Parshat Miketz 30 December  Ki 5761, 6 January 2001

By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel -One of the strangest things about this week's portion of MIKETZ is that it concludes right in the middle of one of the most critical dialogues in the entire Torah. Benjamin, Rachel's youngest son, has been accused by Joseph of stealing the Grand Vizier's silver goblet; Judah rises to his brother's defense, but his argument is cut in half, straddling his words between the end of MIKETZ and the beginning of VAYIGASH. Is it simply a question of allowing the plot to thicken -stay tuned till next week-or is there a far more significant reason why Judah's defense is divided between two portions? I would like to suggest that the splitting of the Judah/Joseph dialogue reflects a new development in the on-going theological argument between the brothers and Joseph. As we've noted in the past, the brothers were deeply disturbed by Joseph's dream of sheaves of corn, his inner landscape linking him to the agricultural landscape of Egypt rather than to the shepherding landscape of Israel. Joseph's second dream about the sun, the moon, and the stars, also stresses a universalism far removed from the confines of the land of Israel, creating a stage where all the principals of this cosmic drama bow down to Joseph. They see him as a dangerous element, a threat to their traditional occupation as shepherds, the occupation of the patriarchs. The life of the shepherd allowed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to serve G-d in prayer and meditation, as well as transmit the traditions to the next generation. The brothers' decision to do away with Joseph by selling him as a slave in Egypt and telling their father that he had been torn by a wild beast was based on the end justifying the means. After all, there was already a precedent in the Torah for banishing troublesome brothers, whose life style seemed not in accordance with the Abrahamic teachings. Why not-for the sake of heaven-sell him as a slave! If their father seems blinded by his love for Joseph - just as Isaac was blinded by his love for Esau - they had to take G-d's work into their own hands and make certain that their ego-centric Egypt-oriented brother not be given the mantle of future leadership of the House of Israel. If their old father had to suffer grief in the process - that too was an unfortunate but necessary price for the "sake of heaven". At the end of last week's portion of Miketz, the brothers are accused of stealing the Grand Vizier's special silver goblet as part of a plot hatched by Joseph. When his steward catches up with them, the brothers are so convinced of their innocence they announce that if the goblet is found amongst them, the thief shall be put to death and they shall be taken as slaves. Alas, the goblet is found in the knapsack of the youngest brother Benjamin, casting a grim shadow on the brothers who tear their clothes in grief. They return to the Grand Vizier, and in response to his accusation, Judah utters a confession to another crime: "What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? G-d has found out our old guilt. Let us become your slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup was found." (Genesis 44:16) The 'old guilt' that Judah refers to is the sin of selling their brother Joseph as a slave to the caravan of Ishmaelites. Judah accepts the truth of Divine judgment; apparently, G-d was not pleased by what they did to their brother. After all, ever since they arrived in Egypt seeking food, something unusual has been going on. Accused of spying, Simon is held hostage until they can prove the veracity of their history by bringing their brother Benjamin to Egypt. And Simon was the ring-leader in the sale of Joseph. Despite the risk to their father, they comply with the Grand Vizier's command. Simon is released but with the discovery of the silver goblet, the joyous reunion turns into a nightmare. For so much to go wrong can only mean that G-d is punishing them for their earlier sin of selling Joseph; 22 years later and the stain of blood on Joseph's coat is apparently besmirching their hands. In beseeching the Grand Vizier to enslave them all, we see how their minds are second-guessing G-d. Since their sin was selling Joseph into slavery, they assume that what they must do to make amends for their sin is for all of them to become slaves - measure for measure. Thus Judah addresses Joseph: "...G-d has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold we are my lord's slaves, both we and he in whose hand the cup was found. (Genesis 44:16)." But Joseph doesn't care about the 'iniquity' of the brothers. Instead, "... the man in whose hand the goblet is found, he shall be my slave; but as for you, get up in peace to your father." (Genesis 44:17). The Grand Vizier is only interested in justice, not revenge. The thief, and the thief alone, is to pay for his crime. Our portion of Vayigash is not a simple continuation of Judah's plea, divided into two portions for the purpose of suspense. Our Torah reading begins with a dramatic shift in Judah's plea, more than justifying the break between the portions. He foregoes the issue of enslaving the brothers, concentrating instead on describing in pithy detail the events that lead up to this moment. Now he stresses how his poor, old sick father was made to suffer. "You asked if we still had a father or another brother. We told you, we have a father who is very old." (Genesis 44:19) In the next few verses, Judah uses the word 'father' fourteen times, the entire speech to Joseph centering on the father. Why has Judah switched tactics? If the Grand Vizier rejected enslavement often brothers in favor of limited but strict judgement, why should he now accept Judah's offer to be taken in place of Benjamin? Why does Judah expect that Joseph will now let Benjamin go free? If Judah believes that his descriptions of his old sick father can help, why didn't he mention Jacob earlier? And when he initially declared that they would all be the Grand Vizier's slaves, he obviously included Benjamin in the 'all.' Why wasn't he worried about his sick old father then? Once again, Judah was initially playing G-d when he began to speak and all too often, individuals who believe they have a direct line to G-d take things into their own hands in order to do what they know G-d wants -without taking account the suffering they may be causing. In his introduction to the Book of Genesis, Rav Zvi Yehuda Berlin (known as the Netziv) writes that people can even commit wanton murder - and justify it "for the sake of heaven". Hence despite the suffering which their old father would once again experience were Benjamin not to return home, Judah initially asks that they all be enslaved. He believes this is a necessary punishment - "for the sake of heaven". Fascinatingly enough, Joseph himself attempts never to second-guess G-d, never to play the Divine. Indeed, his constant refrain is that "it's not me, it's G-d!" He says it to his brothers and he says it to his fellow prisoners. When Judah, in last week's portion, speaks of slavery for all the brothers, its because he has decided that G-d wants to punish them for the sake of Joseph. Joseph's response is equally emphatic: no, don't second-guess G-d, don't think you have all the answers. We must only operate in accord with the due process of the law. Only the thief shall be enslaved. Joseph understands that we must leave the ultimate punishment for past misdeeds to G-d! At the beginning of our portion, Judah now has learned his lesson. He too has come to the realization that the collective guilt of the brothers must be left to G-d. His major concern must be his father, and his filial obligation to alleviate any future suffering. Therefore, instead of offering all the brothers as slaves, he now offers only himself in exchange for Benjamin. His case is built on facts-the history of how he personally guaranteed Benjamin's safe return. And the tragedy of an old patriarch who will lose both sons of his favorite wife if the Grand Vizier enslaves Benjamin. Let us not for a moment think that such a change of heart and attitude is easy. After the death of Jacob, the brothers still fear Joseph, and they make sure to tell him how before his death, their father Jacob left instructions to Joseph. "Forgive I pray you now, the transgression of your brethren and their sin." (Genesis 50:17) Joseph weeps and they weep, and then they declare --in what turns out to be the final words they ever speak to Joseph-- "Behold we are your slaves." (Genesis 50:18) If they seek Joseph's forgiveness, why do they offer themselves as his slaves? The Ohr Hachaim writes that 'lu' (in the verse 'lu yistamenu Yosef -" it may be that Joseph will hate us") always means 'would that it would be,' I wish it were so. I wish Joseph would hate us and punish us. We are eaten up by guilt. Again they are playing G-d: they deserve to be punished. And Joseph's answer encapsulates his vision of life: "Fear not, for I am not in the place of G-d," (Genesis 50:20) I don't stand in G-d's place. We have to do what's right, and what's just. We can't presume to cause pain for the sake of heaven - not to our brothers, not to our father, and not even to ourselves! The fact is that Joseph was very different from his brothers, and should not have been given the mantle of the first-born. Father Jacob came to understand this: Judah receives the blessing of leadership, the sceptre of Torah, the standard-bearer of the ingathering of the nations. But G-d has a symphony - and in the Divine symphony, there is room for the political and economic skills as well as the universalistic vision of a Joseph . He will not be the conductor - but neither ought he be banished. And no one dare take the law into his own hands "for the sake of heaven" without due process. Indeed, nothing leads more to the desecration of G-d's name than blind fanaticism. According to the Netziv, the causeless hatred that destroyed the Second Temple was the fact that everyone justified the most heinous crimes "for the sake of heaven". Such an attitude makes one impervious to change, blind to repentance. We dare not overlook fundamental laws of brotherly love and filial piety in order to act as Cossacks of the Almighty. First and foremost, G-d expects us to do that which is righteous and good! Shabbat Shalom.

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