With Vayechi, the book of Genesis, full of conflicts within the family, comes to a peaceful end. Jacob, reunited with his beloved Yosef, sees his grandsons, the only such scene in the Torah. He blesses them. Then, on his death-bed, he blesses his twelve sons. He dies and is buried in the cave of Machpelah with his parents and grandparents. Yosef forgives his brothers a second time, and he himself dies, having assured his brothers that God will eventually bring the family back to the Promised Land. The long patriarchal narrative is at an end and a new period – the birth of Israel as a nation – is about to begin.
The brothers fear for their lives as Yosef reveals himself to them. What would stop him from taking his revenge? Yosef reassures them with these words: “Don’t be afraid,” said Yosef. “Am I in place of God? You intended to harm me but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Bereishis 50:19-20) The conclusion to this story is the original source for understanding the concept of teshuva (repentance).
Another important source for understanding teshuva is one of the most colorful characters of the Talmud – the third-century Sage known as Reish Lakish. Reish Lakish was originally a highway robber and gladiator who later in life repented and became a great scholar. Perhaps speaking from his own experience, he is quoted as the author of several sayings about teshuva, two of which are reported in the tractate of Yoma (86b): Reish Lakish said: Great is repentance, because through it deliberate sins are accounted as unintentional. Reish Lakish also said: Great is repentance, because through it deliberate sins are accounted as though they were merits.
Confused by the contradiction between the two statements (does teshuva make sins “unintentional” or “merits”?) the Talmud solves the contradiction: the first applies to repentance from fear (of punishment), the second to repentance from love (of God and the good).
Reish Lakish’s statement about sins and merits is almost certainly inspired by the words Yosef speaks to his brothers in the closing chapter of Genesis: “You intended to harm me but God intended it for good.” This is the paradigm that stands at the basis of Reish Lakish’s argument. The brothers had committed a deliberate sin by selling Yosef into slavery; they (or at least Yehuda, the instigator of the decision to sell Yosef) had done teshuva. The result is that – through divine providence (“God intended it”) – their action is now reckoned “for good.” Any act we perform has multiple consequences, some good, some bad. When we intend evil, the bad consequences are attributed to us because they are what we sought to achieve. The good consequences are not: they are mere by-products or unintended outcomes.
So in the case of Yosef, many positive things happened once he had been brought to Egypt. None of these consequences could be credited to his brothers, even though they would not have happened had the brothers not done as they did. However, once the brothers had undergone complete repentance, their original intent was canceled out. It was now possible to see the good, as well as the bad, consequences of their act – and to credit the good to them.
