Parshat Vayeishev
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer

Rashi (on Bereshis 37:3) quotes Midrashic sources that Yaakov favored Yosef either because Yaakov taught Yosef all that Yaakov had learned in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever, or because Yosef's appearance was similar to that of Yaakov. These reasons need some elaboration, as neither one seems to be a likely basis for favoritism.

It may be suggested that Yaakov believed that - just as in the case of his father and himself - one son had to be chosen to be the next leader of Bnei Yisroel. Yaakov did not want to engender a repeat of his own experience with Eisav, in which the brothers had to vie for the leadership role, while their father was not in a position to firmly establish it. Thus, Yaakov felt that by hand-picking his successor, he would avoid such a clash within his own family.

This explains the reasons advanced by the Midrash and Rashi for Yaakov's actions. Yaakov realized that leadership of the Jewish People was determined largely by passing down the Mesorah (Tradition) of Torah. Torah study was Yaakov's primary occupation in his youth (see Rashi from Midrash on Bereshis 25:27), and he perceived that his commitment to and mastery of the Mesorah was a factor in his succession of Yitzchak. Thus, Yosef - who was Yaakov's closest disciple - was viewed as uniquely qualified as such to be the next leader. Similarly, Rashi (in Parshas Toldos, 25:19) quotes a Midrash that Yitzchak's appearance was akin to that of Avrohom. Yaakov may have interpreted this as a sign that Yitzchak was an extension of Avrohom and that he was thereby designated as Avrohom's successor. (The Midrash [see Rashi] comments that Lot, too, looked like Avrohom, and some explain that Avrohom believed that Lot was to be the bearer of Avrohom's message, prior to Lot's corruption).

The special robe which Yaakov fashioned for Yosef was a garment of royalty, and it implied a position of leadership. This is precisely why Yaakov made the robe, as it furthered his device to appoint Yosef as the next leader in order to avoid a clash at the end of Yaakov's life.

The suggestion that Yaakov's special treatment of Yosef was geared toward appointing Yosef as Yaakov's successor sheds light on a perplexing comment of Rashi (on 37:11), in which Rashi elaborates that Yaakov awaited the time for Yoesf's kin to bow down to him as a ruler, as foretold in Yosef's dreams. Although the brothers interpreted the visions as signs of haughtiness, Yaakov felt that the establishment of Yosef as ruler was the best approach, and he had no reservations about the dreams' fruition; on the contrary, Yaakov was confident that the dreams were a forecast of Yaakov's success in establishing Yosef as the next Jewish leader.

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