They sold Yosef to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver pieces. (Bereishis 37:28)
When we read these parshiyos about the brothers selling Yosef to Mitzrayim, we need to avoid the mistake of misjudging them and their actions. They were men of great kedushah, they were prophets, and everything they did was for the sake of Heaven.
When Yosef ’s brothers saw how he kept bringing bad reports about them to their father, they thought that he is trying to reject them from the Jewish people, as was the case in the two previous generations. Avraham had two children. Yitzchak was chosen and Yishmael was rejected. Yitzchak had two children. Yaakov was chosen and Eisav was rejected. They thought Yosef was trying to tell their father that they are not fit to be part of Ha she m’s people, that only he is fitting for that.
Furthermore, they knew prophetically that Yosef was fitting to have children who will establish tribes, thus bestowing on Yosef the status of Avos. Chazal go so far as to say (Sotah 36b) that Yosef could have fathered twelve tribes.
All this served as proof that Yosef seeks to push them away, as Eisav and Yishmael were pushed away, and the Jewish people will stem from him alone. They saw a threat to their very lives and considered themselves justified in defending themselves against him.
But after all these explanations and justifications, can we really say that their hands were clean, that they were free of all guilt regarding the sale of their brother Yosef ?
Indeed, they had an alibi for what they did. But maybe it was no more than that. Were the reasons that motivated them truly compelling ?
Yes, they were.
And we know this is so because sins engender punishment. Whenever the Torah states that a tzaddik sinned, it also mentions somewhere that he was punished for it. But here, there is no punishment!
The only one who was punished was Yosef himself. Every time he heard them say אבינו עבדך, “Our father, who is your servant,” and he did not stick up for his father’s honor, a year was subtracted from his life. But we find nowhere that his brothers were punished for what they did, although Hashem is extremely exacting with the tzaddikim. We must conclude that they were free of all sin. Everything they did was l’sheim Shamayim.
It is fundamental that we take the correct view of our forefathers. For good reason did Hashem choose them to build the Jewish people. They are the foundation on which kedushas Yisrael stands. We should pay no attention to ignorant people who criticize what they don’t even understand. On the contrary, we should be amazed by the incredible care and caution of Yosef ’s brothers. They exercised supreme self-control and judged Yosef purely according to din Torah without any personal agenda or ulterior motives.
