Just a Man

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. 37:14-17 “And he (Jacob) said to him (Joseph), ‘Go and see how your brothers are and how the flocks are faring, and bring me back word.’ So, he sent him from the valley of Hebron. When he reached Shechem, a man came upon him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, ‘What are you looking for?’ He answered, ‘I am looking for my brothers. Could you tell me where they are pasturing?’ The man said, ‘‘‘They have gone from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’’’ So, Joseph followed his brothers and found them in Dothan.”

            We see here a most unusual aspect of Torah text. Joseph encounters “a man.” While speakers are usually identified, this “man” is unknown (at least in the text). The Sages offer a variety of explanations: Rashi says he is the angel Gabriel. Maimonides also assumes that the stranger is an angel, just as the unnamed “man” struggled with Jacob/Israel. Nahama Leibowitz suggests that this brief dialog is here to show that God is working behind the scenes, so that the rest of the story could unfold. 

            But what if the “man” was simply a “man?” The traditional analysis is to the contrary, but let’s assume that the man was simply a stranger who Joseph encounters. His action – telling Joseph where to find his brothers – is a critical element in the development of the story, and, eventually, in the history of the Jewish People. This suggests that random encounters and random acts of kindness can have incredibly long-lasting impacts. Whether we are involved in congregational leadership, in family activities, or (perhaps even more important) in our interactions with strangers, we should remain mindful of the potentia impact of a small act of kindness to another.