Since we are currently in the special days of shovivim, the following essay is very fitting.
About the tests of Yosef with Potifar’s wife, it says וימאן, Yosef refused to be with her. The trop on וימאן is called a שלשלת (וַיְמָא ֵ֓ן). The Bechor Shor tells us that this trop symbolizes oscillation and uncertainty. In fact, this is shown in the shape of this trop which is like a zigzag, where the line keeps going back and forth. That is to say, Yosef didn’t have clarity to forge ahead with decisive steadfast commitment. Yosef kept going back and forth. Indeed, the word שלשלת means chained meaning he was chained and stuck, ambivalent and unsure.
Yosef struggled but in the end was victorious in not succumbing to the temptation. We each have our own struggles and battles in life, but we must fight until we overcome them.
