Vayigash Joseph 5775
The most extraordinary aspect in the story of Joseph is that the brothers repented of their grave crime and that Joseph appears to have forgiven them. Yet, Joseph had every justification to bear a grudge against his siblings for ever. After all, they tried to kill him and only decided to sell him into slavery at the last moment. Indeed, for a period of 15 years, from the age of 17 years when they sold him until the age of 32 years when they came down to Egypt, Joseph had time to reflect on the crime which they had caused him to suffer. Throughout those 15 years, he obviously couldn’t bring himself to write a letter home or to send a messenger informing his family that he was still alive. He had all the possibilities of doing so. He was the ruler of Egypt with an endless number of servants around him all the time. However, emotionally he just couldn’t bring himself to do this. He didn’t even manage to do with these out of compassion on his poor old father who loved him so much. Why? Some commentators have suggested that he might have suspected his father of having colluded in the plot to kill him. After all, it was his father who had sent him to his brothers, when he knew full well that they were angry with him.
After a period of two years of intense famine, the dramatic moment finally arrived. The brothers appeared before him seeking to buy food. We don’t know if Joseph was surprised or not to see them. But we do know that, as soon as he recognised them, he instantly remembered the dreams that he had dreamt, and which that he demanded they should listen to. He realised that this was the beginning of the fulfilment of those dreams. Now he knew that he had been right all along and that they had been cruel to him for no reason whatsoever. Because of this realisation, he had no intention of revealing himself to them. He was determined to make them pay a price for their crime. The Torah tells us, “When Joseph saw his brothers he acted like a stranger to them and spoke harshly to them.” He accused them of being spies. He behaved towards them with considerable cruelty. He imprisoned them and took Simon away from them. It was a punishment ‘Measure for Measure’. He couldn’t forgive or forget. This was despite the fact that he found the whole ordeal extremely hard emotionally. He was a sensitive man. He cried repeatedly throughout the meeting. Indeed, Joseph is reported to have cried more often than any other biblical figure. Nevertheless, he piled on their suffering. He made them very frightened. By the end of the Sidra Mikketz, the brothers were in a state of utter shock and disbelief. Joseph was about to take Benjamin away from them and make him a slave in his household.
At this point, at the beginning of the Sidra of Vayigash, Judah stepped forward and delivered an extremely moving and passionate speech to Joseph. He pleaded with Joseph to have compassion on his elderly father. Jacob was 130 years old. He told Joseph that his father would die if Benjamin would not return. He described how much Jacob loved Benjamin until, at the end of his speech, he offered to become Joseph’s slave instead of Benjamin.
When Joseph heard this pledge of loyalty, he was totally overwhelmed. He could not hold himself back any longer. He sent his advisors out of the room and declared: “I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into slavery…Do not be distressed or reproach yourselves …it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” This is, in my view, one of the most dramatic scenes in the Bible.
However, the famous Spanish commentator and statesman, Don Isaac Abarbanel, writes that, although God used the sale of Joseph to further His plan, God still regarded the brothers as accountable for their actions. It is for this reason, that the Torah never tells us that Joseph actually forgave his brothers for their crime against him. Indeed, the brothers were aware of this fact. They settled in Egypt but they remained afraid of Joseph. After their father died, they first sent a messenger to Joseph and then they came to him themselves to the Palace for special audience with him and pleaded yet again for him to forgive them. Again, he comforted them with beautiful words and told them not to worry because God had transformed their evil plan into goodness. But he did not forgive them specifically. He said that only God could forgive. He wanted to emphasise to them the teaching that when people commit such a grave crime, they sin against God as well.
The story of Joseph teaches us many important lessons. One lesson is that God has given us, as human beings, the resilience to overcome terrible evil and injustice and to learn from the experience and create a better world for others. Joseph succeeded in particular, because he had strong faith and trust in God. He was totally God-fearing. He recognised the hand of God in everything that happened to him. He mentioned God every time he spoke. He attributed all the interpretations of the dreams to God. He never claimed any success for himself. He was convinced that he had been sold to Egypt in order to sustain life. This enabled him to liberate himself from any desire to take revenge. He was determined to mend the world through love because he had been the victim of a really serious crime.
An interesting story is told about the famous, charismatic religious singer Shlomo Carlebach, whose melodies are now sung in many synagogues all over the world. In fact, the Friday night tunes which we sing in our synagogue are his creations. It is told that early in the 1970’s, he decided to go back to Vienna where he had been born in order to perform at a concert. People didn’t agree with that decision and accused him of being too forgiving. They told him not to perform in a former centre of Nazism, where so many Jews lost their lives. He replied: “If I had two hearts, I could use one to love and one to hate. But I only have one heart … so I use it to love!” My own father also went back to Germany in 1960 to become a Rabbi. He had suffered greatly at the hands of the Nazis and lost both his parents during the Holocaust. My father was eager to serve the Jewish community and to teach Judaism in the new West Germany. He never forgave the Germans, but he was a German and he was determined to show to a new generation of Germans, in the post-war era, that Judaism teaches love and compassion. Every week he spoke on the radio about Jewish topics, which were subsequently published in two books. These books were the first of their kind in post-war Germany. My father also went to countless universities to lecture to Germans about the Torah. He made a huge impact during his long period as a Rabbi in West Germany, from 1960 to 1982. I am very pleased that one very important thing that connects me with Rabbi Ginsbury is the fact that he is one of the few rabbis in London who knew my father well and studied with him in the rabbinical class of Jews College, under the great Talmudic scholar Rabbi Kahana. I think that those were the golden years of the Semichah class at Jews College. I mentioned this today, the fifth of Tevet, because it is my mother’s Yahrzeit. She was a devoted mother and Rebetzen. She helped and supported my father with great love in all his rabbinical activities. May their memory be for blessing.
Finally, let me return to the story of Joseph. Some commentators have suggested that when Joseph sent his servants out of the room, he risked his life. He was now alone with his brothers. His security had gone. His brothers could have easily attacked and killed him! While one of the reasons that Joseph may have sent the Egyptians out was in order not to humiliate his brothers in public, and the same time he showed his brothers that he was willing to risk his own life in the interest of reconciliation. In effect, he was saying to them: ‘If we are ever going to trust one another, then we must be willing to place our lives in one another’s hands. I will be the one to begin – healing must begin by my standing before you defenceless.’
Joseph’s greatest achievement was to reunify his family after it had been divided in such bitter circumstances. His strategy was ingenious. He was helped by Judah’s wisdom. Jacob’s family went on to become an ideal family. Abraham and Isaac did not have unity in their families. But Jacob’s sons remained united. All of the brothers, without exception, gave great honour to their father, Jacob. They all had deep faith in God. They became the founders of our nation. They inspired the Jewish people for all times. I believe that despite all the disagreements and divisions within our people, nevertheless, we remain the most united nation on earth. Israel is one of the greatest democracies in the world. When people protest or demonstrate in Israel, they never become violent, as they do in other countries. Even during the tragic evacuation of Gush Katif, in 2005 when feelings against the government ran really very high indeed and when people lost their homes and livelihoods, nevertheless, they still obeyed the government. When great rabbis were attacked and murdered inside a synagogue, about five weeks ago, it broke the hearts of all Jews all over the world. From Judah we learn the concept of Arvut which means that our lives are interlocked. Every Jew has a responsibility towards another Jew like no other nation. Every Jew, however distant, still feels attached to the source of his being in at least one minute corner of his heart.
The process of the unique unification of our people began in Egypt, in Joseph’s Royal Court. In the Haftarah, which we read this morning, we read the prophecy of the Prophet Ezekiel who prophesied that the climax of that process of unification will occur when the Messiah finally arrives. May this happen soon in our days.