IN A NUTSHELL In our parasha, the story shifts focus from Yaakov to his children and their relationship. Yosef was Yaakov’s favourite son, as he was the firstborn of his beloved wife Raḥel. This caused tension and jealousy between Yosef and his brothers.

Yosef was a dreamer and he shared two of his dreams with the family, one about sheaves of wheat, and the other about the sun, moon, and stars all bowing down to him. This upset his brothers, who thought Yosef was saying he believed he was better than them, so they plotted, faked his death, and sold him as a slave. Yosef was sent to work in Egypt. This terrible crime eventually led, many years later, to the entire family, who by then were a nation, being slaves in Egypt.

Yosef’s master Potifar was impressed by Yosef but Potifar’s wife had him thrown into prison, where he found himself interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh’s troubled baker and butler. Yosef understood from the dreams that the baker would soon be killed, but the butler would get his job back. Yosef asked the butler to help him once he was free. Yosef’s interpretations of the dreams came true, but the butler forgot his promise to ask Pharaoh to free Yosef.

QUESTION TO PONDER

How would things have been different if even one of the many details of this complicated story had been changed?