וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אָהַ֤ב אֶת־יוֹסֵף֙ מִכָּל־בָּנָ֔יו כִּֽי־בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים ה֖וּא ל֑וֹ וְעָ֥שָׂה ל֖וֹ כְּתֹ֥נֶת פַּסִּֽים: “ And Israel [Yaakov] loved Yosef more than his other sons because he was the child of his old age and he made for him a kesones passim ” (Bereishis 37:3) וַיִּרְא֣וּ אֶחָ֗יו כִּֽי־אֹת֞וֹ אָהַ֤ב אֲבִיהֶם֙ מִכָּל־אֶחָ֔יו וַיִּשְׂנְא֖וּ אֹת֑וֹ וְלֹ֥א יָֽכְל֖וּ דַּבְּר֥וֹ לְשָׁלֹֽם: " And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, so they hated him, and they could not speak with him peacefully ." (Bereishis 37:4) Yosef is described as a בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים, a child of Yaakov's old age. The passuk links the fact that Yosef was a בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים to the gift of the Kesones Passim that Yaakov gave to Yosef. What is the connection between Yosef being the בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים and the Kesones Passim. On a simple level, Yaakov had a deep affection for Yosef and as a result he gave him a special gift. However, upon introspection, the simple pshat does not hold up. The passuk is clear that Yaakov loved Yosef because he was the בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים. What is the significance of being the בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים? How does being the בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים make Yosef worthy of receiving the Kesones Passim? Furthermore, what exactly is a Kesones Passim? Many of us grew up hearing these words translated as "a coat of many colors" and indeed this is one possibility that is brought down by the Radak, Ralbag and Sefer HaShorashim. While this is indeed a popular pshat (the early seventeenth-centu
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