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But what is it that finally compels Yosef to end the charade and seek reconciliation with those who betrayed him?
To answer that question – yes, you guessed it! – let’s first ask another probing question. Two times - first in last week’s parsha (43:5), and again in this week’s sedra (43:23) - the brothers quote Yosef as saying that, if they did not bring their youngest brother Binyamin to him, "Lo toseyfun lir’ot panay – You will not see my face again!"
The only problem is….Yosef never said that! True, he did demand to have Binyamin brought to Egypt (so that all the brothers could be in one place at the same time), but he never used that specific phrase! So why is he being misquoted?! Twice!
Students of the text will know that, while it is true that Yosef never said "Lo toseyfun lir’ot panay," someone else did say it! That was Paro, in Parshat Bo (10:28), when he tells Moshe, after the 9th plague of Darkness, "You shall not see my face again." What is the connection?
I suggest that Yehuda and the brothers - by attributing to Yosef a phrase that was apparently often used by the Pharoahs - were intimating that Yosef had become no less cruel than Paro! For in Egypt, like in most dictatorships, "law and order" was arbitrary and merciless. If a person was unjustly accused of a crime – as Yosef was in the house of Potipher, and as the brothers felt they were – that person had no recourse to an appeal; there was no layered court system. The only way one could reverse a judgment was a pardon by Paro himself, if he deigned to actually hear the case.
And so, by saying, "You shall not see my face again," Paro was saying, "Your chance of convincing me of the rightness of your cause is gone, finished." This crushing of an innocent’s hope is supremely cruel. And it is precisely that which Yehuda accuses Yosef of doing.
This, I suggest, is what "gets" to Yosef. For he, like all good Jews, is a Rachamim Ben Rachamim, a compassionate, righteous, just human being with a holy soul. To be branded the opposite, to be told he is cruel in the extreme, is too much for him. He is torn apart by the accusation, and so he relents and he forgives.
One of the basic traits of a Jew is Mercy. Our holy army, the IDF, has it; our People has it; our State has it. And that is why Hashem loves us and will always guard us. And so, just as G-d showed mercy to Yosef, he shows it to his family as well.
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
