Parshas Vayeishev
The Temptation
This weeks parsha deals with the temptations of human beings. The brothers
of Yosef are mightily displeased with his attitude and behavior towards
them. They choose to overlook the fact that he is only seventeen years
old, orphaned from his mother and overly favored and protected by his
father. When he arrives alone and vulnerable at their camp, he is an
inviting target for their frustrations and wrath. Thus they are tempted by
the obvious opportunity presented to solve the Yosef problem. In giving in
to this temptation and not assessing correctly the consequences of their
so doing they are dooming themselves to being haunted by this fatal
impulse of theirs all of their remaining lives. All sins and temptations
require opportunity to be actualized. Human social existence by its very
nature provides opportunity and our own innate character supplies the
temptation. Thus the contest between right and wrong, good and evil, the
moral and the despicable, is a never ending one as far as our lives are
concerned. This is the basis for Judaisms posit of free will and freedom
of choice as being the ultimate arbiter of our physical and spiritual
existence and immortality. We are always tempted but we are bidden not to
give in to temptation. Our ability to control ourselves in the face of
temptation is the battlefield of our lives. It is no wonder therefore that
the rabbis in Avot declared that the truly strong hero in life is the
one who can deal with and overcome temptations. He is the one who captures
the city.
Yosef is also sorely tempted by opportunities that arise in his life.
Alone and in servitude, he is seemingly easy prey for the jaded wife of
Potiphar. Yet at the last moment he resists the passion and temptation of
the moment and realizes the destructive consequences of immoral behavior.
At great risk and danger he resists the temptation of the flesh and
through that act of momentary self-denial attains for himself the title of
Yosef hatzadik, Joseph the righteous. The Torah and the Midrash in
recounting this tale of Yosefs temptation and triumph point out the
strengths that allowed Yosef to resist the advances of the wife of
Potiphar. They included, but are not limited to, the upbringing and
education he received from his father, his own visions and dreams and
ambitions in life, his inherent holy nature and its ability to clearly
identify right from wrong and his refusal to sin against God. All of these
and other factors as well, for human beings are very complex creatures,
combine to allow Yosef to resist the temptation of the moment. The
opportunity is present but the choice regarding that opportunity is left
to each one of us to exercise. The factors that came to aid Yosef in
avoiding the temptation to do wrong a sense of family, a vision of the
future and how we would wish ourselves to be remembered by later
generations, and an innate fear of God are present within all of us.
Temptations to do wrong will always abound. The ability to deny victory to
those temptations becomes the hallmark of true Jewish living.
Shabat shalom.
Rabbi Berel Wein
Text Copyright © 2005 by Rabbi Berel Wein and Torah.org
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