Parasha Va-yeyshev: Genesis 37:1-40:23

This parasha begins the story of Joseph. Joseph was Israel's eleventh son, and his favorite, as he was 'a child of his old age' and the son of Israel's favorite wife, Rachel. Israel was overt in his love for Joseph, much to the dismay of his other sons. Because their father loved Joseph the most, the brothers hated Joseph and 'they could not speak to him peaceably.' So when Joseph dreamed two self-aggrandizing dreams, and boasted about them to his family, his brothers 'hated him even more.' Even Israel was annoyed at Joseph, and scolded him for implying that his father and mother as well as his brothers were supposed to bow down to him. When Israel sent Joseph to check on his brothers where they were shepherding, they plotted to kill him, along with his dreams. Reuben and Judah talked the other brothers out of killing him, and instead they stripped him of his fancy tunic and threw him into a pit. Midianite traders fished him out and sold him to Ishmaelites, who brought him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, Paraoh's Chamberlain of the Butchers. Potiphar's wife tries unsuccessfully to seduce him but he gets thrown in prison anyway. Then Joseph, through God, accurately interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's Chamberlains, interpreting life for one and death for the other. He was promptly forgotten.