Virgin?

That is quite an answer!

Ha! That's hilarious. Thank you for making me laugh. :)

Take care,
Jenna

Uh… yeah! How'd you keep a straight face?! Did you keep that myth going or did you enlighten him about where snakes live! LOL Nell, that's funny!

Smiles!
amber

I like your parenting style, Nell! Smart Max! Hugs to you both!

wow, somehow he has the kabbalistic understanding – quite unbelievably  that what the 'serpent' wanted was the sexual union with eve…..this is how the kabbalah understands the issue with the serpent…so interesting..wow!!

Oneness with evil, symbolic of the serpent??

it is taught in Judaism that the biggest yetzer ha rah, yetzer = inclination, ha =the, rah = evil, the evil inclination – is the test that makes one great, because it is the hardest of all to tame…… We see this depicted in the story of Joseph. Joseph had a dream, he saw his brothers and father yaacov, (Israel,) bowing down to him, he shared the dream with his father and brothers….Joseph was the most beloved of his father, for he was the son of his old age…and so Yisrael makes the coat for Joseph of many colors..this is actually a prophetic action, which we come to understand after many years.

Tthe brothers are jealous and resentful..On one level their resentment is valid. They know that Joseph has not 'arrived' yet, that he has not been tested, not matured yet or proven worthy to receive such a gift. 

The kabbalah teaches us that the colors of the coat are symbolic of the energies and powers of God, Gods very essence and energy, God's splendor and royalty, personified perhaps by the coat..  The brothers were jealous and resentful, so they decided to kill him and throw him into a pit and to tell their father that he was attacked by an 'evil beast.'
Reuven stops them and instead they sell him for 20 pieces of silver to the yishme'eilim with a caravan going to egypt. 

Meanwhile they take the coat and dip it into the blood of a goat they killed and bring it home to their father, stating that he must have been killed. When his father sees the blood on the coat, he knows immediately that altho he may be dead, there is something else here, because the 'blood' is a hint to sexual impurity. So he mourns his son, and is inconsolable. 

Meanwhile Joseph is brought to Egypt and sold to Potifar, paro's chamberlain, a captain of the guard. 

In Egypt Joseph has no torah, no support, no father or brothers or books to learn from that will encourage him to continue on his path to God, no support from friends of like mind; this is a test that he will need to pass if he is to maintain his faith. He continues to grow in stature in Egypt and his master sees that God makes everything that Joseph touches to prosper, that everything he has is blessed because God is with Joseph.  In fact, he didn't even know all that he had because his wealth continues in the hands of Joseph, he knows only what he eats on a daily basis of all of his wealth, he totally entrusted all to Joseph. 

It is written that Joseph was a handsome man, and the wife of potiphar desired him. He has stature, looks, wisdom and authority…He is respected highly.  Now she comes like a snake to seduce him…To destroy the image of God in him. She tells him, “come, lie with me.” (Read my poem, the Soiled Madonna).  She tries to seduce him and he is not submissive…he runs away from her, saying There is none greater in this house than I except your husband,  how can I do this wickedness against him or God! He has trusted me in all he has.” 

So he maintains all integrity, all dignity, all loyalty to his employer and to God and the God within – his own faith and beleifs, his own Virtue ..

She continues on to try and one day sets him up, grabs him by his coat and he flees her, leaving his coat in her hand and because he has rejected her and her ego is deflated, she now goes to potifar and lies against him…saying that her husband has brought a hebrew into their home to 'mock' us.  (to mock her).

With that potifar throws Joseph into prison. And in prison Joseph also prospers and the guards see that he is with God.  And so the officers that are part of potifars command have a dream and there is no one to interpret it but Joseph. So Joseph goes before  potiphar again with his understanding of the prophecy and has a chance to explain at the same time, his innocence in a parable. Again he demonstrates to Paro his obvious integrity, wisdom and humility and is once again proven and restored to become the second in command over the land second only to Paro. 

His test is now proof of his intrinic worth! By passing this test, by beating his own evil inclination, he has shown that the potential his father saw in him above all the other brothers was not only valid but worthy and appropriate;  he earned the royalty that he became by exercising his faith in divine action and behavior to grow into that high place that is the power and essence of Godliness as representated in the coat of many colors!  He became it…You cannot do this without faith in God…Faith gives limitation wings and empowers one to access higher levels of wisdom. 

Josephs father heard that their was corn in Egypt during the years of famine, and sent his seven sons to Eygpt  to buy corn. The brothers, and the father, did bow to their brother who was the Vizir now in charge, and Joseph devised a plan to have them fetch their father so that they could be united once again in wholeness, and also to fix, to correct those previous behaviors they had done against him. 

 sorry, for this short, long version…whew! 

I hope this sheds some light..

yaffa

oh, and I forgot to add that is why Joseph Is called, Joseph ha tzaddik…tzaddik is a righteous one. It is because he beat his greatest opponent, his own sexual yetzer ha rah..just the opposite of  the holiness and beauty that is manifested from the side of love towards your soul mate, your loved one.  It is the primal, inappropriate, dark side, the raw primal urge that he exercised control and had victory over…he lived within the boundaries of appropriateness and then went on to marry and have children with his own wife.

I once heard someone express that kind of responsiblilty, dignity and discipline like this:  I like the way you harness your horse.

yes when one can see the evil influence and is aware enough, conscious of the God in him to use that energy in reverse, transform it into good, or repent and go away from it if he has succumbed to it, that evil is transformed when he rectifies it, into good, and life…yes..