Love To Hate; Vayeshev

i would manufacture things to make me mad

dick butkus

we hate. a base emotion has positives; hatred can be the expresso shot “pick me up” or the injection of adrenalin to drive one into a battle on the gridiron in the national football league. given those benefits, we must admit, we love to hate.

hate rivals fear. it can muster the heart rate and make the blood boil. while hate generates physiological responses, does it also foster a mental reaction? does “hate” ever generate questions such as “why?” or “to what purpose?”

the torah portion vayeshev is a “hate” fest; it contains tale of joseph, his brothers and a most awesome coat of many colors. the hatred begins with joseph tattling to his father about his brothers’ conduct. the hatred toward joseph is heightened as his father, jacob, now known as israel, favors him. not only is joseph the favorite son, he gets the sporty coat of many colors. despite his brothers acting out their hatred by not speaking to him in a peaceful manner, joseph-without a clue or simply not caring- throws lighter fluid upon the bonfire of hate by disclosing his dreams which alluded to his domination of the family. joseph’s actions were so out of hand that his father, israel, rebuked him.

the hot pot of hatred finally boiled over. murderous thoughts entered the brothers’ minds. two brothers- reuben and judah- however, did not let their hatred take them over. they appreciated that their hatred did not justify bloodshed. judah understood that there would be nothing gained with murder.

thus, one lesson from this torah portion is the notion that “hatred”, while it can be a motivating force for some- i.e. helping dick butkus muster a hall of fame career with the chicago bears, for others it can lead to destructive acts. with joseph, the mounting hatred should have triggered a family intervention. the torah portion alludes that joseph’s father may have attempted to address the controversy by rebuking him. the record is absent as to whether his brothers were aware that efforts were being made to address joseph’s antics and inflammatory conduct.

in the end, the tired but true piece of wisdom “cool heads prevail” wins out. for judah, he has a second event with his daughter-in-law, tamar, which evidences this sentiment.

be well!!

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