Parshat
Miketz - 5761 Yoseph
the Righteous and His Family Parshat Miketz, perhaps more than any other, is the Parshah of Yoseph. And many questions beg to be asked concerning his behavior, which seems to put him at odds with his title of "Yoseph HaTzaddik," Joseph the Righteous. Why did Yoseph prolong the suffering of his father by not letting him know that he was alive and well and living in Mitzrayim? What were his purposes in not revealing his identity at once to his brothers but rather, seeming to toy with them by accusing them of espionage and theft, in the arrest of Shimon under false pretenses, and in his demand for the appearance before him of Binyamin, a demand that he knew would be very hard on his father? After the Torah tells us in Bereshit 42:7, "Vayaker Yoseph et echav…" "Yoseph identified his brothers," why does it continue, in the same verse to say "…Vayitnaker aleihem, vayedaber itam kashot…," "…And he concealed his identity and spoke harshly with them…”? The RAMBAN
attempts to justify Yoseph's behavior on the basis of the fact that he was
now certain, after his rise to power in Mitzrayim, from the dungeon to the
palace, on the basis of his ability to interpret dreams, that the dreams of
his youth were a form of "nevuah," or prophecy.
They would have to be fulfilled to
the letter in order for what he now saw as his crucial role in the
development of his People, to be played out.
All of his brothers,
including Binyamin, would have to bow to him first, and ultimately, his
father as well (somewhat similar to the certainty that Avraham must have had
in his "nevuah" in order to perform the "Akeidah.")
The RAMBAN adds that "were it not for this consideration, Yoseph
would indeed be regarded as having committed a great sin: bringing anguish
to his father, leaving him for many days in the position of being bereft and
mourning for Shimon and himself. Even if it was his intention to cause his brothers minor
anguish, how did he not have compassion upon his elderly father?
But 'he assigned each to its
proper time' in order to fulfill the dreams, knowing that they would
truly be fulfilled." (translation of Rabbi Dr. Charles B. Chavel) Don
Yitzchak Abarbanel strongly criticizes the RAMBAN's interpretation,
based on dream fulfillment. He
says that the dreams did not require actual bowing, only the achievement of
a position vastly higher, in socioeconomic terms at least, than anyone in
his family which, by becoming "Mishne LeMelech," "Second
Behind the King" in Mitzrayim, he'd already certainly achieved. Instead, the
Abarbanel offers two counter-explanations for Yoseph's seemingly bizarre
behavior. One involves the idea
that Yoseph sought to accomplish the punishment of his brothers according to
the principle of "Midah
K'neged Midah," "Measure for Measure" - accusation of
espionage corresponding to the brothers' accusation against him of spying
upon and informing against them in their youth,
imprisonment of Shimon corresponding to the brothers throwing him
into the pit, and the threat of slavery corresponding to their selling him
into slavery. Two
questions arise in connection with this interpretation.
First, it might explain his behavior towards his brothers, but not
his behavior towards his father. Second,
to use an expression borrowed from Rabbi Wein, did G-d need Yoseph to be His
Kossack, to inflict punishment upon the brothers? Unless one says that Yoseph perceived that the sin of the
brothers was of such a profound nature that it would carry with it
punishment for generations, as we see that the Killing of the Ten Martyrs is
indeed related to the sin of selling Yoseph.
So he tried to accomplish the punishment of, and to obtain atonement
for his brothers at the very beginning of our history, although with respect
to this goal, he was only partially successful, due to our People's
propensity for the behavior of "sinat chinam," causeless hatred. The second
explanation of the Abarbanel is that Yoseph was trying, and eventually
succeeded, in raising the brothers to the level of complete "Baalei
Teshuvah," those who had accomplished Complete Repentance.
As the RAMBAM
explains the concept in "Hilchot Teshuvah," the Laws of
Repentance, only when the sinner is placed into a nearly identical position
to that in which the sin was committed -
first with respect to Yoseph, now with respect to Binyamin, and he
rises to change his behavior, as the brothers as a group rise to say "Viduy,"
"Confession," when they say "Aval
asheimim anachnu," "But
rather we are guilty" (Bereshit
42:21), as we say on Yom
Kippur, "for we are not so brazen as to say before You, HaShem
our G-d and G-d our Fathers, that we are righteous and have not
sinned," "Aval anachnu
va-avoteinu chatanu," "But
rather, both we and our fathers,
sinned." And as
Yehudah does, when he rises in Parshat Vayigash to challenge Yoseph, and to
offer himself as a slave in place of Binyamin (Bereshit 44:33), do they and
he attain the level of Complete Repentance, so that Yoseph, the Master of
Dreams, can finally reveal his identity. Rabbi Pinchas Frankel |
