Vayeishev + Miketz: Insights from Yosef and His Brothers on How to Respond to Catastrophe

Tonight (12/1/21), in our aptly named "Chumash Exploration," we set out to explore a very, VERY weighty question: how to respond when something bad happens. Our investigation focused on two episodes: the incident of Yosef and Potiphar's wife in Vayeishev, and the response of Yosef's brothers to their predicament in Mikeitz. We began by looking at the seemingly divergent views in the commentaries as to whether Yosef was at fault for being seduced, and then we examined the various explanations given for how the brothers knew that they were being punished for their treatment of Yosef. Thanks to the Ralbag's formulation of his lessons on the parashah and the beautiful opening pages of the Rav's "Kol Dodi Dofeik," we arrived at a theory which shed a new light on both episodes and paved the way for us to deal with catastrophe and suffering in our own lives.