Vayeshev תרל”ג

תולדות יעקב יוסף. דכתיב בית יעקב אש כו’ יוסף להבה כו’. יעקב הוא התורה כה דברי כאש והוא למעלה מהטבע. רק העצה להיות נכנס אור התורה בנפש האדם. הוא על ידי החשק והתלהבות. והוא בחי’ יוסף הצדיק. וז”ש רש”י ע”י להבה שולט למרחוק. כי מצד החשק. מה שאדם מרוחק יותר נתרבה החשק לו להתקרב. וז”ש תולדות יעקב יוסף שע”י חשק הנ”ל נמשך תולדות מבחינות יעקב כנ”ל:
“These are the descendants of Yaakov; Yosef…” (Bereishis 37:2).
It states (Ovadia 1:18) “The House of Yaakov is a fire and the House of Yosef is a flame, and the House of Eisav like straw”. (Midrash explains that this can be compared to a parable of a blacksmith who saw someone bringing a huge load of straw, and he was wondering where will this huge amount of straw all fit? A wise man said to him, just one spark of your hammer can destroy that huge pile of straw. So too when Yaakov saw all the generals and family of Eisav, he was concerned, HaShem said to him, just one spark – Yosef can destroy all of that).
Now Yaakov is compared to the Torah, (yet) it is above nature (it comes from Heaven, and was originally in Heaven). The way to bring the light of Torah into the soul of a person, is through the strong desire and excitement. This is the idea of Yosef the Tzadik.
This too is the idea that Rashi (Bereishis 30:25) states: A fire (Yaakov) without a flame (Yosef) is not able to effect far away. The idea is that when a person has more longing & desire to get closer to HaShem, for he feels (through his shortcomings) that he is distanced from HaShem, then his desire to get closer gets stronger.
This therefore is the idea in the pasuk above: These are the descendants of Yaakov – Yosef”, that it is through the desire – Yosef, that Yaakov has descendants, (an impact in the world). As above.

פי’ הזוה”ק טוב ילד מסכן כו’ שע”י שהאדם תמיד בסכנה מרדיפות היצה”ר. ע”י כך יש לו התחדשות תמיד. ועי”ז דבוק בחכמה. ולהיפוך ע”י גסות שמלך הוא בעיניו. עי”ז שוכח מה שהיה לו גם כן:
The Zohar (1:179a-b) explains the pasuk (Kohelet 4:13) “An unfortunate boy is better than an old foolish man”. (The boy is referring to a person’s good inclination, and the old foolish man refers to a person’s negative inclination).
Because a person is in constant danger from the evil inclination chasing him, this actually gives a person a sense of renewal, and through this he becomes attached to the “chochmah” – wisdom. And on the opposite end, through haughtiness, when a person thinks that he is a king in his own eyes (through haughtiness over spiritual accomplishments), this causes him to even forget the accomplishments that he originally had.
(This is based on the previous section, that through longing one merits to greatness. Furthermore the real reason why the evil inclination has any power in this world is really to cause us to have a greater yearning, to move beyond our faults, and this itself causes us a sense of renewal, for there is a constant threat of failure and distance. And on the contrary, when things are all going well the danger of haughtiness is what causes things to go stale).

וימאן ויאמר כו’ הן אדוני כו’ ולא חשך כו’ כי אם אותך כו’ את אשתו כו’. יש ללמוד מזה איך להשמר מיצה”ר ע”י ישוב הדעת שהקב”ה מסר הכל. לרשות האדם. אף כי הי’ ברשותו שלא להיות כח לאדם לעשות נגד רצונו. רק בטובו מסר הכל להאדם רק שיקבל האדם על עצמו עול מלכותו ית’. ומזה עצמו צריך ליפול בושה על האדם שלא יוכל לעשות נגד רצון הקב”ה רק לעשות הכל לש”ש לברר שמלכותך מלכות כל עולמים כנ”ל. והבן. וישוב הדעת הנ”ל בא ע”י שוימאן מקודם בלי טעם וימאן ויאמר כנ”ל:

וַיְמָאֵ֓ן ׀ וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־אֵ֣שֶׁת אֲדֹנָ֔יו הֵ֣ן אֲדֹנִ֔י לֹא־יָדַ֥ע אִתִּ֖י מַה־בַּבָּ֑יִת וְכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־יֶשׁ־ל֖וֹ נָתַ֥ן בְּיָדִֽי׃
But he refused. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master gives no thought to anything in this house, and all that he owns he has placed in my hands. (Bereishis 39:8)
אֵינֶ֨נּוּ גָד֜וֹל בַּבַּ֣יִת הַזֶּה֮ מִמֶּ֒נִּי֒ וְלֹֽא־חָשַׂ֤ךְ מִמֶּ֙נִּי֙ מְא֔וּמָה כִּ֥י אִם־אוֹתָ֖ךְ בַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר אַתְּ־אִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וְאֵ֨יךְ אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֜ה הָרָעָ֤ה הַגְּדֹלָה֙ הַזֹּ֔את וְחָטָ֖אתִי לֵֽאלֹהִֽים׃
He wields no more authority in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except yourself, since you are his wife. How then could I do this most wicked thing, and sin before God?”
We need to learn from this dialogue how a person guards himself from the evil inclination. It is through the level headedness realizing that HaShem (My master) has given him everything. (Just as Yosef said that his master has given everything to Yosef).
For everything is given to man, even though HaShem could have created man in a way that he could not do anything against the will of HaShem, nevertheless He has given us the ability to go against Him, in order that we accept the Yoke of Heaven. This in turn should give us a sense of embarrassment, that a person should feel that he is not able to go against the will of haShem, rather everything that one does should be for the sake of Heaven, to clarify His dominion is the true kinship of the worlds. As above. and understand this idea.
This sense of level headedness comes only through first refusing, without any reasoning, first a refusal as the pasuk states “and he refused” (and only subsequently) “And he said” (The realization of his responsibility).

לעשות מלאכתו. במדרש לעשות צרכיו נכנס רק שנראית לו דמות דיוקנו של אביו כו’. עוד ואין איש ולא מצא עצמו איש כו’. י”ל הפי’ שנתיישב בשורש החיות שלו וראה שאין לו חיים אם עושה זה שהוא נגד רצון המקום ב”ה וזהו ולא מצא עצמו איש. וזה דמות דיוקנו של אביו שיש לכל דבר דמות וציור למעלה. והאדם נברא שכל מעשיו ותנועותיו יעוררו בעולמות עליונים. ועי”ז כבש יצרו כנ”ל. והכל אחד. וז”ש וינס ויצא החוצה כו’ שנתבטל מכל וכל שראה שזה היפוך החיים כנ”ל:
“And he came to do his work” (Bereishis 39:11). The Midrash (Tanchuma Vayeshev 9) explains that “His work” means that he actually came to the house to sin, however he saw a reflection of his father. Furthermore the words “He saw there was no man” means that he did not find himself (worthy) of being considered a man if he would sin.
We can explain this as follows: Yosef connected to the source of his existence, and saw that he had no life if he would sin against the will of HaShem. This is the idea of “He did not find himself worthy of being a man. This too is the idea of “He saw a reflection of his father” for everything has a reflection or form Above, and man is created in such a way that all his deeds and actions awaken an effect in the worlds above.
It was therefore through this (realization and deeper understanding) that enabled him to conquer his evil inclination.
Both these explanations (of seeing a reflection of his father, and seeing that he was not worthy of being a man) are one. (They both express the idea of how a person’s actions in this world are so lofty that they have huge impact in the upper worlds).
This is therefore the idea of the continuation of the pasuk “And he ran away and went outside” for he (went out of nature) for he completely nullified everything for he saw that it wa the opposite of his existence, as above.