Sedaria Weekly Parashah: The path to Egypt
Sedaria Weekly Parashah: The path to Egypt וישב VAYESHEV In last week’s Torah portion, Jacob went through a personal transformation (marked by his renaming as Israel) and journeyed back to Canaan for a reconciliation with his brother, Esau. Now in Parashat Vayeshev, meaning “he settled,” the focus turns to Jacob’s sons and the dynamics between them. וְיִשְׂרָאֵל אָהַב אֶת־יוֹסֵף מִכָּל־בָּנָיו כִּי־בֶן־זְקֻנִים הוּא לוֹ וְעָשָׂה לוֹ כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים׃ Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons — he was his “child of old age”; and he had made him an ornamented tunic. Genesis 37:3 Vayeshev kicks off the tumultuous story of Joseph, which will continue until the end of Genesis. As his father’s favorite, Joseph receives special treatment, causing resentment among his brothers. They go so far as to sell him into slavery in Egypt and lie to Jacob, telling him that Joseph has died. In Egypt, Joseph faces imprisonment a...