Parsha Vayeshev

(37,1) Yaakov settled in the land of his father’s residence, in the land of Canaan.

(37,2) This is the history of Yaakov; Yoseif at the age of seventeen years, would tend the sheep with his brothers, and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. Yoseif brought back bad reports about them to their father.

(37,3) Yisrael loved Yoseif more than any of his sons, for he was a son of his old age to him, and he made him a long, colorful cloak.

(37,4) His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him. They could not speak to him peaceably.

(37,5) Yoseif had a dream and he told his brothers, and they hated him even more.

(37,6) He said to them, Listen to this dream that I dreamt.

(37,7) Behold, we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field. Behold my sheaf rose and stood up straight; and behold your sheaves surrounded it and prostrated themselves to my sheaf.

(37,8) His brothers said to him, Will you then be a king over us? Will you indeed rule over us? They hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

(37,9) He had another dream and told it to his brothers. He said, Behold! I dreamed another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were prostrating themselves to me.

(37,10) He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream that you dreamed? Shall I, your mother and your brothers come and prostrate themselves on the ground to you?

(37,11) His brothers were jealous of him but his father kept the matter in mind.

(37,12) His brothers went off to pasture their father’s sheep in Shechem.

(37,13) Yisrael said to Yoseif, Aren’t your brothers pasturing [the sheep] in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. He [Yoseif] said to him, Here I am.

(37,14) He [Yisrael] said to him, Go please, see after the well-being of your brothers, and the welfare of the sheep, and bring me a report. He sent [Yoseif] from the depths of Chevron, and he came to Shechem.

(37,15) A man found him going astray in the field. The man asked him, What are you seeking?

(37,16) He said, I am looking for my brothers, tell me please, where are they pasturing?

(37,17) The man said, They have traveled on from here, for I heard them say, Let us go to Doson. Yoseif went after his brothers and found them in Doson.

(37,18) They saw him from a distance, and before he approached them they were plotting against him to kill him.

(37,19) One man said to another, Here comes the dreamer.

(37,20) Now, come let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say that a wild beast devoured him. Then we will see what will become of his dreams.

(37,21) Reuvein heard and rescued him from their hands. He said, Let us not kill him.

(37,22) Reuvein said to them, Do not commit bloodshed. Throw him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him. His purpose was to rescue him from their hands, to bring him back to his father.

(37,23) When Yoseif came to his brothers, they stripped him of his coat, the long, colorful coat that he had on.

(37,24) They took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

(37,25) They sat down to eat bread. They raised their eyes and saw—behold a Yishmaelite caravan was coming from Gilod. Their camels were carrying spices, balsam and lotus, bringing them down to Egypt.

(37,26) Yehudah said to his brothers, What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

(37,27) Come let us sell him to the Yishmaelites, and let our hands not be upon him; for he is our brother, our own flesh. His brothers listened [to him.].

(37,28) Midianite merchants passed by. They [the brothers] pulled Yoseif up from the pit and sold Yoseif to the Yishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Yoseif to Egypt.

(37,29) Reuvein returned to the pit, but behold, Yoseif was not in the pit. He [then] tore his clothes [in grief.]

(37,30) He returned to his brothers and said, The boy is not there; and I—where can I go.

(37,31) They took Yoseif’s coat, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.

(37,32) They sent the long, colorful coat and brought it to their father, and said, We found this. Please identify it. Is it your son’s coat or not?

(37,33) He recognized it and said, It is my son’s coat. An evil beast has devoured him. Yoseif has been torn to pieces.

(37,34) Yaakov tore his robes, and placed sackcloth on his loins. He mourned for his son for many days.

(37,35) All his sons and all his daughters rose to console him, but he refused to be consoled. He said, I will go down to the grave mourning for my son. His father wept for him.

(37,36) The Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the chief of the slaughterers.

(38,1) And it was at that time, that Yehudah descended from his brothers. He turned away [from them], until [he came to] a man, an Adullamite, whose name was Chirah.

(38,2) There Yehudah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man whose name was Shu’a. He took her and consummated a marriage with her.

(38,3) She conceived and gave birth to a son. He named him Er.

(38,4) She conceived again and gave birth to a son. She named him Onan.

(38,5) She conceived once again and gave birth to a son. She named him Sheilah. He [Yehudah] was in Keziv when she gave birth to him.

(38,6) Yehudah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

(38,7) Er, Yehudah’s firstborn was wicked in the eyes of Adonoy, and Adonoy put him to death.

(38,8) Yehudah said to Onan, Consummate marriage with your brother’s wife, and fulfill the yibum rite with her, and establish seed for your brother.

(38,9) Onan knew that the descendants would not be his. Whenever he cohabited with his brother’s wife, he let it go to waste on the ground, in order not to give progeny to his brother.

(38,10) What he did was evil in the eyes of Adonoy, and He also put him to death.

(38,11) Yehudah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Sheilah is of age. He said, Lest he also die like his brothers. Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

(38,12) Many days passed, and Shu’a’s daughter, the wife of Yehudah died. Yehudah sought consolation, and went up to his sheep-shearers—he and his friend, Chirah the Adullamite—to Timnah.

(38,13) Tamar was told, Behold your father-in-law has come to Timnah, to shear his sheep.

(38,14) She took off her widow’s garb, covered herself with a veil, and disguised herself. She sat at the crossroads which is on the road to Timnah, for she saw that Sheilah had come of age and she had not been given to him for a wife.

(38,15) Yehudah saw her and thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.

(38,16) He turned aside to her on the road, and said, Please, let me be with you, for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, What will you give me for the privilege of being with me?

(38,17) He said, I will send you a kid from the flock. She said, [Only] if you give me some security until you send it.

(38,18) He said, What security shall I give you? She said, Your signet ring, your wrap, and your staff that is in your hand. He gave them to her and was with her, and she became pregnant by him.

(38,19) She got up and went away. She took off her veil, and put on her widow’s garb.

(38,20) Yehudah sent the goat-kid with his friend the Adullamite, to retrieve the security from the woman, but he could not find her.

(38,21) He asked the men of her place, Where is the harlot that was at the junction, on the road? They said, There was no harlot here.

(38,22) He returned to Yehudah and said, I did not find her, and the men of her place also said that there was no harlot there.

(38,23) Yehudah said, Let her take it, lest we are humiliated. Behold I sent her this kid, and you could not find her.

(38,24) About three months later, Yehudah was told, Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has been promiscuous, moreover, her promiscuity has resulted in pregnancy. Yehudah said, Take her out and let her be burned.

(38,25) She was being taken out, and she sent [word] to her father-in-law saying, By the man to whom these belong am I pregnant. She said, Please recognize to whom this signet, wrap and staff belong.

(38,26) Yehudah recognized them and said, She is righteous, [it is] from me, inasmuch that I did not give her to my son Sheilah. He was not intimate with her any more.

(38,27) When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.

(38,28) As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand. The midwife took it and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, This one emerged first.

(38,29) When he put back his hand, behold his brother emerged, and she said, With what strength you have pushed yourself. He named him Peretz.

(38,30) Then his brother emerged—the one upon whose hand was the scarlet thread. He named him Zorach.

(39,1) Yoseif was brought down to Egypt. He was purchased by Potiphar—an officer of Pharaoh, the chief of the slaughterers, an Egyptian—from the Yishmaelites who had brought him down there.

(39,2) Adonoy was with Yoseif, and he was successful. He was [a servant] in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

(39,3) His master saw that Adonoy was with him, and that whatever he did, Adonoy made it succeed through his hand.

(39,4) Yoseif found favor in his eyes, and he served him personally. He appointed him supervisor over his household, and all that he possessed he placed in his hand.

(39,5) From the time he appointed him supervisor over his household and over all that he possessed, Adonoy blessed the house of the Egyptian for Yoseif’s sake. The blessing of Adonoy was in all that he possessed, in the house and in the field.

(39,6) He left everything he possessed in the hand of Yoseif. He did not concern himself with anything about him, except for the bread he ate. Yoseif was well-built and good looking.

(39,7) After these events, his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Yoseif, and she said, Be with me.

(39,8) He refused and said to his master’s wife, Behold, my master knows nothing about what I am doing in the house, and all that he possess, he has placed in my hands.

(39,9) No one in this house is greater than me. He has not withheld anything from me other than you, for you are his wife. How can I do such a great evil, and sin against God.

(39,10) Even though she spoke to Yoseif every day, he would not listen to her, to lie next to her, [nor] to be with her.

(39,11) It was on such a day, that he came to the house to do his work. No man of the household was there in the house.

(39,12) She grabbed him by his garment, saying, Be with me. He left his garment in her hand, and fled, and he went outside.

(39,13) It was when she saw that he left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,

(39,14) that she called to the men of the household and said to them, See, he brought us a Hebrew man to mock us. He came to be with me, and I called out in a loud voice.

(39,15) When he heard that I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.

(39,16) She laid his garment near her until his master came home.

(39,17) She spoke to him [her husband] according to these words, saying, The Hebrew slave came to me—the same one you brought into us—[he came to] mock me.

(39,18) When I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment with me and fled outside.

(39,19) When his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, Your slave did such things to me, he became furious.

(39,20) Yoseif’s master took him and placed him in the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were jailed. He remained there in the prison.

(39,21) Adonoy was with Yoseif, and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison chief.

(39,22) The prison chief gave Yoseif control over all the prisoners in the prison, and everything that had to be done there, he was the one who did it.

(39,23) The prison chief did not have to look after anything that was under his hand, because Adonoy was with him and whatever he did, Adonoy made him succeed.

(40,1) After these events, an offense was committed by the Egyptian king’s butler and baker against their master, the king of Egypt.

(40,2) Pharaoh was enraged at his two officials, the chief butler and the chief baker.

(40,3) He placed them under guard in the house of the chief executioner, in the prison, where Yoseif was imprisoned.

(40,4) The chief of the slaughterers appointed Yoseif to be with them and he served them. They were under guard for a period of time.

(40,5) The two of them had a dream. Each of them had his dream on the same night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were imprisoned in the prison.

(40,6) Yoseif came to them in the morning, and he saw them, and behold they were troubled.

(40,7) He asked Pharaoh’s officials, who were with him, under guard in his master’s house, saying, Why do you look so bad today?

(40,8) They said to him, We had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. Yoseif said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God. Tell them to me, please.

(40,9) The butler told his dream to Yoseif. He said to him, In my dream, behold a grape vine was before me.

(40,10) On the vine there were three branches, as if budding, its blossoms blooming, and its clusters ripening into grapes.

(40,11) Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand. I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup. I then placed the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

(40,12) Yoseif said to him, This is its interpretation: The three branches are three days.

(40,13) In another three days, Pharaoh will lift your head, and restore you to your position. You will place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, as was your previous practice when you were his butler.

(40,14) But remember me when things go well with you. Please deal kindly with me, and mention me to Pharaoh, and take me out of this house.

(40,15) I was kidnaped from the land of the Hebrews, and here I have also done nothing that they should have put me in this dungeon.

(40,16) The chief baker saw that he interpreted well. He said to Yoseif, I, too, dreamed. Behold there were three fancy baskets on my head.

(40,17) In the top basket there were various kinds of food for Pharaoh, consisting of baked goods, and the bird was eating them from the basket that was on my head.

(40,18) Yoseif replied and said, This is its interpretation: The three baskets represent three days.

(40,19) In another three days, Pharaoh will lift your head from off you. He will hang you on a tree, and the bird will eat your flesh from off you.

(40,20) It was on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he [Pharaoh] made a feast for all his servants. He lifted the head of the chief butler, and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

(40,21) He restored the chief butler to his position, and he presented the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

(40,22) The chief baker, he hung, just as Yoseif had interpreted to them.

(40,23) [However] the chief butler did not remember Yoseif, but forgot him.