This class was presented on Tuesday, Parshas Vayechi, 14 Tevet, 5784, December 26, 2023, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

On his deathbed, Jacob speaks to Joseph: “A charming son is Joseph, a son charming to the eye; the women strode along to see him. They made his life bitter, and they quarreled with him; archers despised him.” Rashi explains: “The women of Egypt strode out on the wall to gaze upon his beauty." 

What is Jacob trying to bring out? Literally, that Joseph’s beauty was dazzling. Not only was he appealing to any eye that saw him, but even the Egyptian women were enthralled by his figure. They ascended the walls and fortresses of Egypt to be able to gaze at him. But why is this relevant on the deathbed of Jacob?

For this we have to understand what was at the root of this conflict in the first family of Israel. Could it be that a multicolored coat or a favorite son’s share of his father’s affections should generate such profound strife? 

Something deeper was at stake. Joseph and Judah embodied two divergent worldviews. They possessed different approaches on the meaning of Judaism, which was just beginning to bud, and how we achieve a state of transcendent oneness.

There is a remarkable law in Talmud: While when the Temple existed in Jerusalem, you could only eat the meat of the sacrifices within the Jerusalem walls, when the Tabernacle stood in Shilo, in Joseph’s territory, you could eat the meat of the offerings as far as the eye could behold the Tabernacle. This law captures the magic and revolution of Joseph, which we must emulate today.

We explore the unique role of women in gazing at Joseph and the power of the woman to reveal Divine oneness within the material fragmented reality. The class explains how our daily lives must integrate the visions of Judah and Joseph, so that even as our thoughts can pull us in all directions, we remain anchored in the "solar core."