Parashat Vayeshev

Parashat Vayeshev

Kislev 21, 5772 ~ December 17, 2011
by Jeanne Reisman

According to the Be’er Ha-hasidut , “Once a certain Hasid boasted to R’ Aharon the Great of Karlin that he knew R’ Levi-Yitzhak of Berdichev. R’ Aharon told him: “You are wrong. You do not know R’ Levi-Yitzhak, but his outer garment, probably only his coat, but you have no idea what R’ Levi-Yitzhak himself is.”“ (Torah Gems)

While R’ Aharon cautions us not to presume that we fully know a person, just because we may be familiar with their outer garment, in Va-yeishev, Joseph is identified by and associated with his b’tonet pasim, his colorful wool tunic. Both the tunic, and, later, the outer garment or uniform worn in Potiphar’s employ, are taken as proxy for Joseph’s identity. These garments function as ‘stand ins’ for Joseph and reports of his demise and guilt respectively.

By contrast, Tamar’s identity, also found in Va-yeishev, is completely concealed, even to Judah, a close family member, precisely because of her garment. By placing herself on the road to Timnon, wearing a harlot’s veil, she was just not recognizable to Judah.

Rav Hirsch, in the Collected Writings of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, considers the meaning of garments in Tanach, and in our lives, as symbols and metaphor, for attributes and values, both positive/negative. In our tradition, garments serve a greater function than just a pragmatic covering or protection from the ambient environment, more than just a representation of social standing or expression of personal style and taste, more than tribal or sub-culture identification. Garments represent moral values or traits. In the Tanach, Hashem’s attributes, and those of many Biblical figures, friend and foe, are characterized using garment as metaphor.

According to Rav Hirsch, “…the terms beged, “garment”, and, even more so with l’vosh, “to be clothed”, are commonly used in Tanach, to denote the assumption of specified characteristics”. He cites several examples: Hashem clothing himself with qualities, such as majesty, power, clothing others; i.e. priests, with salvation; biblical figures, such as Job, clothing himself with righteousness. Rav Hirsch also points out that the clothing as metaphor can also be found in Tanach with negative connotations, for example Job (8:22)..”the enemies of the righteous clothe themselves with shame…”.

The first Biblical reference to garments is found in Bereshit,

“…. And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles”, (3:7)

The awareness and need to ‘cover up’, occurred after Adam and Eve sampled from the tree of knowledge. The fig leaf covering/clothing represents a moral value of modesty.

In Parasha T’tsavveh, the high priests are instructed about their garments, each item symbolizing a desired moral /ethical attibute. (Shemot 28:4) The Etz Chaim Chumash cites the Talmud’s (BT Zev.88b) explanation:

“The Talmud understands the priestly vestments as designed to protect human beings against the sins to which they are prone. Thus the breastpiece, called cheshen mishpat (28:15) ….was meant to prevent miscarriages of justice. The jacket, m’il, similar to the word for betrayal, ma-al, would discourage gossip. The ephod (coat used to decorate idols Hos 3:4) would protect them against the danger of succumbing to idolatry. The b’tonet pasim (same phase to describe Joseph’s tunic) would protect against bloodshed. The robe, covering the entire body, would protect them against sins of unchastity, and the headdress, against prideful, arrogant thoughts.”

The notion of garment imbued with moral attributes, is not limited to our outer garments. In fact it is fitting, that our inner garment, the Tzitzit, would represent all 613 mitzvot, our moral/ethical values, our guide for daily living. The instruction for Tzitzit, is found in (B’midbar15, 37-41) and then reiterated again in (D’varim22: 12l) as a commandment regarding clothing:

“You shall make yourself twisted threads on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself”

The tzitzit are worn close to us, so that we remember the Divine in our lives, remember the mitzvot, and remember our need to live according to a higher moral code. Imbued in our innermost garments, worn closest to us, is the moral guide that shapes or directs our actions in the world.

Returning, then, to the garments of Vayeishev, how might we view them with the Rav Hirsch lens, looking at garment as metaphor, representing one’s identity or moral values? The Etz Chaim Chumash notes a passage from Talmud regarding the cascade of events put into motion as a consequence of Jacob gifting Joseph the b’tonet pasim. One aspect attributed to this unique, many-colored garment was the negative impact of parental favoritism, also encouraging arrogance.

“See the consequences of favoring one child over the other. Because of those few ounces of wool, our people were enslaved in Egypt.” (BT Shab. 10b)

As for Joseph’s garment left behind at Potiphar’s house, one might

speculate, that being an Egyptian garment, it represented ethics and values other than those carried inwardly by Joseph. Aside from Joseph’s wish to avoid scandal and its consequences, he elected to shed that uniform and what it represented, and remain true to his own moral compass.

What about Tamar? She chose to cover herself in the garb of a prostitute. Judah did not and would not have recognized her in the values represented by the harlot’s veil and manner of dress.

Returning to R’ Aharon then, and to our lives, how much may we feel we recognize and know someone because of their garment? How much do we overly assume or generalize based on an outer garment, or assume that it represents ‘the whole story’ or even anything about one’s moral fiber? And on the other hand, in thinking of Tamar, how much do we completely miss seeing another individual because of their garment, failing to see past the clothing, itself? Just as the high priests wore very specific vestments representing desired moral qualities, as Jews, we too, carry with us, much more than the weave of a fabric, when we clothe ourselves.

Shabbat shalom.