Parshas Vayeishev (5779)
Though it sounds like some kind of Middle Eastern skin disease, Midrash is actually a Hebrew word meaning “expounding [the text]†and is an integral part of the Torah.
You see, it is a foundation of our faith to believe that G-d gave Moses at Mount Sinai an oral explanation of the Torah along with the written text. Much of this oral tradition is now essentially preserved in the Midrash (as well as in the Talmud).
The Midrash serves to “fill in the gaps†of the Torah narrative, often providing the “story behind the story†which helps us gain a better understanding of the biblical text.
[I should point out that sometimes the Midrashic explanation of the text can seem a bit “fanciful†or difficult to understand and may not be meant to be taken literally.]
In this week’s Torah portion and next, we find a good illustration of how Midrash can help to clarify the written text.
In Genesis 39:6-20 we read that Joseph was exceedingly handsome, and that the wife of Potiphar made many attempts to entice him to sin with her – with Joseph repeatedly resisting her advances. One day when they were alone in the house, Potiphar’s wife caught hold of Joseph’s garment and said, “Lie with meâ€. Joseph left his garment in her hands and fled from the room. She then called loudly to those nearby, accusing Joseph of attempting to rape her. When her husband Potiphar heard her words, he immediately threw Joseph into prison, where he languished for ten years until he was pulled out of jail to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams (see Genesis 41:1-37). When Joseph successfully interpreted the dreams and Pharaoh realized just how brilliant and charismatic he was, he immediately crowned him viceroy over all of Egypt.
We then read (ibid. verse 45) that Pharaoh gave Joseph Asenath, daughter of Potiphar, as a wife.
The Bible commentators find this verse troubling. For the Talmud in Chullin 91a teaches that the “Twelve Tribes†(sons of our forefather Jacob) observed the entire Torah even before it was officially given at Mount Sinai. How then could Joseph, one of the Tribes, marry Asenath who was the daughter of the Egyptian Potiphar and therefore not Jewish?
And even if we’ll say as some Bible commentators suggest that Joseph converted Asenath to Judaism before he married her, the question remains, for the Torah forbids a Jew from marrying an Egyptian convert until three generations have passed (see Deuteronomy 23:8-9)!
Another question we can ask on a more practical level is how Joseph could even agree to marry Asenath whose mother, the wife of Potiphar, made his life miserable and was the reason why he was thrown into prison?!
[Someone I know once quipped that if this woman could make Joseph suffer so much and make his life so unbearable – she must be his destined mother-in-law!]
The Alshich HaKadosh, in his commentary on the Bible, answers the second question that Joseph was content to marry Asenath - even with such a mother-in-law as the wife of Potiphar - because this would vindicate him in the eyes of the Egyptians from the charge that he had assaulted Potiphar’s wife.
However, we are left with the first question – but that’s only because we are missing parts of the story. Once we get the full picture from the Midrash of what happened “behind the scenesâ€, our question will be answered.
From the various Midrashim on the biblical text (see, for example, Midrash Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer chapter 38), a wondrous story about Joseph and Asenath emerges:
When Shechem abducted Dinah (see Genesis 34:2), she became pregnant with his child. Her father, Jacob, saw that his family was deeply ashamed of his new granddaughter who was conceived in sin. The little girl was banished from the camp and placed under a thorn bush. They called her Asenath, a derivative of ‘sneh’, the Hebrew word for “thorn bushâ€. Jacob brought a golden plate with a Holy Name inscribed upon it and hung it on her neck. [In other Midrashic accounts it is stated that he wrote on the golden plate, "Whoever marries this girl, marries the seed of Jacob."] And he sent her away. As all is revealed before the Holy One blessed be He, the angel Michael descended and took Asenath down to Egypt, to the home of Potiphar, for Asenath was fitting to be Joseph's wife. Potiphar's wife really took to Asenath and raised her like a daughter. When Joseph became viceroy of Egypt, all the young maidens who were mesmerized by his extraordinary beauty threw jewelry and other objects at him, trying to gain his favor. Asenath had nothing to throw, except the golden plate bearing the inscription that her grandfather had made her. When Joseph saw what was written on it, he knew that she was his kin, and immediately married her.
So it turns out that according to oral tradition as recorded in the Midrash, Asenath was not, in fact, the biological daughter of the Egyptian Potiphar and his wife – but rather was born to her Jewish mother Dinah (together with Shechem), and thus in no need of conversion to Judaism after all. Who knew?
[Sources: Did Joseph Marry Out? article by Menachem Posner at Chabad.org]
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=541