Vayeshev
Vayeshev | וישב | He settled
Torah Reading: Genesis 37:1-40:23
This Torah Portion begins by introducing us to Jacob’s son, Joseph, who had dreams of greatness and was despised by his brothers (Genesis 37:1-11). Joseph’s brothers conspired against him, threw him into a pit, and then sold him into captivity in Egypt. Then they told their father that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal (Genesis 37:12-36). After that, we read a bizarre story of how Judah wronged his daughter-in-law, Tamar, by not keeping his promise to let her marry his son, Shelah. So she disguised herself as a prostitute and tricked Judah into sleeping with her. She got pregnant and bore twins named Perez and Zerah (Genesis 38). Then we read about how Joseph served his master Potiphar. But after turning down Potiphar’s wife who was trying to seduce him, she falsely accused him of assaulting her and Joseph was imprisoned (Genesis 39). The Torah Portion concludes with Joseph interpreting the dreams of two fellow prisoners (Genesis 40).
