This week features one of the most challenging stories in the entire Torah. The sons of Yaakov, seemingly furious at their brother, Yossef, for tattling about them to their father decide to kill him. Then, rather than kill him directly, they resolve to throw him into an empty water hole and leave him there. Eventually, Yehuda suggests that while they are doing this, they might as well sell him into slavery to a passing group of Midianites. The story is exceptionally troubling because we are accustomed to thinking of the sons of Yaakov, the progenitors of the tribes, as profoundly righteous people. How could they engage in such terrible conduct?
This question has bothered Jewish thinkers throughout history, and they have proposed various solutions. Most famous is the Rashbam (Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir, a twelfth-century French rabbi and grandson of Rashi). He suggests that, actually, the brothers didn't sell Yossef into slavery. Although they thought of doing so, another group of Yishmaelites passed by before they could, pulling him from the hole. The brothers had been upset by Yossef's crying, so they had moved further away and didn't realise that he was gone until afterwards. This also explains Reuven's distress upon learning that Yossef was gone (he had intended to save Yossef himself and return him to Yaakov). The Rashbam's explanation leaves much to be desired. While it absolves the brothers of responsibility for the sale of Yossef, it leaves them with the guilt of the attempt to kill him and of the plan to sell him, which went unrealised.
Another opinion is that of the Rabbi Ovadia of Sforno. He thinks that the brothers were afraid that when Yossef carried word of their supposed ill-deeds to Yaakov, Yaakov might come to curse them. As a result, their lives would be in danger. We see that when Yaakov cursed anyone who had taken anything from Lavan's house, Rachel died because she had stolen Lavan's idols to prevent her father from worshipping them. So, the brothers reasonably thought they were saving themselves from someone dangerous. This explanation is also lacking. Could they have not had a conversation with Yaakov about the problem?
Many other explanations have been given to avoid the simple import of the story, which is that Yossef's brothers behaved abominably. However, one famous Midrash included in Yom Kippur's and Tisha BeAv's prayers takes a different approach. The Midrash states that as part of their persecution of the Jews, the Romans killed ten very famous and prominent rabbis. They chose that number as punishment for the brothers of Yossef. The Torah decrees that if someone abducts a Jew and sells them into slavery, the kidnapper receives the death penalty. The Romans saw themselves as fulfilling the divine command. When Rabbi Yishmael, the most senior of the rabbis in question, ascended to heaven and asked the angel Gabriel whether Hashem endorsed this interpretation, he was informed that Hashem had himself decreed that the ten rabbis would be punished for the sins of the forebears as from the time of Yossef until then there had not been ten rabbis together of such stature. The Midrash is not historical. The ten rabbis did not even live together at the same time. However, the story powerfully illustrates that the brothers did something terrible and that we continue to live with the consequences of their sin to this day.
Sometimes, when we are injured, we heal quickly and soon forget what happened. Other times, though we recover, the injury remains in part and never entirely goes away. The Midrash explains that the distrust and strife of Yossef and his brothers continue to affect us today. We continue to suffer from the adverse effects of that ancient lack of unity.
After an injury, we often must go to rehab to recover. We relearn to use the relevant muscles and joints and to achieve what we want, ideally in a pain-free way. We need spiritual rehab now. We need to work on the muscles of unity, mutual respect, and consideration. We need to exercise our ability to be kind and considerate. Only by doing so can we finally escape the horrible damage of the sin of Yossef's brothers so long ago.
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