Joseph
Why Wasn’t Joseph Buried in the Land of Israel Immediately Upon His Death?
Like his father Jacob who also died in Egypt, Joseph wanted to be buried in the Promised Land. But unlike his father whose body was embalmed and taken to Hebron directly after his passing, Joseph had to wait 139 years until the Jews left...
Did Joseph sin by having his father’s body embalmed?
After Jacob died, Joseph ordered his physicians to embalm his father. This is shocking to many as embalming is forbidden by Jewish law, and the only other mention of embalming in the Bible was performed on Joseph just a few years later...
Why do we bless our children to be like Ephraim and Manasseh?
The Torah portion of Vayechi (Genesis 47:28–50:26) tells of the end of Jacob’s life. He lives the last 17 years of his life in Egypt. When he is about to leave the world, Joseph brings his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to his father to...
Two Sticks, One Kingdom
The Torah portion of Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27) completes the story of Joseph’s slavery in Egypt. The story culminates in a dramatic meeting between Judah and Joseph, ending in revelation and reconciliation. Jacob’s household...
The Showdown Between Joseph and Judah
The portion of Vayigash describes the pivotal showdown between Joseph and his older brother Judah. The meeting between the long-separated siblings is far from a pleasant reunion. Joseph appears to Judah as Zaphnath-Paaneah, the second...
Why did Pharaoh choose Joseph to be his second in command?
By interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph essentially saves Egypt and his own family. There is no doubt the famine would have caught the Egyptians off guard. The Nile River allowed the Egyptians to live independently from the whims of...
Joseph: the master of dreams
Joseph has been called the biblical King of Dreams. Truly, Genesis relates three pairs of dreams that changed his life and guided his destiny while also affecting the fates of the Children of Israel and Egypt. The first two dreams came...
Where is biblical Dothan?
After settling in Hebron, Jacob’s sons (minus Joseph) traveled north to herd their flocks in Shechem. Jacob, now called Israel, sends Joseph to meet his brothers. Joseph arrives in Shechem, a distance of about 50 miles from Hebron, but...
Who really sold Joseph into slavery?
Sending his beloved son Joseph to visit his brothers after his dreams depicting his future grandeur may have been an error on the part of Jacob, but dressing him in a gorgeous coat surely sealed his fate, ensuring a dire outcome from the...
Do clothes make the man? Joseph and his coat of many colors
Clothes frequently play an important role in the Biblical narrative, but perhaps never more so as in the story of Joseph and his brothers. Described simply as a ketonet pasim, or “striped coat” (Genesis 37:3), Joseph's coat was a visible...
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