How did Yaakov make such a fatal step of showing favoritism to Yosef?
ANSWER:
Yosef was entirely deserving because when Yosef demonstrated his concern for the ideals of his family, by supervising the activities of the brothers, and bringing the reports to the father, any accusations or complaints. So Yaakov saw that this was a man who carried the responsibility of the nation on his shoulders; he didn't say it's none of my business.
Yosef was concerned, and even small things, small blemishes he reported to the father in order to make sure that the family remained perfect. When Yaakov saw that Yosef was born for leadership, the true leadership is a man interested in preserving the ideals of our family and our nation, so he gave him a garment of authority. V'asa lo ksones passim, he gave him a varicolored coat, a coat of royalty, to show that he's a leader.
He wanted thereby to arouse competition among the brothers. Kinas sofrim tarbeh chochmo, envy for good things causes wisdom to flourish. Don't teachers l'havdil in the classroom give prizes to children who excel in learning? Because they want others to be envious and to try to outdo this one, and that was Yaakov Avinu's motivation. However, the fact that it backfired is a lesson for us. The Gemara says therefore we learn: never give a gift to any of your children unless you give it to all of them, this we have to learn.
So you people that are young and don't have children, and those of you that have children, don't give any gifts to your children unless everybody gets the same. Now if one child happens to need a bigger gift, tell him to keep his mouth closed. Make him solemnly promise, because it will cause the greatest trouble. Don't think that the other children don't care.
The Gemara says, l'olam al yeshane adam bno bein habonim, never show a preference for one child among the other children. When you give gifts, don't give any gifts or give everybody. And the Gemara says because of that we went into exile. We went down to Egypt because of that, and we have to learn that lesson.
Yaakov didn't have a Chumash yet, we have a Chumash, it's our job to study the Chumash and to benefit by the lessons.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
Important Numbers
