Bostoner Torah Insights: Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in Hebrew and English: Parshas Vayigash – 7 Tevet 5786
Bostoner Torah Insights - Yerushalayim
Bostoner Torah Insights
Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English
Parshas Vayigash – 7 Tevet 5786
Bostoner Rebbe shlit’a – Yerushalayim
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One wonders why Yosef never tried to send a message to Yaakov Avinu that he was alive in Egypt or plea for his father to come and rescue him. Perhaps when Yosef was a slave and a prisoner, there was no opportunity to get out a message, but until his brothers arrived in Egypt, he was viceroy for over nine years. It is peculiar that Yosef did not try to contact his father.
Rashi (Beraishis 37:33) suggests that there was a חרם Cherem administered by the brothers that imposed a curse upon anyone who divulged to Yaakov what had happened. According to Rashi, this Cherem applied to Yitzchak Avinu and – as if it were possible – Hashem himself. Seemingly, Yosef was also bound by this Cherem and could not contact his father until the Cherem was lifted.
The Rebbe zt"l suggested that Yosef did not attempt to contact his father, due to his suspicion that Yaakov Avinu was complicit in the conspiracy against him. After all, it was Yaakov who had sent Yosef to his brothers with complete knowledge of their animosity towards him. Furthermore, Yaakov had publicly 'scolded' Yosef ויגער בו אביו after his second dream saying, "What is this dream that you have dreamt…am I…and your brothers, to bow down to you…" (Beraishis 37:10) When the brothers came down to Egypt, Yosef tried to determine whether his father was an accomplice in his disappearance.
Numerous times, Yosef asked the brothers about the welfare of their father. Each time the brothers answered in the affirmative that their father was alive and well. Even though we are privy to the fact that Yaakov was mourning the disappearance of Yosef for 22 years and that "all of his sons and daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, I will go down to the grave in mourning for my son' and his father cried over him" (Beraishis 37:35), Yosef had no confirmation of this. For all Yosef knew, Yaakov was at peace with the 'joint decision' to send him away.
It was not until Parshas Vayigash, when Yehudah recapitulates the entire story in his attempt to arouse mercy toward Binyamin, that the following is related to Yosef: "Then your servant, my father said to us, 'You know that my wife (Rachel) bore me two (sons). One has left me and I declare that he has been surely killed, for I have not seen him since then. If you will take this one (Binyamin) as well from me and a tragedy will befall him, I will descend in my old age with evil to my grave" (Beraishis 44:27-29).
Through this monologue, not only did Yosef discover that Yehudah was now willing to sacrifice his own life for one of the sons of Rachel, but he also determined that his father played no part in what had happened to him. Perhaps this latter fact more than anything else was what caused Yosef "to be unable to restrain himself" (45:1) and finally reveal himself to his brothers and begin the process of reconciliation with his brothers and his father.
This also answers another question that emanates from the Torah text. When Yosef says to his brothers, "I am Yosef" (45:3), why does he also add the words, "Is my father still alive?" Yehudah had just told Yosef that they left Yaakov alive. Note, Yosef does not say is 'our' father still alive, rather is 'my' father still alive. Perhaps, he is expressing his elation that not only is Yaakov Avinu alive, but 'my' father is alive. The father who loves me and played no part in my abduction.
This approach also helps explain the comment made by the Midrash (Beraishis Rabba 94:3). "Yosef told the brothers that 'if he (Yaakov) will believe you then good, but if he will not believe you, tell him that at the time that we parted last we were involved with the Torah portion that discussed the עגלה ערופה Eglah Arufah' (Devarim 21:1-9)." The Midrash explains that this is why when Yaakov "saw the עגלות wagons that Yosef had sent…the spirit of their father was revived" (Beraishis 45:27 and Rashi there).
It is possible that Yosef had a deeper meaning hidden in his message regarding the Eglah Arufah. The young calf is axed on the nape of the neck to atone for the unsolved mystery of a Jewish corpse found in Eretz Yisroel, outside the city limits. During this ritual, the elders of the closest city declare, "Our hands have not spilled this blood and our eyes did not see" (Devarim 21:7). As the Gemara (Sotah 45b) explains, the elders are proclaiming that they had no knowledge that this individual had left their city without the proper escort or provisions to make his way safely to his destination. If they had known and neglected to provide these things to one of their residents or one of their messengers, they would certainly have 'blood on their hands'.
After Yehudah's oration at the beginning of Vayigash, Yosef was confident that Yaakov did not play a role in his abduction. Perhaps Yosef was hinting to his father via the message of Eglah Arufah that he did not hold any negative feelings toward his father. Yosef was indicating in a subtle way that he did not hold his father accountable for sending him to "look into the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock and report back to me" (Beraishis 37:14) without the proper 'escort or provisions'.
May we judge our fellow Jews favorably and forgive our fellow Jews who seemingly cause us distress or harm. Just as Yosef recognized that Hashem sent him ahead to sustain the Jewish people for a 'great deliverance' (Beraishis 45:7), we must all recognize that Hashem has a grand design for all that transpires in Jewish history. In this merit, may we increase the unity between the various factions of Klal Yisroel and see the next 'great deliverance' speedily in our days.