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Why did Yosef resist Potiphar's wife's advances? The shiur reconciles two seemingly contradictory accounts: the Torah (תורה)'s focus on loyalty and moral character versus the Talmud (תלמוד)'s account of seeing his father's vision. Both teach that morality requires perspective—knowing where we came from and what we want our children to become.
This shiur addresses one of the most emotionally difficult stories in the Torah (תורה)—Yosef's encounter with Potiphar's wife. Rabbi Zweig examines the Torah's account in Bereishis 39, where Yosef refuses her advances by articulating a profound ethical argument: Potiphar has entrusted him with everything in the household except his wife, and to betray that trust would be morally reprehensible. Significantly, Yosef mentions the sin against God only as a secondary consideration, placing moral character and loyalty before technical sin. This ordering reveals a fundamental principle: the Torah's mitzvos exist primarily to develop moral character, not merely to create a system of dos and don'ts. A person who doesn't speak lashon hara simply because they have lockjaw hasn't achieved anything spiritually. The goal is to develop the internal character—the middos—that make one not want to denigrate others. Observing mitzvos is the beginning of character development, not the end goal.
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Bereishis 39:7-12
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