A Dramatic Confrontation
In the end of last week’s Torah reading, Parshat Mikeitz, Binyamin (Benjamin) was framed for having stolen the goblet of the ruler of Egypt, Yosef (Joseph). At this point, the tribes were not yet aware of the fact that the ruler they were facing was their brother. In the beginning of this week’s Torah reading, Yehudah (Judah) confronts the ruler and demands that Binyamin be released, because their father cannot bear having his son Binyamin, be taken from him, and offers to have himself be enslaved in his stead. Yosef then reveals his identity, and asks if his father is still alive. The brothers are taken aback and are unable to respond.
Yosef’s Rhetorical Rebuke
The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 93:10) derives a profound lesson from this moment, emphasizing the significance of Yosef’s rebuke and self-reflection. It states, “If the tribes could not stand up to the rebuke of their younger brother, as it says that they could not answer him, how much more so [severe will it be] when God will rebuke every person according to what he is.”
The Beit Halevi asks, firstly, where does it say that Yosef rebuked his brothers? Secondly, what does the Midrash mean by saying that God will rebuke a person “according to what he is?”
To answer this, the Beit Halevi analyzes the verse. Yosef asked, “Is my father still alive?” Yehudah had just told him that their father was alive, and that is why Binyamin must be released. Why would he ask if his father is still alive? In addition, why couldn’t the brothers respond to this question? Says the Beit Halevi, the question Yosef asked, “Is my father still alive?” was a rhetorical question.
This moment highlights Yosef’s rebuke and self-reflection. Yosef knew from the previous conversations he had with his brothers that his father was alive. This question was presented in conjunction with revealing that he is Yosef, meaning to say, “I am your brother Yosef whom you kidnapped and sold as a slave, and you did not take into consideration our father’s feelings. Is my father is still alive, that you are concerned about his feelings regarding having Binyamin be torn away from him?!”
Exposing Contradictions in Behavior
Yosef was rebuking them regarding a sharp contradiction within their own conduct. The tribes certainly had a reason with which they legitimized their decision to abduct Yosef and sell him. Putting this argument aside, what about their father’s feelings? If they cared so much about their father to the extent that under no circumstances would they allow Binyamin to be taken from their father, how could they have rationalized their decision to get rid of Yosef at their father’s expense? It must be that they had personal motives for selling Yosef, which they cared about more than their father’s feelings.
Says the Beit Halevi, this is what the Midrash is referring to when it says that God will rebuke a person according to what he is. When one will stand for judgement and give excuses for his misconduct, God will disprove his excuses from his own behavior, “according to himself,” just as Yosef had done! For example, if one will excuse himself for not giving enough charity because he could not afford to do so, God will show him how he splurged on unnecessary expenses. For any excuse one will give for failing to live up to his obligations, God will prove to him from his own actions that it isn’t so. Being faced with proofs from contradictions in our own behavior is the starkest rebuke.
Eliyahu HaNavi and the Ignorant Hunter
The Beit Halevi cites a story from our Sages (Tana D’vei Eliyahu Zuta 14): Eliyahu (Elijah) the Prophet was once walking and met a person who was an ignoramus in Torah. Eliyahu asked him, “What will you say in your defense [for not studying Torah] when you will stand for judgment?” The man answered, “I have what to claim. I was not given the intelligence with which to learn Torah.”
Eliyahu asked him, “What’s your profession?” He answered that he’s a hunter/fisherman. “And how do you know how to hunt?” asked Eliyahu. “With the intellect I have I was able to master it,” replied the hunter. “So if you have the brainpower to figure out how to lay traps and hunt,” said Eliyahu, “you certainly have enough intelligence to understand Torah, upon which the Torah testifies that its wisdom is close to your heart.” The hunter began to cry, and Eliyahu told him, “Everyone gives excuses, and everyone will be disproven from their own actions.”
A Call for Honest Self-Reflection
This teaching on Yosef’s rebuke and self-reflection underscores the importance of examining our motives honestly. Ordinarily, no one deliberately goes against their morals. When we are lazy to do mitzvot (Torah commandments), or when we are tempted to do things we shouldn’t do, we rationalize with ourselves to excuse ourselves to act as we wish. But God will one day show us just how crooked these reasonings are. God will show us how all these excuses became instinct when it came to doing things or avoiding thing we wished to do. Before we excuse ourselves, we must think through what our true motives are, and be honest with ourselves.
By Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber torah4every1@gmail.com
