Torah Weekly: Vayeshev - the danger and indispensability of Yosef and his beauty

Rabbi Daniel Rowe

Vayeshev opens with apparent jealousy and hatred that results in his sons selling their brother Yoseph (Joseph) into slavery.

The sidra (weekly Torah reading) follows the twists and turns of Yoseph's saga as he rises up to seniority in the household of an Egyptian official Potiphar, only to be framed and thrown in jail. There too his attempt to help Pharoah's imprisoned servants through dream interpretation, ends up with him being abandoned and neglected for two more years.
In between these episodes the Torah introduces the saga of Yehudah and Tamar, raising moral questions about Yehuda that result in his brave confession and the building of his own family.
Yehuda and Yosef turn out to be the ancestors of the Israelite Kings, and it is their descendents who rupture the unfiied kingdom.
In this talk we discover that their divisions were not merely about jealousies but about a deep fear that the brothers had of Yoseph's charm and charisma. They feared the short path from their to manipulation, narcissism, self worship and ultimately paganism. History proved them right, but also wrong.

It turns out that Yoseph is also indispensible. Without him Israel can never survive in exile nor bring redemption.
Navigating the fine line between charm and holiness is the theme of the talk, that weaves together threads laid out by Midrashim, Rashi, and other commentators.