Show Notes
In this week's episode, we learn how to behave towards others- even in situations that are challenging.
Yosef's mother died when he was young. When someone grows up without a parent, they are considered a yasom, or orphan. The Torah tells us to be extra careful when it comes to treating a yasom kindly. Unfortunately, Yosef's brothers did not think about this enough.
Taking the perspective of others, and trying to figure out why they behave the way they do, can only help us. If Yosef's brothers had been willing to consider his perspective, perhaps they could have made peace. Instead, they ended up selling him into slavery and causing their father intense pain.
Even when we make terrible mistakes, we can learn from them. We see this through Yehuda's growth in this parsha. Yehuda is the one who advises his brothers to sell the slaves- but later becomes the one who learns to relate to Yaaakov's pain.
God is always with us, even when human beings are being cruel to us. God was with Yosef when no one else was.
It's important to do the right thing even when no one is watching. Potiphar's wife wanted Yosef to marry her, and Yosef could have done it secretly. But he knew God would not like this, and so he did not.
Gratitude is so important. If the cupbearer had remembered to act on his gratitude towards Yosef, Yosef would not have needed to remain in prison!
Based on our questions and discussions, we come up with some very important lessons and takeaways for our own lives!
More from Parsha for Kids
In the last parsha of the Torah, V'Zot HaBracha, Moshe dies. But what matters is not that he died- rather, the way he died. Moshe approached God alone. There were no adoring crowds. No family surrounding him. It was just the man and his Maker. And this is something that will happen to us all. We will all, ultimately, approach God. The question to be answered is simply this: have we lived a life that we are proud to show to God?
This week's parsha, Haazinu, is actually a song! Moshe wanted to make sure that the core ideas of Judaism would be accessible to everyone, whether or not they were able to read. In this song, we focus on some important ideas. These include: