GEN1497 He could easily have suppressed [or denied recognizing] the evidence.  TELVOL 1:227

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GEN1505 Never take advantage of anyone who has been good to you.   A person who violates this principle is labeled in Jewish writings as “one who returns evil for good.”   Thus, when Mrs. Potiphar tries to seduce Joseph … [he] demurs … “My master ... has entrusted me with everything he owns…How could I do such a great wickedness? It would be a sin before God.”   In the Bible’s view, ingratitude, like adultery, is also a sin against God.   TELVOL1:107

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GEN1506 While sanctifying God Name is generally thought of as a commandment carried out in public, Jewish law teaches that it can be performed even when only one other person is present.   The Talmud offers as an example Joseph’s restraining himself in the face of Mrs. Potiphar’s attempts to seduce him Sotah 36b … this episode is what caused the Rabbis to refer to Joseph as ha-Tzaddik (the righteous one).  Therefore, any time a Jew acts righteously in the presence of even one other person, he or she is sanctifying God’s name.   TELVOL1:461

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GEN1520 Gratitude is rooted in remembrance.  Therefore we must make a conscious effort to recall how others have helped us; if we don’t do this, we will forget.  … Perhaps the [cup bearer] initially intended to help Joseph, but … because [he] did not actively cultivate a remembrance of the favor Joseph had done him he gradually forgot about him.  Ecclesiastes 9:14-5 also relates a story illustrating the cruelty of ingratitude: “There was a little city and few men in it, and to it came a great king, who surrounded it, and built mighty siege works against it.   Present in the city was a poor wise man who saved the city with his wisdom, but nobody remembered that poor man.   TELVOL1:97

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GEN1524 A less fortunate source of humility is suffering, which can make even self-confident people aware that they are not the masters of their fate.   Thus the Torah describes the young Joseph, the favored son of the patriarch Jacob, as a bit arrogant.   When Joseph has dreams in which his brothers bow low to him, relates them to his brothers, thus further inciting and intensifying their hostile feelings Genesis 37:5-11.  But after suffering years of slavery and imprisonment in Egypt, Joseph’s manner changes [this verse].  TELVOL1:214

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GEN1548 When dealing with an enraged person, particularly someone angry with us, we should act as calmly as we can.  [Proverbs 15:1] teaches that calmness can be contagious: “A gentle response pacifies wrath.”   It is hard for someone to continue to shout if we respond gently and in an unruffled way.   If we respond to shouting and accusations with more shouting and accusations, the conflict is far more likely to escalate.   If someone has reason to be upset with us, we should acknowledge that fact, and ask for mercy.   Thus [this verse].  Rabbi Zelig Pliskin comments, “When you think that what you say will be irritating to the person you are talking to, you can defuse his potential anger by mentioning right at the start that you hope that what you say will not get [him] angry.”   Most people think of themselves as fair and generous.  If we acknowledge their right to be upset, but appeal to them to restrain their anger, they are more likely to be disarmed.   But, if we challenge or even deny the other party’s right to be upset, we will probably trigger another angry reaction.   TELVOL1:257

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GEN1553 “How is one proven to be a true penitent?” Rabbi Judah asked, and answered: “If the opportunity to commit the same sin presents itself, on two occasions and the sinner does not yield to it” Yoma 86b.   Maimonides expands on this Talmudic teaching: “What constitutes complete repentance? When one is confronted by the identical situation in which he previously sinned and it is within his power to commit the sin again, and he nevertheless does not succumb because he wishes to repent, and not because he is afraid or physically too weak [to repeat the sin].   For example, if he had relations with a woman forbidden to him and after some time, he is alone with her, still in the throes of his passion [literally, ‘in love’] for her, and his virility is unabated, and they are in the same place where they previously sinned; if he [or she] abstains and does not sin, this is a true penitent” Laws of Repentance 2:1. … The fact that Judah, who years earlier had sold his brother into slavery, now offers himself as a substitute for his younger brother is proof to Joseph that Judah’s – and by implication his other brothers’ – repentance is complete.   TELVOL 1:168

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GEN1555 The Ethics of the Fathers 2:10 teaches that the Golden Rule applies to the realm of dignity and honor.  “Your friend’s dignity should be as precious to you as your own.” … Just as we hate for ourselves and those dear to us be humiliated, so must we take care not to humiliate others.  TELVOL 1:278

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GEN1574 Try to curb your animosity even when you believe you can find a justification for hating another group or nation.   Thus, the Israelites leaving Egypt—after having endured hundreds of years of slavery and, at one point, the drowning of their newborn male infants – could easily have justified hating Egyptians.   And yet the Bible legislates, “You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land” Deuteronomy 23:8.   In other words, even in an instance as extreme as that of Egypt, the Jews must still remember that they had entered Egypt by invitation at a time of famine and desperation, had been provided with food, and given land on which to live. … The same verse that prohibits hating Egyptians, continues “You shall not abhor an Edomite [a historic enemy of Israel], for he is your brother” [The Edomites were descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother; hence, they were in a sense, the Jews’ cousins].  In this prohibition of hatred, we are reminded that many of those whom we regard as our enemies are also our brothers, fellow creates who, like us, are created in God’s image. TELVOL1:317

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GEN1592 As much as possible, avoid associating with people who do not control their tempers, even if they are close relatives.  … Jacob was speaking of his own ill-tempered sons when he said, “Into their company let me not come” [this verse]. Certainly, when you enter into a relationship with someone, observe their disposition.   If you choose to marry a temperamental person, this is the environment in which you will spend your life and in which your children will be raised.   TELVOL 1:255

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