פרשת וישב תש"ל - יעקב ויוסף

"And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan."

It stated that Jacob had already been dwelling in the land of his father's sojournings, which was the Land of Canaan. And behold that place was Hebron; as it mentioned in the previous section (Genesis 35:27) that Jacob had already come "to his father Isaac at Mamre, at Kiriath-arba, which is Hebron." And this incident that it recounted with Joseph was when Issac was still alive. As Joseph was twenty-nine years old before Issac died. But it nonetheless recounted his death first, as it first recounted that Jacob and Esau buried him. And it is also because it wanted to [first] conclude the story of Esau's descendants and his separating from being with his brother, after recounting what happened with Jacob and Esau after Jacob had made amends with him, recounting the death of Issac. And afterwards, it went back to recount at length the descendants and the events of Jacob: "When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was a shepherd with his brothers," and their jealousy against him.

This, then, is the line of Jacob: At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah...

... As everything that happened to this one, happened to that one: ... Just like this one's mother was barren, so too that one's mother was barren; just like this one's mother bore two, so too that one's mother bore two; just like this one's mother had difficulty giving birth, so too that one's mother had difficulty giving birth; just like this one was hated by his brother, so too that one was hated by his brothers; just like this one's brother sought to kill him, so too that one's brothers sought to kill him; this one fled, and that one fled; ... this one was stolen twice, and that one was stolen twice: ... this one went out of the Land [of Israel], and that one went out of the Land; this one married a woman from outside the Land, and that one married a woman from outside the Land; this one fathered children outside the Land, and that one fathered children outside the Land; this one was accompanied by angels, and that one was accompanied by angels...

אלה תלדות יעקב THESE ARE THE PROGENY OF JACOB — ... The Midrash, however, explains that by the words, “These are the progeny of Jacob — Joseph”, Scripture regards all Jacob’s sons as secondary to Joseph for several reasons: first, the whole purpose of Jacob in working for Laban was only for Rachel, Joseph’s mother, (and all his children were born only in consequence of this); then, again, Joseph’s facial features bore a striking resemblance to those of Jacob. Further, whatever happened to Jacob happened to Joseph: the one was despised, the other was despised; in the case of the one his brother wished to kill him so, too, in the case of the other, his brethren wished to kill him. Many such similarities are pointed out in (Genesis Rabbah 84:5-6; Genesis Rabbah 84:8).

"These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren"

וישב יעקב AND JACOB ABODE — After it (Scripture) has described to you the settlements of Esau and his descendants in a brief manner — since they were not distinguished and important enough that it should be related in detail how they settled down and that there should be given an account of their wars and how they drove out the Horites (see Deuteronomy 2:12) — it explains clearly and at length the settlements made by Jacob and his descendants and all the events which brought these about, because these are regarded by the Omnipresent as of sufficient importance to speak of them at length. Thus, too, you will find that in the case of the ten generations from Adam to Noah it states “So-and-so begat so-and-so”, but when it reaches Noah it deals with him at length. Similarly, of the ten generations from Noah to Abraham it gives but a brief account, but when it comes to Abraham it speaks of him more fully. It may be compared to the case of a jewel that falls into the sand: a man searches in the sand, sifts it in a sieve until he finds the jewel. When he has found it he throws away the pebbles and keeps the jewel (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 1).

Regarding the parable of the jewel, R. E. Mizrachi says:

And that which he says, "and discards the pebbles," has no relation to the comparison; but it is rather only the end of the parable (a tangential detail).

"What is this dream that you have dreamed"

מה החלום הזה?, this is only a reflection of unworthy thoughts. It shows us that you plan to rule over us. Your nocturnal dreams reflect your thinking when you are awake. (The expression is taken from Daniel 2:29:

"O king, your thoughts that came to your mind in your bed are about future events")

Your thoughts: Your musings.

came out upon your bed: what you mused during the day, about what your future would be, came up upon your bed.

"and he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem."

S.v. And he sent him from the vale of Hebron: The verse mentions the place from which he was sent, to say that there was a long distance between them. And hence they did evil to him, since they were far from their father. And [this is also] to say that Joseph exerted himself to honor his father, to walk far to them; and he did not say, "How should I go, as they hate me?" And our Rabbis also have a midrash about this: [It was] to fulfill the deep counsel [given to] the fine colleague buried in Hevron.

(The wording in Bereshit Rabbah: R. Acha said, "He went to fulfill the deep counsel that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave between Himself and the fine colleague who is buried in Hevron." [The reference is to Genesis 15:13, "and they shall enslave them and oppress them."])