Parshat Vayeshev In A Nutshell

This shabbos, December 16th and 17th, is parshat Vayeshev. In this week’s parsha, we learn about Yaakov’s 12 sons, and how he showed favoritism towards Yosef. Yosef was the first born of Rachel, who was the late wife of Yaakov. Yaakov had gifted Yosef an embroidered rainbow robe made with fine wool. Yosef has dreams of greatness over his brothers, which he tells them about, ultimately arousing their jealousy. Yosef informs his jealous brothers of the two great dreams he had dreamt, both of which signified Yosef’s superiority. 

As the brothers were tending Yaakov’s sheep, Yosef approached the field as his father had commanded. The brothers were full of hatred and plotted to kill him. Reuvan advocated to throw Yosef into a pit; this plan was then executed. Yosef’s robe was taken from off his back, and he was sold as a slave to Potifar. The brothers drowned the robe in blood and showed it to Yaakov, causing him to believe that his son had been eaten by a wild animal. Yaakov went into mourning for his beloved son. 

Yosef served Potifar, and Hashem helped him to succeed in all that he accomplished. Potifar saw that G-D was with Yosef and put him in charge of the entire household and estate. Yosef was very handsome, and Potifar’s wife was attracted to him. Yosef continuously rejected her, and eventually she falsely accused Yosef of rape. This accusation led Potifar to throw Yosef into prison. 

While in prison, Hashem never left Yosef’s side, and he was put in charge of all the prisoners. Two of Pharaoh’s servants were thrown into prison alongside Yosef–a butler and a baker. One night the two servants had odd dreams, so they went to Yosef to interpret them. The butler’s dream was interpreted to mean that he would soon be released from prison and would be restored to Pharaoh’s service. Yosef told the baker that he would be hung on a tree and the birds would eat his flesh off his bones.