וזה ''וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו'' היינו יראה (זוהר בראשית ק"פ.) ובארץ כנען הוא ענוה, ובקש לישב בשלוה, זאת השלוה היינו, כי כשאדם מנהיג א"ע להסתלק מכל ספק ולשמור מכל מעשה רע אז הוא בשלוה, וע"ז אמר לו הש"י כי בעוד האדם בגוף אין באפשר להתנהג בכ"כ שמירה ויראה וענוה, כי הש"י חפץ במעשים של האדם כי בעוה"ז צריך להתנהג באהבה, ומעשה שאינה מבוררת כל כך, וע"ז נאמר לעתיד ''ושב יעקב'' לשון נפשי ישובב בתענוג ממחשבות ד"ת.
"Yaakov was settled in the land of Cannan, in the land of his father's sojournings": The Zohar reads megurei aviv as his father's fear; and in the land of Canaan as humilitiy [kana] - Yaakov sought to live in peace. This peace is attained when a person behaves in such a way as to keep far from all doubt (or situations of uncertainty) and guards himself from any evil act. That is the modality of peace. But in response to Yaakov's desire to settle in this peace G-d said to him that so long people have corporeal existence, it is not possible to live with such extreme wariness, fear, and humility. G-d wants human acts, and in this world human beings must act with love in ways that are not completely clear (without doubt). Because of this it is only said of a time in the future about human life that "...and Yaakov will again have calm and quiet with no one to trouble him" (Jeremiah 30:10)
וַיְהִי כְּהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה וַיָּבֹא וגו' וְאֵין אִישׁ מֵאַנְשֵׁי הַבַּיִת (בראשית לט, יא), אֶפְשָׁר בֵּיתוֹ שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ הָאִישׁ מִשְׁתַּיֵּר בְּלֹא אִישׁ, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר יוֹם נִבּוּל שֶׁל נִילוּס הָיָה וְהָלְכוּ הַכֹּל לִרְאוֹת וְהוּא לֹא הָלַךְ. וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אָמַר יוֹם תֵּיאַטִּירוֹן הָיָה, וְהָלְכוּ הַכֹּל לִרְאוֹתוֹ, וְהוּא לֹא הָלַךְ, אֶלָּא וַיָּבֹא הַבַּיְתָה לַעֲשׂוֹת מְלַאכְתּוֹ, לַחְשֹׁב חֶשְׁבּוֹנוֹת שֶׁל רַבּוֹ. רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן אָמַר לַעֲשׂוֹת מְלַאכְתּוֹ וַדַּאי...רַב הוּנָא בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי מַתְנָא אָמַר אִיקוֹנִין שֶׁל אָבִיו רָאָה וְצָנַן דָּמוֹ...
"One such day, he [Yosef] came into the house to do his work and none of the men of the household were there" (Genesis 39:11). Is it possible that in the house of such a man it was deserted with no man there? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Nechemyah [explain this]. Rabbi Yehuda says, it was a Nile festival and all had gone to see it, and he did not go. Rabbi Nechemyah says, it was a day of the theatre [teiatiron] and all had gone to see it, and he did not go. Rather, "he came into the house to do his work", to calculate his master's calculations. Rabbi Shmuel son of Nachman says, "to do his work literally"...Rav Huna in the name of Rabbi Matna says, the image (icon) of his father appeared before him and chilled his blood...
..."The sea saw and fled" What did it see? The sarcophagus of Yosef, which the Jews had carried with them from Egypt.
The Tzaddik selects the good out from amidst the evil. When coming upon something bad, a righteous person is able to pick out that which is good and use it as a means to unite with G-d... This was the situation of Yosef the tzaddik. Potifar's wife tried to persuade him with words and ever changing attractive garments (a midrash on Yoma 35b) , she was beautiful and tried to seduce him. When he looked at her he was able to see the good and attach himself to tiferet, Divine Beauty above. This is what Chazal mean when they said that "the image of his Father appeared before him." He fled outside, the use of the grammar in the word hachutza indicates the he fled outside the physical world and attached himself to the world above. His merit was great that when the Red Sea saw his sarcophagus coming it did the same thing, leaving the world behind and going to the upper world...
