Vayeishev
וישראל אהב את יוסף מכל בניו כי בן זקנים הוא לו וגו'. ויראו אחיו כי אותו אהב אביהם מכל אחיו וישנאו אותו ולא יכלו דברו לשלום (לז,ג-ד)
And Yisrael loved Yosef most of all of his sons, for he was he was a child of his old age… And his brothers saw that it was he that their father loved most of all of his brothers and they hated him and they were unable to speak peacefully with him.
There are a number of difficulties to raise about this passage, including: 1) Why is Yosef’s father first called Yaakov and then Yisrael? 2) What does it mean that Yosef was beloved because “he was a child of [Yaakov’s] old age” if Binyamin was even younger than Yosef?
And, of course, what relevance do these stories of ancient history bear for us today?
I propose to explain the significance of this narrative, in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner, with the following idea, the beginning of which I heard in the name of my mentor, the Besht. The twelve tribes of the Jewish People represent twelve approaches to mitzvah observance: 1) The name Reuven, ראובן, as the Talmud explains,* is derived from חמי בן לבין בני בין מה ראו, see the difference between my son and the son of my father-in-law, i.e., mitzvos performed for the sake of their being noticed by others. 2) The name Shimon, שמעון, is derived from שם, reputation, i.e., mitzvos performed to gain a good reputation. 3) Levi, לוי, from the term לויה, escort,** i.e., mitzvos performed to get into the right company. 4) Yehudah, יהודה, from the term הודאה, thanksgiving,*** i.e., to elicit gratitude from others. (These first four are attributed to the Besht.) 5) Yissocher, יששכר, from the term שכר, reward, i.e., to receive the “wealth and honor” promised to those who engage in Torah study. 6) Zevulun, זבלון, from אישי יזבלני, my husband will dwell with me,**** i.e., to gain the partnership of the scholarly elites. 7) Yosef, יוסף, got his name from the term הוספה, addition,***** i.e., the hope that one mitzvah will lead to another, or to compensate Heaven for the pleasure derived from the previous mitzvah.****** 8) Binyamin, בנימין, from ימין, the right, alluding to ימים ארך
בימינה, the longevity promised for Torah.******* 9) Dan, דן, from דין, judgement,********i.e., the fulfilment of the mitzvos so as to avoid punishment in This World or the Next. 10) Naftali, נפתלי, from the term ופתלתל עקש,********* twistedness, i.e., mitzvos done for one-upmanship, to highlight the crookedness of others, while regarding oneself לי נפת, sweetness unto me. 11) Gad, גד, from the inverse of the letters – דג, fish, of whom the larger swallow the smaller,********** i.e., mitzvos for the sake of dominating others. 12) Asher, אשר, from the term בנות אישרוני, the maidens will praise me,********** i.e., to gain the favor of one’s audience, so that they will provide him with material benefits.
Of these twelve motivations, which are the most superior? Yosef and Binyamin. Of the two, Yosef is the superior, as he is not motivated by anything other than the desire to fulfill Hashem’s will. (As the Olelos Ephrayim put it,*********** שמאל או ימין מהמצוה סור לבלתי,************ one ought not stray from a pure motivation for a mitzvah, neither to the right – the בימינה ימים ארך, nor to the left – the עשר בשמאלה
(.וכבוד
Now let us return to our passage. וישראל, the Jewish People as a collective, בניו מכל יוסף את אהב, appreciates the model of “Yosef,” the one who performs his service for pure reasons, more than that of other scholars who are motivated by personal gains, לו הוא זקנים בן כי, as Onkelos renders it חכים בר, for the sake of Heaven.*************
The Sages************** say that that there are three who hate their fellows: the woman, the boor, and the child. I would suggest that they allude to the three forms of enmity that the Jewish People suffer, as we have discussed elsewhere. One is that of the gentiles for Israel – that is the woman, as we find the gentiles characterized as a “foreign woman.”************** The second is that of the ignorant for the scholars, immortalized by R. Akiva’s confession of his former animus for them.*************** The third is the hatred that scholars have for one another, particularly the insincere ones for the sincere ones. They are compared to a child, as per the rabbinic imagery of the student of Torah as a nursing infant.****************
This may also be one level of meaning in the mishnaic teaching האדם את מוציאין והכבוד והתאוה הקנאה העולם מן, jealousy, desire, and honor remove a person from the world.*****************The hatred that the gentiles have for Israel is prompted by jealousy, that is, as noted by the Zohar,******************jealousy of the singular love that Hashem has for it. The hatred that the ignorant have for the scholars is caused by desire. Since the ignorant are obsessed with physical delights, they are repulsed by the lifestyle of the scholars, who subsist on a minimal diet.******************* And the hatred that the scholars have for one another is generated by their honor seeking, when one is envious of the greater honor that another receives. This is particularly so regarding the pseudo-scholars, whose pursuit of honor distances it from them.******************** With all of this internal hatred, it is no wonder that each group prompts the ill will of the other. As the Sefer Chassidim wrote,********************* the gentiles do not disturb the Jews unless they witness discord amongst them, and the ignorant do not start up with the scholars unless they see them quarrelling.
Thus, we come to our verse. אותו וישנאו אחיו מכל אביהם אהב אותו כי אחיו ויראו. We can read into it the three forms of enmity enumerated above: 1) That of the gentiles: Since Israel’s brethren, i.e., Eisav (as per Malachi 1:2), saw that Hashem has greater affection for Israel, they hated him; 2) That of the ignorant: Since the ignorant saw that Hashem has greater affection for the scholars, they hated them; 3) That of the scholars: Since the scholars saw that their colleagues were more highly regarded, they resented them.
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* Berachos 7b.
** As per Bereishis 29:34.
*** As per ibid., 35.
**** Ibid., 30:20
***** As per ibid., 24.
****** As the anthropomorphism of the divine aƩribute of Yesod, Yosef is the desire for more. 126 Shabbos 63a, from Mishlei 3:16.
******* As per Bereishis 30:6.
******** Devarim 32:5.
********* See Avodah Zarah 4a.
********** Bereishis 30:13.
*********** 177.
************ Devarim 17:20.
************* As per זאת ישכילו חכמו לו) Devarim 32:29), true Torah wisdom is when one cognates in order to draw down spiritual energy from the AƩribute of Chochmah to that of Malchus (alluded to by ת"זא(.
************** Chupas Eliyahu Rabbah, 3.
*************** See Zohar, Acharei, 57b.
**************** Pesachim 49b.
***************** See Berachos 3a; Mishlei 5:19.
****************** Avos 4:21.
******************* Vayeishev, 181b.
******************** See Avos 6:4.
********************* See Eiruvin 13b.
********************** 209.