Parashat Vayeshev

Génesis 37:1-40:23

Jacob settles in Chevron with his 12 children. His favorite is Iosef, 17 years old. Yosef's brothers are jealous of the preferential treatment he receives, such as the multi-colored coat Jacob made for him. Yosef tells his brothers two dreams he has, which prophesy that he is destined to rule over them, increasing envy and hatred towards him.

Shimón and Levi plan to kill him, but Reuven suggests instead throwing him into a well, intending to come back later and save him. While Yosef is at the well, Yehuda sells him to a caravan of Ishmaelites. The brothers stain Yosef's special coat in the blood of a kid and show it to their father, making him think that his dearest son was eaten by a wild beast.

Yehuda marries and has three children. The eldest, Er, dies young and childless, and his wife, Tamar, is given in marriage to their second son, Onan. Onan sins by spilling his seed and also dies young. Yehuda does not want Tamar to marry his third son. Determined to have a child from Yehuda's family, Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute and seduces Yehuda himself. Later, Yehuda finds out that Tamar is pregnant and has her killed for infidelity, but when she shows some personal items that Yehuda left behind as a guarantee of payment, he publicly admits that he is the father. Tamar has two sons, Peretz (ancestor of King David) and Zerach.

Yosef is taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, the minister in charge of Pharaoh's butcher shops. G-d blesses everything he does and soon he is made keeper of all his master's property. Potiphar's wife desires the boy; when Yosef refuses to be with her, she tells her husband that the Hebrew servant tried to force himself on her, and he is sent to prison. Iosef wins the trust of the jailers, who give him an important position in the prison administration.

In prison, Yosef meets Pharaoh's Master Cupbearer and Master Baker, both imprisoned by the king. The two have a dream, which Yosef interprets; in three days, he tells them, the Master Butler will be released and the Master Baker will be hanged. Yosef asks the Master of Cupbearers to intercede for him before Pharaoh. Yosef's predictions come true, but the Master of Cupbearers forgets about Yosef.