By Rabbi Moshe Pogrow
Yosef’s behavior in this parsha is hard to understand. One would think that he would reveal himself to his brothers immediately, if only for his father’s sake, especially since he had already recognized his treatment at their hands as a Divine instrument. A man of Yosef’s intelligence could not have believed that he was obligated to force the dream of his brothers bowing to come true. Why did Yosef act in a way that appears to be senseless harassment?
If Yosef had wanted to stay a prince, if he had not cared about his family, he would not have resorted to plots. But Yosef felt that before he could reveal himself, he had to change two things—his opinion of his brothers, and their opinion of him—for them to have a warm relationship. Otherwise, even if he was physically restored to his family, they would be lost to each other.
It was only natural that Yosef still resented his brothers, that he remembered the callousness with which they had ignored his cries from the pit. These feelings could be erased only by his brothers’ change of heart. It was therefore necessary to test them, to see whether they would be capable of depriving their father of another son, this time for real and compelling reasons. The possibility of life imprisonment and their families’ starvation would weigh more heavily on them than any imagined threat from their brother’s dreams. This test was of vital importance to Yosef’s own feelings—only if his brothers passed it would he be able to banish the bitterness from his heart.
But the second consideration was this: Yosef remembered how his dreams had caused his brothers to suspect him of lust for power, to the point that they considered murdering him in self-defense, and that was only due to an embroidered coat. How much more would they fear him now that he was actually a king, and had real cause to hate them and take revenge? It was imperative that the brothers understand Yosef’s true character, and so he had to appear before them in a position of power. They had to realize that he could have done whatever he wanted to them, but nevertheless dealt kindly with them, repaying evil with good. Hopefully, it would cure their erroneous ideas about him.
In short, the moment he identified himself as Yosef, the blindfold would drop from their eyes, and it would be possible for them to erase the past, for Yosef to be restored as a son to his father and as a brother to his father’s children.
These same reasons were likely why Yosef did not contact Yaakov during the years of prosperity. What good would it have done to regain one son and lose ten others, and see tension and hostility prevailing between them? To attain this end, all Yosef’s plots were essential, and entirely worthy of his wisdom.
Based on the commentary of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch zt”l on Chumash, with permission from the publisher.
