פרשת מקץ תשל"א - האחים במצרים

Now Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons: ‘Why do ye look one upon another?’

And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn from Egypt.

But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said: ‘Lest peradventure harm befall him.’

And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Caanan.

And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down to him with their faces to the earth.

And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them: ‘Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.’

if ye be upright men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison-house; but go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses;

and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.’ And they did so.

They decided to do so. In the course of making the difficult decision of who to leave behind, they said, “In truth, we are guilty, etc.”

They decided to do so. In the course of making the difficult decision of who to leave behind, they said, “In truth, we are guilty, etc.”

They decided to do so. In the course of making the difficult decision of who to leave behind, they said, “In truth, we are guilty, etc.”

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: Concerning this matter that the Sages stated, that redeeming captives is a great mitzva, from where is it derived? Rabba bar Mari said to him: As it is written: “And it shall come to pass, when they say to you: To where shall we depart? Then you shall tell them: So says the Lord: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for famine, to famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity” (Jeremiah 15:2). And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Whichever punishment is written later in this verse is more severe than the one before it. Rabbi Yoḥanan explains: The sword is worse than death. If you wish, say that this is learned from a verse; if you wish, say instead that it is derived by way of logical reasoning. If you wish, say that this is derived by way of logical reasoning: This punishment, i.e., death by sword, mutilates the body, but that punishment, i.e., natural death, does not mutilate it. And if you wish, say that the fact that the sword is worse than death is learned from a verse: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His pious ones” (Psalms 116:15).

And they said one to another: ‘We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.’

In truth we are guilty. The man’s mercy towards their households reminded them of their own lack of mercy towards their brother. Alternatively, until now they thought he was simply cruel, but now that they saw otherwise they knew that what had befallen them was a punishment.