Spiritual and
Ethical Issuesin the B'reishit Stories BEIT YAAKOV IN GALUT [5] by Dr. Meir Tamari It is significant that none of our classical commentators, on dealing with this issue, see in Yosef's behavior any idea of vindictiveness on his part, and few, an attempt to bring them to teshuva. Rather, in the main, their comments all recognize once again the two strands that operate throughout the story of Yosef and his brothers; Divine Plan - in this case punishing them mida k'neged mida for their behavior towards him and at the same time the human actions of Yosef geared to testing them to determine whether there had been any change in their attitudes. "As the verse tells us, Yosef recalled his dreams, but he realized that they would only be fulfilled when all 11 brothers and his father bowed and acknowledged his royalty. [Since the dreams were prophecies, for him not to labor towards their fulfillment would be tantamount to with- holding prophecy, which is halakhically forbidden and [Sanhedrin 89a] a capital offense (Ha'amek Davar)]. So he schemed to bring Binyamin in order to fulfill the first dream and then bid them bring Yaakov, so that the second one would be realized. If not for these considerations, by Yosef delaying acknowledging who he was, he would have been guilty of a serious sin of causing Yaakov sorrow and worry, first at the absence of Shimon and then by the necessity of sending Binyamin. This also explains why Yosef did not send a letter to his father even as a slave, since Eretz Yisrael is not far from Egypt; Yaakov would have spared no effort or money to redeem him" (Ramban). "Yosef recognized his brothers - by giving them food and drink and providing them with bringing him into his presence - but they did not recognize him - when he was in their power they denied him all of these" (Pesikta Zutra). "The repetition of "his brothers" in the verse lends itself to this insight" (Gur Aryeh), so that this is not removing the text from its literal sense since when he had the power he did not treat them measure for measure. "The brothers had declared a herem against anyone who revealed what had happened at Yosef's sale without their permission and that obligated Yosef as well. This explains both Yosef's not contacting Yaakov for all these 22 years as well as his withholding his identity from his brothers until they were all present before him" (Midrash; Yafeh To'ar; Sefer Chasidim). It should be noted that there are commentators who see Yosef's neglect as Yaakov's punishment for his neglect to contact Yitschak and Rifka all the years that he was with Lavan. "Had Yosef wished his attitude towards his father and brothers to be nothing more than as the Governor and had he had no wish to re-enter the family as a son and brother, he would not have required all these contrivances. But, he who even as an Egyptian Prince raised his children for Bet Yaakov and desired to be buried in the Land, had to be convinced of 2 things: [a]. That he himself could have a different opinion of his brothers and that they felt differently towards him. His memory of their actions against him could only be purged by testing whether they would still be capable of depriving the father of a son and that under conditions of imprisonment and families starving at home. [b] That they could be cured from all their suspicions of his dreams to rule over them that must surely be magnified when they would see him as the all-powerful Ruler who could do what ever he wished with them. If instead of that by his treatment of them and subsequent revealing himself as their brother Yosef, perhaps they would recognize him as their benefactor and that he only used his great power to ensue their happiness" (Rabbi S. R. Hirsch). It is interesting to read the two differing explanations that Abarbanel has for the ethical dilemma why Yosef did not reveal himself to his brothers but rather put them through a series of emotional, physical and spiritual difficulties. The one explanation is in the spirit of those we have already seen from other commentators. "Yosef had to be sure that they had regretted their actions and had changed their attitude towards him, otherwise their hate and jealousy would only be increased and strengthened if they were suddenly appraised of his exalted poison or would be afraid of his ability to harm them in revenge" (Abarbanel). The second approach is obviously influenced by Abarbanel's experience and knowledge of the workings of politics and government, gained from his long connections to diplomacy and royalty. "If his brothers were allowed to recognize him immediately, then it was have caused him shame that would have eroded his royal position, since that would have become public knowledge before he himself revealed it. Furthermore, since he understood that it was the Divine Will that he be the sustainer of his father and family during the famine, it was essential that they be brought down to Egypt. The alternative, sending them food to Eretz Yisrael would leave him open to accusations that he was despoiling Egypt to favor his own family. Also should war break out between Egypt and Eretz Yisrael, Yosef would have been in great physical danger as he have been suspect of loyalty to Egypt's enemies because of his family Eretz Yisraeli connections" (Abarbanel). In his second explanation, Abarbanel was substantiating Chazal's statement that maasei avot siman l'banim: the arguments about dual loyalty and about exploiting the host country for the benefit of foreign Jewry have repetitively been the cries of anti-Semites throughout the ages in all of our galuyot. [The Parshat Bo Homepage]
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