Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/310

Rh The Book of

292

Cciicsis'

In presenting the Joseph story, the teacher should keep constantly in

mind the

fact of its essential unity.

The

various episodes should be

presented, not as separate stories, nor as loosely connected incidents in

the life of one man, but as integral and indispensable parts of

And

great drama. in

of

connection with the successive phases of the story, such as these the evil of tale-bearing and of envy and partiality, the teacher

must never to

a

even while bringing out various worthy thoughts

make

lose sight of the

universal

great,

main thought, nor miss any opportunity it, and feel with full conviction its If it be possible by means of this

the children anticipate signiftcance.

children with the thought that God His universe for good, and that His providence constantly watches over us, to guide us aright, and to always bring good out of evil, and if this thought can l)e made to develop into firm, unshakable conviction, a lasting foundation will have been laid for real Jewish faith and life. This is the ultimate goal of all Jewish religious education. The proper, constructive presentation of the complete Joseph story therefore serves well to round out this

Joseph story actively

(first

familiarize the

to

controls

stage

the

of

work

of

the

Jewish religious school.

NOTES V.

2.

It

W

3.

What

really a coat

is

not clear is

why Leah's name

is

omitted here.

generally translated "a coat of

with long, hanging sleeves, such as

many colors", was commonly worn

is

by persons of importance in the Orient. It prevents its wearer from hard, manual labor, and is therefore indicative of rank. That Joseph should wear such a coat implies that he was free of the hard labors of his brothers, and also that he was of higher rank than they. Therefore this coat was their chief source of vexation. V. 10. The mention here of Joseph's mother is strange indeed. Possibly it may refer to Leah as Jacob's chief wife, now that Rachel was dead. However, there is an additional difticulty in this connection. XXX, 25 implies that Rachel gave birth to Joseph at the end of the first fourteen years of Jacob's sojourn with Laban. According to XXXV, 18, Benjamin was l)orn on the return to Canaan, six years later. But in the Joseph story proper, although Joseph is a fullgrown man. and has been viceroy of Egypt already during the seven years of plenty and the first two years of famine, and had also been in prison for over two years, and had been a slave in Potiphar's house for some time before that, in other words, had been in Egypt for at least eleven or twelve years. -Benjamin is still a mere lad \n