14
votes
Accepted
Why did Yaakov Avinu not ask G-d about where Yosef was?
Rashi on Bereishis 37:33 says
חיה רעה אכלתהו - נתנצה בו רוח הקדש (ב"ר) סופו שתתגרה בו אשת פוטיפר ולמה לא גלה לו הקב"ה לפי שהחרימו וקללו את כל מי שיגלה ושתפו להקב"ה עמהם (תנחומא) אבל יצחק היה יודע ...
- 1,723
10
votes
Accepted
Did Jacob ever figure out what the Brothers did to Joseph?
Ramban (Genesis 45:27) writes that according to the peshat, it does not appear that Yaakov ever found out what happened to Yosef:
יראה לי על דרך הפשט שלא הוגד ליעקב כל ימיו כי אחיו מכרו את יוסף, ...
- 35.4k
10
votes
Why is Joseph's pit mentioned amid all the Chanukah stuff in tractate Shabas?
This immediately follows another statement of R. Kahana's, which also quoted an exegesis of R. Nasan b. Minyome's in the name of R. Tanchum. Quoting another statement from the same people is pretty ...
- 73.6k
10
votes
Did the Egyptians store food for the famine?
Rashi on verse מקץ מ"א נ"ה) ותרעב כל ארץ מצרים) says (based on Midrash Tanchuma) that the Egyptians did store food, but their food all rotted, and only Yosef's food remained. The Egyptians were ...
- 614
10
votes
Accepted
Ber. 43 (33). Yosef seats the brothers in birth order. This could have revealed his identity prematurely?
The whole point is that they could not conceive of the idea that this was Yosef. They thought that he was capable of the magic powers of Egypt. Thus, when he framed them for stealing the magic cup ...
- 42.9k
9
votes
Accepted
Yosef sold into prostitution
The Jewish Virtual Library on Homosexuality states that
the Talmud records that the Egyptian Potiphar purchased Joseph "for
himself " (Sotah 13b), that is, for homosexual purposes (Rashi).
...
- 42.9k
9
votes
Why did Yaakov Avinu not ask G-d about where Yosef was?
According to the Hazal, Yaakov lost his prophecy the entire time that Yosef was gone. The verse describing Jacob's reaction to being told that Joseph was alive (Gen. 45:27):
וַתְּחִ֕י ר֖וּחַ ...
- 35.4k
7
votes
Yosef sold into prostitution
Not that they sold him into the sex trade, but that they thought that is where he ended up due to his beauty. See Bereishis Rabba 91 6 here, when the brothers came to Mitzraim for food, they were also ...
- 33.4k
7
votes
What happened to Joseph's coat of many colors
Presumably, it was buried, because there is a Chiyuv D'Oraisa (biblical obligation) to bury the dead. It is a question in the Poskim of how much remains of the dead requires burial, but a significant ...
- 4,963
7
votes
Accepted
Was Potiphar's wife a righteous woman?
Rashi Breishis chapter 39, 1 ויוסף הורד AND JOSEPH WAS BROUGHT DOWN — It (Scripture) now reverts to the original subject (and consequently it states ויוסף הורד “Joseph had been brought down to Egypt” ...
- 196
7
votes
Looking for the source concerning a claim made about Yosef and his brothers
This approach seems to have been innovated by R. Yehuda Rosanes (1657-1727) in the first piece of his Parashat Derakhim.
- 41.8k
7
votes
Brothers don't kill brothers?
First, it always pays to see Rashi's sources, and to see if the question is answered there, even if the shorter version Rashi presents does not provide us with an easy answer. In this case, the source ...
- 20.4k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the source for Yosef's garment being a "coat of many colors"?
The Jewish Action article mentioned by @dov (thank you) contains the following paragraph:
The earliest mention of the ketonet passim being a variegated garment
dates back to the third-century bce ...
- 47.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Is it true that Rabbi Moshe Dovid Valle (aka the Ramad Vali, Ramdu) said that the Jesus was a failed Mashiach ben Yosef? Please provide sources
Yes. See Sefer Halikutim, part 1, p. 242:
"ומב"ד בא לעשות שלום בעולם ולא מלחמה, הפך ליש"ו הנוצרי שאמר מעצמו: לא באתי לעשות שלום בעולם אלא מלחמה. וגם הוא בודאי היה סוד משיח בן יוסף, אע&...
- 24.9k
6
votes
Unusual spelling of Joseph's name
The gemara in sotah 10b says it is because he was מקדש שם שמים בסתר by not falling for אשת פוטיפר.
The context can be understood as referring to יוסף's time in Egypt and hence this is an appropriate ...
- 3,280
6
votes
Would Yosef sleeping with the wife of Potifar have been a sin?
Yes, there is an issue of mitsvat asse in bne noach from which we can say that it have been a sin. See Talmud Bavli Kiddushin 21b:
וראית בשביה ת"ר וראית בשביה בשעת שביה אשת ואפילו אשת איש
Our ...
- 22.7k
6
votes
Did Yakov ever find out the truth about the sale of Yosef?
Ramban on the verse in Bereishis 45:27 seems to suggest that Yaakov never found out:
And they told him all the words of Joseph: It appears to me according to the simple meaning that throughout all ...
- 30.2k
5
votes
Asara Haruge Malchut (Ten Martyrs), why were 10 Rabbis killed?
Yalkut Reuveini brings several answers. Here (end of the first full paragraph) he says Reuven was actually punished for moving the beds by Bilhah.
Here he says that Yishmael Kohen Gadol (who was very ...
- 5,365
5
votes
Unusual spelling of Joseph's name
Ibn Ezra says it's a more glorious version of Joseph's name, used here because "Joseph" refers to the Jewish people.
- 73.6k
5
votes
How did the spices help?
Rashi doesn't say anything about the spices being helpful for getting over emotional trauma.
וגמליהם נושאים וגו' - למה פרסם הכתוב את משאם להודיע מתן שכרן של צדיקים שאין דרכן של ערביים לשאת אלא נפט ...
- 1,723
5
votes
How did the spices help?
A good answer is provided by Rav Chaim Shmulevitz zt"l in his Sichos Mussar, Maamar 16. He describes how Yosef had experienced a great deal of trauma - he was the 'ben zekunim' (the son of old ...
- 30.2k
5
votes
Why was Yoseph the first of Ya'aqov's sons to die?
This is addressed in Brachos 55a. The reason given is that he conducted himself ברבנות. Seemingly an excessive degree of acting in command.
דא״ר חמא בר חנינא מפני מה מת יוסף קודם לאחיו מפני שהנהיג ...
- 33.4k
5
votes
Accepted
How does saying "pasim" help us safely enunciate the name of Hashem?
If you open for example the Artscroll siddur (in my case p. 698 of the Ashkenaz-English version), you'll see that there's a 22 letter Divine Name hidden in it that is not read, but just scanned with ...
- 7,434
5
votes
Day of Yosef’s Sale
As far as I can tell, you didn't see it in a traditional "Midrash", since I've researched it pretty seriously and haven't come up with anything.
However, in a fairly recent "Midrash&...
- 20.9k
5
votes
How many years between the birth of Yosef and Moses?
According to Seder Hadorot,
Moses was born in the year 2368 to creation.
Joseph was born in the year 2199 to creation.
2368-2199 = 169 years.
Note that Joseph was born in the summer (27th of Tammuz),...
- 3,698
4
votes
Who sells Yosef? Who brings him to Egypt?
If you simply read the "pshat" as recorded, it seems to work quite nicely (partly taken from Rav Menachem Leibtag).
The brothers see Yishmaelim and therefore decide to sell Yosef.
Before they get to ...
- 2,461
4
votes
How long was Yosef in prison?
According to Ibn Ezra and Bechor Shor, Joseph may have been in prison for only two years.
Ibn Ezra Genesis 41:1
ויהי מקץ. לא פירש הכתוב תחלת זה החשבון וכן ויהי מקץ ארבעים שנה וכן ובעוד ששים וחמש שנה ...
- 49.1k
4
votes
Joseph's Garment- Made or hand me down?
The מעם לעז says Yaakov avinu added the sleeves, which is why it says ועשה. Yaakov made the sleeves for the cloak which originally belonged to Adam HaRishon.
- 41
4
votes
How was Yosef allowed to practice divination?
The Midrash tells how Yosef used the knowledge he had of his brothers to fool them into thinking he was an expert diviner. He would look into his cup as if he was divining and tell them personal facts ...
- 43.9k
4
votes
Why don't we hear about Ya'aqov's other sons mourning his death?
The Stone edition of the Chumash relates,
Although the other brothers were surely as aggrieved as Joseph, only he is mentioned because his presence in Jacob's final moments was a fulfillment of God's ...
- 37.8k
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