Brothers in Alms

Last week we were captivated by the response of Joseph to the Ish, the mystical person he encountered when he had lost his way. When asked what do you seek, he responds; “My Bothers!” There is a staggering visualization expounded in the Midrash Bereishit Rabbah, which plays on this theme, in this week’s portion of Miketz.

Having spent considerable time following the drama in Egypt, Pharaoh’s dreams, leading to the release of Joseph, the interpreter of dreams, providing a sophisticated infrastructure to enable Egypt to survive the famine. The narrative then zooms in and returns to how these regional events are affecting our family. Jacob gathers his children and shares that he has seen and heard, (we will return to the midrash on these intriguing terms) that there are food rations to be had in Egypt, and he instructs his ten sons to “Go down and procure rations for us there, that we may live and not die.” The account continues. 42:3

וַיֵּרְד֥וּ אֲחֵֽי־יוֹסֵ֖ף עֲשָׂרָ֑ה לִשְׁבֹּ֥ר בָּ֖ר מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃

So the ten brothers of Joseph went down to get grain rations in Egypt;

You noticed it too! They are not referred to in the usual manner as Bnei Yaakov or Bnei Yisrael, the children of Israel, rather as the brothers of Joseph. The Midrash is astonishing;

“Joseph’s brothers descended” (Genesis 42:3). The verse should have said: “The children of Israel.” It is that initially, they did not treat him with brotherhood and sold him, but ultimately they had regrets and were saying: ‘When will we descend to Egypt and return our brother to his father?’ When their father told them to descend to Egypt, they all came to a consensus to return him.

This portrayal of the “brothers” unanimously coming to this conclusion, this acceptance of responsibility the need to act and do the right thing is astounding, בימים ההם בזמן הזה of those days at this time…We tragically are still waiting for this unity, this acceptance of responsibility amongst the “brothers”. 

The phrase in the opening verse of the chapter, לָ֖מָּה תִּתְרָאֽוּ׃ translated as Why do you keep looking at one another? Is intriguing. The verb is actually in the “hitpael” form the reflexive, implying that they were looking at themselves rather than each other. This image may also be an expression of distress not so much as a result of the famine rather the on-going feeling of anguish over what they had done. Another interpretation offered by Rashi, is why should you cause everyone to look at you and wonder how come you are not searching for food? This will cause envy and suspicion as to why they were not seeking alms.

These vignettes demonstrate how the family feuds are resolved through a deep awareness, seeing inside of themselves and being cognizant of how they may appear to others. The children of Israel become brothers, a metamorphosis attained through Teshuva, – repentance, taking responsibility and acting on it.

One further timeless and timely insight in Bereishit Rabbah warrants mentioning;

וּמִפְּנֵי מָה לֹא נֶאֱמַר יֶשׁ אֹכֶל בְּמִצְרָיִם, שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב: כִּי יֶשׁ שֶׁבֶר בְּמִצְרָיִם, וַהֲלוֹא כְּבָר נֶאֱמַר (בראשית מא, נה): וַתִּרְעַב כָּל אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וּמַה תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר יֶשׁ שֶׁבֶר, אֶלָא אַל תְּהִי קוֹרֵא יֵשׁ שֶׁבֶר, אֶלָּא יֵשׁ סֵבֶר, שֶׁרָאָה בָּאַסְפַּקְלַרְיָא שֶׁסִּבְרוֹ בְּמִצְרַיִם, וְאֵיזֶה זֶה, זֶה יוֹסֵף

Why does it not say “there was food in Egypt,” but instead it is written: “That there was grain shever in Egypt”? Is it not already stated: “The entire land of Egypt was hungry”? Why does the verse state: “There was grain shever”? Rather, do not read it as “there was grain shever,” but rather, “there was hope sever” as he foresaw that his hope was in Egypt. What was that? That was Joseph. 

Jacob never lost hope that he would merit to see his son Joseph again, and it was to be achieved through the brothers, in alms.