Go, go, go Joseph! Yes, that’s right! This week our Torah begins the story of Joseph: favorite son of Jacob, right-hand man to Pharaoh, and all-around dreamer. You probably know the story already. Jacob (also called Israel) has twelve sons and one daughter. Because of who Joseph’s mother is, Jacob identifies Joseph as his favorite and marks him as such with the gift of a beautiful tunic (a.k.a. a coat of many colors). Joseph takes this status and runs with it—telling his brothers and parents all about his dreams of his powerful destiny. However, in doing so, Joseph makes enemies of his brothers. The text even says that they hated him even more because of these dreams.
There is a powerful lesson here that I shared this week with our BFRS students: be careful how you share your good news. Even if one has a reason to celebrate, it’s important to be cautious about how we share information. We may not bear it all, but we hold responsibility for other people’s feelings.
We learn this directly from Jacob’s response to Joseph. Despite the fact that Joseph is his favorite son, even Jacob is disturbed by Joseph’s dreams and the way he shares them. He rebukes his son and questions his intent. Rashi explains, however, that it is not merely that Jacob and his sons are upset about the subject matter. Rather, part of Jacob’s warning is directly related to the impact Joseph has on himself by arousing the hatred of his brothers. Jacob knows that the more Joseph shares and boasts, the more danger he brings upon himself.
It may not be the most exciting lesson in our Torah, but it is certainly among the most important. Especially in our age of social media and challenging media literacy, stewardship of information has never been more crucial! We should all strive for the success of Joseph, and we should all dream big dreams! But our dreams should lift people up, and our sharing should fortify our communities instead of breaking ourselves and others down. If we live this way, we can truly build a society that reflects the beauty and safety of Joseph’s Technicolor Dreamcoat.