“Enlightening Confrontations”
Our parsha begins in the middle of the cosmic confrontation between Yosef (Joseph) and Yehuda (Judah). After being sold into slavery twenty-two years before, Yosef is now second in command to Pharaoh, and he is using his position to test his brothers, to see if they have learned the lesson of responsibility for one another. Would they protect Binyamin (Benjamin), the son of Rachel, or did they still view him as an outsider as they viewed Yosef all those years before? As Yehuda threatens to destroy all of Mitzrayim (Egypt) to save Binyamin, it becomes clear to Yosef that in fact things are different, that his brothers have changed. At that moment he says some of the most powerful words in history (Genesis 45:3)- “I am Yosef. Is my father still alive?”
Imagine how the brothers must have felt until that moment. They sold their own brother into slavery and told Yaakov (Jacob) that he was dead. They were in the middle if a famine in Canaan. Shimon (Simon) had been taken as a prisoner, and then they were forced to bring Binyamin to Mitzrayim even though Yaakov did not want them to. And then, just when it seemed their troubles were over, Binyamin is discovered with stolen property. Then, at their lowest moment, when it seemed all hope was lost, a complete turnaround! The source of their trouble was their salvation!
This is a very important idea in Judaism. We tend to think of trouble and salvation as two different things. But it is not so! The very source of our trouble is the source of the redemption. The disease is itself the cure! The brothers realized that they had made a mistake in their treatment of Yosef and that the situation they found themselves in was a result of that. As Yehuda said (Genesis 44:16), “Hashem has uncovered the sin of your servants.” And through the suffering at the hands of Yosef, they were able to fix their mistake, to be the brothers to Binyamin that they should have been to Yosef. All the previous difficulty made it possible for them to be saved.
Right now, we face a very difficult situation in Eretz Yisrael (The Land of Israel). It seems as if there is no possible solution. Things seem very dark, as dark as it must have seemed to the brothers.
No one knows where our salvation will come from. And we cannot just wait- we must act in whatever way makes sense to us, whether it be militarily or otherwise. But know that when the rescue comes, likely as not it will surprise us as much the brothers were when Yosef revealed himself to them. And in that moment all will become crystal clear.
Instant Torah Messenger
In this week’s Parsha, Yosef reveals himself to his brothers. Yosef says to his brothers, “I am Yosef, is my father still alive?” Many commentaries discuss why Yosef asked this question and why did he ask it so quickly.
The Sforno says, that Yosef wondered how his father could have emotionally survived through all the years of sorrow. The Tur says Yosef was not asking if his father was still alive, but rather if his father was still healthy, or as the Ralbag says, were the stories the brothers told about their aging father true or were they simply trying to win Yosef’s sympathy. Finally, the Chofetz Chaim says Yosef was actually rebuking the brothers. After listening to Yehuda’s grand defense of Binyamin and what he would do to save Binyamin, Yosef was asking why Yehuda didn’t do the same when the brothers were trying to steal him from their father Yaakov. Furthermore, when Yosef said, “I am Yosef,” it became clear to the brothers that everything that had happened in the past twenty-two years happened for a reason. Similarly, in the time to come, when Hashem will bring the moshiach, then his plan will be revealed and we will be able to understand how all the events in human history had a purpose.