From:          "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
To:            yhe-parsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject:       PARSHA61 -12: Parashat Vayechi


                   YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
      YISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
*********************************************************
                            
                    PARASHAT VAYECHI

                           
                 The Path of Repentance:
             A Response to Rav Yoel Bin-Nun
                           
                  By Rav Ya'akov Medan
                Adapted by Rav Zvi Shimon


      I  would like to critique the theory offered by Rav
Yoel  Bin-Nun  in  last  week's shiur  and  to  offer   an
alternate explanation.

I) CRITIQUE OF RAV BIN-NUN'S THEORY

      I  find  untenable Rav Bin-Nun's thesis that   Yosef
suspected  that  his  father had  rejected  him  and   had
approved  of  the brothers' actions. Yosef knew  that  he
was,  after all, his father's favorite son, and that  his
father had made him the striped coat.  He also knew  that
his  father  had loved Rachel more than his other  wives.
Above   all,   would  a  man  like  Ya'akov    behave   so
deceitfully, sending Yosef to his brothers on  the  false
pretext  of  ascertaining their well-being, intending  in
fact  that they sell him as a slave?  Is there a son  who
would suspect his father of such a deed?  This assumption
is totally unrealistic.

      It  also remains unclear why Yosef, surprised   that
his  father did not seek him out, came to harbor the kind
of suspicions attributed to him by R. Bin-Nun.  How could
he  be  certain  that his father knew of  the  sale,  but
refrained  from searching for him?  Why did it not  occur
to  him  that his father regarded him as dead?   To  this
day,  a person who disappears without a trace is presumed
dead.   Why  should we assume that Yosef did not  believe
that  the  brothers  were lying to his  father?   It   was
precisely because the brothers did not habitually  report
their  actions  to  their  father  that  Yosef  found   it
necessary to tell his father all their misdeeds (37:2).

     In addition, R. Bin-Nun claims that Yosef's stubborn
silence  was broken upon hearing Yehuda report  Ya'akov's
words:  "He was surely devoured and I have not  seen  him
since"  (44:28). Yosef realized at this  point  that  his
father  had not deserted him.  However, according to  the
simplest  reading  of the text, Yosef's resistance  broke
down  when  Yehuda offered himself as a slave instead  of
Binyamin:

   "...  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  see
   to the sorrow that would overcome my father! ...
   Yosef could no longer restrain himself." (44:32-45:1)

     R. Bin-Nun claims that Yosef's feelings of rejection
by  his  family are the foundation for the naming of  his
first born "Menashe," meaning, "God has made me forget my
hardship  and  my  father's  home"  (nashani  =   made  me
forget).

       In  my  opinion,  the  meaning   of  the  verse  is
different.  "My hardship" (amali) is to be understood  as
follows (see Ibn Ezra, Bereishit 6:13): "God has made  me
forget  completely  my hardship and the  HARDSHIP  of  my
parental home."  Yosef does not offer thanks to  God  for
having  made  him  forget his parental home,  but  rather
offers thanks for enabling him to forget his tribulations
in  his father's house.  It is only after Yosef rises  to
the throne that he is able to make sense of his suffering
in  the two previous episodes, in prison ("amali") and in
his father's house ("beit avi").

II) AN ALTERNATE EXPLANATION

      Abarbanel  offers  the  following   explanation  for
Yosef's not contacting his father while in Egypt:

   "Even  after  Yosef  tested his brothers  by   accusing
   them  of  espionage, he was still not certain  whether
   they  loved  Binyamin  or  whether  they  still   hated
   Rachel's  children, so he focused on Binyamin  to  see
   whether  they  would  try to  save  him."   (chap.  42,
   questions 4 & 6)

      Yosef's  behavior is part of an overall  scheme   to
test the brothers and provide them with an opportunity to
repent  fully for selling him into slavery.  The  sin  of
Yosef's  brothers is one of the more serious sins related
in  the book of Bereishit.  Both the Torah (Shemot 21:17,
20:13;  see  Rashi ibid.; Devarim 24:7) and the  Prophets
(Yoel 4, Amos 2:6-10 and many others) equate this sin  of
selling a free man into bondage with the gravest of sins.
The  penitence  of Yosef's brothers is not an  incidental
event  appearing as part of another story,  but  a  major
theme of the narrative.

       Reuven  and  Yehuda  were  vying   for  the  family
leadership, Ya'akov having effectively ceased playing the
leadership  role (see for example 34:5, 34:13-14,  35:22,
43:5).  After Shimon and Levi are excluded from the  race
for leadership, the struggle continues between Reuven and
Yehuda.   It  finds expression in their  argument  as  to
Yosef's fate (37:22,26-27), in the recognition of the sin
of  his  sale  (42:22 vs. 44:16), in  the  assumption  of
responsibility for Binyamin in Egypt (42:37  vs.  43:8-9)
and in additional verses in the Torah.

      Reuven and Yehuda were each engaged in a process of
penitence for similar sins, Reuven for having slept  with
his  father's  wife (as appears from the  simple  textual
reading),  Yehuda  for having lain,  albeit  unknowingly,
with his son's wife. It seems clear that their individual
repentance is also part of the leadership struggle.

      At  first  glance, there seems to be no   connection
between  Reuven's sin with his father's wife or  Yehuda's
sin  with his son's wife and the selling of Yosef.  This,
however, is misleading.  According to the simple  reading
of  the text, Reuven's intention when committing his  sin
was  to  inherit his father's leadership role during  his
father's  lifetime, like Avshalom who slept with  David's
concubine.   His  attempt  to rescue  Yosef  and   Yosef's
dreams of royalty (37:20) are part of his repentance  for
his sin with Bilha.

      The  proximity of the story of Yehuda and Tamar   to
the selling of Yosef indicates a connection as well.  The
chain  of disasters that strike Yehuda, the loss  of  his
wife and two sons, is apparently a punishment for selling
Yosef.  Reuven later advances the strange suggestion that
Ya'akov  kill  his  two sons, should he  fail  to  return
Binyamin from Egypt (42:37).  It would seem that  he  was
influenced  by  the punishment Yehuda  had  received  for
selling Yosef - the death of his two sons.  This terrible
punishment  for a terrible sin is branded  into  Reuven's
consciousness.   Reuven  is ready  to  receive  the   same
punishment if he deserts Binyamin in Egypt.

     Initially, Yehuda did not imagine that his sons died
due  to his sin, believing instead that "Tamar's fate  is
that  her  husbands  will  die"  (Yevamot  34;   see  also
Bereishit  38:11).  Finally, Yehuda realizes  that  Tamar
was  in  the right and he admits, "She is more  righteous
than  I" (38:26).  Only at this stage did he realize that
she was not destined to have her husbands die, but rather
that  it  was his destiny to lose his sons.  The sin  was
his.   From  this recognition he rebuilds  his  shattered
home.

      The  process of repentance accompanies the brothers
wherever  they  go.  When the Egyptian  viceroy  commands
them  to  bring Binyamin, the second son of  Rachel,  the
brothers  are immediately reminded of the sale of  Yosef.
The  two  contenders  - Reuven and Yehuda  -  respond  in
character.   Reuven  sees  only the  punishment  for   the
crime,   and   he   does  not  suggest    any   means   of
rectification.

   "And  Reuven  answered them: 'Did I not tell  you,   Do
   not  sin  against the child; but you did  not  listen,
   and now his blood is being avenged.'" (42:22)

      Yehuda  acknowledges his sin, but also  suggests   a
positive path of repentance for the evil done.  He is not
satisfied  with sackcloth and fasting, which  are  merely
expressions of mourning and acceptanceof the verdict.

   "And  they  tore  their clothes ... And  Yehuda   said,
   'What  shall we say to my lord?  What shall we  speak?
   Or  how  shall  we clear ourselves?  God has   revealed
   the  sin  of your servants; we have become  my  lord's
   slaves.'" (44:13-17)

And further on, Yehuda suggests firm action:

   "Let  your servant stay instead of the boy as a  slave
   to  my  lord and let the boy go up with his brothers."
   (44:33)

      From  Yehuda's speech, it is apparent that when   he
said, "God has revealed the sin of your servants," he was
not  confessing  to stealing the cup.  He considered  the
whole  episode  of  the stolen goblet as  a  fabrication.
Otherwise  there  is  no  sense  in  his  recounting    of
Binyamin's  journey to Egypt, nor in his suggesting  that
he replace Binyamin. Rather, "God has revealed the SIN of
your  servants"  undoubtedly refers  to  the  selling   of
Yosef.

     Similarly, Yehuda's words to his father, "If I bring
him  not to you and set him before you, then I shall have
SINNED  to  you  for  all  days"  (43:9),   indicate   his
understanding  of  the connection between  Yosef's  being
brought down to Egypt and Binyamin being brought down  to
Egypt.   Binyamin's  abandonment  in  Egypt  would  be   a
continuation  of  his  grievous  sin  of  selling   Yosef.
Otherwise, how can we understand what sin he is referring
to  and  why he should be punished if Binyamin  is  taken
forcibly?   We  must  therefore  view  the  necessity   of
bringing Binyamin down to Egypt as a consequence  of  the
sin.  For Yehuda, protecting Binyamin at all costs is the
atonement demanded for the selling of Yosef.  In offering
their  respective propositions, Reuven and Yehuda  remain
faithful   to   their   personalities:   Reuven    through
acceptance   of   the  punishment,  and  Yehuda    through
confrontation with the sin itself.

      Our assumption is that Yosef too was plagued by his
brothers' sin and, consequently, with the future  of  the
house  of  Israel, no less than with his own fate.   From
the  time  he was sold, he had begun to rebuild not  only
his  own  life, but his family's unity.  This unification
was  not  to  be  forced  upon his brothers,  but   rather
achieved  by  willingness  and  love.   Yosef  desired   a
unification born of his brothers' regretting their sin, a
product  of  wholehearted repentance.  Yosef believed  in
his own ability to initiate such a process or at least to
test its existence.

      Yosef  had commanded his brothers to bring Binyamin
to Egypt.  When the brothers actually brought Binyamin to
Egypt, despite the danger, in order to redeem Shimon  and
to   buy   food,  Yosef,  who  was  unaware   of  Yehuda's
assumption of guardianship and its importance, presumably
saw  the brothers' action as yet another failure to  meet
the test and challenge that he had set before them.

      Yosef  cries three times.  The first two   times  he
cries  in private, and then restrains himself.  The third
time he breaks down totally and cries, openly and without
control.   R.  Bin-Nun cites the third episode  as  proof
that Yosef was taken by surprise by the developments, and
therefore  concludes  that  this  outcome  had  not   been
planned  by  Yosef.   However,  R.  Bin-Nun  ignores   the
obvious connection between the three instances.   Let  us
examine these three episodes.

A) First Tears:
       The   brothers  are  subjected   to  an   intensive
interrogation during three days of imprisonment, inducing
them  to  repent for their sin and accept the  punishment
and suffering, with Reuven in the lead (42:21,22).

   "On  the  third day, Yosef said to them, 'Do this  and
   you  shall live, for I am a God-fearing man.   If  you
   are  honest  men, let one of you brothers be  held  in
   your place of detention, while the rest of you go  and
   take  home  rations for your starving households;  but
   you  must  bring me your youngest brother,  that  your
   words may be verified and that you may not die.'   And
   they did accordingly.
   They   said  to  one  another,  'Alas,  we   are  being
   punished  on  account of our brother [Yosef],  because
   we  looked on at his anguish, yet paid no heed  as  he
   pleaded  with us.  That is why this distress has  come
   upon us.'
   Then  Reuven  spoke up and said to them,  'Did  I   not
   tell  you, Do not sin against the child; but  you  did
   not listen, and now his blood is being avenged.'
   They  did  not know that Yosef understood,  for  there
   was  an  interpreter between him and them.  He  turned
   away  from them, and wept.  But he came back  to  them
   and  spoke to them; and he took Shimon from among them
   and had him bound before their eyes." (42:18-24)

      We  have previously defined this kind of repentance
as  "Reuven's  repentance," a repentance  which  involves
submission  and acceptance of the verdict,  but  lacks  a
program for improvement and change. Yosef is prepared  to
accept his brothers' confession and their submission.  He
witnesses the beginning of the ten brothers' reconnection
to the sons of Rachel, and he cries (42:24).  But this is
not  sufficient  for him.  He requires a  fuller,  deeper
repentance.

B) Second Tears
     Yosef expected that the brothers would return to him
empty-handed, placing themselves in danger by  explaining
to him that they had decided not to endanger Binyamin for
the  sake of Shimon and were willing to suffer the  shame
of hunger.  This is what would have happened, had Ya'akov
had  his way.  Thus Yosef was disappointed when it became
clear  to  him that the brothers had brought Binyamin  in
order  to  redeem  Shimon, despite the  danger  to  their
youngest brother.

   "Looking  about,  he  saw his  brother   Binyamin,  his
   mother's  son,  and  asked,  'Is  this  your   youngest
   brother  of  whom you spoke to me?'  And he  went   on,
   'May God be gracious to you, my boy.'
   With  that,  Yosef hurried out, for  he  was   overcome
   with  feeling toward his brother and was on the  verge
   of tears; he went into a room and wept there." (43:29-
   30)

      Yosef  is  still unaware of Yehuda's assumption   of
responsibility for Binyamin.  His mercy is  aroused  when
he  realizes that his younger brother's fate is to be  no
better  than  his  own  -  Yosef views  Binyamin's   being
brought to Egypt as a recurrence of his own sale.   True,
in  this  case it is brought on by hunger and is not  the
outcome of jealousy or hatred.  Nonetheless, this was not
the total repentance that was expected in the wake of the
confessions  he  had heard from the brothers  and  Reuven
previously.

      The  verse  tells  us that Yosef  feels   compassion
towards  Binyamin, and weeps in private.  Yosef  believes
that  Yehuda,  the  man who had proposed  his  sale,  had
prevailed over Reuven, the man who had tried to save him.
This  is the only possible explanation of Yosef's  crying
over  Binyamin,  his  tears  being  tears  of  mercy   for
Binyamin and not tears of happiness at the event of their
meeting.   Why  else should the exiled brother,  who  had
spent  a  third  of his life in prison, have  pitied  his
thirty-year old brother, who had remained with his father
and raised a large family?

C) Third Tears
      Yosef decided to test his brothers once more.  This
time,  however,  the  test would be more  difficult.   He
makes  his brothers jealous of Binyamin in the  same  way
that they had once been jealous of him.  He displays more
outward   affection  for  Binyamin  than  for  them    and
increases his portion five times over, as well as  giving
him a striped coat (and five other garments, 43:34).   He
also  attempts  to  arouse the brothers'  hatred  towards
Binyamin  for having stolen his goblet, an act  that  re-
implicated them for the crime of espionage.  Yosef's  aim
is  to  test their reaction to the prospect of Binyamin's
permanent enslavement in Egypt.

      The  brothers  rend  their  garments   (parallel  to
Yosef's coat, 37:23).  Yehuda says, "God has revealed the
sin  of  your  servants," and then  offers  himself   into
permanent  slavery  as  atonement for  his  lifelong  sin
towards his father.

   "Yehuda  approached him and said: '...Now your servant
   has  pledged himself for the boy to my father, saying,
   If  I  do  not  bring him back to you,  I   shall  have
   sinned  to my father for all days.  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.'
   Yosef  could no longer control himself before all  his
   attendants,  and  he  cried out, 'Haeveryone  withdraw
   from  me!'  So there was no one else about when  Yosef
   made himself known to his brothers.  His sobs were  so
   loud  that the Egyptians could hear, and so  the  news
   reached Pharaoh's palace." (44:32-45:2)

      At  this  point, Yosef is convinced of their   total
repentance.    Yehuda's  act  combines   two    kinds   of
repentance.   The  first  form  of  repentance  is    that
required by the early mystics (foremost, Rabbi Eliezer of
Worms, author of the Sefer Rokeach), whereby penance must
counterbalance the crime.  Yehuda, in a torn garment as a
permanent slave in Egypt, is in the exact position he had
placed  Yosef.   Secondly,  we  have  the  repentance   as
defined by the Rambam:

   "What  is  complete  repentance?   When  a   person  is
   confronted with the opportunity to repeat his sin  but
   restrains  himself  because  of  repentance,  and   not
   because of fear or weakness." (Hilkhot Teshuva 2:1)

      Yehuda  now  is prepared to give his life   to  save
Binyamin.   Yosef comes to realize his mistake in  crying
for  pity  over Binyamin.  He understands that Binyamin's
being  brought  down to Egypt was not the result  of  the
brothers'  disdain for Binyamin but rather the result  of
Yehuda's   becoming   Binyamin's   guarantor.     Yehuda's
repentance, including his attempt to amend the past, is a
continuation   and  completion  of  Reuven's    atonement.
Yosef's  weeping for the third time is a continuation  of
his  weeping the first time, when Reuven submitted to the
divine punishment.

      When the repentance is complete, Yosef is no longer
capable of restraining himself, and he weeps openly.   At
this  stage,  the brothers' repentance for selling  Yosef
into slavery is complete and Yosef can reveal himself  to
them.

(This presentation of Rav Medan's ideas is abridged  from
a much longer article in Megadim, vol. 2.)

RAV BIN-NUN RESPONDS:

       After   carefully  reading  Rav   Medan's  detailed
arguments,  I  nevertheless maintain that my presentation
of the events is the correct one.

      There  is  clearly  a  process  of   repentance  and
rectification on the part of Yosef's brothers,  and  this
is  our guide to understanding the affair.  But all  this
is  God's  plan, not Yosef's.  All of R. Medan's evidence
proving a process of repentance is correct; but there  is
no reason to credit Yosef with this.

      At  the  end  of Bereishit (50:15-21) we   find  the
brothers,  after Ya'akov's death, prostrating  themselves
before  Yosef  and offering themselves as  slaves.   This
indicates  that  their  prior  repentance  had  not   been
complete,  and  they  did  not  regard  Yosef  as   having
orchestrated  (and  accepted) their  repentance  earlier.
Thus,  the  challenge of repentance offered the  brothers
regarding Binyamin is a challenge issuing from God. Yosef
himself  was  forever acting according to natural,  human
considerations, as I explained.

      It should be noted that R. Medan gives an extremely
contrived   interpretation  of   the   verse    explaining
Menashe's name, "For God has forced me to forget  all  my
tribulations and my father's house."  The verse seemingly
coheres with my explanation.  He also totally ignores the
significance  of  Yehuda's quotation of Ya'akov's  words,
"You  have  know that my wife bore me two;  one  departed
from me and I said he was surely devoured."  There is  no
proof  that Yosef's inability to restrain his  tears  was
due  solely  to Yehuda's final words and not to  Yehuda's
speech as a whole.

YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433

Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved