And if

it comes to pass that Pharaoh calls you and asks, 'What is your occupation?'

You shall say, 'Your servants have been owners of livestock from our

of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians."

(Bereishit 46:33-34)

because all shepherds are

abhorrent to the Egyptians – This is a sign

that the Egyptians did not eat meat in those days and they would not permit anyone

to sacrifice sheep, as is this case with today's Indians. And if someone was a

shepherd, that would be abhorrent because he drank milk. The people of India

will neither eat nor drink anything coming from a sentient being unto this day.

(Ibn

Ezra Bereishit 46:34)

In a land such as Egypt, where

a person is judged only on the basis of his labor, where a person is born not

as a person but as an artisan, a farmer, soldier, etc. – the question regarding

occupation would naturally be the first question. But they will fearlessly

declare the unpleasant truth; the Egyptians' abhorrence of their occupation and

the nations' general loathing of the Jews, are the primary means of survival

for this tribe which is destined to pass the days in isolation. As long as the

light of morality has not dawned upon the nations, the barriers that the

nations raised against Israel protect him from contamination by the corruption

of the peoples among whom he will walk for centuries.

(Rabbi

S.R. Hirsch, Bereishit 46:33)

And Joseph could not restrain himself

Pinchas Leiser

These

words which follow upon Judah's speech mark a dramatic turning point in the

encounter between Joseph and his brothers. Up to now he was detached from them

and abused them; from here on in he reveals his true identity to them and lends

a different meaning to his presence in Egypt.

Then

Egypt.

But now do not be sad, and let it not

lord over all his household, and a ruler over the entire land of Egypt. (45:4-8)

In

this passage, Joseph merely sets out the facts and reinterprets his sale as a

divine mission, as if the brothers were simply playing an unconscious role in

the divine plan.

It is different when, following

Jacob's death, the brothers bring up their fear that Joseph will seek revenge

against them. There Joseph takes a different tone:

But

about what is at present to keep a great populace alive. (50:19-20)

As I

have already mentioned, in our parasha Joseph retroactively relates to his sale

as something that advanced the divine plan. In parashat Vayehi, following

Jacob's death, Joseph again relates to his brothers' evil intentions.

These

hints in Scripture's language strengthen the hypothesis that Joseph understood

both that events unfolded in accordance with God's will and that, at the same

time, that does not absolve his brothers of their responsibility.

I

think that the phrase and Joseph could not restrain himself also points

to Joseph's uncontrolled reaction, at least according to those exegetes who

view the word lehitapek [translated above as "restrain

himself"] as philologically similar to the word ipuk – self-restraint.

He wanted to restrain himself, but something stronger than him competed with

that wish and overcame it.

We

must then understand in what sense Joseph was unable to restrain

himself.

R.

Meir Simka MiDvinsk, the author of Meshekh Hokhma, views Joseph's

reaction as involving a kind of calculated moral decision:

Could

not restrain himself before all those attending – This means to say that he wanted

to control himself and to maneuver Jacob into fulfilling [the dream of] The

sun and the moon… bowing down to me. There was no reason for him to pity

his brothers, for they paid him no heed when he pleaded with them, but it was

not proper [for him to continue manipulating them] before all the attendants

who were not aware of the whole story; to them he would appear as a cruel

person with a merciless, evil heart. He could not control himself because of

all those attending him.

According to this interpretation, Joseph relinquished the

full realization of his dreams and his justified vengeance in order to avoid

seeming cruel to his Egyptian attendants.

Don Yitzhak Abarbanel presents an alternative approach:

The eleventh question: Could not restrain himself before all those

attending him (45:1). For if the matter of it was as Rashi

stated, that he could not bear having his Egyptian attendants see his brothers'

embarrassment upon his making himself known to them, than it should have been

stated as: and Joseph did not want and not could not. And if the matter is as RaMBaN stated,

that he could not remain strong before all of his attendants, for they would

have wanted him to forgive Benjamin – then it should have been stated that the

only reason why Joseph did not make himself known to his brothers was that the

Egyptians pleaded with him [and he did not want to create the impression that

he was revealing his identity only thanks to the Egyptians' pleading] But that

makes no sense, because, as I have explained, he had already finished punishing

them tit for tat, and now he wanted to make himself known to them.

But Joseph could not control himself, etc. until and

go up to my father (Bereishit 45: 1-8):

As Scripture mentioned above, the first time he heard his

brothers say, but we are guilty for our brother (42:21), he was

overcome with compassion – and he turned from them and wept and returned to

them (42:24). The second time, when they brought the offering, it says: And

us]" (43:30-31). However, this third time, when he was fuller with

compassion than in the previous instances, he had to turn away from them or

hide in his chamber to weep there and regain self-control and return to them. And

since Joseph could not restrain himself and hold back his weeping, nor

to leave and enter his chamber in order to weep because of all those

attending him – the men of his household who circled him from in front and

from behind – he had to say: remove every man from my presence, so that

everyone left and no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his

brothers. The eleventh question is solved.

Abarbanel interprets Joseph's inability to restrain himself

as a gradual softening-up, when in the final instance various factors keep him

from being able to leave to another room in order to weep.

ShaDaL reads the phrase could not differently from the

other commentators.

And Joseph

could not: He first

thought to hold Benjamin with him and send away his brothers without making

himself known to them, but now when Judah told him and when he saw that the

boy was not and had died, he was overcome

by compassion for his father and he found himself forced to allow Benjamin to

return to his father to keep his father from dying. Despite all of this his

desire to draw Benjamin near to him remained strong. He found no stratagem by

which Benjamin could be sent to his father and also brought near to himself

other than making himself known to his brothers and calling upon them all to

come to him. Or, perhaps it is as AHaM holds, that when he saw Judah's powerful

efforts – his willingness to remain as a slave in Benjamin's place – he was

overcome by compassion for his brothers and agreed to make himself known to them.

However, he kept control of himself and did not make himself known to them

because of the Egyptians who attended him in

order that they would not hear unfavorable things about them [the brothers] – how

they hated their brother and sold him. However, when Judah finished speaking he

was so very overcome by compassion that he could no longer control himself and

he had to cry out: Remove every man from my presence.

According to ShaDaL, Joseph actually

wanted to keep Benjamin with him and not make himself known to his brothers,

but he changed his mind out of consideration for his father or because he was

impressed by Judah's readiness to take full responsibility for Benjamin.

All of the commentators who dealt

with this phrase agree on one thing: that Joseph felt conflicted. Was the

conflict between different desires or different values? Did his emotional

condition keep Joseph from acting as he wanted?

I think Scripture does not allow

us to reach an unambiguous decision favoring one of the interpretations – and

perhaps for good reason.

Sometimes we must choose between

competing values and desires; every time we come to a decision we must give up

something. Sometimes it seems appropriate to behave with restraint but something

stronger than us overcomes us and does not allow us to exercise self-control.

In Joseph's encounter with his

brothers, his emotions overtook his desire to continue treating his brothers

coldly, but even so he could restrain himself long enough for the non-family

members who attended him to leave the room. In this way he kept the

attendants from knowing that he had been sold.

Perhaps this parasha teaches us

the proper balance between free expression of emotions and the need to find the

correct time and place to express them.

Pinchas Leiser, the editor of

Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist

Vayigash elav Yehuda

as it is written, Then Yoav and the people who were with him approached to

make battle. R. Nehemiah says: Approached to reconcile him, as it is

written, then the children of Judah approached Joshua to reconcile him.

The rabbis say: Approached to pray, as it is written, Elijah approached.

R. Eliezer combined the

interpretations: If for war – I will come; if for reconciliation – I will come;

if for prayer – I will come.

R. Meir says: Vayigash

refers only to peace, for it is said, and they approached… and he

inquired of their peace.

R. Yehudah says: Vayigash

refers only to sacrifice, for it is written Vayigash [and he brought

near] the bull of the sin-offering.

R. Yossi says: Vayigash

refers only to rebuke, for it is said, and they said, draw close [gash

hala].

R. Natan says: Vayigash

refers only to touching, for it is said, Please draw near, and I will

touch my son.

(Yalkut Shimoni Bereishit 44:150)

Who is Courageous? He Who Makes a Friend of

his Enemy

Rabbi Shimon said: The firmament is made entirely of water and the

angels entirely of fire [as we read] his servants are fiery flames. Yet

the water does not extinguish the fire, nor does fire burn the water. Judah and

Joseph; this is a lion, the other an ox. Yesterday they gored each other, and

now one is sent as an emissary to the other, as it says: And he sent Judah

before him. [Therefore,] say: He makes peace in His heights.

(Midrash Tanhuma VaYigash 6)

…from there on, Wind's spirit was lowered and he came politely. Since

he treats me politely, I treat him politely as well. When he comes, I go out to

meet him and ask him to sit with me on a bench in the garden between the trees.

And he comes and sits. And when he comes he brings a nice fragrance from the

mountains and from the valleys, and fans me as if with a fan. And since he acts

like a perfect penitent, I do not remind him of his earlier deeds. And when he

leaves me and goes, I ask him to return, as is customary with a good neighbor.

Indeed, we are good neighbors, and I love him with a complete love. It is even

possible that he loves me as well.

(S.Y. Agnon, Mei'Oyeiv

le'Ohev pg. 482)

Words that Come from the Heart Enter the

Heart – the Art of Diplomacy

A gentle response allays wrath; a harsh word

provokes anger (Proverbs 15:1): King Solomon teaches in this verse that a person must train his soul and

habituate his nature and tongue to offer gentle response, for a

gentle response calms and sets aside the wrath of the angry,

while harsh words – which are the opposite of gentle – give rise to anger

and wrath.

(Rabbeinu Behayey on

Parashat Vayigash)

Is Man

Responsible for the Direction of his Actions and for their Results?

It was not you who sent me here, but God – But they sold

him of their own volition, in order to harm him! And even if it developed that

some benefit derived from the sale – their sin still stands, for a person is

judged not by what happens to evolve from his actions, but only on the basis of

his action and his intent; what happens to develop later neither adds nor

detracts.

(Abarbanel on Bereishit 45:8)

It is very clear that everything that is produced in time

must necessarily have a proximate cause, which has produced it. In its turn

that cause has a cause and so forth till finally one comes to the First Cause

of all things, I mean God’s will and free choice. For this reason all those intermediate

causes are sometimes omitted in the dicta of the prophets, and an individual

act produced in time is ascribed to God, it being said the He, may He be

exalted, has done it…

Know you, that all proximate causes through which is produced

in time that which is produced in time, regardless of whether these causes are

essential and natural, or voluntary, or accidental and fortuitous – I mean by

the voluntary cause of that particular thing produced time, the free choice of

a man – and even if the causes are ascribed in the books of the prophets to

God, may He be exalted. And according to their manner of expressing themselves,

it is said of such an act that God did it or commanded it or said it…

(RaMBaM Guide for the Perplexed, II

48)

His

heart failed… their father Jacob's spirit came to life: The Connection Between Body And Soul

His

heart failed – His heart stopped

beating and his breathing ceased, for cardiac activity stopped and he was as

dead. This is a known phenomenon resulting from sudden joy. Medical texts state

that the aged and weak may not be able to withstand this; many faint at the

sudden reception of good tidings; the heart suddenly expands and opens, and the

warmed blood goes out and spreads throughout the external portions of the body,

and as a result of its cooling, the heart ceases. The old man fell as if dead,

and he said that he believed them not, informing us that he stood a good part

of the day, and he lies in silence because he did not believe them, for he knew

that this fainting would lead to their shouting at him, accustoming him to this

joy until it is absorbed in calm. This is the reason that they spoke to him

etc. – they were shouting Joseph's words into his ears, and bringing the

wagons before him, and then his spirit returned to him, and his breathing was

restored, and he lived, and this is the meaning of their father Jacob's

spirit came to life.

(RaMBaN, Bereishit 45:26)

Acquire

us and our lands

Joseph,

however, hated slavery, that a person should rule over another to his detriment.

Therefore it is written, And Joseph acquired all the lands of Egypt for

Pharaoh but he did not purchase them as slaves; the land alone

became Pharaoh's property, whereas they were temporarily drafted to work for

their bread, becoming day laborers in field work. Therefore Joseph said, Now

that I have acquired you… today – This is to say: (You)

temporarily, and your lands forever for Pharaoh. Therefore he

transferred them to the cities, lest they continue to hold their land, for how

can one discern that he acquired their lands if they (the sellers) were not

sold and they continue to live on their land.

(Meshekh Hokhma, Bereishit 47:19)

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