Their hearts sank, and they trembled. (42:28)
Said R. Levi: The Tribes came upon a surprise find, and it is written, “Their hearts sank, and they trembled.” Surely it should be so with us, as we have lost R. Simon bar Zavdi. (Yalkut Shimoni, Miketz 148)
Yosef’s brothers found something that ostensibly should have made them happy. They found money in the mouths of their sacks. Yet, “Their hearts sank, and they trembled.” The loss of a great Sage such as R. Simon bar Zavdi should surely bring people to fear. This is what the Midrash is saying.
However, it is very hard to grasp the point of this Midrash, because the surprise find of Yosef’s brothers was not a very happy event at all. On the contrary, when they found bags of money at the top of their grain sacks, they were naturally afraid for their lives, as the Egyptians would likely accuse them of stealing their money. So why does the Midrash construe this find as a happy event?
When Hakadosh Baruch Hu brings a decree upon a person, He sends him warning signals. When a person performs an act, and something happens to him, this is a sign of what will happen in the end.
Yosef’s brothers found money in their sacks. But Yosef could just as well have hidden the body of an Egyptian child in their sacks, and then they would have been in much worse shape. Whereas when a person finds a sum of money, he is naturally happy, it gives him a good feeling, even if he knows that it could potentially lead to trouble.
Yosef’s brothers learned a wonderful lesson from the fact that money was placed in their sacks, and not something else. It still spelled trouble, but since the trouble was arising from a “happy” find, this indicated that it was a completely different kind of trouble. It showed the nature of the trouble that was brewing up.
Pearls of Wisdom from the Parshah
This explains the Midrash. If a find like this, which contains a joyful element, brought Yosef’s brothers to tremble, then the loss of a great man such as R. Simon bar Zavdi should surely make us fear.
Throughout the parshah we see an interesting thing: Yosef treated his brothers very carefully from beginning to end. He could have done a lot of very unpleasant things to them. He could have beaten them, harassed them in various ways, etc. But all he did was put money in their sacks, something which caused them no damage at all. Not only that, but when they wanted to return the money, he refused, saying it was their money.
Also before, when he asked them to bring Binyamin to him, what “terrible” things did he do to them? He held Shimon in prison for a few minutes, until they left. What happened to Shimon? Nothing. Yosef gave him five-star treatment until his brothers came back.
This was a sign of Yosef’s true intentions toward his brothers.
