Dvar Torah - Vayeshev 5785

The Torah tells us that Yosef resisted the entreaties of Potifar’s wife, who desired to commit adultery with Yosef. Unable to seduce Yosef, Potifar’s wife confronted her husband and falsely accused Yosef: “Your slave did things like these to me.” (Beraishis 39:19). The Torah tells us that Potifar’s “anger flared up. Then Yosef’s master took him and placed him in the prison.” (Ibid. 39:20). Potifar’s actions are puzzling. Yosef was not only a slave accused of attempting to commit adultery with his master’s wife, but he was also a foreigner, a “Hebrew man” who came “to sport with us.” (Ibid. 39:14). Moreover, the Torah tells us that these accusations enraged Potifar. Yet, Potifar spared Yosef’s life and instead assigned him to prison. Why didn’t Potifar immediately execute Yosef?

The Ramban gives three answers to this question. His third answer is that Potifar questioned the veracity of his wife’s report because he was familiar with Yosef’s righteousness. However, this answer seems problematic when we consider the character of Potifar. The Torah introduces him as the סריס of Pharoah. (Ibid. 39:1). This is understood by some as the king’s executioner. The Talmud (Sotah 13b) translates it as “eunuch”, e.g. that Potifar purchased Yosef with evil intentions because of Yosef’s good looks and as a consequence became mutilated. Potifar is thus described as an evil and contemptible person. How could such a person appreciate Yosef’s righteousness? Furthermore, even if Potifar somehow tacitly recognized that Yosef was a righteous person, how could he be so influenced that he would doubt his own wife and instead give credence to his slave?

We see from here the impact of always acting honestly and righteously. Yosef handled Potifar’s affairs with such integrity that Potifar “left all that he had in Yosef’s custody.” (Ibid. 39:6). Thus, when later confronted with Yosef’s apparent treachery, Yosef’s integrity penetrated Potifar’s evil persona and produced enough doubt in his wife’s account that he saved Yosef’s life. This is similar to the story of Daniel, when king Darius promulgated a decree demanding that all prayer be directed only to himself. (Daniel 6:10). Nevertheless, Daniel continued to openly daven to Hashem. The king recognized Daniel’s integrity and righteousness, and actually fasted all night in order that Hashem would save Daniel from the lion’s den (Ibid. 6:19).

We should recognize that honesty and integrity will ultimately be noticed and will have a significant positive impact on others. It should motivate us to purse these virtues so that we merit to eventually live in a world where honesty and integrity are not limited to a narrow group of “holy” people, but become the universal norm for all.

-Rabbi Garber