 37:1 -
40:23
Précis: The story of Joseph begins with the words, “And
Jacob dwelt (vayeshev) in the land of
his father’s travels.” We learn that Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son. Joseph
receives the famous coat of many colors, and dreams strange dreams and relates
them to his brothers and father, creating additional concern (jealousy) on
their part. The sons conspire to do away with Joseph, but before he dies, they
sell him into slavery. Jacob is devastated when the sons present evidence of Joseph’s
“death.”
We then have an intervening story about Judah. He marries off his first son to
Tamar. The son soon dies, and, the next son is married to the widow (“levirate
marriage.”) The second son (Onan) dies, and Judah is loath to offer the third
son. The widow dresses as a harlot, seduces Judah, becomes pregnant, and
reveals herself to Judah as a woman wronged. He acknowledges her as a rightful
daughter.
The scene shifts back to Joseph, who is now a servant in the household of Potiphar,
an Egyptian official. Potiphar’s wife attempts to seduce Joseph but he refuses
her advances. She accuses him nonetheless of attempted rape, and Joseph is
tossed into prison. There, he meets jailed servants of Pharaoh, for whom he
interprets dreams successfully. When the chief butler is restored to his post,
he promises to “remember” Joseph, but the parasha ends with the words, “but he
forgot him.”
Gen.
39:7-8 “After a time, his master’s
wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused….”
This parasha includes two stories of sexual impropriety: the failure of Judah
to provide for his daughter-in-law (and her need to play the harlot), and this
story of the false rape accusation in the cited verse.
When Joseph refuses the advances of Potiphar’s wife, she grabs an article of
his clothing, which she uses as “evidence” of rape, and Joseph goes to prison.
While in terms of power the gender roles in this story are reversed from our
present
“norm,” this
episode has remarkable parallels to the current news cycle in particular, and
to our society in general.
A person of power coerces another towards improper sexual contact. Here, the
individual refuses, and is punished for that refusal. Joseph not only loses his
job, he goes to prison! What would his fellow servants of Potiphar think
about that result? Would they decide to accept the abuse to save their jobs, or
would they speak out and defend themselves?
This is the issue which our society is attempting to deal with today. Sexual
abuse and harassment have been present throughout human history as this story
demonstrates. There is also no doubt that it has been wrong throughout human
history as well. Joseph, who is not always portrayed in a positive light (his
tattling on his brothers, his braggadocio, his games-playing with his brothers
when he is in power, his failure to contact his mourning father, etc.) here
stands up straight and strong, refusing the improper advances of his mistress.
It is not only wrong for him to do what is demanded of him; it is also a
violation of the trust which is owner Potiphar has placed in him. It must have
been exceedingly difficult for Joseph to take this stand (a notion which the
Rabbis suggest was not initially unequivocal).
What we need to learn from this vignette is not only that those who are
harassed and abused must come forward, but that the perpetrators must learn to
avoid their sin. In more common terms, it is not harassed (mostly) women in our
society who need to come forward; it is (largely) men in positions of authority
(as employers, as teachers, as political leaders) who must learn that the
authority they possess gives them no entitlement to harass or abuse those under
their sway. We, as a society, must give no quarter to those who use their
positions in such despicable ways.
