{"id":39909,"date":"2018-09-12T23:54:28","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T20:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=39909"},"modified":"2022-04-05T17:39:06","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T14:39:06","slug":"josephs-story-in-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/josephs-story-in-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph\u2019s Story in Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[523,512],"acf":{"old_id":"39909","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37927,"related_cahpter":"45","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Choreographed in technicolor","content":"

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, is among the most well-known modern retellings of the Biblical story of Joseph and his brothers. Each song in the show retells a portion of the story, and the retelling often veers from the original. The differences between the musical and the Biblical narrative leads the audience to question their original assumptions and understanding of Joseph’s story. Here at the climax of Joseph\u2019s story, we offer examples of songs in which the artists\u2019 choices highlight ambiguities, fill in omissions, or resolve other difficulties in the original text. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cJoseph\u2019s Coat\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>Video can be found <\/span>here<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>Lyrics can be found <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

A Technicolor Dreamcoat?<\/b>
\n<\/b>What did Joseph’s coat look like? Was it a “dazzling coat of many colours?\u201d The word “pasim” in modern Hebrew means stripes, but in Biblical Hebrew the word appears only in the context of a “k\u2019tonet pasim”, making it hard to define. Could it just be an “elegant” coat of “tasteful style?\u201d Commentators propose everything from a long sleeved tunic to an embroidered garment.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>What Was Jacob Thinking?<\/b>
\n<\/b>The song asserts: “Jacob wanted to show the world he loved his son, To make it clear that Joseph was the special one.” Was this really Jacob\u2019s aim? Was the coat supposed to send a message to the other sons that Joseph was the chosen one? The only other place a \u201ck\u2019tonet pasim\u201d appears in Tanakh is in the story of Amnon and Tamar, where we are told that this was the clothing worn by virgin princesses. Did such a coat represent a certain status in Jacob\u2019s time as well? If so, how did the brothers interpret the gift? Did they think that this meant that they, like Ishmael and Esau before them, were the rejected sons,and only Joseph would continue their father\u2019s line?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBenjamin Calypso\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>Video can be found <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Lyrics can be found <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“Take Me”<\/b>
\n<\/b>Though Judah takes the lead in defending Benjamin, the song has the brothers participate as well. All claim together: “Take me. Benjamin is straighter than the tall palm tree.” What role do the brothers play in the text of Genesis? Before the cup is found, they all offer themselves as slaves if found guilty, but afterwards it is only Judah who speaks. In fact, it is not even clear if the other brothers are in the room at all when Judah makes his impassioned plea to Joseph! Did Judah alone feel responsible, due to his promise to his father, or did all the brothers support him?<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“We Are the Criminal Guilty Ones”<\/b>
\n<\/b>In the calypso, when offering themselves as slaves in Benjamin’s stead, the brothers say: “We are the criminal guilty ones\u2026” Similarly in the Bible, Judah tells Joseph\u2019s servant: \u201cGod has uncovered the crime of your servants.\u201d What does he mean by this statement? Is he referring to the theft of the silver cup, telling the servant that he has no way of denying the claim? Or, as the song might suggest, is he referring to the brothers’ previous crime, of having stolen and sold Joseph?<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Adapted from: ALHATORAH.ORG<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>For fuller analysis, see: <\/span>http:\/\/alhatorah.org\/Joseph_in_Music<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":39910,"id":39910,"title":"Joseph_and_the_Amazing_Technicolor_Dreamcoat","filename":"Joseph_and_the_Amazing_Technicolor_Dreamcoat.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Joseph_and_the_Amazing_Technicolor_Dreamcoat.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/josephs-story-in-music\/joseph_and_the_amazing_technicolor_dreamcoat\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"joseph_and_the_amazing_technicolor_dreamcoat","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":39909,"date":"2018-09-12 20:54:19","modified":"2022-04-05 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