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The Brothers’ Mission to Egypt: Chizuk for Iron Sword by Rabbi Neil Winkler
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Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
uh here we are on the sixth day of
kanuka and I figured that you've had um
Le five days of kanuka to speak of
kanuka and probably a week earlier if
not before and I gave my class to nobody
oh actually to one person last week
about kanuka and I decided what a sad
thing if you have eight days of
kanuka and um the eth day is
on Shabbat is on
Friday uh and that means that no one's
going to speak about Pas Mikes so I
thought I would take a time to
discuss Pasha M because there is so much
to uh discuss and um I'm going to do
so as you see uh uh with my uh
my screen sharing that I'm talking about
here the brothers
missions uh to Egypt and uh we don't
have to go through the story
of Yosef and if we did it would take us
approximately a year of uh of
discussions to get through all of the
details but I'm going to focus in on
something which I hope I'll have enough
time to finish although I have so much
here to say uh hopefully I'll get both
the most it finished and when I'm going
to the
to focus in is on the two missions to
Egypt you know that uh the story itself
is uh F fascinated generations for so
long um and if there are so many
questions to ask even going through the
text and uh Having learned it since the
time we were very small and
little uh and we are listen to different
approaches to it not always what the
text tells us um so I like to get into
the text and see what really is revealed
to us about the story the questions of
well did the brothers really sell y
there's a separate sheer which I've
given elsewhere and um why would yob
send Yosef to the brothers knowing that
they hated him at the time uh if Yosef
was really um when you figure it out he
was only six years younger than Ru
that's all there were only a difference
between the eldest son and yoseph who
before before be of course was the
youngest son um and yet they didn't
recognize him when they got to Egypt and
know kazal tell us that he had a beard
okay does that really change the entire
View and look of person it's problematic
but the story becomes even more dramatic
when the brothers go down to Egypt which
is what we're going to be FOC focusing
on um and um they go down to Egypt twice
you know to purchase food for their
respective families you know that the
two trips the first time they go down
simply to purchase food but when they
get to Egypt they are recognized by
Yosef and he accuses them of
Espionage and they he then therefore
imprisons them and and when he does
finally leave uh let them go home he
keeps Shimon separated from them and he
puts them remain in prison so that as in
effect the second trip now comes they
have to return to Egypt with bamin which
was one of the conditions that YF gives
them and they have to prove their
innocence that way now when they go to
the second trip they're now accused as
they were leaving of stealing the Royal
goblet which of course yoseph had had
place in binyamin's Satchel um Benyamin
is therefore ordered to remain as a
slave to yoseph in Egypt and uh that
happens until at the beginning of the
Pasha of bash says that wonderful moving
Soliloquy of uh of yehudah and Joseph's
eventual revelation of who he really is
it's interesting especially to compare
the two visits or the two confrontations
if I say that not only do we see the
parallels um uh and the common factors
between the two of them but uh in a
certain way when we analyze theim the
verses here you can even see the event
the events of the two visits as being
the ACT complete opposites or the
reverse is a better way of putting it of
each other and that's why I turn to the
first
um Source I have the chart that you see
there I hope you have it
there and I have I compare the first
mission with the second
mission now look at onea in the first
mission yosf accuses the brothers of
spying and imprison Shimon and then
there's a speech ofu to his
brothers now go to the last that's one B
uh in the second Mission there that's at
the end there ysep accuses the brothers
of the theft he plans to
imprison and then there's a speech of
Yehuda notice the
comp first he accuses them of spying he
he accuses them of theft he imprisons
Shimon there he plans to imprison bamin
as a speech of here is is a speech of
Yehuda very interesting in 2 a when
Yosef over here here is the brother's
expression for of regret for his sale
and he privately cries in 2B over here
the third step in the second mission
there yose meets B for the first time at
the dinner and there he privately
cries in 3A the brothers discover the
return of the money and they wonder why
God had done this to them in 3B the
second thing the brothers return the
money and and that refuse and they're
told that God had done this for them and
then finally in the end of the first
mission Ru tries to convince yov to send
M with him but fails well the first part
of the second mission is Yehuda who
successfully convinces yako to send
bamin with him but as it goes on the
brothers return okay so then you see
very interesting can I say comparison or
contrast but the same steps that were
reversed in the first mission and the
second mission so that itself is very
interesting now raboni grman um of
Baran and also of the gush he uh sees
these two missions or he also calls them
confrontations functioning on three
levels and this is very crucial because
I think this is one of the most powerful
parts of what I want to tell you I want
want to teach you when we see the story
that we know so
well
actually on the three levels of these
missions you have there's a family level
the brothers are
forced to to face their deeds and to
repent to do chuva from the sin that
they had committed specifically against
the family and by doing So eventually
they will you uh unite the
divided family that's the family level
the the second part of the function of
these missions is there's one on the
national level if I can use that term
because here we see for the first time
how the leadership the future leadership
of the nation passes from
rain who of course was turned down when
he says let's send let me take beamin to
Yehuda who of course was accepted as uh
the leader as the one who would um bring
back bamin safely and it helps us
understand as we'll see in other things
in these in these two trips these two
missions why the Torah has sees a
leadership of Yehuda over that of U and
then on a theological or religious level
we're going to uh try to understand the
balance basic balance between the ACT
actions of man and the will of God in
other words uh how responsible is man
for the Deeds if God intervenes with the
actions remember there was a comedian
years ago who used to say uh the devil
made me do it don't blame me what what
God God said to do it what do you want
for me you know I didn't sell God wants
me to sell the Jose yoseph you know that
whole story of
of does man really have a true
free action to do what he wants if God
intervenes so I want to begin with the
first level and the first level is the
personal story of the family
specifically the repair of the brother's
sin um uh through the
events that they experience in their
going down to Egypt by the way the topic
is addressed very very expansively in
pish of the abarbanel but either way
um it's this process that they go
through which
um they eventually go H create between Y
and themselves a repan I can call it uh
they experience uh uh they bring them
together the that tearful
reunion that they have at the end of the
story perhaps more CR crucially what
realizations what discoveries do they
make through these
experiences um that make them do chuva
make them realize uh oh we goofed and to
accept the fact that they had made the
mistake both y by the way and the
brothers interestingly we can find a
number of hints even subtle references
in the story
um and um in the
journey uh to the sale of
yosf as if the brothers almost were made
to go back to reassess the decision that
they had to sell their brother and they
do so from the point of what yoseph how
yoseph must have felt what experience he
went through when they so him um what
experience did their father yov go
through when they he finds out that the
that ysep was gone even the view of the
is as we'll see when they were bringing
Ys down to and of course their own view
of what they had gone through and will
go through so let me
explain certainly let's start the
beginning when they first come
down the fact that yoseph immediately
imprisons them for three days in Egypt
and it says there he thr he imprisons
them most doubted or Le's let's say for
possibly in the very same prison that
ysf was thrown into for two years or
beyond that actually
M was Joseph saying
uh let me see let's see how you feel how
I felt was it conscious or not but they
now begin to experience some of the
experiences that ysep went through
because he had been sold down to Egypt
um the um it certainly makes it very
difficult for us to deny that
Yosef certainly made the brothers
experience a little bit of what he
experienced in the 22 years he had been
away from home
then of course the brothers were also
made to feel how yako felt because when
they were suddenly discover accused of
stealing the missing goblet and then uh
it been told that bamin is going to be
taken from them um the Torah in effect
repeats
how they had to think how their father
must have felt when they heard when he
heard that his youngest son of Rachel
that's youngest son the son of Rael
would not come back um or when he heard
of that yosef's death and if you look in
the text in fact first thing we read
about yov is that is
that yov a sybol that
yov um tore his garments first thing
that these brothers do when they find
out that bamin may be thrown in jail
when they when the golet was found in
his Satchel it
says they too tore their garments they
were made to experience a little of the
pain that their father had that they had
caused their
father then of course they were even
made to feel what Yosef did when he was
brought down felt at least um how what
yose felt when he was sold down to Egypt
through the isim to the
ishite
Caravan um because and this I find it
absolutely fascinating we get to it the
next Source you see when their sent
when Yakov tells him to go back for the
second time he reluctantly Al allows y
that takes B with him and he says to him
look give him bring the the vice Roy of
Egypt some gifts and he says following
as you see in the um in the second you
see the second uh Source I put it both
in Hebrew and
English said do this at
least take some of the best fruits we
have whatever that remains here with
you bring a gift to the man meaning to
the
viceo a little present a little bomb a
little honey spices well whatever that
is nuts and almonds okay that's but they
were to bring down when they made their
trip the second trip down to Egypt now
go
back at
Joseph's um trip down to
Egypt and you know what we read
fascinating they
saw there was a caravan of isites who
were coming going
down and you know what days those camels
were
carrying they were carrying spices and
and this latinum going down to Egypt now
that's interesting but it's really more
than interesting it's absolutely
fascinating because
astoundingly not only is it the same
thing that Yakov tells them to bring
among the things he said those three
things you have it over
here and is over here not only those
three things were the same but if you
understand you look in the Torah you
find find out that um the
word is only found twice in the whole
Torah where when Yosef went down to
Egypt and when they bring the gift down
to Egypt for Yosef and the same is true
when the word lot over here not the
brother
there vot also found only twice in the
whole Torah also only when it's being
brought down by the ishim with ysep and
by yosef's Brothers to
Egypt that's pretty remarkable and
pretty
powerful unbeknownst to yov he just sent
down his sons the brothers of
yoseph um to Egypt in the exact same way
they sent Yosef down to Egypt with the
ishma
fascinating
remarkable um and uh when you you think
about
that can you imagine the the the the
shock of the
brothers when they listened to their
father's advice do you wonder remember
they saw wait wait a
minute when we sent ysep down one
wonders if they even were aware of
that and remember
who were they sending down they were
sending down the one of the two sons of
Rael to Egypt and who are they taking
now and sending down the other son of
Rael going down to Egypt it's
unbelievable the parallels are so
powerful it's it's
remarkable they smell the
spices and the nightmare of the 22 years
earlier that they had caused Maybe is
brought back to
them and I would imagine that they're
praying that things would go well in
Egypt and that this brother would be
brought back H safely and not
enslaved they're beginning to experience
what ysep experienced what the isim
experienced it's
unbelievable but that's that's going
through God is making sure or ysph or
the story is making sure that this is
not that there are experiences that they
will learn and see what they did and the
impact of what they did in Hort it's a
eye opening actually the brothers
experienced a taste of Yo's heartbreak a
taste of yosef's pain even the
experience of being themselves and
sending down the brother of the son of
Rael with the same
spices that's only the trip the tip of
the iceberg there's more to speak about
like I said I don't know how much I can
get through but I certainly want to when
they stand before yose for the first
time and they're accused of being
spies but the the
language of the accusation is quite
strange and we see we see there
that
god um that I'm sorry there was Yosef
who said you are spies you've come to
see
uh theat you know
means AA is a
nakedness to see the nakedness of the
thing the expression is a strange
expression almost the
unique why is that why is that important
well what did they do to ysph when they
grabbed him look at source
three they stripped yose of his coat is
yoseph using the purposeful word of the
nakedness of the of Egypt that you're
trying to spy out in order to perhaps
move them to realize yeah there was
nothing nakedness in this story remember
you stripped off my coat you made me
naked also when you sold me to the ishim
could be very
interesting um they threw him in
unclothed in the
pit and that is how he was found and
that is how he was sold and that is how
he was brought down to Egypt the
nakedness of Egypt the yoseph was naked
when he comes into Egypt and
um those are the first words he that
come out of his mouth when he talks to
his
brothers was it conscious unconscious I
don't know but it certainly begins to
see that there is a pattern going on but
there's the reaction of the brothers
after they were released of from prison
after their three-day incarceration I
suppose i' call it um ysep tells them
that he is Elohim on the way a
God-fearing man I'm a God-fearing man
very nice
um and because of that he said I'm gonna
send you back
home um and the brothers interestingly
never react they don't say gee thanks a
lot who no they don't even express any
relief instead when they're released
from prison they say in the fourth
Source they said indeed indeed we are
guilty regarding our brother for we saw
his distress when he pleaded to us but
we did not listen this is why the stress
comes upon us they don't say it when
they were put into the prison no only
now they pose a
question
um and that's strange you know said that
the suggestion that of ysep brings them
to the
realization that uh they have to
confront now their father that's what
they worried about not that I he led us
out of prison but o we have to come back
home and tell our father once again that
there his son is
missing the way they did with yoseph
they have to re-experience what they did
to their father and they're finally
realizing a what did we do to our father
22 years ago we're doing it again and
that's what they
said this must be a punishment we must
be guilty we are being punished for what
we did because we didn't listen to our
brother and we let kept left him in that
pit and uh depending on how you say the
approach and sold him that is why they
react that so they saw they're seeing
now
events of the victims of their sin 22
years ago their father was a victim ysf
was a
victim and the beginning of recognition
of their sin is the beginning of
repentance of their repen of process
I'll say and uh
even maybe uh the words that ysep uses
when he says he's keeping Shimon in
prison he
said one the one brother will remain in
prison and um isn't it interesting later
on when they explained through uh
actually the in during the process of
the of the trips to Yo to MIT when
they're talking to Yos they explained
about their family they said well we
have we're a family of 12
but and the one is missing so what does
YF do he uses instead of saying I'm
Gonna Keep here or I'm keeping in prison
he
says the one I'm keeping in prison using
the same words they used to describe him
y another thing and next thing we know
that
go at the second mission the second time
they come back things to be going seem
to be going well Yos says oh okay don't
worry you can keep the money that you
got come on have a meal with me and it
says they send back to the to the meal
remember the major meal in the certainly
in the ancient world and certainly in
the Egypt we know was the midday meal
the Saharan meal and there it says that
they same they they came and
um
they they ate by themselves when y was
not there what does that remind us of it
reminds us that when they threw yoseph
into the pit it
says they said they had a pizza pizza
and ysep is crying crying and screaming
from the pit ysep was alone and they
were alone these things are not just
coincidental they're reliving certain
experiences maybe they get to their
heads we did something wrong that's the
beginning how you do chuva to realize
what harm you have committed to
others and then
yoseph he shows favor to beamin right
the son of Y he gives him five times
more than he gives the
others what does that remind you of just
like yov showed favor to rael's other
son Yosef so how are the brothers going
to react to
that that's of course the great question
you know almost yoseph was thinking you
know uh when dad liked me better than
you you were pretty angry right you
threw me out now I'm going to I'm going
to show a favortism to my mother's other
son to bamin let's see how you're GNA
feel about
that another test and so therefore
um
dramatically when he then says he plots
to make bamin a slave because he of
course uh had his goblet
actually secretly placed in Bin's SA
so when that was discovered um is it not
the same uh making a slave of bamin just
like the brothers made Yosef a
slave look at these parallels
unbelievable so what did the yoseph
accomplish no I'm sorry then go up a
little back
yeah after all of these
analyses we still puzzled by one
conscious Act of Yosef which seems to be
unnecessary and that's regarding the
money why why are all the subus
regarding the money right uh why we
return the money in the first place
right why refuse to get take the money
back from the brothers in the second
place and why give the money uh once
more when they come when they're
planning to go back again they give them
back the money what's this whole thing
with
money well you
know it doesn't change the story at all
it would seem it's not even part of the
story not even
crucial but would we be perhaps
stretching the point too much if we
suggest that the focus upon money money
money very well be a not too subtle
reference to the money that the brothers
received for the sale of yoseph
Oh goodie let's take some money what is
say says
bet what is the not what's what is the
value what are we gonna get out of just
killing our brother if we sell him we
can get some money that's the
beta so he's saying oh yeah you to sell
me you like the money so it keeps on
doing the whole money thing with them
very possibly I you know these are just
suggests I have here um and
um let's see what happens perhaps so we
get the feeling that once again the sons
return to their father without a brother
but
with
money just as they returned 20 two years
earlier without their brother but with
the
money interesting
perhaps and
so with yehuda's plea in the beginning
of aash when he pleads to have to
replace bamin as the slave to
Y he man he manages to repair two
relationships first of all that of his
relationship and that of the brothers of
course uh to the sons of Rael ysf
and as he was the very one to
suggest that y be
sold um to the isim and now he offers
rather than have his brother sold to
Egypt that he would be the EV so the act
of chuva of of Yehuda now is he's
replacing the son of Rael to be the
slave in
Egypt as he had be the one to suggest to
take the other son of Rael to be a a
slave in Egypt right and then of course
now he's rep repairing the relationship
with his father we just did could not
emotionally hurt anymore um and and if
you want to look into it look in the
text you see how often repeated is the
word AI when Yehuda begs for help to to
be the slave to Y read how many times he
says a a a my father my
father how am I gonna go there my father
my father my father it repeats it's it's
almost a not only an echo but it's in
his mind in his brain my father my
father my
father he actually is um uses his
emotional plea to yoseph and with this
repair the story of the family's chuva
really is
completed so we've gone through at least
the Chua process
of repairing the
family and of repairing it with the
father as well the family repentance
perhaps is now completed those
experiences of the two missions do that
so we'll touch upon the uh the national
level level that is the leadership of
Israel that would happen in the future
and how and why it shifted from to
Yehuda now whether there's enough time
to complete this or not we'll see but I
will tell you but at least we got the
first part though and I think that was
an important
thing uh this shift is a little more
subtle and the Very uh and it's revealed
only through the whole structure of the
story as we can see through the the
chart there the first you know there
when in the beginning Ru gives his
monologue BL blaming the the brothers
for their troubles you see that uh in um
four in four says um he says actually
better yet at the bottom of fourth that
says at first um this is what they each
regret he said were guilty and says okay
uh I'll just keep Simon in jail and then
Ru say
says I told
you not to not to harm child you listen
to
me see now his blood is being demanded
now you'll notice that ruen is really
getting it to them who doesn't he
include
himself I told you was your fault not
me and um
that's ru's
monologue but when Yehuda gives a
monologue with
yoseph he says the
following therefore let me stay instead
of the lad as a servant let the lad
return with his brethren for how can I
return to my father if the lad is not
with me lest I see the evil that shall
Beall my father there is not blaming in
anyone else you doesn't say it's their
fault but I'll do it anyway he doesn't
say anything like that doesn't mention
anything about the brother she says it's
on me it's on me who would should should
have done that when one thinks about it
logically who should be the one who's
responsible the eldest son that is
ruen who is taking the leadership though
yahudah who after all guaranteed say
this the safety of
bamin because yov wouldn't accept uh U's
plead to let him go said you can kill my
sons if I not bring him back
C this get a cup kill my sons okay take
him I'll kill the kids it's
okay what is he say of course he was
saying I'm so sure I'll bring him
back you says nothing good as such he
said I'll take him I guarantee it that's
all he says that's what it says in in in
before that's what number five says and
ruin said to his father you can slay my
two sons if I don't bring him back and
on the other
hand what do Yuda say look at that in
five Yuda says the man warned us you'll
not see me unless you bring your brother
so you send brother say we will go down
and buy a few but if you not we will not
go for said so Yuda said to his father
send the lad with me
and we will go so that we may live both
we and you and our little ones I will be
a guarantee for him you can demand his
return for me if I do not return to you
him to you I will bear the blame
forever that's how he says it you
understand now why yov listen to him and
not
that's exactly the whole point
um remember after all uh it becomes
clear now whyu is pred aside and and
Yehuda becomes now the leading uh hero
here in the story um the
um going back for example um when yo y
decides to imprison one of the the the
brothers and he
says I I Fear God he says in other words
as a God-fearing ruler and knows that
the imprisonment is
unfair and instead of imprisoning all of
them I'll imprison one and we know he
takes Shimon as a
temporary um a prisoner but carefully
see how that is not the whole story ysep
says and then you have it over here
so I have it here later on
um yeah I think I have it back here I'm
sorry a little bit
here look four I have
a look at if you are truthful let one of
your brethren remain in prison while you
go and bring poor into your fear
families and then bring your youngest
brother to me so that your words be
proven true and you will not die
and they did so that's what yoseph says
Joseph uh does not say he's gonna take
Shimon away he doesn't specify any
brother what is he waiting
for why doesn't he say he just says I
want one of them I'm taking one of the
brothers why doesn't he say who he's
going to
take what do you think what is is Joseph
expecting who should then now volunteer
to be a hostage excuse the expression
nowadays
why he expects rain to stand up and say
I'm the eldest I will be the hostage and
Ru does not you see it isn't clear it
isn't obvious but think about this
wouldn't that have been the logical
thing to happen it doesn't another
reason we're saying that U is not the
leader here uin does not take on the
mantle of leadership as he should he
once again fails in that leadership
test and what who eventually
does it's interesting when you go
through this when we go through the
whole thing we find out that
it says they speak to each
other
um they speak to each other and they say
um it says there
um yeah this is when they they they they
they speak to each other uh before they
decide who's who's going to be taken um
and they they say the following uh we
are guilty so on and so forth um and
they show
remorse and they're beginning to show
the impact of what they had done uh
until again that's whenu instead of
coming up and saying okay I will be the
hostage instead that's when he says well
I told you you shouldn't have done it
your fault well I should stay hostage
but you're the on who did it I told you
not to do that which of course isn't
true he just told them not to kill them
he just told he told throw he told them
throw them in the
pit But there again you see the failure
of Ru to be the true leader he doesn't
offer himself to be the
hostage uh he doesn't offer any solution
he just blames them yeah the people said
we are guilty the brothers say we are
guilty we are we heard the C we didn't
listen and Ruben said yeah you did it
all you did it all you see the story
when it's when the pronouns are are are
uh are really underlined underscored
when they're put in bold we we we he
said yeah you you you not me not me I
told you not to do it don't look at me
you want me to go hostage I I'm the only
innocent one around
here no
leadership and
[Music]
um interestingly and put this I think
it's nice the brothers always refer
refer to Ys before they knew ysf is y
they call a our brother when when calls
it he says one of is he calls them not
brother he calls him the the
yelled almost removing himself from the
family you know the kid the kid not me
and
um in reaction to words that's when ysep
begins to cry ysep begins to cry because
he hears the regret of the
brothers and probably because he was
expecting Ru to speak up and he never
did he cry for
that and that
is what happens and there's more to this
if I tell you I'm halfway through I am
but it's a perfect place for me to end
because it's 11:15 and I'm told there's
a the Torah says you know of course know
there's a BAL toif not a lot of give too
much so I I'll keep here if I have an
opportunity to continue and I hope I'll
will have the opportunity I will
continue from where we are because it's
really in the middle of the story man
you know this is pretty remarkable but
looking at the text and looking at oh
well I see I know the story I even had a
color book about a coloring book and I
used it when I was in and gone but I
never saw it this way and that's what
this is so important to take the text
and start seeing it in a way that we'd
never saw it before so much comes out of
the real story and that we see the depth
of the story and the Brilliance and the
Brilliance of the Torah text was he's
trying to tell us something and say hey
don't make it into coloring book think
and listen and read those words and see
how much deeper this whole story is so
this is the two missions or really um
experiences to bring the brothers to do
Chua and eventually we'll see y also
maybe next time thank you very much