Vayeshev: Editing

 Vayeshev: Editing

Vayeshev is among the most literarily  artistic chapters in the Torah. It  begins with dreams and ends with dreams. It begins with Joseph, age 17, supervising his brothers, training to ascend to power. It ends with Joseph enslaved and a prisoner, begging to be remembered to the monarch. The origin story of the tribe of Judah is sandwiched in  between, spiced by the temptation of Joseph. 

Joseph's transparent dreams of dominance  were supported, possibly generated, by the way his father, Yaakov, treated him. The patriarch, Yaakov, placed Joseph in a supervisory role. Yaakov  openly  loved  Joseph more than his brothers. His father dressed him regally. These actions implied that the legacy of Yaakov would have strata.  Yaakov's heir was to be the son of Rachel, the beloved wife. The children of Leah would be great in their own right, and the children of the handmaiden's would be the lowest stratum. Perhaps Abraham's legacy  was the model for this arrangement. Isaac, born to  Sarah in their old age, was appointed, by Gd, to be the true heir. Gd had reassured Abraham that  Ishmael, Sarah's handmaiden's son, would also be a great nation.  The children of Keturah ( a later wife) were given gifts and sent away. That is not how it turned out for the children of Jacob and this section of the Torah tells why. 

Murderous envy evolves from Yaakov's special treatment of Jacob. Envy as a motive for murder echoes the first pair of brothers and the fratricide that evolved from Gd's showing favor to one brother (Abel)  and not the other (Cain).  Is this  a hardwired, nearly unbreakable behavioral circuit: the less favored brother eliminates the favored one... with extreme prejudice?  Maybe. Should Yaakov have known better? Should he have learned from his own interactions  with Esau?  Perhaps  Yaakov did not know which model to follow. The story unfolds to correct him. 

The sale of Joseph, which substitutes his servitude for death, is the first great communal sin and crime of the  Children of Israel. We are reminded of the  lasting gravity of this heinous act every Yom Kippur when we read Eleh Ezkerah.  This graphic elegy to the 10 great rabbis martyred by the Romans, starts with the communal admission of guilt, with inadequate punishment, for the sale of Joseph. 

 The sacrificial rite of every communal holiday and every New Moon included a sin offering. That, never changing addendum to the otherwise distinctive ritual, was a single goat. Is that a reminder of the goat blood that was used  to stain Joseph's distinctive coat to deceive Yaakov into believing that Joseph had been mauled to death by an animal ( and not eliminated by his brothers)? Is that  sin offering of a goat a reminder of the danger that a communal gathering can  become a  populist lynching?

Having been treated as a prince, Joseph has the dreams of a prince. Joseph’s dreams are not merely flimsy wishes; they build his confidence; they  allow him to accept, and expect, the role of the ascendant. Accepting the dream as a goal is an important leadership characteristic. All of the dreams in this parsha deeply influence the dreamers and, thereby,  steer the course of events.

Jospeph's brothers and father criticize him  for his dreams. Were these dreams under  Joseph's control? Could he have dreamed otherwise?  Perhaps it was the reporting of his dreams that was the problem.  Speech,  the way we express ideas to other and ourselves, is  a  highly edited product. The path from the motive to the action goes through  numerous filters.  Some are conscious, others can be realized on reflection; (probably) most are obscure. Dreams have a different set of editors, maybe some of the proofreaders are asleep.  The personal reality of the dreamer is told as a novel instead of a news article; there are embellishments and revelations. The way the dream is described changes its meaning and its substance. 

Joseph’s dreams of domination do not abandon him, even after his sale as chattel. He takes charge of his master's house in Egypt.  When he is sent to prison, he rules the roost.  I am sure that Joseph was talented and Gd helped him, but the confidence that came from his dreams was part of his Divine aid.

Joseph’s interpretations of the dreams of the imprisoned wine steward and baker may have been manipulative. Everyone knew that Pharaoh’s birthday was three days away and that he would review his edicts then. By interpreting the wine steward’s dream favorably, he helped him appear confident -innocent and entitled- before the Pharoah on his (appointed) day of judgement. By delivering a damning interpretation to the baker, he made him anxious, and he probably looked insecure and guilty. The punishment fits the appearance.

The intertwined stories of Joseph and Judah have a dreamlike quality. Our long history can be seen emerging from this hazy origin  of competition, compromise, guilt and forgiveness. That story continues to emerge. Don't be fooled by irony. Be careful about how you narrate your dreams: to yourself as well as to others.