– And let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.” Rashi says, the simple meaning here is that Yehuda is saying Yosef is as important in his eyes as a king. But the Midrash provides the deeper meaning. Yehuda says, “You will end up being struck with leprosy just as Pharaoh was struck through Sarah, for one night that he detained her.” Another interpretation in the Midrash: Yehuda said, “For you are like Pharaoh – if you provoke me, I will kill both you and your master.” Death threats.
The Midrash says (Bereishit Rabbah 93:8): Yehuda said to Naftali: “Go and see how many marketplaces there are in Egypt.” Naftali jumped, and returned, and responded: “Twelve.” Yehuda then said to his brothers: “I will destroy three of them, and each of you take one, and let no man remain among them.” His brothers said to him: “Egypt is not like Shechem. If you destroy Egypt, you will destroy the entire world!” And it was at that moment וְלֹא יָכֹל יוֹסֵף לְהִתְאַפֵּק – that Yosef could not restrain himself. When he saw what they had agreed to, Yosef said in his heart: “It’s better for me to reveal myself to them so that they don’t destroy Egypt.”
In replying to Yehuda, Yosef was saying to him: “You just set the price of how much a child of Yaakov is worth. You were willing to kill the king and his viceroy and destroy all of Egypt for your brother! Here I am; I am Yosef! What would you have been willing to pay to save me from these Yishmaelim?” This is the essence of וְאֶעֶרְכָה לְעֵינֶיך אוֹכִיחֲך. Yosef said to him: “Look at what you're willing to do now for one child! Why didn't you think to save me in those seven days when you decided to sell me to the Yishmaelim?!” Moreover, the Midrash teaches (Tanchuma Vayigash, 5):
אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: וַי לָנוּ מִיּוֹם הַדִּין, וַי לָנוּ מִיּוֹם תּוֹכֵחָה. וּמָה, יוֹסֵף כְּשֶׁאָמַר לְאֶחָיו אֲנִי יוֹסֵף, פָּרְחָה נִשְׁמָתָן. כְּשֶׁעוֹמֵד הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לָדִין דִּכְתִיב בֵּיהּ (מלאכי ג, ב) וּמִי מְכַלְכֵּל אֶת יוֹם בּוֹאוֹ וּמִי הָעוֹמֵד בְּהֵרָאוֹתוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בּוֹ כִּי לֹא יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם וָחָי (שמות לג, כ) עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה, וּמַה זֶה נִבְהֲלוּ אֶחָיו מִפָּנָיו כְּשֶׁיָבוֹא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לִתְבּוֹעַ עֶלְבּוֹן הַמִּצְוֹת וּפִשְׁעָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה, עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה.
Rabbi Yochanan said: Woe to us from the day of judgment, woe to us from the day of reproof. When Yosef said to his brothers, "I am Yosef," their souls departed. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu stands in judgment – as it is written about Him, "Who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears?" — as it is written about Him, "For no man can see Me and live" — all the more so. And how much more so will his brothers be terrified when Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes to demand accountability for the disgrace of the commandments and the transgression of Torah?
Chazal tell us here that in the future, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will come and reproach each and every person for their deeds – and this is the harshest punishment a person can face. There are people who always try to justify their actions. For example, if you ask someone, "Tell me, why don't you give tzedaka?" and he responds, "My situation is tight, where would I get money to give?!" – they will reproach this person by showing that that same week he went to a restaurant and paid 300 shekels for dinner. "Excuse me – and in that you weren't tight?!" This is what וְאֶעֶרְכָה לְעֵינֶיך אוֹכִיחֲך means. Each person will be reproached according to their deeds.
There's a person who renovates his house for hundreds of thousands of shekels. He has at the entrance a rav zro’ot (high-end door), a rav bariach (high-end lock), and a rav magav (high-end hinge) – three rabbanim on his door! He covers the entire house with cameras so they can monitor from every possible angle. He buys Italian marble for the flooring and imports faucets from Hong Kong. But when it comes to the Mezuzah, he instructs, "Just bring me something 'kosher' – no need to be stringent." After 120 years, they’ll come to this person and ask him: "Why did you invest thousands of shekels in the door and spend tens of thousands more on cameras so they could film the thief from every possible angle – both on the way in and the way out – yet spend only pennies on the Mezuzah?!" וְאֶעֶרְכָה לְעֵינֶיך אוֹכִיחֲך.
The same applies to the Arba Minim (Four Species). There are people willing to invest any amount just to get the Arba Minim in perfect mehudar condition. Meanwhile, there are people who wait until the last hour before Succot begins and buy the Arba Minim for twenty shekel, including the seller! Hakadosh Baruch Hu will come to each person and judge him according to his deeds. This is why Chazal say to us: "Woe to us from the day of judgment, woe to us from the day of reproach."
Yosef sends hints to his brothers the size of an elephant! You'd have to be blind not to understand it was Yosef! True, the Ramban writes that he covered his face with a turban and therefore his face wasn't visible to them. Whoever saw Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzira ztz”l saw someone completely covered; when he wanted to look at someone standing in front of him, he would lift his head to do so. Chazal write that the brothers knew Yosef without a beard, and now he had a beard – but so what? You don't recognize a childhood friend when you see them with a beard now?! Of course you do! So how didn't they recognize it was Yosef?! You identify someone by their voice, their hand movements, and so on!
The Chizkuni explains that Yosef never spoke to them directly, only through an interpreter. Besides, no one called him Yosef, but rather Tzafnat Pane’ach. Moreover, the Torah writes אֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב יוֹסֵף, and Chazal say their facial appearance was similar; so how didn't the brothers recognize it was him?!
Furthermore, when they enter Egypt, they enter through ten gates, so the ayin hara won't affect them. Of all those who entered Egypt, it was only them who were interrogated?! Everyone else enters freely, yet only they are questioned?! Doesn't that seem a bit strange to you?! Have you thought that through?!
And another thing – doesn't it seem strange to you that only Shimon is imprisoned?! Use your head here – who was it that went against Yosef originally? It was Shimon!
And yet another one – Yosef accuses them of being spies. When dealing with spies, do you go hunt for the one who sent them or for his brother?! Of course, it’s the one who sent them that you go after! So why suddenly ask for the youngest brother? And he is brought, what will be proven – that they're not spies?! Take a moment and use your common sense!
When the brothers come and tell Yaakov Avinu the story, Yaakov refuses to give them Binyamin under any circumstances. Yehuda tells them to wait until the food runs out, and then he will persuade him. The food runs out, Yehuda takes responsibility for Binyamin, and Yaakov agrees to give him to them. But Yaakov asks them: "Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man (Yosef) that you had another brother?" He's asking them, “Why are you talking so much?!” And what do they answer? "וַיֹאמְרוּ שָׁאוֹל שָׁאַל הָאִישׁ לָנוּ וּלְמוֹלַדְתֵּנוּ" – The man asked repeatedly about us and our family, who we are, from which family.”
What is the meaning of לָנוּ וּלְמוֹלַדְתֵּנוּ? The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah, 91:10) says: אֲפִלּוּ עֲצֵי עֲרִיסוֹתֵנוּ גִּלָּה לָנוּ – He even revealed to us the wood of our cradles. Meaning, he asked them even about which beds they sleep in! So, why didn't they ask themselves why he's so interested in which beds they sleep in?! Why is this of interest him?!
The brothers arrive in Egypt and tell him that, unbeknownst to them, the money had been placed in their sacks. Yosef tells them they have nothing to worry about – everything is fine! וַיַּרְא יוֹסֵף אִתָּם אֶת־בִּנְיָמִין וַיֹאמֶר לַאֲשֶׁר עַל־בֵּיתוֹ הָבֵא אֶת־הָאֲנָשִׁים הַבָּיְתָה וּטְבֹחַ טֶבַח וְהָכֵן כִּי אִתִּי יֹאכְלוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים בַּצָּהֳרָיִם׃ When Yosef saw Binyamin with them, he said to his house steward, “Take those men into the house; slaughter and prepare an animal, for those men will dine with me at noon.”
Not only is everything fine, but they're even invited to a Shabbat meal at the viceroy's house! Wait a second here – spies invited to a Shabbat feast?! And who was the shochet (slaughterer)? It was Menashe!
They show the brothers the slaughterer – this wasn't a trustworthy Chabad house presumably; they show them how exactly Menashe slaughters the animal. Let's say this is fine, they knew shechitah, since Yaakov had already directed Eisav to slaughter for him when he sent him to prepare delicacies ahead of the Brachot. But it's problematic; because who even knows there’s such a thing called gid hanasheh (sciatic nerve) that must be handled properly? Only Yaakov and his sons, from Yaakov’s struggle with Eisav's angel! Yet, nobody asks questions about how this one steward-shochet in Egypt knows how to handle the gid hanasheh!
Rabbotai, what did the brothers eat at that meal? The Torah says: וַיָּשִׂימוּ לוֹ לְבַדּוֹ וְלָהֶם לְבַדָּם וְלַמִּצְרִים הָאֹכְלִים אִתּוֹ לְבַדָּם כִּי לֹא יוּכְלוּן הַמִּצְרִים לֶאֱכֹל אֶת הָעִבְרִים לֶחֶם כִּי תוֹעֵבָה הִוא לְמִצְרָיִם : And they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.
The Targum Yonatan ben Uziel writes: וְשַׁוִיוּ לֵיהּ בִּלְחוֹדוֹי וּלְהוֹן בִּלְחוֹדֵיהוֹן וּלְמִצְרָאֵי דְאָכְלִין עִמֵיהּ בִּלְחוֹדֵיהוֹן ולמצריים לבד, אֲרוּם לָא כַשְׁרִין מִצְרָאֵי לְמֵיכוֹל עִם יְהוּדָאֵי לַחְמָא אֲרוּם בְּעִירָא דְמִצְרָאֵי דַחְלִין לֵיהּ יְהוּדָאֵי אָכְלִיןץ And they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, for the Egyptians are not permitted to eat bread with the Jews, because the Jews eat the animals that the Egyptians fear.
What the Egyptians worship – the Jews eat! The meaning of this is that they ate sheep! So, the question then arises – how can you, Yosef, eat sheep? You're the viceroy of Egypt and this is seemingly your god! Does this not imply that Yosef isn't truly Egyptian but he’s simply pretending to be? And none of the wise brothers catch on to this?!
וַיֵּשְׁבוּ לְפָנָיו הַבְּכוֹר כִּבְכֹרָתוֹ וְהַצָּעִיר כִּצְעִרָתוֹ וַיִּתְמְהוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ : And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.
Rashi says, Yosef struck the goblet and called out: “Reuven, Shimon, Levi, and Yehuda, Yissachar and Zevulun, sons of one mother, sit in this order which is the order of your births.” He did the same for the others, until he reached Binyamin, and he then said: “This one has no mother and I have no mother, let him sit with me.” Rabbotai, how did they not wonder what was going on?! How did he know to seat the brothers according to the order of their mothers?! Nothing; no comment from any of them.
וַיִּשָּׂא מַשְׂאֹת מֵאֵת פָּנָיו אֲלֵהֶם וַתֵּרֶב מַשְׂאַת בִּנְיָמִן מִמַּשְׂאֹת כֻּלָּם חָמֵשׁ יָדוֹת וַיִּשְׁתּוּ וַיִּשְׁכְּרוּ עִמּוֹ And he took portions from before him to them, and Binyamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs, and they drank and became intoxicated with him.
Rashi says, from the day they sold him, they did not drink wine, and neither did he drink wine – except for that day. Rabbotai, how is it possible to drink wine with a non-Jew? Is this permitted?!
Furthermore, the Midrash states (Yalkut Shimoni, 148): Yosef said to himself: “If I take Shimon and Levi, perhaps the tribes will be upset with Levi because he is wise and a Kohen Gadol, and they will do to Egypt what he did to Shechem. Instead, I will take in only Shimon, whom they do not favor as much, and they will go back to their father.” When Yosef sought to seize him, the tribes wanted to help him, but Shimon said: “I don’t want you to help me!” Yosef sent to Pharaoh and said: “Send seventy mighty men – I’ve found men and I want to put them in prison!” When they showed up, he said to them: “Take these chains and put them around his neck,” while the tribes stood at a distance. When they approached Shimon, he raised his voice against them, and they all fell before him and broke in two. Menashe was standing next to his father and said to him: “Take that chain and put it around his neck and strike him with one blow.” He struck him and placed it on him. Shimon said: “This blow is from my father's house!”
After reading that Midrash, does it make sense that they asked no questions about any of this?!
All of this is a wondrous marvel – everything that happened here. We do not have a clear answer to these questions and this overall phenomenon, but I would like to offer one answer, and perhaps we will continue building it next week, B'ezrat Hashem.
It is written in the Ba’al HaTurim that when the brothers arrived in Egypt, Yosef wanted to reveal himself to them and tell them "I am Yosef." So, what happened that he did not do so? The Ba’al HaTurim says, the angel Gavriel came to him and forbade him from revealing himself to them. He instructed Yosef: "Afflict them!"
On the surface, why not reveal himself to them now? Why afflict them?! The commentators – including the Ramban and the Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh and others – says that Yosef's dreams were not dreams but rather words of nevuah (prophecy); this was a prophecy that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave to Yosef to speak to his brothers. Therefore, Yosef said to them: שִׁמְעוּ נָא הַחֲלוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר חָלָמְתִּי – Please hear this dream that I dreamed.
Wait, why are you suddenly pleading with them to listen to your dreams?! The answer is that this was not a dream but prophecy. And a Navi who suppresses his nevuah is liable to death. Therefore, he spoke to them in the language of supplication.
The Rosh writes, Yosef said: “I prefer to die by the hands of my brothers and fulfill the will of the Creator, than to die by heavenly decree and not tell my brothers.”
The dreams were prophecy. Therefore, in the dream of the sheaves it says: וְהִנֵּה אֲנַחְנוּ מְאַ לְּמִים אֲלֻמִּים בְּתוֹךְ הַשָּׂדֶה וְהִנֵּה קָמָה אֲלֻמָּתִי וְגַם נִצָּבָה וְהִנֵּה תְסֻבֶּינָה אֲלֻמֹּתֵיכֶם וַתִּשְׁתַּחֲוֶיןָ לַאֲלֻמָּתִי And behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright, and behold, your sheaves surrounded it and bowed down to my sheaf.
In the dream, they all bowed down, including Binyamin. But at that time, in Egypt, there were only ten – so how do we bring in the eleventh? They leave one behind as collateral and accept a condition – if you don't bring Binyamin back with you, you won't receive food. And then the eleventh arrives, and they all bow down, and the prophecy was fulfilled! Now all that remained was to bring Yaakov, but Chazal say, if Yosef had more strength, he should have said to Yehuda "I'm not afraid of you – you won't succeed in doing anything to Egypt! I'm keeping Binyamin here and if you want me to release him, bring your father here too!" If he had done this, both prophetic dreams of his would have been completed. But alas, the Torah says: וְלֹא יָכֹל יוֹסֵף לְהִתְאַפֵּק לְכֹל הַנִּצָּבִים עָלָיו וַיִּקְרָא הוֹצִיאוּ כָל אִישׁ מֵעָלָי . And Yosef could not restrain himself before all who stood by him, and he called out, "Remove everyone from before me."
Chazal say, it's a pity he didn't restrain himself! Because then both prophecies would have been fulfilled together. But since only one prophecy was fulfilled, they had to wait until Yaakov Avinu came to Egypt – and in next week's Parsha, when it says וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל רֹאשׁ הַמִּטָּה – And Yisrael bowed at the head of the bed, it is only then that the second prophecy was fulfilled. So, despite all the signs that existed, nothing awakened the brothers. Why? Because the second prophecy had to be fulfilled. Why? Because that is the will of the Boreh Olam.
Next week we will observe the fast of Asara B’Tevet – the tenth of Tevet. The Beis Yosef writes in the name of the Abudraham that even if this fast falls on Shabbat, we observe it, and we fast on Shabbat – to show us the power and greatness of this day!
The Chatam Sofer says, every year on the tenth of Tevet, Hakadosh Baruch Hu sits with His entourage (pamalya) and deliberates with them whether the Beit Hamikdash will be built that year or not. So, on the coming Yom Shlishi, it will be 2448 years since the beginning of the siege, on the tenth of Tevet in the year 3000 of Creation. That is when the siege began. This year, too, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will sit with His entourage and deliberate whether the Beit Hamikdash will be rebuilt.
May it be His will that in the Year 5786, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will redeem us and send us Mashiach Tzidkenu, and may we merit to see the Third Beit Hamikdash descending whole from the heavens, B'ezrat Hashem, Amen v’Amen!!!
