Was Joseph’s Coat Really Technicolor?
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous musical about Joseph colors (pun sadly intended) our interpretation of a specific phrase in this week’s parasha. We read (Genesis 37:3), that Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, and that he made for Joseph a ketonet passim. The question is, what exactly is a ketonet passim?
There are two main interpretations of this phrase. The first, voiced most notably by the Radak (12th century French rabbi), explains:
Radak- The ketonet (cloak) was made of passim passim (many stripes), with one stripe of one color and the next another color... and the ketonet was beautiful.This, of course, supports the modern day musical’s assertion that the cloak was multi-colored.
But there is another interpretation that the cloak was not multi-colored at all! Passim could indicate that the garment had sleeves, and that it reached the ankles and wrists. So according to this view, what is so special about the cloak? Ibn Ezra explains that it was merukemet, it was embroidered beautifully.
No matter how we interpret this phrase, we understand the function of the cloak – that it was meant to make Joseph feel special. Either because it was multi-colored, it was embroidered beautifully, or because it was a unique gift from father to son. We all can identify that this gift had great power, that it made Joseph feel special; and we all are familiar with the exclusion that his brothers experienced immediately after this gift was given.
We at Anshe Emet want to learn from Jacob’s positive lesson of sharing gifts to make others feel special, while recognizing that we do not want ANYONE to feel excluded. At this time of year, as so many of us and our family members are accustomed to receiving gifts, we are going to be sharing gifts with others who may not be as fortunate. On Sunday, December 14th, our Anshe Emet Synagogue community will celebrate our annual Festival of the Arts, highlighting our Religious School students’ accomplishments in music, drama, and dance, and also including appearances by choirs from BZAEDS. But there is an admission fee: a toy for the Lakeview Pantry Toy Drive. We are asking people to bring a new or lightly used toy with them to the festival. So I hope that you follow in our students’ example of sharing gifts in ways that makes people feel as special as Joseph, while ensuring that others do not feel left out.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Russo
