Of them crying together with Yosef.
- After meeting his father and brothers as they arrived, Yosef once again cries:
עַל־צַוָּארָ יו עוֹד
ְבְ ךּ
ּוַ יִפֹּל עַל־צַוָּארָ יו
ּוַי
. Rashi notes, he wept greatly and continuously — more than is usual. - When his father, Yaakov, died, Yosef once again cried:
ְבְ ךּ
ּוַ יִפֹּל יוֹסֵף עַל־פְּנֵי אָבִיו
ּוַי
. Interestingly, we are told that Egypt also cried for thirty days, yet, once again, there is no mention of the other brothers following suit. - Finally, when the brothers approach Yosef to beg for forgiveness, he cries one last time:
יוֹסֵף בְּדַבְּרָ ם אֵלָיו
ְבְ ךּ
ּוַ י
.
These are all the instances I counted, and I do not understand what is going on here! Yosef cries over his brothers six times, and he did so individually for each brother, resulting in far more than six instances. Yet, none of his ten brothers cried. Not even once. I’ve heard it suggested that they were in a state of shock, but I have a hard time believing that. Shock for so long? And why did that shock not affect Binyamin? Could it be because he was not party to the original plan to dispose of Yosef and therefore didn’t fear any repercussions? Perhaps, but that doesn’t explain why the other brothers didn’t cry at the foot of their dying father’s bed either. This was years later, yet only Yosef cried. And when the brothers came to ask Yosef for forgiveness, Yosef should be the one that cries? That seems quite illogical. There clearly seems to be more behind this pattern.
Remarkably, none of the ten brothers foresaw the destruction of the Batei Mikdash or wept over them. When Yosef and Binyamin fell on each other’s shoulders, however, Rashi explains based on the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 93:12), that Yosef wept over the destruction of the Batei Mikdash in Binyamin’s territory, while Binyamin wept over the destruction of Mishkan Shiloh which sat in Yosef’s territory. They both saw these sorrowful outcomes through Ruach Hakodesh, yet the other brothers seem to have lacked such an ability.
Allow me to share a yesod that finds its foundation in the ideas of Chazal, including the Sefer HaYashar, whose narrative presents what unfolded at the pivotal moment when Yosef was cast into the pit by his brothers. The following are incredibly powerful excerpts (Vayeishev 4):
And Yoseph cried out from the to his brothers: “What have I done to you and what is my sin, and why do you not fear the Lord concerning me? Am I not your bone and flesh and is not Yaakov, your father, my father too? Why are you doing this and how will you ever be able to look at Yaakov our father?” And he was crying and calling out to his brothers from the pit: “Yehuda! Shimon! Levi! My brothers! Raise me from this dark place where you placed me, and have mercy upon me this day, children of the Lord and sons of my father Yaakov. And supposing that I have sinned against you, are you not the sons of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, who when they saw an orphan had pity with him, and when they found one hungry they gave him bread to eat, and if he was thirsty they gave him water to drink, and if he was naked they covered him with garments. And how can you withdraw your compassion from your own brother, of your own flesh and bone, and even if I have sinned against you, surely you ought to do it for the sake of my father!” And Yoseph spoke all these words from the midst of the pit but his brothers did not listen nor did they incline their ears to his supplication, and he was still crying and weeping in the pit. And Yoseph said: “Oh that my father should know what my brothers have done to me and what they said to me on this day.” And Yoseph’s brothers heard the weeping and lamentation of their brother, and they moved away in order not to hear his crying in the pit. And they seated themselves at a distance of about a bowshot, and they sat down there to eat.
Soon after, Yosef found himself on a caravan headed down to Egypt, and the Sefer HaYashar continues:
And the men continued their journey and they passed Efrat, the place where Rachel was buried. And when Yoseph came near his mother's grave, he ran to the grave and he fell upon it and wept. And he cried out loudly upon his mother's grave, saying: “Oh my mother, my mother, who gave birth to me, awake and arise now to see your son sold into slavery with no one to have compassion upon him. Oh arise to look at your son, and weep with me in my affliction, and see the hearts of my brothers. Oh my mother arouse and awake and direct your warfare against my brothers, who have stripped me of my coat and sold me into slavery now for the second time, and have torn me away from my father where there is no one to have pity upon me. Arouse and bring complaints against them before the Lord and see who is to be justified in the judgment and who is to be condemned.” And Yoseph spoke continually to his mother; and he cried aloud and wept bitterly upon his mother's grave; and he ceased speaking and from the bitterness of his heart he became silent like a stone upon the grave.
Yosef then heard a voice call out from below the ground:
My son Yoseph, oh my son, I have heard the voice of your weeping and crying, and I have seen your tears and I know your affliction, oh my son. It grieves me for your sake, oh my son. And new sorrow has been added to my sorrow. And now my son Yoseph, trust in the Lord and wait for his help and do not fear, for He is with you to deliver you from all trouble. Arise my son and go down with your masters to Egypt, and do not fear for the Lord is with you, my son. And she continued to speak to Yoseph according to these words and then she was silent.
One gets goosebumps when reading the above texts. It is heartbreaking to think how many tears Yosef shed during this incident and during the days and years which followed his brothers tossing him into the pit.
I’d like to try and put together the story and understand what exactly is taking place. Yosef was the only one who saw through Ruach HaKodesh that the two Batei Mikdash would stand in Binyamin’s territory and would be destroyed. Why did only he merit seeing this? The Midrash says (Tanchuma Vayigash 10), all misfortunes that befell Yosef likewise befell Yerushalayim, and everything fortunate that occurred to Yosef likewise happened to Yerushalayim. The Midrash then presents a two-page list of parallels and their supporting pesukim, each reinforcing the special bond between Yosef and Yerushalayim, followed by one final link related to Yosef comforting his brothers, kissing each and crying on each:
Just as Yoseph comforted his brothers while they were weeping, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu will redeem Israel while she weeps, as it is said: They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them.
Yosef is connected to Yerushalayim in every which way and his descent to Egypt symbolizes Bnei Yisrael’s exile from Yerushalayim. Chazal say, Yaakov Avinu experienced a personal preview of the four exiles that Bnei Yisrael would experience in the future. The First Beit Hamikdash was destroyed due to the three sins of Avodah Zara, Gilui Arayot, and Shfichut Damim – idolatry, illicit relations, and murder. The Second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed on account of Sinat Chinam – baseless hatred. Seventy years following the first Churban, those three cardinal sins were corrected, and the Beit HaMikdash rebuilt. But here we are, 1945 years after the second Churban [as of 5773], and its lone transgression was not fixed.
The Rama MiPano says, the Mishna (Bava Kamma 1:1) teaches us there are four primary categories of damage (אֲבוֹת נְזִיקִין): הַ שׁ ּ וֹר וְ הַ בּ וֹר וְ הַ מַּ בְ עֶ ה וְ הַ הֶ בְ עֵ ר – the ox, the pit, the tooth, and the fire; and each represents a monumental sin of Bnei Yisrael. The ox reflects Cheit Ha’egel, the pit reflects Mechirat Yosef, and the tooth reflects Cheit Ha’meraglim, the sin of the spies where lashon hara was spoken. These three brought about the fourth – fire, which destroyed our Batei Mikdash on the ninth of Av. More specifically, the sin of the golden calf and sin of the spies – i.e., their underlying and catalyst sins – together brought about the fire that destroyed the First Beit Hamikdash, and the underlying sin of Mechirat Yosef brought about the fire of the second Churban.
If Yosef and Yerushalayim are the same (note: the gematria of יוֹסֵ ף equals that of וֹן צִ יּ), we can understand what Yosef told his brothers: מְ רַ גְ לִ י ם אַ תּ ֶ ם – you are spies! He saw that from them would come spies, the very spies at the center of Cheit HaMeraglim. They were spies and not him, as from the tribe of Ephraim would come Yehoshua bin Nun. (Yehuda responded, “מְ רַ גְ לִ ים הָ יוּ עֲ בָ דֶ יך לֹא,” because from him would come Kalev ben Yefuneh, who like Yehoshua would not speak negatively about the land.) They were equated to the spies on whose account the First Beit Hamikdash would be destroyed. The Second Beit Hamikdash, destroyed because of the pit, also came from the story of Yosef and his brothers. וַי שְׂ נְאוּ אֹתוֹ וְלֹא יָכְלוּ דַּ בְּרוֹ לְשׁ ָלֹם – it was at that moment that hatred amongst brothers was hatched, and Sinat Chinam born. They left him to cry in a pit and all the way down to Egypt. Nobody cared, other than to distance themselves from the inconvenient noise of it all.
The Zohar writes (Shemot), as soon as Sinat Chinam reared its ugly head during the times of the Second Beit Hamikdash, the sin of Mechirat Yosef was resurrected. All the tears Yosef shed in the pit and at his mother’s grave – we are now paying the price for them.
Ask any pious yid why the Second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, and they will likely respond, “Because of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza,” referring to the famous story (Gittin 55b) where due to a mistaken identity and baseless hatred one individual was embarrassed publicly and nobody stepped in to protect him. I always thought this was the makeh bapatish of the Churban – the final act that sealed the deal. However, just a few pages later in the same Gemara (Gittin 58a), there is another story whose gravity is comparable. The Gemara says the execution may have taken place with Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, but the verdict was sealed earlier.
The second story involves a certain man who set his eyes on his master’s wife, and he was a carpenter’s apprentice (shulya d’nagara). One time, his master needed to borrow some money, and the apprentice said to him, “Send your wife and I’ll lend her the money.” He sent his wife and the apprentice stayed with her for three days. He then went back to his master before she did, and the master said to him, “Where is my wife?” The apprentice responded, “I sent her back immediately, but I heard that the youth abused and raped her on the way.” The master replied, “What shall I do?” The apprentice answered, “My suggestion is to divorce her.” The master then said, “But her marriage contract is large, and I can’t afford to pay it,” to which the apprentice said, “I’ll lend you the money.” The master proceeded to divorce her, and the apprentice then went and married her. When the time came that the debt was due, and the master did not have the means with which to repay it, the apprentice said to him, “Come and work off your debt with me.” The apprentice and his wife would sit and eat and drink, while the woman’s first husband would stand over them and serve them their drinks. Tears would drop from his eyes and fall into their cups, and it was at that time Bnei Yisrael’s sentence was sealed, for remaining silent in the face of this injustice.
I ask myself, which of these two stories is worse. The story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, or the story of shulya d’nagara? I don’t know the answer, as both are horrible incidents. But there is one thing I am certain of, and that is the second incident involved a man crying. The master, whose wife was slyly taken from him, and whose dignity and livelihood were cruelly stolen, shed tears. Those tears aroused the sin of Mechirat Yosef and they sparked the Churban. I know this because it was not the lashon hara of Cheit HaMeraglim that pained Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It was the tears that Bnei Yisrael gratuitously shed which led to generations of mourning and crying. Those tears aroused the tears of Yosef and they were the decisive cause for the destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash.
We can now understand a tremendous yesod. The Zohar says (Shemot 12:2 – translated to Hebrew):
Rabbi Yehuda said, "In the future to come, what is written? 'They shall come with weeping and with supplications.' What does it mean by 'with weeping'? It is due to the merit of the weeping of the mother of the child – Rachel. They shall come and enter from the exile, accompanied by her heartfelt tears." Rabbi Yitzchak added, "The redemption of Israel depends solely on weeping. When they are paid in full and their tears are exhausted, like the weeping that Eisav wept before his father Yitzchak, as it is written, 'And Eisav lifted up his voice and wept.' Rabbi Yossi said, 'Those tears shed by Eisav brought Israel into exile.' But once Israel has finished shedding their tears through their own weeping, they will be redeemed. This is what is meant by the verse, 'They shall come with weeping and with supplications, I will lead them.'"
The Zohar tells us that Eisav cried after Yaakov received the blessing, and as a result, Bnei Yisrael needs to cry to overcome those tears of his. Commentators ask on this idea from the Zohar, why is it that only Yosef and Binyamin are found to cry, and not all the original Bnei Yisrael? Additionally, why only Yaakov and Rachel? Why is crying so selective?
The answer is based on the Ramban, who says that when pushed to send Binyamin back to Egypt with his brothers, Yaakov Avinu says, “אַתֶּם יְדַעְתֶּם כִּי שְׁנַיִם יָלְדָה־לִי אִשְׁתִּי – You know that my wife bore me two sons.” Two sons? One wife? What about his wife Leah who gave birth to six sons? How could Yaakov Avinu make such a seemingly false statement? The Ramban points out, the only times we find the term אִ שׁ ְ תּ ִ י in the context of Yaakov, is with regards to Rachel. Nobody else carries that title because it was only Rachel that Yaakov went to Charan to marry. Lavan may have snuck Leah into the equation, but that was not Yaakov’s intent. When the Torah lists the members of Bnei Yisrael heading down to Egypt it explicitly says: יוֹ סֵ ף וּ בִ נְ יָ מִ ן א ֵ שׁ ֶ ת יַעֲקֹבבְּנֵי רָ חֵל. It does not say the same for Leah.
The Gemara says (Bava Kamma 50a):
Anyone who says Hakadosh Baruch Hu is yielding [vateran] of transgressions, his life will be relinquished [yivatru]. Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not waive heavenly justice. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is מַ אֲ רִ י ך אַ פּ ו ֹ – He lengthens his anger and does not rush to settle a score (lest a person does Teshuva). There is no situation in which one can cause pain to his neighbor and get away with it. Just look at how long He will wait!
גְדֹלָה וּמָ רָ ה עַד־מְ אֹדִצְ עַק צְ עָקָ ה גּוַי – Eisav screamed out and one thousand years later repayment arrived when Mordechai was informed of Haman’s decree and in turn screamed out – וַי זְעַק זְעָקָה גְדֹלָה וּמָרָ ה. Chazal say, Mordechai was an Ish Yemini, a member of the tribe of Binyamin, the son of Yaakov Avinu. Yaakov caused Eisav to cry, and as a result, his descendants – שׁ ְ נ ַ י ִ ם י ָ ל ְ דָ ה ־ לִ י אִ שׁ ְ תּ ִ י: Yosef and Binyamin, from Rachel his wife – would in turn experience the same. This is why we find only Yaakov, Rachel, Yosef, and Binyamin as the ones who cry.
We have learned that there is not a single tear that goes to waste. Even the tears of Eisav, the wicked, did not go to waste. The tears caused by Yaakov Avinu led to the tears of tzaddikim being shed, and we are still paying a price for those tears today. The sin of Mechirat Yosef is still alive in our midst, reignited through each act of Sinat Chinam that has plagued us throughout our history. The tears of Yosef are still felt today, as are the tears of Binyamin. We await and yearn for the Third Beit Hamikdash to descend from Shamayim, but it will do so only when brought down by Ahavat Chinam – unconditional love for one another.
Prayer for Redemption
יְהִ י רָ צוֹן לְפָנֶיך שׁ וֹמֵעַ קוֹל בִּכְיוֹת. שׁ ֶ תָּשִׂ ים דִּ מְ עוֹתֵ ינוּ בְּנֹאדְ ך לִהְ יוֹת. וְתַצבַד עֵינֵינוּ תְ לוּיוֹת. וְתַצִּ ילֵנוּ מִכָּל גְזֵרוֹת אַכְזָרִ יוֹת. כִּי לְך לְ וֹת.
May it be Your will, You Who hears the voice of weeping, that You place our tears in Your flask of tears for preservation; and save us from all cruel decrees, for to You alone do our eyes focus.
May it be His will that He turns to and accepts our tears, and the tears shed by all generations over the destruction of the Batei Mikdash, and ultimately the tears of Rachel Imeinu who was promised that hers would be answered. May we merit a return to the rebuilt Yerushalayim speedily in our days. ◊
References
- Rashi - R' Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105), Troyes, France. "Rabban Shel Yisrael" - The great Rishon who wrote commentary on all areas of Torah.
- Siach Tzedek - Rav Dov Tzvi Karelenstein (1934-2015), Sha'arei Chesed, Yerushalayim; Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivas Grodna in Ashdod.
- Yalkut Shimoni - Compiled between 11th and 14th centuries in Thessaloniki. The author collected and arranged various interpretations from older midrashim. It contains more than 10,000 statements in Aggadah and Halachah covering all of Torah, sourced from more than 50 works of which it is the only source for some of them (Sifrei Zuta, Yelammedenu, Midrash Esfah, Midrash Avkir, Midrash Tadshe, Devarim Zuta).
- Zohar - Central work of mystical tradition of Kabbalah. Traditionally attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. First appeared in 13th-century Spain.
- Sefer HaYashar - Often attributed to Rabbeinu Tam, Zerahiah ha-Yevani, or R. Jonah Gerondi in 13th century Spain.
- Rama MiPano - R' Menachem Azariah da Fano (1548-1620), Italy; Talmudist and Kabbalist, and disciple of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero.
- Ramban - Nachmanides – R' Moshe ben Nachman (1194-1270), Girona, Spain, Akko; A leading Torah scholar of the middle-ages who authored commentaries on Torah and the Talmud. He was a posek who wrote responsa and stand-alone works on Halachic topics, as well as works on mysticism, science and philosophy. Immigrated to Israel at age 72 and settled in Akko.
