So, why was it necessary for HKB”H to arrange for the initial encounter between Yehudah and Yosef to be hostile and controversial as described by the Midrash: The kings assembled; they came together; they each filled with rage against the other? Yet, they ultimately made peace with one another when Yaakov sent Yehudah to Yosef to prepare the land of Goshen for the family.
Now, we learn from the Midrash that Yosef HaTzaddik paved the way with his kedushah for all of Yisrael to sanctify themselves with regards to matters of sexual immorality just as he did (V.R. 32, 5): Yosef went down to Mitzrayim and guarded himself against immorality and, in his merit, Yisrael guarded themselves against immorality. Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said: The guarding against immoral behavior was itself sufficient to warrant Yisrael being redeemed on its account. Furthermore, we learned from Rav Tzadok that Yosef demonstrated for them how to behave like a tzaddik. Yehudah, on the other hand, demonstrated for them how to make amends for their transgressions via teshuvah; this was the role he epitomized. This was crucial, because Yisrael sank to the forty-ninth level of tumah during their enslavement in Mitzrayim.
Accordingly, we can propose that the dispute between Yehudah and Yosef was the dispute described in the Gemara between Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Abahu (Berachos 34b): "אמר רבי יוחנן, כל הנביאים כולן לא נתנבאו אלא לבעלי תשובה, אבל צדיקים גמורים עין לא ראתה אלהים זולתך, ופליגא דרבי אבהו, דאמר רבי אבהו מקום שבעלי תשובה עומדין צדיקים גמורים אינם עומדין". Rabbi Yochanan said: All of the prophets only prophesied with regards to ba’alei-teshuvah, but with regards to consummate tzaddikim, it states (Yeshayah 64, 3): “No eye has seen them, O G-d, aside from You.” And this disagrees with Rabbi Abahu. For Rabbi Abahu said: In the place where ba’alei-teshuvah stand, even consummate tzaddikim do not stand. As such, Yosef HaTzaddik shared the opinion of Rabbi Yochanan—that a total tzaddik is greater than a ba’al-teshuvah; whereas Yehudah shared the opinion of Rabbi Abahu—that a ba’al-teshuvah is greater than a total tzaddik.
Rabbi Yochanan a Nitzotz of Yosef HaTzaddik Followed His Viewpoint that a Tzaddik Is on a Higher Level than a Ba’al Teshuvah
Let us embellish this thought. Elsewhere, the Gemara (B.M. 84a) teaches us that Rabbi Yochanan was very good-looking: "אמרו ליה רבנן לא מסתפי מר מעינא בישא, אמר להו אנא מזרעא דיוסף קאתינא דלא שלטא ביה עינא בישא, דכתיב בן פורת יוסף בן פורת עלי עין, ואמר רבי עין". The Rabbis said to him (Rabbi Yochanan), “Is the master not fearful of an ‘ayin-hara’?” He replied, “I am a descendant of Yosef, over whom the ‘ayin-hara’ has no power.” As it is written (Bereishis 49, 22): “A charming son is Yosef, a charming son to the eye.” Rabbi Abahu said: Do not read it as “alei ayin” (charming to the eye) but rather as “olei ayin” (rising above the eye, i.e., not susceptible to the “ayin hara”).
We find a fascinating fact related to this subject in the Seder HaDorot. He writes that Rabbi Yochanan was a “nitzotz” (a spark from the neshamah) of Yosef HaTzaddik. Therefore, just like the Torah describes his forefather (ibid. 39, 6): "ויהי יוסף יפה תואר ויפה מראה"—now Yosef was handsome of form and handsome of appearance. So, too, Chazal attest to the fact that Rabbi Yochanan was exceptionally good looking. Also, just like Yosef was the viceroy in Mitzrayim for eighty years; similarly, Rabbi Yochanan served as a Rosh Yeshivah in Eretz Yisrael for eighty years.
Along these lines, the author of the Seder HaDOros addresses the following teaching in the Gemara (Berachos 5b): "דין גרמא דעשיראה ביר"—Rabbi Yochanan said to him: This is the bone of the tenth son that I lost (Rashi). In the margin of the Gemara, Rav Nissim Gaon explains that Rabbi Yochanan buried ten sons; the tenth one fell into a vat of boiling liquid and his flesh was liquefied. Rabbi Yochanan took the bone of his son’s little finger, wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, and used it to console others.
The Seder HaDOros explains this based on the elucidation of the Gemara (Sotah 36b) and the more in-depth elucidation of the Tikunei Zohar (Tikun 69) regarding the passuk (ibid. 49, 24): "ויפוזו זרועי ידיו"—his arms were bedecked with gold. They interpret this to mean that when Yosef was subjected to his difficult ordeal in Mitzrayim, he drove his hands into the ground, and ten drops of semen exuded from his ten fingertips. He asserts that the ten sons of Rabbi Yochanan that died were from those ten drops of semen. This then is the deeper significance of Rabbi Yochanan’s statement: “I am a descendant of Yosef.” He was alluding to the fact that he was a nitzotz of Yosef HaTzaddik and was responsible for making amends for the ten drops of semen that exuded from Yosef’s ten fingertips. With this understanding, it stands to reason that since he was a gilgul of Yosef HaTzaddik, Rabbi Yochanan concurred with Yosef’s viewpoint that a consummate tzaddik—of whom it says: “No eye has seen them, O G-d, aside from You”—is on a higher level than a ba’al teshuvah.
