Yosef said to his brothers, “I am Yosef – is my father still alive?” but his brothers could not answer him,
because they were in fear of him. Yosef said to his brothers, “Please come near,” and they came near,
and he said, “I am your brother Yosef, whom you sold to Egypt.” (45:3-4)
The Or Ha’chayim makes a remarkable statement in his commentary to these pesukim. One of the
reasons, he writes, why Yosef repeated the words אני יוסף – I am Yosef” – is because he figured his
brothers were afraid of him, given what they had done to him, and he thus wanted to assure them that
he would treat them kindly. He therefore announced to them, אני יוסף אחיכם – I am your brother
Yosef” – that he was committed to treating them with brotherly love, as if nothing had happened,
despite their hostility towards him.
The Or Ha’chayim then adds:
גם סמך לומר אחיכם אשר מכרתם – לומר שאפילו בזמן המכר לא כהתה עין האחוה ממני.
He also said in juxtaposition [to this], “your brother whom you sold” – to say, “even at the time of the
sale, my brotherly outlook did not fade.”
According to the Or Ha’chayim, Yosef here testifies about himself that even at the time his brothers sold
him as a slave, his brotherly love for them remained fully intact. This is an astounding comment, one
which sheds entirely new light on the unique character of Yosef Ha’tzaddik.
HKB”H’s Unconditional Love
The Or Ha’chayim’s remark may also shed light on a well-known passage in the Midrash regarding these
pesukim:
אבא כהן ברדלא אמר:אוי לנו מיום הדין, אוי לנו מיום התוכחה. יוסף קטנן של שבטים היה, ולא היו יכולים לעמוד
בתוכחתו... לכשיבא הקב"ה ויוכיח כל אחד ואחד לפי מה שהוא, שנאמר אוכיחך ואערכה לעיניך, על אחת כמה
וכמה.
Abba Kohen Bardela said: Woe for us on the day of judgment, woe for us on the day of reproof. Yosef
was the youngest of the tribes, and yet they could not withstand his reproof… When the Almighty will
come and reprove each person according to his standing – as it says (Tehillim 50:21), “I will chastise you
and make an assessment in your presence” – all the more so [we will be unable to withstand the
reproof].
In light of the Or Ha’chayim’s comments, we might explain that the brothers were struck by Yosef’s
extraordinary stature of piety, by the fact that at the time when they conspired and perpetrated evil
against him, his mind was nevertheless filled with thoughts of fraternal love towards them, as evidenced
by his preparedness to now treat them kindly as if nothing happened. They acted towards him in a way that was the diametric opposite of brotherly love, and yet Yosef says about himself – that even during those painful moments, he loved them as brothers. This display of piety caused
his brothers great shame, as they saw how he loved them despite the evil they perpetrated against him.
Abba Kohen Bardela warns us that we will be exposed to this same kind of shame on the day of
judgment. Whenever the yetzer ha’ra succeeds in entrapping us and causing us to sin, it then has us
think that HKB”H no longer loves us, and that to the contrary, He is deciding how to punish us. In this
way, the yetzer ha’ra is able to drive us even further away from religious observance, as we end up
falling into despair and thus allowing ourselves to commit all types of sins, Heaven forbid. In the future,
however, we will be shown that to the contrary, HKB”H loves us at each and every moment of our lives –
even at the moments when we betray Him and commit sins. When we are shown this unconditional
love, we will be filled with shame for our having believed that HKB”H’s love for us had faded as a result
of our misdeeds. Hence, אוי לנו מיום הדין אוי לנו מיום התוכחה . If we make the mistake of despairing,
thinking that HKB”H no longer loves us because of our sins, then we will be thoroughly ashamed and
humiliated at the time of judgment.
אוכיחך ואערכה
The Midrash cites in this context the pasuk in Tehillim, אוכיחה ואערכה לעיניך. In this pasuk, HKB”H tells
us that even at the time of אוכיחך ,when we face judgment for our misdeeds, אערכה – we will be shown
HKB”H’s high estimation (הערכה) of us, and how much He loves and cherishes us despite our mistakes.
This concept should lift our spirits and give us great encouragement and hope – something we all need
during the dark, dreary winter months that are now upon us. HKB”H loves and cherishes each and every
one of us, regardless of our actions and lowly stature. When a person recognizes the extent of HKB”H’s
love for him despite his unworthiness, he will then exercise extreme care and take every possible
precaution to follow His will and not to betray Him. We must ignore the attempts of the yetzer ha’ra to
persuade us that we are unwanted and despised by Hashem. This is the yetzer ha’ra’s tactic to move us
further away from the Almighty. The truth is that HKB”H loves us dearly despite our wrongdoing.
This lesson is also applicable in the realm of בין אדם לחבירו .
We must try to act towards others with
brotherly love even when we have been wronged. This is what Rava taught us in Maseches Rosh Hashana (17) is כל המעביר על מדותיו מעבירין לו על כל פשעיו - If we treat others forgivingly and with unconditional love, then HKB”H will, in turn,
forgive us for all our misdeeds, אמן כן יהי רצון!!
[Tolna Rebbe Shlita - translated by Rabbi David Silverberg]
