Parasha Vayeshev 5782

(Bereshit - Genesis 37:1 - 40:2

The Parasha begins by mentioning that "Yaakob lived in the Land where his fathers lived, in the Land of Canaan," then it mentions his generations, but above all it mentions Yosef, saying:

"These are the generations of Yaakov: Joseph being seventeen years old, was tending cattle with his brothers, and was as a lad, with the sons of Bila, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph brought tidings of their evil conduct to his father" (Bereshit-Genesis 37,2)

Immediately after the Torah tells us that Joseph was the favorite son:

"Israel (Yaakob) loved Yosef more than his brothers, because he was born in his old age, and he made him a striped robe. And his brothers saw that their father loved him more, and they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him."
(Bereshit 37, 3)

In the Gemara (T. Shabbat 10a) they said “A father should never make distinctions between his children, for by the two Selaim (coins) Because Yaakob spent so much on Joseph (buying his tunic), his brothers became envious, and so our fathers went down to Egypt.”

It is necessary to understand why Yaakob behaved in this way, making distinctions between them.
What happened is that Yaakob Abinu (Our Father) knew that Yosef would end up living in Egypt, and there he would remain in his righteousness for all those years. Therefore, he prepared him by giving him what he needed so that he would not be carried away by the sins and impurity that reigned. in Egypt.

How did he do this? By teaching him Torah, as it is said (Rabbah 84:8) that he passed on to Joseph all the Halachot that Yaakob had learned with Shem and Eber.
Because he had taught him all this, he gave him a special tunic, worthy of a Sage (as a sign that would remind him) and through it he would remember what he had studied and his obligations, overcoming the tests that would be presented to him in Egypt. For this reason he taught him everything he knew, and gave him this striped tunic, alluding to the fact that in the future he would have to go to Egypt and combat the impurity that was there.

Similar to what was previously stated is what is expressed in the Verse (Pasuk) (3, 21)

“And the Creator made Adam and his wife garments of leather ("Or" written with the letter Ain), and clothed them.”
And it is said (Rabba 20, 12) “It was among the writings of Rabbi Meir 'garments of light (Or, written with the letter Aleph) were the garments of Adam'”. Before Adam sinned, he did not have the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) to induce him. When he sinned, this evil instinct entered him, and he was troubled, for he did not know how to protect himself from it. Then Hashem gave him a garment of light, and said to him (3:19) “by the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread”, and the Torah is called bread or food. Through dedication to the study of the Torah, man will be worthy of a 'special robe' and will be able to confront the evil instinct!

(Dedicated to the health of all the sick in Am Israel and throughout the world, and to the success of all those in need)

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