Vayeshev: Control

We spend our lives doing; and envious of the ease with which the successful outcome comes to others.  Actions are necessary, but the consequences are unpredictable.  There is a physics to the proximate result, actions and reactions, F=ma, E=mcc. But  the consequences that are important are pinballed among too many forces to calculate,  the flippers rarely works and their impact is unpredictable. 

Joseph is identified as Jacob's legacy

אֵ֣לֶּה ׀ תֹּלְד֣וֹת יַעֲקֹ֗ב יוֹסֵ֞ף

 or is it how Jacob treated Joseph: as the favored son ( by accident of his late birth to the favorite wife), 

וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אָהַ֤ב אֶת־יוֹסֵף֙ מִכָּל־בָּנָ֔יו כִּֽי־בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים ה֖וּא

Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age;

as the natural manager and overlord of the lesser  sons (the children of servants). 

 This behavior led not only to the murderous envy of his brothers 

וַיִּרְא֣וּ אֶחָ֗יו כִּֽי־אֹת֞וֹ אָהַ֤ב אֲבִיהֶם֙ מִכָּל־אֶחָ֔יו וַֽיִּשְׂנְא֖וּ אֹת֑וֹ

And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated 

( an envy that Jacob should have understood from his interactions with Esau, his own brother), but also to the dreams of domination. ( Even Joseph could not understand his dreams.  His father needed to confront him with their meaning  to show him how hurtful they were). 

 וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ מָ֛ה הַחֲל֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָלָ֑מְתָּ

“What,” he said to him, “is this dream you have dreamed? 

Ultimately, this envy born and magnified by father Jacob's favoritism, leads to a plot to eliminate the budding despot.  The plot evolves through a series of steps ( kill him, throw him into a dry pit)and ends with his sale into slavery.  A slavery that he never emerges from.  A slavery that results in the bondage of all his brothers' descendants for hundreds of years.  The bondage had been revealed to Abraham, three generations earlier, but who knew it would happen like this!

Gd intervenes in Joseph's life and makes him successful. 

וַיְהִ֤י  ...  אֶת־יוֹסֵ֔ף וַיְהִ֖י אִ֣ישׁ מַצְלִ֑יחַ וַיְהִ֕י בְּבֵ֖ית אֲדֹנָ֥יו הַמִּצְרִֽי׃

The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he stayed in the house of his Egyptian master.

 Perhaps that is as much as we can aspire to: a successful career. He is attractive, which becomes a liability when he becomes the object of desire of the master's wife. That leads to his imprisonment.  

Even in prison. Gd smiles on Joseph and brings all of his endeavors to success.

וַיְהִ֤י   ...אֶת־יוֹסֵ֔ף וַיֵּ֥ט אֵלָ֖יו חָ֑סֶד וַיִּתֵּ֣ן חִנּ֔וֹ בְּעֵינֵ֖י שַׂ֥ר בֵּית־הַסֹּֽהַר׃

the LORD was with Joseph: He extended kindness to him and disposed the chief jailer favorably toward him.

  Joseph shows himself to be an an expert  interpreter of dreams.  Three tendrils on the vine, three loaves, three days until Pharaoh's birthday.  On his birthday, Pharaoh considers the disposition of his prisoners.  He looks at the optimistic wine steward, who had a favorable interpretation to his dream,  and the sweating baker whose dream predicted his demise. Their appearances might have helped him decide their respective fates.  Or is it purely Gd's plan?

The Haftarah is one of the oldest commentaries on the Torah.  It was instituted when  reading from the Torah was forbidden by Antiochus, and is thus related to Chanukah.  The Haftarah for this weeks parsha ends:

Does a bird drop on the ground—in a trap— With no snare there? Does a trap spring up from the ground Unless it has caught something?

When a ram’s horn is sounded in a town, Do the people not take alarm? Can misfortune come to a town If the LORD has not caused it?

Cause and effect.  Nothing happens without human intervention.  The will of Gd prevails. 

Merit and fairness seem to yield to the Divine plan. Justice does not drive the plot.  It is the Divine Plan, and it works through whomever the Lrd decides. We all have a role. We just do the best we can with what we are handed. The plan abides.