My opinion: Yaakov never knew
I don't recollect having seen any evidence whatsoever in the Torah sheh-BiCh'tav (Written Pentateuch) that Yosef (Joseph) ever told his father Yaakov (Jacob) the truth about his "disappearance," nor can I imagine any possible reason why his brothers would have done so. Yosef could always have said that he hadn't contacted his father because he was first enslaved, then imprisoned, then preoccupied with running Pharaoh's kingdom, all but the last statement having been true. Granted, Yaakov was a smart enough cookie that he may have figured out that there was more to the story, but he may also have been smart enough to conclude that there might be some details that he'd rather not know. As for his brothers' claim, after their father's death, that Yaakov had asked Yosef to forgive them, I think that story was as much of a fabrication as the brothers' initial presentation of Yosef's bloodied cloak.
Your thoughts?
Your thoughts?
posted by Shira Salamone at 6:15 PM
4 Comments:
I think that Yaakov knew. When Yosef tells of the dream he has about his brothers bowing down to him, Yaakov berates him for it; moreover, the last line of the first portion in Vayeishev makes me think that Yaakov knew what was going on: "Yaakov kept the matter in mind."
I think this knowledge is a large part of why Yaakov mourns so fiercely for Yosef: He blames himself for Yosef's "death"! Don't get me wrong. I don't think Yaakov sent Yosef out with the intent that the brothers would kill him, but come on, he had to know that they were not gonna be nice to Yosef.
To me, this is also why Yaakov breaks tradition, adopting Yosef's sons and mismatching the blessing: He's trying to rewrite familial relationships to get rid of favorites and birth order.
That's my humble drash! =D
Shira, you're in good company. Your assessment closely parallels the commentary on the parashah in Etz Chaim. Among other things, it takes the position that the brothers' post-Jacob message to Joseph ( ... our father said ...) was pure fabrication on their part. Once reunited, Jacob never asks Joe for an explanation. Let's face it; he wasn't the best of folks in his younger days, perhaps he realized that the apples didn't fall far from the tree.
Rashi, quoting the gemara, agrees with you that the brothers fabricated their claim, after their father's death, that Yaakov had asked Yosef to forgive them. Rashi says the brothers did so "mipnei darchei shalom," for the sake of peace.
I wonder if that's where Eitz Hayyim got the idea from!
Re Too Old's comment: Someone pointed out to me after services this week that Yaakov, after poisoning the relationship between Joseph and his brothers by ostentatiously favoring the younger child, proceeds to do the same thing to Efraim and Menasheh -when meeting them for the first time! He doesn't even recognize them but he plays favorites. Some people never learn.
"To me, this is also why Yaakov breaks tradition, adopting Yosef's sons and mismatching the blessing: He's trying to rewrite familial relationships to get rid of favorites and birth order."
Tevel, I disagree. I think that, if anything, Yaakov is *perpetuating* the family tradition of the younger taking precedence over the older. Either this was a foolish move on Yaakov's part (in my opinion), or, depending on your personal beliefs, *all* the blessings were written after the fact and reflected what actually took place after the tribes finally entered the Promised Land.
"Let's face it; he wasn't the best of folks in his younger days, perhaps he realized that the apples didn't fall far from the tree."
:) Agreed, Steve. I think that's why Yaakov choose not to ask too many questions.
"Rashi says the brothers did so "mipnei darchei shalom," for the sake of peace."
Um, Bob, with due respect to Rashi, I think he's trying to put a good face on a baldfaced lie.
"Some people never learn." That certainly seems true in the case of Yaakov.
Here's an interesting question: It may seem perfectly obvious to us, but did Yaakov even realize that he was making Yosef's brothers jealous, or was he as clueless as he appears to have been?
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