The
known remaining son of Jacob and Rachel, Benjamin, is now threatened
with imprisonment by Joseph who is second only to Egypt’s Pharaoh.
Benjamin has of course been framed by Joseph and is accused of stealing
from the palace. Judah approaches Joseph to plead for Benjamin’s life.
He cries, “Therefore, please let your servant remain as a slave to my
lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For
how can I go back to my father unless the boy is with me? Let me not
be witness to the woe that would overtake my father!” (Genesis
44:33-34)
Joseph is again unable to control his emotions. He
instructs his servants to leave him alone with his brothers. He begins
sobbing so loudly that even those standing outside of the room could
hear his cries. He declares, “I am Joseph! Is my father still well?”
His brothers are dumfounded. Joseph draws near and says, “’I am your
brother Joseph, he whom you sold into Egypt. Now, do not be distressed
or reproach yourselves because you sold me hither; it was to save life
that God sent me ahead of you….’ With that he embraced his brother
Benjamin around the neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He
kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; only then were his brothers
able to talk to him.” (Genesis 45:1-14)
Joseph then sent for his
aged father Jacob. Pharaoh gives them horses and carts to transport
the family to Egypt and the entire family makes a home in Egypt.
Pharaoh assigns to them a portion of territory. Thus did the children
of Israel come to live in Egypt. For generations Jacob’s descendants
live comfortably among the Egyptians.
I wonder what made Joseph
change course. Why did he finally break down and cry? Why did he now
reveal himself to his brothers? Was he as the rabbis suggest testing
his brothers to see if they had changed? Was he therefore waiting for
Judah to stand up and protect his younger brother Benjamin? The measure
of true repentance is of course to be faced with the exact same
temptation but to choose another course. Here Judah chooses, rather
than as he did before to throw his brother in a pit, to defend him and
offer himself in his stead. Others suggest that it was Judah’s
repetition of the pain that would be caused to Jacob that finally found
its way into Joseph’s heart. In fact Judah repeats this mantra about
Jacob 14 times in his plea to Joseph.
Was Joseph seeking
revenge for the years of pain and tribulation his brothers caused him?
Is this why he developed this elaborate plot to frame Benjamin and
punish his brothers. Perhaps his machinations started out that way, but
in the opening of this portion they clearly change course. The opening
word of the portion offers a clue as to what might have caused this
change of heart. Vayigash means to draw near. It is a refrain that is
repeated throughout this exchange. Judah draws near. Joseph in turn
draws close. It is the same root that the Torah uses when detailing how
to make war against a city. When you draw near to attack a city…
Judah was prepared to fight for his brother Benjamin. Joseph saw this
in his eyes. Then again standing so close to each other, staring into
each other’s eyes, Egyptian and Jew are not seen but instead brothers.
And Joseph cried, “I am your brother Joseph!” Perhaps this is what we
should always see when looking into the eyes of another person.
A
midrash suggests the following: “’Like deep water is counsel in the
heart of man, but a man of understanding will draw it out.’ (Proverbs
20:5) The image is of a deep well, whose waters are cold and clear, but
no one is able to reach it to drink from it. Then a person comes and
ties rope to rope, and cord to cord, and string to string, and draws
forth the water and drinks from it, and then everyone comes and draws
forth and drinks. Thus did Judah refuse to budge and continued to press
Joseph, answering him word for word, until he stood right at Joseph’s
heart.” In this way brothers were reunited, each forgiving the other,
each embracing the other.
In this way must we remind each other that we all are brothers. It is only a matter of drawing near.
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