SAN DIEGO — Parashah Vayeshev is the story of Joseph, one of Jacob’s twelve sons. Jacob loved Joseph and favored him over his other sons. He even gave Joseph a beautiful coat, often called the Coat of Many Colors, or even the Technicolor Dreamcoat. Joseph wore his coat all the time and his brothers got very jealous.
Joseph creates more bad feelings when he tells his brothers about his dreams. In one dream, he was in charge and eleven plants bowed down to him. In the second dream, the sun, moon and eleven stars all bowed down to Joseph.
Joseph’s brothers grew even angrier after those dreams. They hated him so much, they decided to get rid of him. They threw him into a deep pit. When a group of people from a different village passed by, the brothers sold Joseph to them to be a slave in Egypt.
Joseph worked hard and soon became a trusted servant in Pharaoh’s court. After a while, however, Joseph was falsely accused of something and sent to prison. He worked hard and was soon put in charge of the prisoners.
Two prisoners, a baker and a cupbearer, came up to him with strange dreams. Joseph interpreted their dreams correctly. The baker would soon be executed. The cupbearer would be released. Joseph asked the cupbearer to tell the Pharaoh that he (Joseph) could interpret dreams. But once free, the man forgot to tell Pharaoh.
What this means: Joseph had some pretty bad things happen to him. His brothers threw him into a pit and then sold him as a slave. He was well-liked in Pharaoh’s court, but that changed when he was sent to prison. The prisoners and guards trusted him and he helped the prisoners as much as he could. Joseph always tried to make a bad situation turn around into a better one.
What you can do: When things didn’t go well for Joseph, he didn’t get angry. He didn’t give up. Joseph tried to make the best of each situation. You can do this also. If things happen that make you angry, frustrated or sad, stop and try to find a path leading to a better outcome. This is especially true now, when many of us are stuck inside our homes. Find different things to do that you wouldn’t have done before. Maybe learn a new hobby. You can learn card tricks or magic tricks and entertain your family. Learn how to crochet or make sock puppets and perform on Zoom for your class. Help with the laundry or make no-bake cookies for everyone. Look around. There are many ways to make things better.
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Marcia Berneger is a retired elementary school teacher. She loves writing stories for children. She is the author of such children’s books as Buster the Little Garbage Truck, and A Dreidel in Time.