Parsha discussion

Question:  Why the repetition that פוטיפר appointed יוסף over “everything that was his”? Approach: The first passuk implies that יוסף became head of the running of the household functions, seemingly the most senior servant and ensuring that everyone else was doing their required jobs. The second passuk would seem to imply that יוסף was then put in charge of the personal affairs of פוטיפר and was given decision making powers, rather than being in charge of ensuring that the decisions were accurately carried out.

Question:  Why are we not told where יצחק is buried? (We learn of it in ויחי) Approach : We can suggest that the norm is not to mention where someone is buried, as we see throughout the תורה. The exceptions are where it's necessary for the purposes of the story and/or lesson. So, we need to understand that אברהם and שרה are buried there due to the purchase by אברהם and we need to know regarding יעקב to explain why his body didn't need to be taken out of מצרים, unlike that of יוסף.

Question:  Why so much detail about the sheep? Both in the description of the actual payment, and in the discussion of יעקב with his wives? Approach: On the one hand, we can suggest that we need to learn how to take an initiative in a difficult situation when someone is trying to swindle the situation. On the other hand, we see the dangers of being too focused on material gains, as יעקב seems to stress that issue with his wives.

Question:  When יעקב responds to his mother’s suggestion about taking the blessing, he raises only technical objections. Was there no ethical issue at all? And why was no thought (seemingly) given to the reaction of עשו? Approach:  We could suggest that יעקב assumed that his mother would have already taken the ethics into  consideration, and therefore did not think that this was something to discuss. But since he would be the one going to his father for the blessing, he needed to be aware of the technical strategy to employ. We might also suggest that יצחק would be prepared to give עשו a similar blessing.