When Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Yosef, “the image of his father’s face appeared to him in the window,” and stopped him from sinning, just moments before he would have succumbed to her advances.
The Talmud’s words imply that simply remembering the ethical standards with which he was raised would not have sufficed to stop Yosef from sinning; it was specifically the appearance of Yaakov’s face that gave him the courage not to resist the immoral act. What did the appearance of Yaakov’s face convey that so significantly influenced Yosef’s decision?
Elsewhere, the Talmud tells us that “our forefather Yaakov’s beautiful countenance was akin to that of Adam, the first man.” The Kabbalists attribute this physical resemblance to the spiritual bond that Adam and Yaakov shared. What was the spiritual bond? Through their spiritual endeavors, the forefathers, Yaakov in particular, undid the damage brought upon the world by Adam’s sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge.
Thus, seeing Yaakov’s face reminded Yosef of his father’s famous lookalike, Adam, an individual whose sin brought devastation upon the world. At the same time, he was reminded of Yaakov’s efforts to bring healing (from the damage caused by Adam’s sin) to the entire world. This caused Yosef to recognize that his decision whether or not to resist the advances of his master’s wife would not be inconsequential or temporary. Like Yaakov and Adam, his actions would affect the entire world for all time!
To be sure, Yosef could have relied upon all sorts of rationalizations to justify sinning just this once, in order to avoid the inevitable life sentence for denying the wishes of his master’s wife. But upon seeing his father’s face, Yosef was reminded that the decisions of every individual at every moment have the ability to bring harm to the entire world, as did Adam’s, or to repair the universe, as did Yaakov’s. When he realized that his “personal” decision would affect the entire world for all eternity, Yosef raised himself above his rationalizations and fled.
—Toras Menachem, vol. 29, pp. 262–265
9. Sotah 36b.
10. Bava Metzia 84a.
11. See Keser Shem Tov, sec. 311; Zohar 3:111b.
