Yosef's Brother's missions to Egypt

fascinating um contrast and comparison of the two and I think again as we've been saying all along air not air it's a a a serious focus upon the text will uh open up for us a tremendous amount of things that we would not have uh otherwise seen now I've uh have the source sheets here for you some of you actually kept it from last week be happy to put on the table over here um that which was given out to you let me just see this is not it here it is I have them um here's one for you okay anyone else wants just keep on over there want okay uh I'll put over there you had yours you still kept it this you have stairs or you have no problem we have laugh if not I'll take yours away um here and all right than you there good ah now that the half the class is over oh uh okay boy am I lucky just have a okay to a certain degree uh those who have been following last week and week before about the unique or different approach to the entire story um I'm going to ask you to forget about it no but I'm going to take now and what we're going to do now with this and I'm going to take along basically the uh the traditional story that yes the brothers did sell the Y and so on and so forth based upon that we're going to go through what is it why was it that we know why they went twice yoseph told them they had to come back you know he was but what did it accomplish what was happening behind all of this and even before we go to the very interesting chart that I set up for you um I want to share with you this very interesting approach uh primarily I learned it from uh one of the teachers that I've learned so much from and Y Gman uh and uh help us understand perhaps things that we would have otherwise not necessarily realized when we look in the text um we all know basically as a background we know what happened we know for example we all are aware of uh that the brothers came down to Egypt yoseph I the the as he was known s that was his Egyptian name that Schwartz would have been easier but they didn't call him that so s was uh the vice Roy and uh second only to the Pharaoh and when they came he accuses them of being spies that's exactly what he says you are spies you've come to uh spy out the land uh and they said no and they give their whole background you know we are 12 sons and now and one is no longer here and and one is home with his father and we are all 10 of us that's why we're here anyway yoseph the vice Roy says I don't believe you but I'm a nice guy he actually he says wonderful pH he says um elim I am a God-fearing man I've mentioned this to you before but it's a wonderful thing to keep in mind and that is the concept of being God-fearing is found in the Torah before there was the Ten Commandments and before there was God coming in Thou shalt Thou shalt not um it is a concept of basically you are a I would say A mench you are a um a proper and fine human being you're a sensitive person you understand societal laws uh one uh did not need or should not need a law that says oh I was doing okay and then I came to the 20th chapter in the book of Schmo and I found out that thou shalt not murder darn it up till now I was doing it you know the concept is if you're a human being you know the concept of being I'm men that you know how to deal with with in a society and what you do so that's what Kim meant H in fact just to uh bring it more clear to you um when abiel the king of the pish that wasn't his name that was his title by the way as Pharaoh wasn't his name either you know it was the title of the king of Egypt ABI was the title of the king of the um one of the Kings I should say of the Philistines you know obviously the words themselves and he um and he um had taken Rifka from y thinking that she was his sister because that's what he said she was right just like his father did with and um so he did not take them you know but he thought he perhaps was thinking of doing so when he realized that in indeed she was his sister he was not his she was not his sister but his wife and so he uh and he criticizes saying what did you do K almost um one of the you know one of the people would have taken her as a wife and we would be um uh sinful we have sinned that's what he says the Y the Philistine by the way as we here you know that's bus stop the bus stop that we find near where it's always incorrectly by the announcer on be one of the people is not correct as a Torah says one of the people not one people so he said we would would could have taken you and and so says I'll tell you why because it's not a God-fearing place now doesn't mean God per say like I said for the 10 10 commandments it means they aren't the moral Society that's basically what and that's why um he said we are you know so that's what was and here we have yose saying I'm a God-fearing person meaning I'm a mench and therefore it would be not be right for me to keep you in jail that had he had thr on them in jail the jail being called by the way interestingly at the word boore bore meaning a pit you know why is that import interesting clearly because what did the brothers do to ysep threw him into a boore and then he now throws them into a prison which was referred to as a boore a pit um he says that wouldn't be right and you have a whole family if you're telling the truth and they're hungry at home I want to the I'll take one of you and the 10 of you go home right that was and when you come back when you told me this whole story about having yet another brother bring him back that'll Pro that you're telling the truth right that's the story just reminding you of what happened in case you missed the movie that's what basically happened and so they do go home he keeps the one anybody know who who was that he he keeps in jail huh shim Shimon correct he keeps Shimon in jail and uh the rest go home uh and on the way home things they were indeed very concerned and that's when they they to each other has gone done to us now we have to go back without shimo uh and they opened up their Satchel so they can have uh not pizza this time a sandwich a tuna sandwich on the way home and they opened up the food that were given and lo and behold all of the money they had set aside to give and had paid for for the is back in the Satchel now they're really going to be in trouble so they're really worried about this and that's when they said um Ruan says I told you you shouldn't start it up the whole reason is because of what we did to our brother and remember what I told you last time not that how we sold him but rather we didn't respond to his cries when he was in the pit and we let him be there there another proof I telling you that they really didn't know about this anyway so um they go home toov and so on and so forth yov says o where's my son yeah which one the one the first one that we lost the second one now this is aim and he says that at and now you want to take B too you know I had 12 men I had 12 sons mistake I sent once of them to you you come back oh all I have is 11 now I send you keeping one back here and he come back and now from the 10 I have only nine it seems every time you're involved in charge of the one of my kids is gone so you want me to take my bam my youngest remember the T 30 something years old okay it's nice to look at that way he wasn't a young young man but as I told you last week everybody you know the youngest child is always the baby of the family and there's a special connection of course that that yakob had because it was now the only remaining child of his I hate to say favorite but to him the only real wife he had Rael so and know he didn't want but after a while Ruan says I'll tell you what I guarantee if if I don't bring him back you can kill my two sons Zade said oh that's a great idea so of course he did and Ruben was trying to show how he was completely going to be sacrificing for them that he would have that you know but you know not a good way of saying that to the father but after they ran out of what of the food that was given to them from Egypt because you know what happened when Jews get hungry things break down so finally Yehuda says dad let him let me take I I will I guarantee his safety he says you can demand him back from me because um if you hadn't been delaying this for so long we could have been back and forth already and everything would be gone so they send up to the second time they go they go with bamin that's basically what's happening so um it's interesting to see if there's any difference between the two when they come back the two trips I say okay CU at the second trip when they come back everything is great yeah and you remember the story where there still unknown Vice Roy uh when they come back they come not only with money to purchased the new of food they was going to bring back but even you know the stuff that oop you know you made a mistake you know you give us back the money here's the money and then here's more and the what the attendant at at the home he had his own house obviously um the vice Roy and they and he said don't worry God gave you a gift once again God is here right and um he said and he wants you to come in his house for a for lunch lunch then of course was a major meal in the middle of the night it it was so here in the early early years uh even now in the state of Israel because you know that's when you were working everything got a good good meal in the middle of the day and at the end of the day and you didn't have much left any anyway in the beginning a few years of of early state of Israel but that's what they had they that's how they ate anyway that was true also at the time in the ancient world and so uh key it says as the Torah says the the brothers heard that in the afternoon they would be eating with him in the afternoon it was going to be a lunch and they come there and what happens there who remembers what happens that shocks the uh Brothers remember what yoseph does he seats them in he seats them in order of their age right um and they're pretty shocked about that and if course the first time he meets bamin now remember what I told you last time he he said gab Bam Bam was maybe 9 10 years old and and 20 22 years passed by and that's his one and only full brother not not simply half half brother you I had both both both parents were there so it was very emotional for him but he manages to hold back his tears says he he goes he went into a room and he cried there and he came out again um you know the guy who wrote this Torah thing had a trem he was a great writer do you understand the the emotions that we get just by reading those words it's a very very moving thing you be understand what it must have been for yoseph even to carry on this masquerade that he was must been very difficult on one at least at this point all right fine so everything seems good and they they they drank they ate and they got a little drunk and they said okay and he sends it the next morning just when you think the story is ended mop skak everything is good what happens before the as they leaving what does yoseph do oh NY what does he do he places cup the cup the Goblet that's right uh the again the ancient world the the elit certainly the uh second to Pharaoh has their own certain things and and and it's one that they use as as magically they could figure out what's going to happen or what is and so on and so forth he has it placed in in Benjamin's sack and uh he has given Benjamin five times more than anybody else by the way and so and that and they leave and before they get too far he has his man run over them and accuses them no longer of being spies but being thieves thank God for that these were not spies um that and and to steal that thing that that's and they brings some back and the very end of the m is when uh he said look they said no I don't know what happened could he could sto but it's in his he they said God has now revealed our sin uh we're guilty and so is he and we'll all be uh enslaved to you he said that would't be fair I'm a God-fearing man only the thief will be and you goom and you go home peacefully back to your father and the of the rabbis are so phenomenal with this they said yoseph said go home how can we go home to our father in peace if you're going to have bamin those painful words that end one par of mik I don't know how people sleep a whole week between mik and what's going happen how could it be that we're going to you know unbelievable of course the first uh conversation the first part of is yehud who then offers himself in place of bameno he told his father I guarantee I will be his security and if he's going to be taken I will go instead of him that's that is what happened fine but it's interesting for us to compare the two trips and that's why the first thing you have there is the chart that uh remember M had I I said I I did some tweaking on it um yeah I made it in English you know okay uh and uh we find something very interesting you see the chart that I gave you on the very first uh part First Source seat look at the first mission which is again in the ch chapter meet from the first thing that happens 1 a yose is accuses the brothers of spying and he imprisons Shimon and that also includes the speech that Ruan gave and said you see I told you not to that's the first part now go to the second mission and go to the very bottom of it the last part that's I put as one B here now at the end of that mission ysep accuses the brothers of theft whereas before he accused them of being spies right and he plans to imprison bamin as he had imprisoned Shimon and then as we see Yehuda gives speech so you see in effect you look at the same thing three things happened with the first mission AC accused of spying imprisonment of Shimon speech ofu and the last thing of the second mission accused of thievery plans imprisonment of bamin and the speech of Yehuda very interesting now the second thing that happens in the first mission you find that Yosef overhears the brothers expressing their regret for uh the sale and uh and he quietly it breaks down and cries uh that is that happens when um they're standing and they're speaking to one another in in Hebrew uh not knowing that uh that ysf not only yish but he also knew Hebrew it says there the translator was between the two of them whenever they spoke one to another it was from Egyptian to Hebrew Hebrew back to Egyptian they had no idea that Yosef obviously knew Hebrew too uh so they spoke freely one to another yoseph hears that and he's very broken because after all whatever the plan is and maybe we'll get to that that he had to hear the them admitting that there they were regretted what happened it was undoubtedly very emotional for him good well guess what to be they said or not to be but no this the the uh next to the last thing of the second mission there you have uh similar that where ysep meets bamin and did it and he also again goes in privately and he cries as he did the second thing the third step the brothers disc discover the return of their money and wondered why God had done this to them and that lines up with the second part of the second mission where the brothers return the money which is refused when they're told that God had given this for them it was opposites of what's Happening literally it's almost a a a turnaround and the final thing is when Ruan and the first mission tries to convince yob to send bamin with him but he fails whereas the first thing we the second mission Miss mission is when Yehuda successfully convinces Yakov to send and uh you know I don't know why bud is there but because I forgot to take it out anyway so it's very interesting to see that to a certain degree they follow but they follow in the opposite direction you know the first thing was the last thing the second the second last so that's a very interesting thing to look at but we'll see why that's important I hope um as we go on so when you see what the purpose of uh or what this whole suggestions were in this Mission we can break it down as R grman does to three basic levels first of all the um from grman ravoni grman his name he is nowe of the tanak in Baran he started out in the gush and Isa there his father was a very well-known um historian very brilliant man so he's brilliant as well um see he says this first of all three things going on in this whole thing first of all there was the family level in this react in these reactions one to another that can be between the brothers and ysf um there we find the brothers are were actually forced to fa to to face what they had done and to repent and to do Tua for what they had done and by doing so maybe that was yosef's thought it would reunite the family that's on a family level there's more than that though there's a national level here too a a very crucial thing occurs and I don't know if all of you realize this run away but who was the one who was the leader the one who for example said uh oh don't don't kill Yi just throw him into a pit who was the one who was stepped up to their father and said I I you can kill my my my son if you don't bring it back at the end of the story who was the leader responsibity that's right so there's a national because in the future that's exactly what happens Ruan officially is the leader as the Bor we see that in in [Music] no bet I'm sorry uh where it says very simply that was the b in all ways except he didn't get a double portion but B was his but as far as leadership was concerned that didn't happen leadership went to who becomes the head of a monarchy answer Yehuda right and on the other hand also the eldest of of Rael which is ysep who becomes in the you know in the Egypt um and so clearly the Torah had has Preferred um the leadership of Yehuda over that ofu and that's a national thing because that's going to continue on ruen does not become a a great leader after this at all he ends up actually being one of the three um tribes that stays in the Eastern side of the Canan and that part of the basically Western stuff and and and then of course though I hate to REM you know it's the religious the theological level also which is I guess somewhat important too uh because there you find the real story of which i' I've spoke about before and that is the balance between the actions of man and the the plan shall we say of God um how the actions of man fill into the will of God and how that happens so how responsible is man for uh if the their actions is basically doing God's will no I told you not this I think two three weeks ago that the Flip Wilson used to be a a comic and uh he would what you remember what he said I don't remember I remember Flip Wilson unfortunately you have to see was a the Tor you remember it I don't understand he said the devil made me do it right first that's you always have to blame somebody right andbody it wasn't me if God wanted me to do that he wanted to get Israel down to Egypt whatever there is we did it because okay we're dumb but but it was God's fault because that's what he wanted to happen how do we balance that know how much responsibility does man have it's basically that was God's plan from the very beginning and that's all part of this story which makes it so fascinating so let's first look at the personal thing and let's look at the the family okay um whether the sin repaired uh the break in the family and if it did how um say many things theel has a whole approach to this and what it is but um let's focus on simple questions for example number one what process what journey I guess does do both Yosef and the brothers go through that ultimately bring them back to a tearful reunion one to another or if I put it more crucially I suppose um what discoveries what realizations do they come to during the these experience this experience or the experiences that would bring them to do what the Chua that was so necessary um we can find some hints of this by the way we find hints of this uh in the subtle references you find in the story of the brother's Journey to the sale of Y yose now I want you to listen carefully to this because this is not something you ordinarily would realize but it's absolutely remarkable I'll show you in the references in I I didn't say it yet I'll tell you if there is okay okay um but we're about to by the way I'm about to get to it okay um and it's the following something happens some subtly that must have made the brother say um this is strange this a coincidence let me show you what I mean why it was that made them think that maybe the sale of Yosef was wrong or maybe there's God behind it or whatever so we have to look at it in in the view of Yosef himself and and the father and the Caravan let me show you what I mean okay the very simple fact that um I can't move because I have this I really put it up here hard me to see my notes um how many days um well before that I I pointed to it before right when what does yoseph do he sends he throws his brothers in into prison into the boore just as they had thrown him into the boore but even more than that how else was when else was he sent into a prison yose when he got there when he got there right after a while when he he was being accused falsely about having attacked um Mrs potifar Right uh and um he was he spent at least two years in in the prison there right probably the very same prison where he sent his brothers interesting um and um how many well may if if that was yose's point is he trying to get back for the 22 years he was now lost to his father to his family when they threw him and sold him as a slave who knows now how about the brothers how did they feel for example um when they finally realize uh that the Goblet of yose was found in the dka in the go in the SAT of bamin which means what um was in danger well it does what would they have thought what are we going to do in what way what were they thinking what's going to happen to whom to their F yob of course how is yob going to feel is it not maybe one they're saying now maybe that's how he felt when we threw ysf into the pit and he's no longer there what they didn't think of before although they said it but you know they didn't think of it before they threw him into the pit only afterward they said what are we going to do and now it's happening again maybe he's getting a shove in a little rib and saying you it's happening again what are we going to do with Papa he's 22 years older than he was before does that not shake them a little bit and the Torah does that you know why because it says when they come back with the news that yoseph is gone we are told that that tore his garments morning and when they're told that bamin is the thief what is the to right and they tore their G arment there's a very clear connection going on the Torah is seemingly very very very purposely putting little things that's happening to giving the Little J guess what's happening maybe they're going to now feel a little of the pain that their father had been feeling and then this and this is one thing that blows my mind when they send the y down to Egypt or however they were taken by the Yos was taken by the for some reason the Torah goes in to to add something which between you and me wouldn't have changed the would have changed the story too much you know the you know whatever whatever movie movie thing would have come out wouldn't have changed anything they probably one part of the they wouldn't put it in there it gives a detail what was what the ishmaelites were carrying down what spices they were taking down to Egypt who cares but the Torah puts in there and there it says um that they have to can they have to bring down um what they call the the the and um it's the type of bomb and honey Das and spices that's what they were taking down when Yakov tells the brothers reluctantly okay I will let you go and bring you b y down but take some gifts something down to Egypt something you haven't got much take them down as a gift and look at the source what is it Source number two what is it that he tells them unknowingly remember yob didn't know about Ys what did he tell them to bring is have and in English so Israel meaning Jacob said to them if so if you're going to go down to Egypt and you know I ain't happy about it but at least take the choice fruits of the land carry down bomb and honey and spices and Len them four out of the four things the exact same thing that yoseph was C was going with the the isma bring it down ysep was brought down to Egypt with these spices and now they realize they're going down with B men and they're carrying the exact same spices un believable they Asing but they didn't know the first who did the brothers know what they when yose was brought to that those four spices with them yeah I'll tell you why I know that because when they see besides being smart when they saw the Caravan of isim it says your and it says there what they saw that they were carrying what they were carrying okay probably a common thing that went down because it wasn't that uh that common to have in Egypt you know now according to what I tell you that the the brothers didn't sell and anything but they still saw it coming down but even if we say you know yeah but even if we theaction not the transaction no they saw that he went into the no they didn't they saw the ish going down with that now I would say the way I gave you that they that's all they knew they didn't know he went down to Egypt with they didn't know but according to the that's correct that's correct that's correct that's that's what I I argued with the last two weeks that's my Approach there but what kazal say is that they did s they did sell him so they knew very well what was in there and if that's the case as ra Gman would say it is they may have very well thought though they may not have said it they may have thought it or humble to each other this is a little creepy we're taking the same things that when we sent Joseph down he was going down with that too that's right it really is it's very very yeah also when when y would have received those gifts he would have been rather upset and would have reminded him of that trip that he was taking very very very good I hadn't thought of that and that's very very powerful you're right who are they going to bring the gifts to and and yob says that it says bring it to the man bring these things the man was y very good so they would be bringing it to Y fascinating just unbelievable really powerful also so these are things that are sort of echoing maybe in their minds as EXA maybe that's what's bringing them to the chuva that's bringing them to a apparently a a a an acceptance of this is not just uh a coincidence right um and to make even more by the way more powerful I would say um the term here L not L you know um it wasn't a man that's something is oh latinum that helps you right good do go to I think I think they have it in I'm sure oad latinum I don't know what it is but it's l l that word L madum is found twice in the whole Torah the first time when it's brought down by the isim the second time when was brought down by the brothers to Egypt it's never found anywhere else in the Torah are you talking about the the balm and the honey just the last one latinum lum no right that was that was it's found in the Torah only twice when it's mentioned when the is bring it and when Y is bringing you know what that is said go to O they have it there I don't yeah yeah yeah yeah that's that's as one of parts of the of the Tor that's correct so we can tell is now that when Mia comes you'll bring the L in so be nice that's fine next time you see isma will do that now um the uh it's true now um so that as I tell is very powerful the first time one of the two sons of um Rael is being brought down to Egypt with those spices and the second time the other son of Rael is being brought down to Egypt with the same spices pretty remarkable um and maybe maybe there's something else not only that Yos would think about it but what do you think they are thinking about when they're smelling these spices and going down to Egypt were they not thinking of this is what Joey thought smelled when he was going down to Egypt this is what it must have been for him when he was going down to Egypt in other words almost as if God s to it that they would experience what they cause other people to experience their father and their brother and now they're experiencing that um so they get down to Egypt and Anda calls them spies right and it says you have come to sing the you know what is basically is nakedness the nakedness of the land right um was that idea of nakedness not haunting Yosef as they stripped off his car garments as they throw them into the um pit after all now it says I think it's in the third something that's exactly what it says in the Torah um when yose was approached by was approached his Brethren they stripped him of his coat the coat of many colors that was on him he was stripped and that's how was thrown into the pit and now he accuses them of uncovering nakedness much as they had uncovered his nakedness wow wow um that's how he was found by the MIM that's how he was sold by isim and that's how he was brought down to Egypt and might this very strange expression that is used maybe also a little bit of a uh or maybe his conscious or unconscious Joseph's conscious or unconscious cry that reflected 22 years of his pain of having everyone see his nakedness wow then there's also the reaction of the brothers when they are released from prison and I touched upon it last time as well yoseph says as I told you I'm a God-fearing man right I'm God-fearing and um Brothers don't don't really say oh gee thanks or cuz he said I'm I'm I'm going to let you I'll release you from prison except for one and they never say thank you oh oh the o oh Lord whatever High executioner I'm going to makado but you know that you are you know they don't thank him at all what they do is they talk to each other and they complain he said by the way in the Torah the term aval we always know what does aval mean huh come on you know what AAL means but however correct but it often also means truly truly we are now guilty of what happened that's a very powerful thing they are admitting what they said um they never ask that question it seems when they're stuck in the prison for 3 days when are this happen happened um not when they were accused of spying not when they were in the prison prison for being supposedly spies only at this point I thought was there and they thought that he couldn't understand now that was afterward not when they were in prison that was when they were talking to each other then [Music] um uh with he said said something very very interesting and she said that it's at that time we pointed before that um they realized they're going to have to confront their father with a missing son Shimon who won't be there so when they let out except for one like I told you last time right they had 11 PE they had 11 sons and they come back with 10 now they had 10 Sons they're coming back with nine and they say what what excuse are we going to give Dad now what are we going to say to Papa that's exactly what they had to ask now and therefore uh they are returned to the same tragic moment when they had to inform their father about the loss of Yosef and that is why they reacted at that point not before only when they realized they're going to be coming back one less than they had before did it occur to them uhoh uhoh again they're forced to be put in a position that to understand that they had done and realize uh oh this is really bad right to feel to re to relive in effect what they had done and they're constantly over and over again they're forced to releas live um that which they brought upon others you know to to begin to see how what they did the events and what V who were victimized by those events and to begin therefore when they realize that the Journey of what we would call chuva the Journey of regret and repentance and um maybe even maybe even when when Yosef tells them you can go home except for one he says not your brother will stay there or Shimon will stay there he says the that the one son well who was the one son at least in yep's view he was the one son so he uses a term we're going to keep the one son here you've got to sensitize ourselves in the wording and say oh my God these are all experiences that they're being made to go through to I mean to become good Jewish mother and feel guilty that's what they have to be done they have to realize what they did and what they caused crucial crucial at this point and um that's when Ru says told you so which is a great response you begin to understand why ruing didn't make it to the leadership by the way you know said I told you you shouldn't have done it you see I was right yeah thanks Ruby you didn't do anything to help us yeah you didn't change it if we were listening to you as we did that we'll just throw them into the pit why didn't you listen and say don't be idiots don't help hurt our our brother don't aggravate Our Father you know no that you didn't say so now you're saying ah I Told You So I was right and you were wrong what kind of leadership is that and that's what's Happening Here Ru again doesn't solve the problem he's just very happy to know that he was right strong strong difficult really and while the brothers all said the other thing we are all guilty for what happened to our brother as I told you that they didn't listen to his Cries From The Pit we're all guilty upsteps proveen and says not me I was right I'm not guilty again we begin to see why the leadership crawls away from ru and gets to Yehuda I was right oh boy um com is that they keep saying our sin is that we um didn't listen to his cries in the pit but never did they say our sin is that we sold them to slavery thank you that's correct see I told you I was right that's exactly the argument I was making last week of proof that they never really sold him because if they were going to actually profess their their and she'd say um what's the word I'm for why is it the English language got much higher high you know when I moved why would they um admit their sin as being that they didn't take him out of the pit instead of but we sold him to Egypt they didn't say that and that's why part of why I argue that indeed they never did sell him and then right um I'm going to go just a little more and then we'll have to stop um there's one more less thing here that we see here it says they said uh that we are guilty for what we did to our brother but when ruen goes and says that he's not guilty of course I'm a good guy you know what he says uh Ru says let's see if I have this as a source says yeah Source in the next page how does he say did he say anything about our brother look what Ru says he says hello um it's on the next page okay right before five between four and five It's s one he said in English ruen answered them right didn't I tell you not to sin against the yell it against the child he doesn't refer to him as our brother does he the kid I know it's just simple it's not that powerful but it is something interesting to see he doesn't refer to yoseph as our brother and they do after all I was right and you were all wrong we'll have to continue mem next week and come on