Caring Deeply for Others

When Yosef was reunited with his brothers, his embracing Binyamin, was particularly moving. The Torah describes this reunion by telling us that

Yosef fell on the shoulder of Binyamin, and Binyamin wept on the shoulder of Yosef.

Rashi tells us that each brother saw into the future that a Temple would be built in their territory, and later would be destroyed. Yosef’s territory had the Mishkan in Shilo for 369 years, and Binyamin’s territory houses the two Temples.

According to the מעינה של תורה, this was an indication of the deep love between the brothers. They cared more about the other’s loss more than their own.

They understood that Jews would suffer because of causeless hatred in the future. They wanted to combat this with אהבת חינם, unconditional love.

We need to be much more in tune with what others are feeling. Caring deeply for others, goes a very long way.

About the Author

Rabbi Cohen has been a Torah instructor at Machon Meir, Jerusalem, for over twenty years while also teaching a Talmud class in the Shtieblach of Old Katamon. Before coming to Israel, he was the founding rabbi of Young Israel of Century City, Los Angeles. He recently published a series of Hebrew language-learning apps, which are available at www.cafehebrew.com