The Weekly Shtikle - Mikeitz

I have always found Mikeitz to be somewhat of a unique parsha. While dialog in the Torah is traditionally terse and concise, I find the exchanges in Mikeitz to be more thorough and detailed. Additionally, the text is rich with evocative narrative detailing various emotions such as Yoseif being moved to tears on numerous occasions. Yet, with all this extended detail, there is still so much left to be analyzed and interpreted, particularly when it comes to the exchanges between Yoseif and his brothers. Shaarei Aharon enumerates 23 different approaches to understanding the initial charge of espionage and the brothers' response.

 

One chapter of the story that caught my attention was the imprisonment of the brothers on the premise that one of them would have to return to retrieve Binyamin. This is followed by Yoseif's change of heart, opting instead to send them all home and only detain one brother. After this is suggested it is recounted, (42:20) "vaya'asu chein," and so they did. What did they do? Not only did they not seem to act right away, it was ultimately Yoseif who separated Shimon. Many commentaries conclude that this simply indicates that they agreed. This is followed by the heart-wrenching exchange between the brothers as they finally begin to lament their treatment of Yoseif. Why is this triggered precisely at this moment? Why did they not express these feelings when they were all thrown in jail?

 

The first approach I will explore is that of R' Yaakov Kaminetsky in Emes L'Yaakov. He understands that when Yoseif charged his brothers with espionage, the charge itself wasn't as significant as the greater lesson he was trying to convey to the brothers – that things aren't always as they seem. Sometimes, one can be absolutely sure of something but if he takes a good, honest and unbiased look at the situation, he discovers things to be quite different. The brothers were most certain that Yoseif was deserved of death or slavery and acted upon that conviction swiftly. Now, the viceroy of Egypt was certain that these men were spies and incarcerated them. He then comes back three days later having reconsidered his charge. Additionally, if he sends only one brother back, he would not be capable of hauling the produce necessary for the rest of the family. So, despite his high position of authority, he is able to rethink his position and recant. The brothers got the message. That is why they, too, only at that moment, begin to regret their treatment of Yoseif and the lack of compassion they exercised when carrying out what they had perceived to be a just punishment.

 

This beautiful approach still leaves the words "vaya'asu chein" unexplained. For this, we turn to Mahari"l Diskin's analysis. Yoseif's revised plan involved detaining just one of the brothers. It was initially up the brothers, in theory, to choose which one of them would stay behind. This is problematic as it touches on a quandary discussed in Yerushalmi (Terumos 8:4) regarding whether it is permissible to give over a single person to the authorities in order to save others. This topic is far too vast to cover here but it seems that a drawing of lots would be a suitable method of deciding who is chosen in this case. This is what the brothers began to do as they discussed their guilt in the treatment of Yoseif. Reuvein therefore pleads his case that he should be excluded from this lot since he advocated for the brothers to let Yoseif be. (See the text of the Mahari"l Diskin for a much more thorough discussion about the nuances of such a lottery.) So that is why the brothers are discussing what they did to Yoseif at this juncture and the discussion itself is the explanation of "vaya'asu chein." Since the brothers could not agree on how to choose one of them, Yoseif stepped in and made the decision for them, grabbing Shimon who certainly bore much of the responsibility for his fate.

 

Have a Chaunkah Samei'ach, a good Shabbos!

 

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

 

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Dikdukian: Clear the Halls (Chanukah)

Dikdukian: Na'asah Nes

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Dikdukian: Be Strong

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