Parashat Mikeitz - Appearances can be Deceiving- December 18, 2020 Guest Posting by Sharon Batshaw- in memory of her mother Miriam bat Yaacov whose yaretziet is 7th of Tevet (Dec 22nd)

In studying the stories of our forefathers in the book of B’reshit, there are numerous patterns and themes that occur throughout the this first book of the Torah.  One of these is the theme of sibling rivalry, which never ends well.  Sibling rivalry results in the first murder in the story of Cain and Abel.  The sibling rivalry between Itzhak and Ishmael as well as their mothers Sara and Hagar results with Hagar and Ishmael being forced out of their home and coming close to death in the desert.  Then there is the rivalry between Jacob and Esau which results in Jacob being forced to flee his home out of fear for his brother’s anger towards him at his stealing of Esau’s birthright.  Our next example is the hatred and jealousy that Joseph’s brothers have towards him as he is his father’s favorite son, and of course this situation is made worse when Joseph tells his brothers that he dreams of a time in the future when they are bowing down to him.
Another theme that occurs throughout the stories of our forefathers is the theme of deception, and it is interesting to note that clothing is used in the deception in every case.   Our first example is Rebecca dressing her son Jacob in Esau’s clothing to trick the blind and aging Itzhak into thinking that Jacob is Esau and giving him the blessing for the first born.  Then there is the time when Laban tricks Jacob into marrying his daughter Leah instead of Rachel by having Leah cover her face with a heavy veil.  Next, the brothers dip Joseph’s colourful coat in blood to deceive their father into believing the story that Joseph was killed by a wild animal.  We then have the story of Tamar, removing her widow’s dress and covering herself with a veil to make herself look like a prostitute in order to entice her father-in-law Judah to make love to her so that she can have a child.  Then there is the time when Joseph left his robe behind while escaping Potiphar’s wife who was attempting to seduce him. It was this robe that Potiphar’s wife later used to substantiate her false claim that Joseph attempted to rape her which resulted in Joseph being thrown into prison.
In this week’s parasha Joseph who is now a high-ranking official in the Egyptian government is dressed in a robe of fine linen and wearing a gold chain and a signet ring.  When his brothers come to Egypt in search of food, they have no idea that the important Egyptian official they are speaking to is none other than their brother Joseph.  They also have no idea that when bowing to this important Egyptian official they are actually bowing down to Joseph, just as he foresaw in his childhood dream.
There is even a connection between the Hebrew word for clothing, begadim which is from the same root as betrayal as is used in the Yom Kippur confessional prayer begadnu meaning we have betrayed you.
It is often that we judge people by appearances but miss the true essence of the person as appearances are often deceiving.  The Torah actually contains very little descriptions of what any of the characters looked like.  The focus in Judaism seems to be more about what we hear than what we see.  Hashem has no physical presence and cannot be seen but can be heard.  That is why one of our most important prayers is the Shema, “Hear o Israel, Hashem is our god, Hashem in one.” and in reciting this we cover our eyes to focus on what we are hearing and not what we are seeing.