Joseph’s brothers lie
Telling him that their father
Had some final words

“Forgive your brothers”
Is what they claim Jacob said
Just before he died

That’s not in Torah
So, is such a lie ok
In the quest for peace?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, addresses this question in his essay “The White Lie“

Pharaoh’s man tells them:
“I am Joseph your brother”
Jake’s boys are speechless

He was a dreamer
And could divine dreams’ meanings
With some Divine help

Genesis 41:16
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying: ‘It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace”

Jacob’s family
Seventy people in all
Settled in Goshen

Joseph and father
Reunited in Egypt
Pharaoh welcomed them

Pharaoh has a dream
Cows and grain, both strong and weak
Meaning eldues him

Joseph gets the call
He seems to be an expert
Dream interpreter

So he tells Pharoah
“Dream foretells feast and famine”
It’s what G-d will do

Joseph tells his dreams
Wheat, the sun, the moon and stars
Bowing down to him

Brothers not big fans
Even father shows concern
For his favored son

Jacob asks Joseph
“What kind of dream did you have?”
But withholds judgment

Jacob had twelve sons
Six were children of Leah
Rachel had just two

Bilhah and Zilpah
Servants of the two sisters
Gave birth to two each

Reuben, Simeon
Levi, Judah, Issachar
Zebulun (Leah’s)

Bilhah’s first was Dan
Her second son Naphtali
Joseph’s fifth and sixth

Leah’s maid Zilpah
Mother of Gad and Asher
The seventh and eighth

And Rachel’s children?
Joseph, Jacob’s fav’rite son
And young Benjamin

Twelve boys, one sister
Leah’s daughter, named Dinah
More ’bout her next week

Judah pleads his case
Tells Joseph of Jacob’s pain
Brothers reunite

Joe frames Benjamin
Puts the goblet in his sack
To test his brothers

Mrs. Potiphar
Was the “cougar” of her day
Seducing Joseph

The young man said, “no”
Resisted her advances
But still went to jail