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א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש ת | ||||||
יוֹסֵף
father of
יִגְאָל
יוֹסֵף (בראשית ל-נ, דברי הימים א ב:ב, ה:א-ב)
Eleventh son of
יעקב
and first son of
רחל .
Upon his birth,
רחל
wishes that God add (יֹסֵף ) yet another son (פרשת ויצא ).
יוסף
is
יעקב 's
favourite son, a preference the father demonstrates by giving
יוסף
a special coat.
יוסף
further provokes his brothers by reporting their offenses to
יעקב
and by relating dreams he has had. In his first dream
יוסף
is represented by a bale of wheat, and his brothers by other sheaves which are bowing down to him. In his second dream eleven stars and the sun and moon similarly honour him. Later,
יעקב
sends
יוסף
to check on his brothers who are tending sheep away from home. Seeing him from afar, the brothers plot to kill
יוסף .
ראובן
intervenes and persuades the others to throw him into a pit instead (planning to later rescue the lad). In
ראובן 's
absence,
יהודה
suggests that they haul
יוסף
out of the pit and sell him to a band of passing
ישמעאלים .
He is then is traded to some
מדינים
who take him to Egypt. There,
יוסף
is sold to
פּוֹטִיפַר ,
an officer of
פרעה .
With God's assistance,
יוסף
becomes very successful as
פוטיפר 's
servant and the master entrusts
יוסף
with all the responsibilities of his house.
יוסף
is good looking and this draws the attention of
פוטיפר 's
wife - the first recorded case of sexual harassment in the work place.
יוסף
repeatedly rebuffs her, whereupon she accuses him of trying to sleep with her.
פוטיפר
has
יוסף
imprisoned but God makes him shine in the eyes of the warden who allows
יוסף
the run of the jail. One day
יוסף
offers to interpret the disturbing dreams of two prisoners,
פרעה 's
wine steward and chief baker.
יוסף
explains that the dreams portend the butler's reinstatement and the baker's execution. Indeed, the fates of the two play out according to
יוסף 's
predictions (פרשת וישב ). Two years after that episode,
פרעה ,
the king of Egypt has twin dreams about seven pairs of cows and seven pairs of ears of wheat.
יוסף 's
old acquaintance, the butler (שר המשקים ) remembers
יוסף 's
talent and recommends him to
פרעה .
יוסף
is summoned from the prison and explains to
פרעה
that God is sending the king a message: seven years of plenty are about to begin but they will be followed by seven years of famine.
פרעה
trusts
יוסף 's
interpretation and appoints
יוסף
prime minister over Egypt giving him the task of overseeing the collection and storage of food in preparation for the famine.
פרעה
re-names
יוסף -
צפנת פענח
(which might mean "He who deciphers the hidden"); the rabbis call
יוסף
a
צדיק
for feeding the hungry masses (מדרש תנחומא פרשת נח סימן ד ).
יוסף
marries and has two sons:
מנשה
and
אפרים .
When the famine eventually hits, it strikes
כנען
too, and
יעקב
sends ten of his remaining sons to Egypt to buy food, keeping
בנימין
with him.
יוסף
recognizes his brothers but they do not know him.
יוסף
accuses the men of being spies and when they argue that they are all brothers and they have another at home, he orders them to return to
כנען
to bring back
בנימין .
This will prove that their story is true.
יוסף
imprisons
שמעון
as collateral for the others' return. Eventually, the brothers do return to Egypt with
בנימין ,
and
יוסף
is overwhelmed at the sight of his brother.
יוסף
lets the company go but plants a silver goblet in
בנימין 's
pack. After the brothers have left the city,
יוסף
sends soldiers after them to accuse them of theft. The goblet is found and
יוסף
declares his intention to keep
בנימין
as a slave and to allow the rest to return to
כנען
(פרשת מקץ ).
יהודה
makes an impassioned speech to
יוסף
describing the predicament he is in and the problem he faces in returning to
יעקב
without
בנימין .
יוסף
cannot keep up the facade any longer and reveals himself to his brothers who are understandably shocked.
יוסף
directs his brothers to return to
כנען
and to bring
יעקב
and his family to Egypt.
יעקב
and
יוסף
are reunited and
יוסף
presents his family to
פרעה .
יוסף
settles his family in the
גשן
area of Egypt and continues to administer the food distribution of the country (פרשת ויגש ).
יוסף
presents his sons
מנשה
and
אפרים
to his father
יעקב
when the latter is on his deathbed.
יעקב
insists on putting his right hand on
אפרים 's
head when he blesses the two, despite the fact that
מנשה
is the first born.
יוסף
objects and tries to correct his father, but
יעקב
is adamant and says that he knows what he's doing. After
יעקב 's
death,
יוסף
has his father embalmed and then seeks
פרעה 's
permission to take a leave of absence and travel to
כנען
to bury
יעקב
there. The request is granted and the entire family participates in the funeral and mourning period in
כנען .
Upon the return to Egypt,
יוסף 's
brothers tell him that
יעקב
instructed them to tell
יוסף
to forgive their sale of him nearly 40 years earlier.
יוסף
assures them that he bears no grudge.
יוסף
too asks his brothers not to bury him in Egypt when he dies but to eventually take his body with them when God takes the family back to
כנען .
יוסף
dies at the age of 110 having lived to see his grandchildren (פרשת ויחי ). When
בני ישראל
leave Egypt in
ספר שמות
they take the bones of
יוסף
with them (פרשת בשלח ). The body is buried after the conquest of the land of Israel (יהושע כד :לב ).
יוֹסֵף (עזרא י:מב) יוֹסֵף (נחמיה יב:יד)
A
כהן
who is the head of the
שְׁבַנְיָה
family in the time of the Second Temple.
יוֹסֵף בֶּן אָסָף (דברי הימים א כה:ב, ט)
A
לוי
and musician who plays in the sanctuary service in the time of
דוד .
He leads the group which works first in the cycle of 24 divisions of
לְוִיִם .
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