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If you’re a famous explorer, you might get a holiday named after you. If you’re a famous political figure, you might get a street named after you. If you’re a famous rabbi, like Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartenura - who left his home in Italy to resettle in the land of Israel in 1488 – you get a wine named after you.
Bartenura is best known for his commentary on the Mishna, but he also wrote a commentary on the Torah. I share today one of his comments on this week’s portion, Vayeshev.
At the outset of the reading, seventeen-year-old Joseph received from his father a coat of many colors (k’tonet passim), which of course made the brothers incredibly jealous. Add to this the fact that Joseph took it upon himself to share dreams of his (future) greatness, and you have a recipe for conflict. Yet Jacob, never the most perceptive of the patriarchs, sent Joseph to find his brothers, who were with the flocks away from home.
As he wandered about in the field, having no idea where his brothers might be, Joseph was approached by a man who had overheard the brothers say they were going to Dothan. And Joseph, following the man’s advice, did indeed locate his brothers.
The question is – who was this mysterious man? Bartenura says the following:
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And a man found him (Genesis 37:15) – This is Gabriel. For when the Torah says “a man found him”, what it means to say is that this man sought out Joseph (rather than the other way around). The man wanted to point out the way, since Joseph was aimlessly wandering in the field. And once we determine that it was an angel, we can identify him as Gabriel, as Gabriel is identified by the word “man” (ish) in Daniel 9:21.
Why all this fuss about the identity of this unnamed “man”? First, because there was a tendency among the rabbis to always name important people. The daughter of Pharaoh is therefore Bitya; Asher’s daughter Serach identifies Moses as the savior of the Jewish people; the servant who goes to get a wife for Isaac is Eliezer.
Second, it made little sense for a “man” to not only run into Joseph in the middle of nowhere, but to have knowledge, based on overheard conversation, of his brothers’ whereabouts. Hence it stood to reason that the “man” was really an angel.
Finally, Gabriel in the book of Daniel is thought of as a revealer, one who knows the future course of events. This might be the case here – Gabriel needs to set history into motion by having him first meet up with his brothers.
In other words, Bartenura’s comment is far less strange than it feels at first blush.
And if you’re going to get a wine named after you, it might as well be the popular one in the blue bottle.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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