Vayeshev - Like Father, Like Son?

B"H

Apologies for the delay - to make up for it, next week's dvar should be up earlier as it will also be cross-posted elsewhere. Thank you also to my rabbi Rabbi B., as some of the ideas brought from Rav Kotler zt"l in his Shabbat dvar Torah turned out to be very helpful for making sense of the Midrash, especially the potential for 'four Avot' and Yosef acting as a bridge between generations. As I don't have any direct access to Rav Kotler's teachings to check, any misunderstandings etc.of what he had to say on this are my own.

Click here for the full text of the Midrash Tanchuma.


Finally, this is dedicated l'refuah shleima Ilana bat Victoria.

Sources:

1) Midrash Tanchuma Vayeshev, Chapter 1

דבר אחר אלה תולדות יעקב יוסף אתה מוצא שהיה יוסף דומה לאביו בכל דבר וכל מה שעבר על יעקב כך עבר על יוסף, יעקב קנא בו עשו אחיו ויוסף קנאו בו אחיו יעקב גלה לחרן יוסף גלה למצרים

2) Midrash Tanchuma Vayeshev, Chapter 2

סימן ב

וישראל אהב את יוסף מכל בניו כי בן זקונים, בן איקונים שהיה דומה לו

3) Midrash Tanchuma Toldot, Chapter 1

ממשמע שהוא אומר יצחק בן אברהם איני יודע שאברהם הוליד את יצחק ומה ת"ל אברהם הוליד את יצחק שכל הרואה אברהם היה אומר בודאי שאברהם הוליד את יצחק ממה שהיה קלסתר פניהם דומין זה לזה לכך נאמר אברהם הוליד את יצחק

We are all used to the familiar stages of Jewish history in Tanakh. The three Avot Avraham, Yitzhak and Ya'akov lead to the twelve Tribes from the sons of Ya'akov, which then becomes the nation of Israel eventually united (temporarily) under the reign of David Ha-Melech before the disintegration of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, destruction and exile.When it comes to Parshat Vayeshev, we might also expect that - despite the Parsha's focus on the sale of Yosef and his servitude in Egypt - the relevant midrashim might also pay attention to some of Yosef's brothers, particularly Yehuda and the significance of the 'Tamar' interlude in the Parsha. 


However (at least, in Midrash Tanchuma) the focus is almost entirely on Yosef. In fact, if we were to read this in isolation to any other text, we would not be blamed for being surprised that Jewish tradition does not habitually refer to the 'four Avot' of Avraham, Yitzhak, Ya'akov and Yosef, such is the emphasis placed by the Midrash on Yosef to the exclusion of his brothers.

This impression is deepened by two remarks made in the opening chapters of this week's Midrash Tanchuma. The first (Source 1) culminates a series of explanations as to why the Parsha begins 'Eileh toldot Ya'akov, Yosef...' ('these are the generations of Ya'akov, Yosef etc.'; Bereishit, 37:2) before embarking, not into a genealogy of Ya'akov's family as one might expect from the phrase 'eileh toldot Ya'akov' but into the story of Yosef's relationship with his father and brothers. Source 1 resolves this by explaining that 'Yosef was like his father in every way - whatever befell Ya'akov, so too it befell Ya'akov'. It then justifies this by comparing Esav's jealousy of Ya'akov and Ya'akov's flight to Haran with the hatred of Yosef's brothers for him and Yosef's subsequent exile to Mitzrayim.*


The second remark (Source 2) above opens the chapter of Midrash Tanchuma immediately following the above Midrash. Here, the midrash takes the words 'ben zkunim' in the verse 'V'Israel ahav et Yosef mikol banaiv ki ben zkunim' (and Yisrael loved Yosef more than any of his sons, for he was a son of his old age; Bereishit 37:3), and rereads these as 'ben ikonim' - i.e. that Yosef had identical facial features to Ya'akov, hence Ya'akov's love for him. 


So, the Midrash tells us both that Yosef looks identical to Ya'akov and that the same things happened to both father and son. Where have we seen this pattern before? We don't have to go back many generations to find the answer - Avraham and Yitzhak. 


Yitzhak famously repeats the history of his father - he redigs the wells Avraham dug, left his home for Avimelech's land during a period of famine, and even pretended his wife was his sister for their protection while they were with Avimelech, just as Avraham and Sarah had done not long before. The Midrash also tells us on more than one occasion (see for example Source 3 above) above that Avraham and Yitzhak looked identical, save for the signs of old age given to Avraham to distinguish him from his son. 


Avraham and Yitzhak have something else in common - both have more than one son, but only one son is given the birthright and chosen to continue the brit or covenant with G-d while the other goes his own way. However, while in both cases it is the younger son who is is given this birthright, we see a difference in the way Avraham and Yitzhak treat their sons. Avraham banishes his eldest son Yishmael with regret, showing signs of love for both even though it is Yitzhak who - like Yosef - is both identical to him in appearance and described as the son of his 'old age'. However in Yitzhak's case it is Ya'akov who is forced into exile, and until Yitzhak blesses Ya'akov in his own right at the end of Parshat Toldot the father-son bond between Yitzhak and Ya'akov appears much less close than that between Yitzhak and Esav.**

Where does this leave us with Yosef and Ya'akov? Well, when it comes to fatherhood Ya'akov appears to be repeating the pattern of the past. One reason for Yosef being his favoured son may because he was born to the 'favoured wife' Rachel - just as for Avraham Yitzhak held a special status, partially because he Avraham's son by Sara rather than through Hagar. However, the special love shown by Ya'akov to Yosef appears to be more like the favouritism shown by Yitzhak and Rivka towards Esav and Ya'akov respectively, despite the consequences this had for Ya'akov. Sibling rivalry, meanwhile runs throughout the history of the Avot - indeed, as Source 1 points out, Esav's hatred for Ya'akov forces Ya'akov into exile just as the jealousy of Yosef's brothers towards him results in Yosef's exile.


Perhaps now we can understand better why the brothers were so jealous of Yosef - they saw him as a fourth 'Av' who had been chosen by their father to carry on the family heritage alone, while the other brothers would be cast aside and fade into history as just another group of tribes. What the brothers couldn't see from their standpoint is that Yosef shared certain characteristics with the Avot not because he was one of their number, but because the eventual reconciliation of Yosef and his brothers was to act as a tikun (i.e. repair) for all of the problems of sibling rivalry and dysfunctional families seen above and throughout Bereishit, thereby bridging the gap between the Abrahamic family of Bereishit and the nation of Israel which emerges through the twelve tribes in Shemot.


However, if Yosef is a tikun for the problems of his father's and earlier generations, the roles are reversed when it comes to the exile experienced by both father and son. Here, the fact that Yosef follows in Ya'akov's footsteps and that Ya'akov eventual returned from exile in Haran (as, indeed , all three Avot eventually returned from exile to Eretz Israel) acts as a sign of hope for the twelve tribes as they begin their exile in Mitzrayim.

Although it is important not to lose sight of our beginnings, we can see from the above midrashim that it is important to keep an eye on both the past and the future as the 'bridge' between generations - 'fixing' the problems of the past while using the lessons learned from here to look forwards to the next generation of Am Yisrael.  

Shavua Tov and Chanukah Sameach

RPT

*The idea that the same things happen to Ya'akov and Yosef is repeated elsewhere in midrash - see, for example, Midrash Tanchuma on Mikketz (Chapter 3).

**Interestingly, whereas Avraham and Ya'akov's old age is mentioned in relation to Yitzhak and Yosef respectively, Yitzhak's growing 'old' is mentioned in conjunction both with his blindness and his intention to bless Esav (which the Midrash links as a sign of Yitzhak somehow being blinded to Esav's true nature - see Toldot's post).