וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ בִגְדֵי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֑יךָ לְכָב֖וֹד וּלְתִפְאָֽרֶת׃
Make sacred garments for your brother, Aharon, for honor and splendor.
בָּרֲכִ֥י נַפְשִׁ֗י אֶת־יְה֫וָ֥ה יְהוָ֣ה אֱ֭לֹהַי גָּדַ֣לְתָּ מְּאֹ֑ד ה֭וֹד וְהָדָ֣ר לָבָֽשְׁתָּ׃
My soul will bless the Divine; Divine, my God, You are very great; You are clothed in glory and majesty,
וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אָהַ֤ב אֶת־יוֹסֵף֙ מִכָּל־בָּנָ֔יו כִּֽי־בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים ה֖וּא ל֑וֹ וְעָ֥שָׂה ל֖וֹ כְּתֹ֥נֶת פַּסִּֽים׃
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a coat of many colors.
It is worthwhile to remember that midrashic texts, since they were first written down in the Middle Ages, were generally transmitted without vocalization. As we saw, Ginzberg preferred to read this as a reference to Joseph’s “boyishness.” Instead, I translated it “deeds of girls”
(though perhaps one might prefer, less literally, “feminine practices”).
Others might prefer simply to read as “deeds of youth.”
But perhaps the point we should be considering is that this very linguistic (or textual) ambiguity points to gender ambiguity in Joseph’s character.
I realized that all forms of religion are masks that the divine wears to communicate with us. Behind all religions there’s a reality, and this reality wears whatever clothes it needs to speak to a particular people.
- Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, The December Project: An Extraordinary Rabbi and a Skeptical Seeker Confront Life’s Greatest Mystery
