[Avodah] Parshas Vayeishev: Rav Shimon Schwab - Why Was Yosef Always Busy Combing His Hair?

[Prof. Levine]

  From http://revach.net/article.php?id=4832

"V'Hu Naar," (Vayeishev 37:2) Rashi says that this means Yosef was
acting like a Naar always fixing his hair to look nice. Rav Shimon
Schwab asks, "How could this be? Yosef was a tzaddik and the prized
child of his Holy father, Yaakov.  How could he have a weakness for
something so trivial like playing with his hair?"

Rashi again says the same thing later on when Yosef was promoted in
Potifar's house; he again starts to play with his hair and forgets
that his father is suffering because of his unexplained
disappearance. Is this the "Nazir Echav" that the Torah talks about?

Rav Schwab answers that we find the Torah also calls Shechem ben
Chamor a "Naar". Yet we know Shechem was the oldest and most
important person in the kingdom after his father. There Rav Schwab
therefore concludes, that "Naar" does not mean young, but rather
impatient like young people. It means acting on impulse without
thoroughly thinking things through. This is what Shechem was guilty of.

Yosef had two dreams that told him he would be King. The Halacha is
that a King must be freshly groomed every day as the pasuk says
(Yeshaya 33:17), "Melech B'Yafyo Techezena Einecha; A King should be
seen in his glory."  Yosef acted impatiently and on impulse when at
the young age of seventeen he already behaved as if his dreams of
Kingdom materialized. Similarly, in Potifar's house, as soon as he
was promoted and sensed an ascent to leadership, he once again jumped
too fast and  began to take an interest in his regal appearance. For
this the Torah calls him a "Naar" as he should have waited for the
right time and not jumped at the first sniff of power.




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