It is one of the most emotionally-laden episodes in the Torah. Joseph, on the instructions of his father, pays a visit to his brothers, who are shepherding Jacob's flock in the city of Shechem (Nablus).
The brothers, who despised Joseph, see him approaching from afar. They realize that with no one to see them, they can kill Joseph and concoct a tale that will be impossible to refute. Only Reuben protests. The biblical text states: "Reuben heard and saved him from their hands. He said, 'Let's not take his life.' Reuben said to them: 'Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him' -- intending to rescue Joseph from his brothers and bring him back to his father."
(It is interesting to note that the Torah rarely described people's inner drives. In this instance, however, the Torah makes an exception, revealing to us Reuben's true motivations: He wished to save Joseph).
Reuben's Fasting
Reuben was not present during the sale of Joseph. "When Reuben returned to the pit," the Torah relates, "and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, 'The boy is gone! And I, where can I go?'" The brothers dipped Joseph's tunic in blood and presented the tunic to Jacob, who exclaimed: "My son's tunic! A savage beast devoured him! Joseph has surely been torn to bits!" (37:29-33).
Where was Reuben during the sale of Joseph? The text is obscure, but it does, as usual, offer a glimpse: The brothers sold Joseph while in the midst of a meal. The Torah, perhaps, shared with us this irrelevant detail in order to hint to us the reason for Reuben's absence. Reuben left the scene because he could not eat with his brothers. Why?
Rashi, quoting the Midrashic tradition, says that Reuben had been dressing in sackcloth and fasting ever since he sinned against his father close to a decade earlier, as the Torah relates in parshas Vayishlach.
Although the incident in question occurred nine years earlier, Reuben was still seeking ways to repent. Therefore, he did not join his brothers in their meal and was not present during Joseph's sale. Nine years later, Reuben was still fasting and cleansing his heart.
The Cause of Exile
There is something very disturbing in this tale. Reuben’s absence during Joseph’s sale to Egypt was a result of his earnest and intense aspiration to purify himself completely; it was a consequence of his unique spiritual and emotional sensitivity, compelling him to mend his inner moral landscape one decade after his moral error. Yet this “saintly behavior” of Reuben is the indirect cause of Joseph’s sale into Egyptian slavery, which would lead ultimately to the tragic Jewish exile in Egypt. What is the symbolism behind this?
The message is unmistakably clear. Exile does not originate necessarily in corrupt, destructive, and evil behavior; sometimes it is the path of holiness and saintliness that can drive a people into exile.
You may be dressed in sackcloth; you may be fasting, repenting, praying, and meditating, completely removed from materialism and greed. But if you are engaged in these noble acts while a lad lies trapped in a pit, yearning for his freedom, your spiritual experiences may be nothing but the genesis of exile, a form of holy narcissism.
How can you reach out to the heavens while your brother is etched in the cavity of hell? How can you scale mountains while your brother lies in the abyss? How can you liberate your life while your brother is about to be enslaved?
The Torah is teaching us the origin of all Jewish exiles. It is when our highest aspirations cause us to stop hearing the cry of a child etched in a pit.
Rabbi YY Jacobson
