5780/2019

In plays, actors need time to change their costume, readjust their make-up, and get a drink of water in between scenes. But sometimes, these activities take too long, and it is unkind to the audience to be sitting in the dark waiting for the actors to get ready. Therefore, directors create interludes in order to fill this time slot and keep the audience entertained. In Parashat VaYeishev, it almost seems like this exact theme occurs. In Perek 37, the Torah tells us of the brothers trying to find a way to get rid of Yoseif. As Yoseif approaches the brothers who were in Dotan, each brother said to another, “Hinei Ba’al HaChalamot HaLazaeh Bah. Ve’Atah Lichu VeNeharageinu VeNashlicheihu Be’Achad HaBorot,” “Here comes the dreamer! Let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits” (Genesis 37: 19-20). When Re’uven heard this, he told the brothers, “Lo Nakenu Nafesh” “we should not kill him” (Genesis 37: 21). Rather Re’uven had the idea to put him in the pit and rescue him later. Subsequently, when Yoseif arrived on the scene, that is what the brothers did. But, when the brothers sat down to eat lunch, they saw a group of Ishmaelites coming and Yehudah said, “Mah Betzah Ki Neharog Et Achinu VeChisinu Et Damo. Lechu VeNimcarenu LaYishma’eilim… Ki Achinu Besareinu Hu,” “What do we gain from killing Yoseif and covering up the spilling of his blood? Why don’t we just sell him to the Ishmaelites... because after all, he is our own flesh” (Genesis 37: 26-27). After suggesting this, the brothers listen and come back to Ya’akov explaining that Yoseif died. Meanwhile, Yoseif was sold to Potiphar to Egypt. Afterwards, instead of explaining what happened to the protagonist, Yoseif, and his experience in Egypt with Potiphar, the Torah interrupts this narrative, with almost a tangent like story of Yehudah which is never retold for the rest of the Seifer. What is this point of inserting this almost side-story in the midst of an exciting tale of Yoseif in Egypt? Ibn Ezra suggests that the story of Yehudah happened before Yoseif was sold and is only mentioned now in order to separate between the story of Yoseif and the brothers actions with the story of Yoseif and Potiphar. Ibn Ezra seems to be suggesting that this story was introduced to cover time. Give Yoseif a couple days to get to Egypt and change his costume and makeup and meanwhile the story of Yehudah will be introduced in order that the audience does not get bored. This suggestion seems difficult! Since when does the Torah insert a story just to break up another one? The Torah never cares about giving characters enough time to ‘change costumes’ as it sometimes skips over centuries in only a few Pesukim. Furthermore, the Torah never wastes words! There must be another explanation to why this seemingly pointless story of Yehudah was placed here. Chizkuni suggests that after the selling of Yoseif, Yehudah was unable to cope with the great Tza’ara (anguish) of his father, and therefore he decided to go away. Again, this answer poses much difficulty. Firstly, the pasuk states “VaYeired Yehudah Mei’Eit Echav,” “Yehudah went down away from his brothers” (Genesis 38: 1). If he was really going away from the anguish of Ya’akov, why would the Torah simply he went down away from his brothers? All the more so, why was Yehudah the only one affected by this Tza’ara of Ya’akov, didn’t all the brothers feel the same pain as Yehudah did? While these two approaches have many difficulties, Rashi and Seforno seem to solve them. Rashi explains that the reason the story of Yehudah interrupts the narrative in order to show the brothers degraded him from his high position as a direct cause of this incident. When the brothers saw the grief of their father, they told Yehudah that no matter what he suggested, they would have listened to him. Whether his decision was to sell Yoseif or to bring Yoseif back to their father. Seforno adds on to Rashi’s explanation and says that Yehudah was blamed for the pain that Ya’akov had to suffer as it was his idea to sell Yoseif. This explanation helps us understand why only Yehudah was affected by the Tza’ara of Ya’akov as Chizkuni suggested. The brothers coped with this by blaming the actions that occurred on Yehudah and therefore it was not just the Tza’ara of Ya’akov that he could not handle, but the active blame the brothers put on him for causing this reaction of going down away from his brothers thus explaining why the Torah states “VaYeired Yehudah Mei’Eit Echav” and not Ya’akov. Secondly, this approach also explains why the story was placed here. It is not just an interlude, but it is a direct reaction to what occurred previously, Yehudah suffering because of the decision he made. But the Torah was not written just to tell stories, but also to teach us how each one of us should live our lives and this is exactly what the Torah is doing here. Going back to the story, it seems like compared to the rest of the brothers, Yehudah’s suggestion is more humane. When the brothers saw Yoseif approach, they wanted to kill him and throw him into a pit, blaming the death on a wild beast - “Ve’Atah Lichu VeNahargeinu.” Yehudah’s suggestion is in order to prevent the killing of Yoseif, because after all, he is their brother, and therefore by sending him off to Egypt, Yehudah ensures that Yoseif will not be killed. In looking through this lens, Yehudah was taking a course of action that is better than the course of action as suggested by the brothers. If anything, the brothers should have been happy they listened to him as imagine the Tza’ara of Ya’akov they would have felt if they actually killed him! HIn hindsight, it seems obvious that Ya’akov would be overcome with great Tza’ar, but the brothers acted with impulsive behavior, a tendency to act on a whim, not putting any forethought, reflection, or consideration of the consequences that could occur. Although selling Yoseif at the time seemed like a good idea because it prevented the death of Yoseif, in hindsight sending Yoseif away was a terrible idea. The brothers, especially Yehudah, suffered much more from the Tza’ara of Ya’akov Avinu having lost his favorite son, than they would have by Yoseif remaining with the family. Here, in breaking up the narrative, the Torah is teaching us a valuable lesson. We should not act with impulsive behavior, but we should think all actions through. We cannot get caught up in the immediate problem or situation, but we have to think about the consequences that actions could lead to, especially the feelings of others. As the Sfeorno explains, Yehudah had to learn his lesson the hard way. By ensuring that Yoseif was separated from Ya’akov at an early age, his two children passed away at an even earlier age causing great suffering. The Torah does not have commercials, rather it is filled with important lessons and stories that can help us develop into better people and this is what the story of Yehudah does. One should always think about the consequences of every single action should have. One should not solve problems by only helping oneself, but have empathy and think about how one’s actions can affect everyone else around him.