Parashat Vayeshev 2025

Torah: Gen 37:1-40:23

Haftarah: Amos 2:6-3:8

Matt 1:1-6,16-25; John 10:22-30

Main Points:

Joseph has some dreams.

Joseph thrown in a pit and sold.

Judah‘s promise and Tamar’s conspiracy.

Joseph in Potiphar’s house.

Joseph put in jail and begins to interpret dreams of the cupbearer and baker.

Jacob left Laban's house and met a host of angels. Then a messenger was sent to Esau. This messenger may have been one of Jacob's chief servants. When Esau returned a threat in response, Jacob retreated in prayer. He wrestled with an angel and perhaps faced his greatest fear. Was this person he was wrestling with a man from Esau's camp or possibly Esau himself? At some point, he realized it was not a man he wrestled with and refused to stop unless his opponent blessed him. This ministry of angelic intervention in Jacob's life seems to stop after meeting with Esau.

Our parashah picks up with Jacob settling in the familiar place of Hebron with his twelve sons. The narrative of scriptures departs from Jacob and begins to focus on Joseph, the firstborn son of Rachel. Joseph was considered the favorite, preferred son, even ahead of Reuben. Jacob gave him a coat of many colors and placed him in charge of his brothers born from Zilpah and Bilhah. Jacob was also dispatched to check on his older brothers and this caused a lot of family friction. To add to the conflict, Joseph began to have prophetic dreams about how God was going to use him, which his brothers and father fully understood and resented him, but Jacob considered the dreams.

One day Joseph was sent to check on his brothers and while wandering in a field trying to find them, he was told by a man that his brothers had moved on to Dothan. Jewish tradition holds that this man may have been an angel. Following the direction of the man, Joseph came to Dothan where his brothers captured him, sold him to the Ishmaelites, and watched as he was taken to Egypt. Dothan means "two wells". We see the plan of God being accomplished even in the middle of brokenness and human weaknesses. There is a place where the will of God doesn't seem to be possible. We will all camp there at some point. God does not steer us away from those places but uses them to accomplish his will. Joseph was in danger and his brothers wanted to kill him. God had a purpose and delivered him. With every danger Joseph faced, God sent favor and deliverance. Dothan was a prophetic symbol of this duality where danger and deliverance are both present and the will of God still moves forward.

Jacob favored Joseph. Potiphar favored him. The jailor favored him, and Pharaoh favored him. Though Jacob's favor seemed unfair, God used it to teach Joseph that he could be with him in conflict. That lesson sustained Joseph throughout his entire life. When God brings us to our Dothan, that place where his will is accomplished through conflict, problems, and even bad people, we need to be able to see past the problems and focus on the Provider.

God gives us wells to draw from. We get a choice of drawing from human means which are flawed and limited. This well may give us some sense of temporary control or even empowerment, but it is short-lived and often collapses in the end. We also have the opportunity to draw from God's well and look for the spiritual purpose that is being accomplished through bad circumstances. Dothan was a place of revelation. It was through conflict that the mysterious purpose of God was revealed and moved forward. Later in the time of Elijah, Dothan was the home of the famed prophet. When the Syrian army came to attack, the prophet prayed for God to open his servant's eyes so that he could see the heavenly host.

Many today are facing crazy circumstances and life situations that seem to have gone out of control. It may be a lost job, divorce, interpersonal conflict, or a life situation that has shipwrecked you. If you are in that place, don't think that God has given up on you. Your "pit" is not the end of your purpose. It was meant to bring you to your purpose. Joseph could not have faced the reality of the famine, had he not experienced the deliverance of the pit. It was through the pit that God's purpose was revealed. This well had a dual purpose and so does yours.

Sometimes the will of God comes as we go from pit to pit, problem to problem. It is amazing how God can use imperfect people, bad attitudes, and even horrible circumstances, to weave everything together and use it for his purpose. The pit, betrayal, and slavery did not resemble any of Joseph's dreams. The path he was on seemed like it was taking him farther away from what he was meant to do, and as he heard the money drop into the greedy, treacherous hand of his brothers, the Ishmaelite caravan took him away. In a moment, Joseph lost his family, his father, and his future.

Psalms 46:10 admonishes us to, “be still (har-poo, to surrender) and know that I am God.” Bitachon (trust) is a middot of faith. It is one of the most difficult to cultivate because it requires us to let go of all we hold dear, all of our crutches, and all of our reasoning. Trusting God is a skill. One that is honed going through dark, difficult places. Faith helps us to step forward, bitachon (trust) helps us stay on the path. Faith leads us to the place where we can trust God.  It is the place where it does not matter who is on our side, who supports us, how much money or resources we have, who we know, or what we can do. Trust is that part of faith that can endure when everything around us seems contrary to God's promise.

Joseph made a continual decision to trust God. As he did God sustained him and gave him strength. If you are in one of the detours of life, where you feel nothing is working, remember that God is calling you to trust (bitachon) in him. If we make him our source, we can walk through whatever life brings. Be still (surrender) and trust in God.

Rav Calev

Apostolic Messianic International

Next Feasts:

Chanukah begins sundown on Dec 14th and ends at sundown Dec 22nd.

Purim begins sundown on March 2nd and ends at sundown March 3rd.

Words to Know:

Generosity- Nedivut

Gentleman- Edel Mensch- A Yiddish term.

Giving of Rings (in Marriage)- Kinyan

God- Hashem or Adonai (Speak to your Rabbi about using the actual Divine Name)

God's Face is Hidden- Hester Panim

God Forbid- Yiddish, Chalila

God Help Us- Yiddish, Oy Got Enyu