For the week of December 13, 2025 / 23 Kislev 5786

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Vayeshev
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 37:1-40:23
Haftarah: Amos 2:6-3:8
Originally posted the week of December 24, 2016 / 24 Kislev 5777 (updated)

The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed. (Bereshit/Genesis 39:23)

The story of Joseph is full of twists and turns. Father’s favorite, dreams of supposed grandeur, facing murderous hatred from his brothers, sold into slavery instead of being killed, father Jacob deceived by brothers as to Joseph’s fate (not sure if Jacob ever believed them), greatly respected and trusted by master, remains faithful to God in the face of master’s wife’s seduction, framed by master’s wife resulting in imprisonment, put in charge of prisoners, accurately interprets two prisoners’ dreams, later interprets Pharaoh’s dreams resulting in release and being made second-in-command over Egypt, brothers come to buy food from Joseph due to predicted famine, eventually reconciles with his brothers and settles his whole clan in Egypt, remains free from bitterness throughout.

There is one twist in the story that is easy to miss, however. It has to do with Potiphar, Joseph’s Egyptian master, the husband of the seductress. It strikes me as strange that Joseph wasn’t executed for his alleged crime. It is doubtful that the ancient Egyptian legal system would limit the penalty for attempted rape by a slave to imprisonment. When Potiphar heard the accusation against Joseph, we read “his anger was kindled” (39:19). But why? And with whom was he angry? We reasonably assume that he was furious at Joseph for attempted rape, but if his anger were directed at Joseph, then, as I mentioned, one would think he would have been executed, which he wasn’t. Besides that, it doesn’t seem to be too long that we find Joseph having favor with the keeper of the prison, who put him in charge of the other prisoners (39:21-23). But who was the keeper of the prison? Later in the story, when we are introduced to fellow prisoners (Pharaoh’s baker and cupbearer), whose dreams eventually lead to Joseph’s being revealed to Pharaoh, we are told that the prison was in the house of the captain of the guard. It was the captain of the guard who put Joseph in charge (40:3-4). And the captain of the guard is no other than Potiphar (37:36; 39:1)!

Perhaps Potiphar had mercy on Joseph because he thought so highly of him. That certainly had been the case, but why would he continue to have such high regard for a slave who so abused his master’s trust by doing one of the two things expressly forbidden to him (39:6, 9)? We cannot say absolutely for sure, because the Scripture doesn’t spell it out for us, but I propose that Potiphar knew his wife well enough to know that Joseph was indeed innocent.

But if that’s the case, then why did he not let him off the hook? My guess is there’s no way Potiphar could take sides against his wife, and especially not on behalf of a slave. So, the best he could come up with was imprisonment in his own dungeon, while giving Joseph as much freedom and responsibility in that horrible environment as he could.

If anyone knew that life isn’t fair, it was Joseph. He didn’t do anything to deserve such treatment, but suffered yet again—this time due to his master’s dysfunctional family. It could have been worse had he been executed—not only for him (though he may have wished for death on more than one occasion)—but for his family of origin, whom he would one day save, not to mention that the Plan of God for the entire world was riding on his prophesied destiny.

You might wonder if it was really necessary for Joseph’s life to take all these twists and turns. Could not God have preserved the fledgling nation of Israel without all this intrigue and suffering? Did Jacob’s family really have to move to Egypt? If so, was there no other way to get them there? Did Joseph have to endure hateful jealousy, slavery, wrongful accusation, and confinement in a dungeon? Was there no other way to install him as Prime Minister in Egypt? The more I look at it, I don’t think so. Each and every twist and turn appears to contribute something essential to the outcome. I am not saying that every single thing that happened to Joseph absolutely had to happen in exactly that way. But certainly, every difficult, confusing, painful, and unjust situation and circumstance was not wasted.

It’s the same for you and me. Life can be really crazy at times. Disappointing. Frustrating. Discouraging. But God knows what he is doing. And however he does it, whether by orchestrating every plot twist or walking with us around every turn, he has promised his children that he would be with us (see Matthew 28:20) and work everything out for our good (Romans 8:28). He knows what he is doing!

All scriptures, English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible

For the week of December 6, 2025 / 16 Kislev 5786

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Vayishlach
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 32:4 – 36:43 (English: 32:3 – 36:43)
Haftarah: Hosea 11:7 – 12:12

And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” (Bereshit/Genesis 32:10–13; English 32:9–12)

I would guess that, encountering this week’s title, “Blessed Fear,” apart from the accompanying verses, many biblically minded people would immediately think of Mishlie/Proverbs 1:7: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” or 9:10: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” We don’t usually think of fear as a blessed thing, though we’re aware of the benefit of what we might call “healthy fear,” the emotion which, when heeded effectively, prevents us from unnecessary harm. That’s why most of us have learned not to play with matches, for example. But blessed fear? This is where the verses in Mishlei prove helpful. This is similar to healthy fear, for it’s this kind of fear that helps us not to treat God lightly and to show him appropriate respect.

However, this is not the type of fear I am talking about here. In this week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading portion), Jacob is returning to the Promised Land after about twenty years of living in Mesopotamia, where his mother was from. He had run away after tricking his father, Isaac, in order to acquire the blessing that normally would have been given to the firstborn, his twin brother Esau. This infuriated his brother, who vowed to kill him. After building a sizeable family and acquiring much livestock, he fell out of favor with his father-in-law, Laban. In the midst of this challenging situation, God called him back to Canaan. And so, he went, along with his wives, children, and livestock (see Bereshit/Genesis 31:1–3). On the way, he got word that Esau was heading his way with four hundred men. This is what led him to pray the prayer I quoted at the beginning. Jacob’s motive for praying such a prayer is stated in the request he makes, “Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him” (Bereshit/Genesis 32:12; English 32:9–11).

This is not Jacob’s first recorded interaction with God, but it is his first direct request, a request that results in one of the most dramatic, powerful, life-changing, and instructive encounters with God in all of Scripture, when he wrestles with God. It is this encounter that fundamentally transforms Jacob, and God changes his name to “Israel” (see Bereshit/Genesis 32:29; English 32:28). I don’t know whether it’s correct to say that Jacob’s transformation depended on his request, but his request did lead to this significant biblical and historical development.

But what was it that prompted his request? Fear. Fear isn’t exactly the most impressive emotion. We don’t like being afraid, and we don’t like it when we see it in others. We might empathize with others when they are afraid, but still, we regard it as a weakness. And much of the time it is. But it can also be a blessing.

Jacob was a brilliant strategist. He knew what he wanted and knew how to get it—until he didn’t. After many years of getting the upper hand in many situations, he had exhausted all his personal resources, and he was terrified. Yet, that wasn’t the end of the story. Despite his being in a most desperate situation, or should I say, because he was in a most desperate situation, he turned to the only one who was able to help him. He called out to God, who heard his prayer, and came through in a most remarkable way. His fear drove him to God.

It’s in cases such as this that fear can be a tool that reminds us of our need for God. We are afraid, because we rely on ourselves or on things that are insufficient for the challenges at hand. But if we use fear to sound the alarm against self-reliance and as a call for seeking the God of Israel, the result will be blessing.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version