Challenged By History

The plotline which led the children of Israel into Egyptian exile and slavery can only be described as a tremendous family tragedy. Yosef’s fraught relationship with his brothers and their interpersonal entanglements led Yosef’s brothers to contemplate murdering him, only, in the end, to settle instead for selling him to a caravan of Yishmaelites (Midianites?!) making its way down to Egypt. And while this story can be read as a prelude to the founding of a people and a great religious heritage, it can surely be regarded as the low point among the many problematic episodes in the family lives of the patriarchs. What’s more, its impact echoes not only throughout the stories of Yosef, but some would say, throughout Jewish history:

And Yehudah said to his brothers: ‘What gain is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Yishmaelites and our hand will not against him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers agreed. And the Midianite merchantmen passed by and pulled Yosef up out of the pit and sold Yosef to the Yishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they brought Yosef to Egypt. (Genesis 37:27-28)

While the prophet Amos is likely not making reference to the story of Yosef, still, the details found in the following verse meshed well with the story and early on came to be associated with the sale of Yosef by his brothers:

Thus said the Lord: “… for their selling the just man for silver and the needy for sandals…” (Amos 2:6)

This connection plays itself out explicitly in the following late rabbinic midrash:

[The brothers] sold him to the Yishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and each one of them took two pieces of silver (apiece) to purchase shoes for their feet, as it is said, “Thus said the Lord, … for their selling the just man for silver and the needy for sandals ” (Amos 2:6) … Rabbi Yannai said: The sale of Joseph was not atoned for by the tribes until they died, as it is said, “And the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in mine ears, surely this iniquity will not be purged from you until you die” (Isaiah 22:14). Owing to the sale (of Joseph), a famine came into the land of Israel for seven years, and the brethren of Joseph “went down to buy grain” (Gen. 42:3) in Egypt. (Pirke D’Rabbi Eliezer 38)

This midrash not only incorporated the verse from Amos into the plot of the story, it also added the idea that the acts of brothers had both consequences and required atonement, each of which would be resolved within the context and plot of the Joseph stories. One might say then, that for the author of this midrash “payment” for wrongdoing is exacted by the wrongdoers themselves.

The evolution of this story does not end here. This story also plays a role in the liturgy of Yom Kippur. In the martyrology, Eleh Ezkara, found at the end of musaf after the Avodah service, we mourn the horrible deaths of some of Rabbinic Judaism’s greatest and most heroic sages, in an effort to turn our thoughts to contrition and repentance. The story begins with a challenge by the Caesar to the sages in order to find a pretext for executing them:

While the [Caesar] studies our [holy] book, likened to a heap of grain, understanding and discerning the written tradition, he opened to “These are the laws (Parshat Mishpatim), and devised a devious plan: “One who steals a man and sells him, and is found out, shall surely be put to death.” (Exodus 21) … The heart of this wicked idolator grew haughty; he ordered that his palace be filled shoes and summoned ten great sages with profound understanding of the law and its reasoning and declared [to the sages]: “Judge this case with precision – do not pervert it by making false statements, but bring true wisdom to light: What is the verdict if a man is found kidnapping one of his brothers from the children of Israel, treating him as a slave and selling him?” When they answered: “That kidnapper shall be put to death,” he said: “Then what of your ancestors, who sold their brother, trading him with a travelling company of Yishmaelites, handing him over for the mere price of shoes?… We have sinned, our Rock, forgive us, our Creator… (adapted from Mahzor L’Yamim Noraim – Yom Kippur, Goldschmidt ed. 1970, pp 568-9; Mahzor Koren L”Yom HaKippurim, Sacks ed. pp. 928-931)

The purpose of this religious poem, of course, was to inspires thoughts of repentance, but along with that it raises the idea of corporate responsibility over time for past wrongdoing – an idea bandied about by the tradition, sometimes affirmed and often refuted. The take-away from this debate, at least for me is the one affirmed in this poem, namely, we should use this idea as a source of inspiration to encourage us to affirm the best in ourselves and to improve our ways.

One final thought. It is worth noting how the ideas and stories in our tradition develop over time as a means for the development of our religious thinking. As religious individuals our thinking is never static. This is what true religion is all about and one of the great blessings of being Jewish.