The drama between Yosef and his brothers reaches its climax at the beginning of our Parsha and is immediately resolved: "And Yehudah drew near to him and said: Please, my lord..." (xliv, 14).
Rashi explains "that Yehudah spoke harshly to Yosef. He said to him, if you anger me I will kill you along with your master. Immediately following this talk, "And Yosef could not refrain himself before all those standing before him, and he called: Remove every person from me. And no-one stood with him when Yosef made himself known to his brothers" (xlv, 1).
What caused Yosef to reveal himself to his brothers at this specific juncture? According to the words of Rashi quoted above, it can be claimed that Yosef understood that if he goes too far the situation will become dangerous. If he does not reveal himself to his brothers they might kill him and Paro, and hence he must make himself known at this precise moment.
Yet the plain meaning of the text includes no reference to any threats that Yehudah might have aimed at Yosef. Yehudah's words include two central claims. Firstly, a concern for Ya'akov's welfare: "And now, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his soul is tied to his soul, and it will be when he sees that the lad is absent and he will die (- his father from his distress, Rashi), and your servants will bring down the grey hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave" (xliv, 30-31). Yehudah's second claim involves the guarantee he accepted upon himself. "For your servant became surety for the lad for my father, saying: If I do not bring him to you then I will have sinned to you for all days" (32). This guarantee is not an abstract one, but is of a most practical nature: "Now please let your servant stay instead of the lad, as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers" (33). Finally Yehudah restates his original claim: "For how will I go up to my father and the lad is not with me, lest I see the evil that will befall my father" (34). At this point Yosef reveals himself to his brothers. The implication is that Yehudah's concern for his father and brother caused Yosef to understand that the time had come to reveal himself to his brothers. The Midrash Rabbah (93:9) states: "Said Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba: All the things that you read that Yehudah spoke to Yosef in front of his brothers until you reach 'And Yosef could not refrain himself' contained words of reconciliation to Yosef, to the brothers, and to Binyamin. Reconciliation to Yosef - showing how he is prepared to give his life for Rachel's son. Reconciliation to the brothers - showing how he is prepared to give his life for his brothers. Reconciliation to Binyamin - he said to him, just as I am giving myself over for you, so I give my soul over for your brother." Here the guarantee is displayed in all its glory, a guarantee that comes from a pure source, one that reflects thoughts focused on the good of the other rather than on the good of the guarantor himself. At times a "surety" of this kind can leading to prying into another's life, and supposedly G-d-fearing intentions lead to the establishment of secret police that discovers and reports to its superiors regarding each activity of every person, both public and private. This is the rule of dictatorship and tyranny that glorifies itself in an ideology of concern to the other (sometimes the regime is "enlightened" and supposedly acts in the interest of both community and individual, whereas it is actually only looking out for its own interests and those close to it. In such a situation it becomes harder to lay bare the shaky foundations of the regime, and it is therefore very dangerous...)
The dreams that Yosef dreamed express his connection to his brothers rather than a personal or private matter. When Yosef sees this expression of Israelite surety he understands that it is now the time to go beyond himself and join the community. If he does not reveal himself to his brothers now it becomes clear that Yosef's connection to the rest of his brothers was for his own personal benefit, and this is patently untrue. If he stays at the side at this point, he will disconnect himself from the house of Israel and remain a deputy to the king of Egypt, and this is something he cannot bear. Therefore, "And Yosef could not refrain himself before all those standing before him." He demands that all Egyptians should leave the room, since the moment of truth has arrived in which all 12 brothers, the tribes of G-d, become connected in practice into a single unit, and there is no place to include others in the unity of the Israelite nation.
Both the brothers and Yehudah emphasize the notion of mutual guarantee in their comments to Yosef's messenger who chased after them in order to discover Yosef's goblet. The brothers say: "With whomever it is found of your servants shall die, and we shall also be slaves to my master" (xliv, 9). The messenger's response, "...he with whom it is found shall be my servant, while you will be blameless" (10), is a logical one. Why should the other brothers be slaves - they did nothing! This state of affairs is reiterated when the brothers return to Yosef. Yehudah says: "Behold we are slaves to my master, both us and the one in whose hands the goblet was found" (16). Yosef's response: "And he said: Far be it from me to do that. The man by whom the goblet was found shall be my slave, while you shall go up to your father in peace" (17). From a legal and human perspective Yosef's claim is a correct one - why should the rest be punished for the sin of one? Yet things work differently for Klal Yisrael. This distinction stems from the difference in the relationship between the individual and the community by the nations as opposed to the situation by Israel. Rav Kook writes as follows (Orot, p. 144, 3): "The relationship of Knesset Yisrael to its individuals is different from the relationship of every other national gathering to its individuals. All national gatherings provide the individual only with the external aspects of the essence, while each person receives something of the essence itself from the Divine soul, without the intermediary of the gathering. This is not the case with Israel. The souls of individuals come from the source of the Eternal One through the treasury of the community, and it is the community that provides the soul for individuals." A gentile is first and foremost a private person like all other people, without reference to his nationality. Yet a Jew is first and foremost the bearer of an Israelite soul, which provides him with his essence.
Hence a person of Israel cannot disconnect himself from the community. "Great is this requirement that every member of Israel has for the community, and he is always prepared to give himself over for it without being torn from the nation, because his soul and its self-correction demand this from him" (Orot, ibid).
Yehudah indeed guaranteed the lad, and he emphasizes this point at the outset of our Parsha. Yet the true foundation of the surety does not begin from Yehudah's accepting upon himself the guarantee, but from the inner guarantee of the nation. Therefore both the brothers and Yehudah say that all of them will be Yosef's slaves because of Binyamin's act. The Midrash Rabbah (93:1) advises a person not to act as a surety. It reads as follows: "'My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands for a stranger. You are snared by the words of your mouth, you are caught by the words of your mouth. Do this my son and deliver yourself...' (Mishlei vi, 1-3). Said Rabbi Chanina: Flee from three things. Flee from pledges, from annulments and from acting as a surety between your fellows." This midrash, which appears at the beginning of our Parsha, raises a question: was Yehudah wrong to have accepted upon himself the surety of Binyamin? This view clearly contradicts our entire explanation. Yet a perusal of the rest of the midrash proves otherwise. The Midrash continues: "Another explanation: 'My son, if you have become surety' - this is Yehudah's 'I will guarantee him'; 'if you have struck your hands for a stranger' - 'from my hand you shall demand him'; 'you are snared by the words of your mouth' - 'if I do not bring him to you'; 'Do this my son and deliver yourself' - go and cling to the dust of his feet, and accept his reign and lordship - 'And Yehudah drew near to him.'" The Midrash's attitude towards Yehudah does not imply criticism for his acceptance of a surety over Binyamin, but rather forms a description of the situation along with advice on how to act during the complications with Yosef.
We shall try to understand when a surety is negative and when it is positive. When a person signs as a guarantor for his friend so that he will be able to borrow money, his intention is not to return the money in place of the borrower. He merely wants the lender to agree to the transaction. Thus, as soon as the borrower is unable to pay and the lender claims the loan from the guarantor, the latter feels cheated. He feels exploited and duped, and of course he regrets accepting the guarantee. The Midrash advises us to keep well away from such a guarantee. The guarantor is prepared to offer the borrower verbal assistance only, while leaving his pocket out of it (the Midrash applies to this the pasuk in Mishlei, "You are snared by the words of your mouth"). As opposed to this, when Yehudah guaranteed Binyamin he expressed the deep and pure connection between all Israel. Yehudah's life inherently depends on that of Binyamin as well as on the lives of all Israel, due to the single soul of the Israelite nation. Yehudah brings to the fore the original unity of the nation, which is hidden from one who reflects on it from an external viewpoint. When Am Yisrael arrives in its land for the first time as a people in the time of Yehoshua, their mutual responsibility is again made apparent. Yehoshua commands: "And the city (=Yericho) shall be devoted, it and all that is in it, to Hashem..." (Yehoshua vi, 17). Achan trespasses against the devoted property, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to Yehoshua: "Israel has sinned, and they have also broken my covenant that I commanded them, and they have also taken from the devoted property, and they have also stolen, as well as lied, and have also put it amongst their own vessels" (vii, 11). Only one person trespassed against the devoted property and yet Hakadosh Baruch Hu says that Israel has sinned. When Am Yisrael is in a healthy state, mutual responsibility is made clear. When Am Yisrael arrives in its land, it begins to live a true national life, and the connection between the individual and the congregation is perfected.
It is interesting that both in our Parsha and in the Achan episode we find an encounter between Yehudah and the tribe of Yosef. Yehoshua is from the tribe of Ephraim, as opposed to Achan, who is a member of the tribe of Yehudah. Yehudah is the king of Israel. The function of the king is to rally the entire nation to the single purpose of the perfect service of Hashem. This function can be executed only when the unity of the nation, which finds expression in mutual responsibility, is understood and lived in practice. Yosef leads Yehudah to connect and express the communal aspect of Israel, and through this to prepare himself for the kingship. When we reach the land the forces of a unified life must also be revealed. Yehoshua in his righteousness determined that the entire spoil of Yericho must be devoted and through this he led Achan to reveal (albeit in a negative manner) the perfect Israelite surety as it finds expression in Eretz Yisrael.
We learn from this that sometimes it is the difficulties that reveal our mutual responsibility. The complicated situation in which we live today will also lead us to live a perfect and unified Israelite life, out of which will be revealed the perfect Divine unity.
Shabbat Shalom from Beit Orot in Yerushalayim
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