Reuven spoke to them saying 'Did I not speak to you saying 'Do not sin against the boy,' but you would not listen..." (Genesis 42:22)
Harking back to the Biblical portion of Toldot, it is fairly clear that Isaac's initial intention was to divide the material blessings (berakhot) and the religious leadership (bekhorah); Jacob was to receive the bekhorah of religious leadership and Esau the berakhot of material blessings.
Rebecca convinces him that Jacob can and must utilize the techniques (hands) of Esau when the occasion demands it, so both the blessings and the first-bornship must go to the same son! Jacob's tent of Torah study must have the technological, financial and military back-up to spread the values of ethical monotheism throughout the world.
However, we will see that Jacob himself repeats the division that his father had attempted. He gives the material blessings – fruitfulness and a double portion of land – to Joseph, while the prize of religious leadership - the scepter of leadership goes to Judah (Gen 49:8-10, see Targum and Rashi).
Why does Jacob pass over his first-born, Reuven, in favor of his fourth son, Judah?
We cannot help but admire the virtuous "stiff upper lip" of a self-sacrificing Reuven, who attempted to quell his brothers' anger against Joseph and save him from destruction at their hands. Even though he is the one with the most to gain from the removal of Joseph, it is Reuven who comes to Joseph's rescue.
The Midrash emphasizes this when Leah names Reuven: "And Leah conceived and bore a son, calling his name Reuven, because she said the Lord has seen into my affliction, now my husband shall love me." (Genesis 29: 32) In Hebrew, these words may be seen as an acrostic from Reuven. Hence the Midrash, expands on the acrostic, "See (re'u) the difference between my son (Reuven) and the son of my father-in-law (Esau);
Reuven did not sell his birthright to Joseph and still he did not protest when Jacob gave Joseph the coat of many colors; moreover, he sought to extricate him from the pit" (Gen 39:20-22).
My revered teacher Harav Joseph B. Soloveitchik suggested that Reuven received his capacity to express largesse towards Joseph from his long suffering mother, Leah. When Leah says: "The Lord has seen my affliction," the Targum explains, "My shame has been revealed before God" - that is to say before God and not before anyone else, Leah sobbed into her pillow but she did not say a word to anyone else. She swallowed her pride and accepted her status in the eyes of her husband as long as she could fulfill her mission to bear and nurture many of the future tribes of Israel!
Similarly, Reuven believed that as the first-born, he had to protect the brothers from jeopardizing their position as "the tribes of God" even if that meant forfeiting his own chance for the bekhorah patrimony.
However, with all his good intentions, Reuven does not succeed in saving Joseph from imminent death. He doesn't read his brothers' thoughts and feelings perceptively enough. When the brothers said, "Let us kill him and cast him into one of the pits", Reuven responded, "Let us not destroy a life . . . Do not shed blood, cast him into this pit which is in the desert, but lay no hand upon him" (Genesis 37: 21,22).
When Reuven sees that they want Joseph dead, he implores them not to strike the death blow, but rather to allow Joseph to die "naturally" in the pit. The verse concludes by informing the reader that Reuven's intent was to rescue Joseph after the brothers dispersed – but by then it may be too late. Reuven might well find a dead brother when he is finally able to come to the rescue. Reuven gets an "A" for effort, but he does not fulfill his mission to save Joseph.
When Jacob hears that that the brothers have told the Grand Vizier about their youngest brother Benjamin and that he has insisted that Benjamin accompany them on their next journey to Egypt, he is disconsolate. Jacob refuses to give up Benjamin saying, "You have made me bereft of children; Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone, and now you wish to take Benjamin away [from me] . . ." (Genesis 42: 36).
Reuven again courageously "steps up to the plate," but with a strange promise: "You can slay my two sons if I do not bring [Benjamin] back to you. Put him in my care and I will return him to you" (Genesis 42: 37).
Father Jacob obviously refuses to accept such a guarantee – and doesn't even mention it in his refusal.
|In both of these instances, Judah succeeds where Reuven fails; Judah not only has the right intentions, he also has the ability to enter the minds of his adversary and make the kind of offer they will willingly accept.