Remarkable Rebuke
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
The ongoing famine has had serious consequences for Yaakov and his family. The brothers had gone down to Egypt to buy grain from the viceroy of Egypt, not knowing that he was Yosef. Yosef accused the brothers of being spies and incarcerated Shimon. Yosef demanded that they return with their youngest brother Binyamin to prove their innocence of the accusation. Now they had returned with Binyamin, and Binyamin was accused of stealing the viceroy’s chalice. The viceroy/Yosef insists on enslaving Binyamin and letting the other brothers return home in peace. At this, Judah rises up and pleads passionately for Binyamin’s freedom, even offering to take Binyamin’s place, “For, how can I go up to my father if the youth is not with me, lest I see the evil that will befall my father.”
At this declaration, Yosef could no longer contain himself. After removing all strangers from the room, he reveals himself to his brothers, saying, “I am Yosef. Is my father still alive?”
Our Sages see here a subtle rebuke to the brothers, and the Medrash adds a lesson for us all: if the brothers could not bear this rebuke, “How much more so when Hakodosh Boruch Hu will rebuke each and every person according to who he is.”
Where was the rebuke in Yosef’s words? How does that rebuke relate to Hashem rebuking each of us? According to the Beis Halevi z”l and others, Yosef’s personalization of their patriarch to “my father” rather than to “our father” is the source of the rebuke. You say you cannot bear the evil that will befall Binyamin’s father; is he not also my father? If my father is no longer immersed in grieving for me, he will soon forget Binyamin as well. Your argument is invalid. Further, adds Rabbi Birnbaum in Bekorai Shemo, z”l perhaps you felt that the remaining brothers could comfort and compensate Yaakov for losing me, that they could make up for the mitzvoth I would no longer fulfill by their performing mitzvoth, but a father values each of his children individually. So does Hashem want a relationship with each of us, and my negligence impacts my personal relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu as well as the relationship of everyone else.
By revealing his identity, Yosef also showed his brothers the error of their assumption, writes Rabbi Svei z”l in Ruach Eliyahu. All this time, the brothers had thought Yosef wanted to become a fourth patriarch and negate their role as the twelve tribes. As such they considered him an existential threat and justified in removing him. They even convened a beis din to officially render their court judgment. When Yosef now revealed himself to them, they realized how mistaken they were in their assumption, and Yosef’s identity was transformed from being the rodef/pursuer/hunter to being the nirdof/pursued/prey, and they were, in fact, the pursuers of the innocent Yosef. All their actions had been predicated on a false premise.
If we now relate this to our medrash, continues Rabbi Svei z”l, we will realize that when Hashem confronts us with, “Ani Hashem…,” we will also realize that so many of our actions were based on false premises, on the subconscious belief that we will live forever, that our time is inexhaustible, that everything I have belongs to me. We spend too much time amassing money to build a magnificent home that will last forever. While perhaps all the world was created for me personally, as our Sages declare, we must also realize that this finite world was created so that while I enjoy its benefits, I also use it to prepare for the eternal world of truth. We will realize that all our excuses and rationalizations for our improper behavior or lack of mitzvah observance were all false assumptions dictated by our yetzer horo adds Rabbi Belsky z”l.
We have excuses for everything. As Rav Yitzchak Isaac Sher z”l is cited in Letitcha Elyon, we take the shortcuts that the yetzer horo suggests. But when Hashem will confront us in Gan Eden, when He will show us the place we have actually earned in eternity, we will see the truth of our actions and of our excuses. At that time, Hashem will expose not only our actions, but also our words and our thoughts to reveal our inner truth and show us how far we’ve fallen off our potential. Hashem has gifted us with reminders throughout the year to help us in our journey on this earth, writes Rabbi Scheinerman in Ohel Moshe. Every Shabbat reminds us to shuv/return, each of the Shalosh Regalim leads us to contemplation, and Chanukah helps us “see the light.”
There are times when we think we “see the light” of our deeds and repent, but even then, our understanding and regret may be misguided. Dorash Dovid reminds us that the brothers initially repented. But what did they repent for? They regretted that they lacked compassion when they threw Yosef into the pit and ignored his cries. Now they came to Egypt searching for him, expecting to find him still a slave or in some house of ill repute. Therefore, even when they came face to face with him as viceroy, they did not recognize him, especially with his fully grown beard. But now, when Yosef reveals himself to them, they finally realize that they had misjudged Yosef all these years, that he loved them and his dreams were truly prophetic, meant to help the entire family in his royal position.
When Hashem will confront us, writes the Yalkut Lekach Tov citing Rabbi Bloch zt”l, and He will show us our actions in the true light, how will we feel? We had convinced ourselves that what we did was truly for the sake of Heaven, but how much of our motivation was self-serving, to earn respect or to gain a financial advantage? Hashem wants us to act in a way that will sanctify His Name, even when it may not be the most pragmatic course of action. It is very easy for us to fool ourselves, writes Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter.
Yosef was not trying to rebuke his brothers, suggests Rabbi Pam z”l. In fact, all his words seem to be comforting and reassuring. Nevertheless, the brothers felt them as a rebuke because the words were proof that their assumptions about Yosef were all wrong. What a lesson for us, writes Rav Pam z”l. How often do we misjudge others, belittle their abilities and potential, only to come face to face with the greatness they achieved years later? It behooves us to treat every person with respect and dignity regardless of what his status is, for we never know what greatness lies within him. [After all, each person was created in the image of God. CKS]In Yosef’s case, writes Rabbi Kamiel z”l in Imrei Chaim, there were so many clues to the viceroy’s identity, not just his physical appearance, but his seeming knowledge of their age order, for example, but since the brothers had already blinded themselves to this possibility, they could not recognize the viceroy as Yosef. To them it was just as impossible as a piece of metal taking flight.
But it is not just in how we’ve misjudged others, writes Rav Schrage Grosbard z”L. It is also in how we’ve misjudged and underestimated ourselves. The brothers saw what Yosef had accomplished in twenty-two years of living in these terribly immoral circumstances. Have they risen to the spiritual levels they were capable of? Do we use the skills and talents Hashem has endowed us with to grow spiritually? We sell ourselves short, often comparing ourselves to others to our own detriment, when we should be comparing ourselves only to ourselves and to our personal potential. In the future Hashem will ask us not why we did not achieve what Avraham Avinu achieved, or Moshe Rabbenu, or someone from our own community, but why we did not realize our own potential. The greatest tragedy, says Rav Pincus zt”l, is that we believe we cannot achieve.
In the future, writes Menachem Zion Zaks z”l, Hashem will reveal how we misused our gifts. If we say we couldn’t give more tzedakah, Hashem will point out luxuries we spent money on; If we claim we had no time for Torah or for chesed, He will ask us how much time we spent on foolish pursuits. [From TV watching, to Facebook, to all kinds of technology, etc. CKS]
In the next world, there are no excuses, writes Rav Schwadron z”l in Lev Shalom. Citing Rav Yehudah Leib Chasman z”l, Rav Schwadron z”lwrites that people often spend time imagining their own funerals and the praises in the eulogies that will be delivered about them. Instead of imagining, get up and start doing. Light a candle in the night. Push yourself. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Sher z”l learned from the Saba of Slabodka z”l that the people walking down the street are just as dead as the people buried in the cemetery, doing nothing, but they don’t realize they are dead.
How did Yosef manage to withstand the lures of Mitzrayim and achieve the status of Yosef Hatzadik/the righteous one? Rabbi Kamiel z”l tells us that Yosef remained focused on his objectives. Yosef wanted to be worthy of the higher calling. If he succumbed, he would not be worthy of being an altar to God or be chosen to receive prophecy. It was Yosef’s desire for greatness that propelled him forward. He was ready for spiritual greatness at any moment, whether or not it would materialize.
What stops us from achieving greatness? Only our lack of passion. As Rabbi Segal z”lsuggests in Inspiration and Insight, Yehoshua was chosen to succeed Moshe Rabbenu not because he was necessarily the candidate with the greatest talents, for he could never match the brilliant light of Moshe, but because he strove the hardest to reflect the glory that Moshe brought, as the moon reflects the light of the sun.
When Yosef declares, “I am Yosef,” he provided the brothers with the clarity of hindsight. Then they understood that all that had happened to them, all that they had done, all the challenges that the “viceroy” had put them through, all made sense, for Hashem was directing the events according to His plan, writes Rav Kofman zt”l in Mishchat Shemen. When a person lives his life to the best of his ability, knowing that Hashem is always the One in charge, writes Rabbi Eisenberger in Mesillot Bilvovom, he will feel no embarrassment at his financial or social situation. He will realize this is Hashem’s plan for him. We are limited in our vision and understanding, but when we accept it all as Hashem’s plan, we will remain serene in the knowledge that in the end, all is for the good.