He fell on the neck of his brother Binyamin and cried, and Binyamin cried on his neck. (Bereishis 45:14)
Yosef cried on Binyamin’s shoulder, and Binyamin cried on his. Yosef foresaw the destruction of the Beis Hamidkash which was within Binyamin’s borders, and Binyamin foresaw the destruction of Mishkan Shilo which was within Yosef’s borders.
But why was this issue on their minds at the time of their reunion after so many years? Surely when brothers meet each other after a long period of separation, each asks the other how he has been, and talks about what has happened since they last met. It seems strange that they focused at this time on a sad event that was hundreds of years away.
This truth, this is not a question at all. The Beis Hamikdash is all about the presence of the Shechinah, in other words, our connection and relationship with Hashem. So the issue really was: how does Hashem figure into their meeting with one another? This is the only true issue. The joy of Yosef and Binyamin meeting each other was the joy of the unification of the Jewish people, by means of which the Shechinah rests on us, and this represents the Geulah of the Jewish people. So they started to rejoice. But then they envisioned the future burning of the Beis Hamikdash, so they started to cry.
It was the same when Yaakov and Rachel first met. It says that “Yaakov kissed Rachel and raised his voice and cried.” Rashi explains he foresaw that she is not destined to be buried with him. This raises a similar question: why was he thinking about their future burial plots the first time he met her? Now is the time to think about getting married, not about their funeral.
However, someone who is perturbed by this question simply doesn’t understand what took place when they met. Yaakov is the embodiment of midas Tiferes, which is the midah of Kudsha Brich Hu. Rachel represents the Shechinah Hakedoshah (it says in many siddurim that Tikun Rachel is tikun Hashechinah). Thus, Yaakov meeting Rachel represented yichud Kodesh Baruch Hu u’Shechintei. They started to cry because right now, there is a unification of Kudsha Brich Hu with the Shechinah, and this represents Geulas Yisrael, but it won’t last forever. The Jewish people is destined to be exiled. Rachel will be buried in Kever Rachel, and Yaakov in Maaras Hamachpelah. If not for this separation between Yaakov and Rachel, Galus would not take place!
For the Avos, and for Yosef and Binyamin, there is no issue other than Geulas Yisrael and the presence of the Shechinah. When they foresee that this is destined to be lacking, they cry.
