Why Jacob Asked About the Welfare of the Flock

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayeshev 13:1

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

[(Genesis 38:1:) AND JUDAH WENT DOWN.] What is written above, on this matter? (Genesis 37:14:) "And he said to him: Go now, see [the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock]." But do the flock know anything? What is this "welfare" that he spoke to him, "the welfare of the flock"? Rabbi Ayyevu said: A person must pray for the welfare of whatever provides for him. Because Jacob profited from his flock, eating the milk and wearing the shorn wool, for that reason he was obliged to inquire about their welfare. Therefore it is said (in Genesis 37:14): "the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock." (The verse continues:) "And bring back word to me." They said (in Genesis 37:33): "Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."

Themes

PatriarchsJacobAnimalsAdam EveJoseph

Biblical References

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Legends of the JewsEliphaz's LegacyThe familiar story centers on Jacob, later named Israel, and his brother Esau. Their relationship? Let’s call it “fraught.” But according to the Legends of the Legends of the JewsJacob's Seventeen Years in Egypt Repaid the Seventeen Raising JosephTake Jacob, for instance. The story goes that Jacob, after years of hardship and separation from his beloved son Joseph, was finally reunited. And according to Midrash AggadahJoseph Curling His Hair and the Slander of His BrothersThe verse opens, "These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph," and the Maggid pauses on the strangeness of it. Why does the line of Jacob hang upon a single sonMidrash AggadahJoseph Obeys Jacob Though His Brothers Hate HimWhen Israel called out to his son, the boy answered without hesitation: "Here I am." The midrash pauses on those two small words, for in them lives the whole beMidrash AggadahWhy Jacob's Days Drew Near and His Oath to Joseph on CircumcisionThe verse says the days of Israel "drew near" to die, and the Sages heard a sorrow in that word. Wherever Scripture says a man's days "drew near," it means he fMidrash AggadahWhy Jacob Lost Thirty-Three Years and the Sealed ParashaThe Sages noticed a strange thing about the verse "And Jacob lived." It is a "closed" portion, pressed tight against what came before, with no open space. Why?