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Kislev 16, 5762 /
Dec 1, 2001
Kislev 14, 5765 / Nov 27,
2004
Kislev 14, 5768 / Nov 24,
2007
Kislev 14, 5771 / Nov 20,
2010
Kislev 13, 5774 / Nov 16, 2013
Kislev 17, 5777 / Dec 17,
2016
Kislev 16, 5780 / Dec 14,
2019
Kislev 16, 5783 / Dec 10,
2022
VaYosheph
/ Now Joseph
SCRIPTURES should be read first
Consider how Joseph prefigured Yeshua:
Joseph
led in spirituality; he was sold for telling what God
ordained – that his brethren would bow to him; he was
accused of sin that he did not commit; he was the provider
of food for the world; he was ultimately placed in the
position of highest authority, and his brethren bowed before
him in awe.
Joseph
was acknowledged by his father, Jacob/Israel, as the one of
the twelve brethren who learned and observed and taught the
way of God as it had been passed down from Adam. This was
the significance of the special garment. It was the reason
he was hated. Sinners hate the light.
Joseph
told his prophetic parable-dreams to his brethren. They
hated him all the more for this, and sought to kill him: how
dare young Joseph make himself a king over them?
John 10:32-33 – Yeshua answered them, "I showed
you many good works from the Father; for which of them are
you stoning Me?" The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we
do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being
a man, make Yourself out to be God."
Potiphar’s wife tempted Joseph, but he stood fast with God.
Matthew
4:8-10 – Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain,
and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their
glory; and he said to Him, “All these things will I give
You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Yeshua said to
him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship
the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ”
Then she falsely accused him, and he was bound in prison:
but even there, he ruled!
Matthew
26:59-61 – Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept
trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, in order
that they might put Him to death; and they did not find any,
even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on
two came forward, and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to
destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’
”
Acts 2:24-28 – it was impossible for Him (Yeshua) to be
held in its (death’s) power. “For David says of Him, ‘I was
always beholding the Lord in my presence; for He is at my
right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was
glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will
abide in hope; because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to
Hades, nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay. Thou hast
made known to me the ways of life; Thou wilt make me full of
gladness with Thy presence.’ ”
Revelation 1:1, 17-18 – The Revelation of Jesus Christ, . .
. “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the
living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Joseph
provided food to save Egypt and his own family.
Acts 13:47 – “For thus the Lord has commanded us, ‘I have
placed You as a light for the Gentiles, that You should
bring salvation to the end of the earth.’ ”
Through this salvation
– providing food – Joseph attained a high position, and his
brethren bowed down before him.
Revelation
4:10-11 – The twenty-four elders will fall down
before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who
lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before
the throne, saying, “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God,
to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create
all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were
created.”
Are these twenty-four elders the twelve princes of Esau
and the twelve princes of Israel?
Isaiah
52 is an obvious reference to this Torah portion, and its
ultimate fulfillment:
3 For thus says Yahweh, “You were sold for nothing and
you will be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says Yahweh
God, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to reside
there, then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.” . .
. 9 Break forth, shout joyfully together, you waste places
of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted His people, He has
redeemed Jerusalem.
Psalm
32 is a contemplation:
1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom
Yahweh does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there
is no deceit! . . . 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked;
but he who trusts in Yahweh, lovingkindness shall surround
him. 11 Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous ones,
and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
_____________________
Another aspect of this portion: As Joseph did, we also
should portray Yeshua.
We
should be lights to a dark world, being interested in
spiritual profit.
Phillippians 2:13-15 – It is God who is at work in you, both
to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things
without grumbling or disputing; that you may prove
yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God
above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.
By
being familiar with God’s Word, knowing our end, we can
resist temptation.
If we
are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, we can rejoice! We
can glorify God through it!
Matthew 5:10 – “Blessed are those who have been
persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.”
Through God’s Word, we can be wiser than those of the world.
Psalm 119:97-101
– O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day. Thy
commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are
ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, for Thy
testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the
aged, because I have observed Thy precepts. I have
restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Thy
word.
In the end, God will
exalt us! Overcomers have a great future in store!
Revelation 2:6 –
To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of
life, which is in the Paradise of God.'
2:11 – 'He who
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second
death.'
2:17 – To him
who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna,
and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on
the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.'
2: 26-28 – 'And
he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end,
to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter
are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from
My Father; and I will give him the morning star.
3: 5 'He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white
garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of
life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and
before His angels.
3:12 – 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the
temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore;
and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name
of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down
out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
3: 21 'He who
overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My
throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on
His throne.
21: 7 "He who
overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God
and he will be My son.
_______________
Some
explanations from the Hebrew text:
Concerning Potiphar’s wife “lifting up her eyes to Jopseph”:
the Midrash teaches, “The righteous are exalted through
their eyes, but the wicked fall through their eyes.”
Joseph
refused to lie with Potiphar’s wife: using the same
word, Scripture later states (v.45:19) that Jacob refused
to switch his hands, and blessed Joseph. The Zohar claims
this is a reward.
Joseph
left his garment in her hand and fled (v.12). Talmud teaches
us to flee rather than remain and resist strong temptation.
2 Timothy 2:22 – Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue
righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on
the Lord from a pure heart.
The
Yalkut
says that Potiphar was ready to kill Joseph, but his
daughter Asenath came to him and swore that Joseph was
innocent. She told her father the entire story as it
actually happened. It was on the merit of this that she was
eventually privileged to marry him (see v. 41:50).
Readings:
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who chose us from among all peoples by
giving us Your Torah.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
Reader 1* Amen.
1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and
Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the
bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken
him down there. 2 Yahweh was with Joseph, so he
became a successful man. And he was in the house of his
master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master saw that
Yahweh was with him and how Yahweh caused all that he did to
prosper in his hand.
Reader 2* Amen.
4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became
his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his
house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. 5
It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his
house and over all that he owned, Yahweh blessed the
Egyptian's house on account of Joseph; thus Yahweh's
blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the
field. 6 So he left everything he owned in
Joseph's charge; and with him there he did not concern
himself with anything except the food which he ate.
Reader 3* Amen.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7
It came about after these events that his master's wife
looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."
8 But he refused and said to his master's wife,
"Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself
with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns
in my charge. 9 "There is no one greater in this
house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except
you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this
great evil and sin against God?"
Reader 4* Amen.
10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did
not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. 11
Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do
his work, and none of the men of the household was there
inside. 12 She caught him by his garment, saying,
"Lie with me!" And he left his garment in her hand and fled,
and went outside.
Reader 5* Amen.
13 When she saw that he had left his garment in
her hand and had fled outside, 14 she called to
the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has
brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to
me to lie with me, and I screamed. 15 "When he
heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his
garment beside me and fled and went outside."
Reader 6* Amen.
16 So she left his garment beside her until his
master came home. 17 Then she spoke to him with
these words, "The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came
in to me to make sport of me; 18 and as I raised
my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and
fled outside." 19 Now when his master heard the
words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, "This is
what your slave did to me," his anger burned.
Reader 7* Amen.
20 So Joseph's master took him and put him into
the jail, the place where the king's prisoners were
confined; and he was there in the jail. 21 But
Yahweh was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and
gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22
The chief jailer committed to Joseph's charge all the
prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done
there, he was responsible for it. 23 The chief
jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge
because Yahweh was with him; and whatever he did, Yahweh
made to prosper.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who in giving us Yeshua, the Living
Torah, has planted everlasting life in our midst.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
______________________
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who selected good prophets, delighting
in their words which were spoken truthfully.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who chose the
Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,
and the prophets of truth and
righteousness."
Isaiah 52:3-9
Reader 8* Amen.
3 For thus says Yahweh, "You were sold for
nothing and you will be redeemed without money." 4
For thus says the Lord Yahweh, "My people went down at the
first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian
oppressed them without cause. 5 Now therefore,
what do I have here," declares Yahweh, "seeing that My
people have been taken away without cause?" Again Yahweh
declares, "Those who rule over them howl, and My name is
continually blasphemed all day long. 6 Therefore
My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the
one who is speaking, 'Here I am.'" 7 How lovely
on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,
who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who
announces salvation, and says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
they shout joyfully together; for they will see with their
own eyes when Yahweh restores Zion. 9 Break
forth, shout joyfully together, you waste places of
Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted His people, He has
redeemed Jerusalem.
Psalm 32
(To be sung.)
A Psalm of David. A Maskil (contemplative poem).
1 How
blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is
covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom Yahweh
does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no
deceit! 3 When I kept silent about my sin, my
body wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality
was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.
Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my
iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my
transgressions to Yahweh"; and You forgave the guilt of my
sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is
godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in
a flood of great waters they will not reach him. 7
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You
surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I
will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should
go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. 9 Do
not be as the horse or as the mule which have no
understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to
hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near
to you. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but he who trusts in Yahweh, lovingkindness shall surround
him 11 Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you
righteous ones; and shout for joy, all you who are upright
in heart.
Acts 7:9-37
Reader 9* Amen.
9 "The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and
sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and
rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor
and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he
made him governor over Egypt and all his household. 11
"Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great
affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food.
12 "But when Jacob heard that there was grain in
Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13
"On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his
brothers, and Joseph's family was disclosed to Pharaoh.
14 "Then Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father
and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons
in all.
Reader 10* Amen.
15 "And Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and
our fathers died. 16 "From there they were
removed to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had
purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in
Shechem. 17 "But as the time of the promise was
approaching which God had assured to Abraham, the people
increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until there
arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.
19 "It was he who took shrewd advantage of our
race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose
their infants and they would not survive.
Reader 11* Amen.
20 "It was at this time that Moses was born; and
he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three
months in his father's home. 21 "And after he had
been set outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and
nurtured him as her own son. 22 "Moses was
educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a
man of power in words and deeds. 23 "But when he
was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to
visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. 24 "And
when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended
him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down
the Egyptian. 25 "And he supposed that his
brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance
through him, but they did not understand. 26 "On
the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting
together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying,
'Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?'
27 "But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed
him away, saying, Who made you a ruler and judge over us?
28 You do not mean to kill me as you killed the
Egyptian yesterday, do you?'
Reader 12* Amen.
29 "At this remark, Moses fled and became an
alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of
two sons. 30 "After forty years had passed, an
angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in
the flame of a burning thorn bush. 31 "When Moses
saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to
look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord: 32
I am the God of your fatrhers, the God of Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob.' Moses shook with fear and would not venture to
look. 33 "but Yahweh said to him, ‘Take off the
sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are
standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen
the oppression of My People in Egypt and have heard their
groans, and I have come down to rescue them; come now, and I
will send you to Egypt.’
Reader 13* Amen.
35 "This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘Who
made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God sent to
be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel
who appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 "This
man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land
of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty
years. 37 "This is the Moses who said to the sons
of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from
your brethren.’
"Blessed are You, Yahweh
our God, King of the Universe,
Rock of Ages, righteous
throughout all generations.
You are the faithful God,
promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,
for all Your words are true
and righteous.
Faithful are You, Yahweh
our God, and faithful are Your words,
for no word of Yours shall
remain unfulfilled;
You are a faithful and
merciful God and King.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our
God, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words."
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