Parashat Miketz is the centerpiece of the story of Yosef. It relates his rise to the Egyptian throne and his subsequent encounter with his brothers. Yosef treats his brothers harshly. Why is he so cold? Why does he not reveal himself immediately? Why does Yosef insist that Benyamin be brought to him?
Though there is no shortage of explanations, the following approach seems particularly relevant at this time.
Our parasha connects three psakim (halachic decisions) found in the preceding and subsequent parashot. The first psak was by the Beit Din of the ten brothers of Yosef. They decided on a psak of "disengagement" from their brother. It seems that they argued that Yosef was a rodef, a mortal danger to their lives. The psak was wrong, and the Torah explains the source of the error: the judgment of the brothers was perverted because of the hatred towards Yosef that resided in their hearts.
How could this be? Were the ten brothers not the righteous forefathers of the tribes of Israel? HaShem judges his chassidim by a hair's breadth, and therefore the Torah uses a harsh description for what in reality was only a small flaw. But this small flaw, a little hatred, was the cause of an erroneous psak and its calamitous consequences.
The second psak is that of Yosef, his decision to reunite with his brothers - the exact reverse of the psak of "disengagement". What is the reason for the cold behavior of Yosef? Why does he not immediately come out with his ruling?
Yosef was uncertain. A posek must be absolutely neutral. The slightest bias in his heart can cause him to rule erroneously. Yosef had two realistic options. He could have chosen not to reunite with his brothers. If he had ruled this way, the twelve tribes of the Chosen Nation would have come from Ephraim and Menashe, and the ten sons of Benyamin. The existence of this option explains why Joseph insists that Benyamin be brought to him.
To issue a psak of truth, Yosef had to test his brothers. He needed an objective proof for their righteousness. He had to eliminate the possibility that his emotion would pervert his judgment. Yosef's heart must have been full of emotion: the pain of his exile, the love for his brothers and father, the patriarchic status he would gain if the Chosen Nation would come from the sons of Rachel. Yosef HaTsaddik deserves his title: his ruling expressed the truth.
The third psak is the one by Ya'akov, settling a nuance in the definition of the Chosen Nation that Yosef could not rule about because his personal involvement was too great: Ephraim and Menashe are tribes of Israel. Ya'akov ruled that they should not loose this status as a consequence of Yosef's greatness.
By Divine providence, we are reading about Yosef HaTsaddik while two great poskim in Israel are about to issue a psak that will likely make or break the formation of a government that plans to disengage from Gaza and the Shomron and to uproot Jews in the Land of Israel.
Their names: Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. May they rule like their namesake.
Though there is no shortage of explanations, the following approach seems particularly relevant at this time.
Our parasha connects three psakim (halachic decisions) found in the preceding and subsequent parashot. The first psak was by the Beit Din of the ten brothers of Yosef. They decided on a psak of "disengagement" from their brother. It seems that they argued that Yosef was a rodef, a mortal danger to their lives. The psak was wrong, and the Torah explains the source of the error: the judgment of the brothers was perverted because of the hatred towards Yosef that resided in their hearts.
How could this be? Were the ten brothers not the righteous forefathers of the tribes of Israel? HaShem judges his chassidim by a hair's breadth, and therefore the Torah uses a harsh description for what in reality was only a small flaw. But this small flaw, a little hatred, was the cause of an erroneous psak and its calamitous consequences.
The second psak is that of Yosef, his decision to reunite with his brothers - the exact reverse of the psak of "disengagement". What is the reason for the cold behavior of Yosef? Why does he not immediately come out with his ruling?
Yosef was uncertain. A posek must be absolutely neutral. The slightest bias in his heart can cause him to rule erroneously. Yosef had two realistic options. He could have chosen not to reunite with his brothers. If he had ruled this way, the twelve tribes of the Chosen Nation would have come from Ephraim and Menashe, and the ten sons of Benyamin. The existence of this option explains why Joseph insists that Benyamin be brought to him.
To issue a psak of truth, Yosef had to test his brothers. He needed an objective proof for their righteousness. He had to eliminate the possibility that his emotion would pervert his judgment. Yosef's heart must have been full of emotion: the pain of his exile, the love for his brothers and father, the patriarchic status he would gain if the Chosen Nation would come from the sons of Rachel. Yosef HaTsaddik deserves his title: his ruling expressed the truth.
The third psak is the one by Ya'akov, settling a nuance in the definition of the Chosen Nation that Yosef could not rule about because his personal involvement was too great: Ephraim and Menashe are tribes of Israel. Ya'akov ruled that they should not loose this status as a consequence of Yosef's greatness.
By Divine providence, we are reading about Yosef HaTsaddik while two great poskim in Israel are about to issue a psak that will likely make or break the formation of a government that plans to disengage from Gaza and the Shomron and to uproot Jews in the Land of Israel.
Their names: Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. May they rule like their namesake.
