To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear the unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too heavy
To reach the unreachable star.

Those lyrics sung by Don Quixote in Man From LaMancha clearly characterize the life of Joseph, our Old Testament hero, whose story comprises the last third of the book of Genesis.

I. TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

Catch this picture with me for a moment. It is breakfast time in Jacob’s tent. Leah is there with her sons Rueben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, all seated in their customary places. Jacob’s four sons by concubines have arrived. So has little Benjamin who always makes Jacob think of Rachel, the true love of his li…