Joseph the Youth and the Coat of Many Troubles

"Joseph, being seventeen years old" (Genesis 37:2). Yet you say "and he was a youth"? Rather, he did youthful things: he would fuss with his eyes, fix his hair, and lift up his heel. "And Joseph brought an evil report of them" (Genesis 37:2). What did he say? He said: your sons are suspected of eating a limb torn from a living animal. Rabbi Yehuda says: he said your sons demean the sons of the handmaids and call them slaves. Rabbi Shimon says: he said they cast their eyes upon the daughters of the land. Rabbi Yehuda son of Rabbi Shimon said: for all three he was punished, "A just balance and scales are the LORD's" (Proverbs 16:11). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: you said your brothers are suspected of eating a limb from the living; by your life, even at the moment of wrongdoing they only slaughter and eat, as it is said, "And they slaughtered a kid of the goats" (Genesis 37:31). You said they demean the sons of the handmaids and call them slaves; "Joseph was sold for a slave" (Psalms 105:17). You said they cast their eyes upon the daughters of the land; by your life, I will set a bear upon you, as it is said, "And his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph" (Genesis 39:7). "And Israel loved Joseph" (Genesis 37:3). Rabbi Yehuda says: because the radiance of his features resembled his own. Rabbi Nechemiah says: because all the laws that Shem and Eber had handed down to Jacob, he handed down to him. "And he made him a coat of many colors (passim)" (Genesis 37:3). A person should not single out one son among his sons, for on account of the coat of many colors that Jacob made for Joseph, they could not speak to him in peace. "Passim" because it reached to the palm (pas) of his hand; "passim" because they cast lots (hefisu) over it, which of them would carry it to their father; "passim" on account of the troubles that befell him: Potiphar, the merchants (socharim), the Ishmaelites, the Midianites.