Vayeishev – וַיֵּשֶׁב (Genesis 37:1−40:23)
This Week’s Torah Portion:Vayeishev – וַיֵּשֶׁב (Genesis 37:1−40:23)
“Now Israel (our father Jacob) loved Joseph best of all his sons—he was his “child of old age”;* and he had made him an ornamented tunic.*” Genesis 37:3
The Rabbis, in their wisdom, say it is because of a few pounds of cotton that Israel (the people) will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years in Egypt. If Jacob were a better parent and did not discriminate between his children, causing them to hate each other, we would not have to suffer Egyptian slavery.