Vayigash ~ Talking to a Pharaoh

(3) כי כמוך כפרעה FOR THOU ART EVEN AS PHARAOH — In my sight you are as important as the king. This is the literal meaning, but a Midrashic explanation is: You will ultimately be stricken with leprosy for detaining Benjamin even as your ancestor Pharaoh was stricken because he detained my ancestress Sarah one night. Another explanation is: you are as unreliable as Pharaoh — just as Pharaoh issues decrees and does not carry them out, makes promises and does not fulfil them, so also do you. Is this what you meant by “setting your eyes” upon him when you said (Genesis 44:21) “Bring him down and I will set mine eyes upon him”? Still another interpretation of כי כמוך כפרעה FOR THOU SHALT BECOME EVEN AS PHARAOH: if you provoke me I will slay you and your master (Genesis Rabbah 93:6).

Another approach to the first sentence in Yehudah’s plea for ‎the release of Binyamin: Why did Yehudah add the plea that ‎Joseph not become angry at his trying to spare his brother from ‎becoming a slave in Egypt? The very mention of Yosef's ‎becoming angry at him seems most undiplomatic, as hearing this ‎Joseph would presume that Yehudah would make an ‎unacceptable request. Moreover, in his entire speech Yehudah did ‎not once say anything that could be interpreted as capable of ‎arousing Joseph’s anger. He only appeals to Joseph’s compassion ‎throughout his lengthy speech. Rashi also already noticed ‎this, and this is why he may have interpreted the whole speech of ‎Yehudah as a single long accusation.

Nonetheless, I prefer to ‎explain the speech according to the peshat, the plain ‎meaning of the text as well as the words ‎כי כמוך כפרעה [you are like Pharaoh]‎, words that ‎have presented great difficulties to many other commentators.‎ I believe that Yehudah was concerned throughout to awaken ‎any feelings of mercy that Yosef, so as Yosef's heart would understand and listen to the words he was pleading before Yosef. He understood what our sages say, that words spoken sincerely, ‎clearly emanating from the heart and not merely from the lips, ‎find their way to the heart of the person or persons to whom ‎they are addressed. Therefore, their words [of the traditional commentators] cannot be in this case, since when one speaks to his friend sincerely, his friend will take in the sweetness of one's words and will recognize the truth, but when the words come out of the mouth of a translator then the speech does not make such an impression, and this is clear to those who understand wisdom. And for this reason [Yosef] had appointed a translator between them, and he was speaking through the translator. And this is why Yehudah had asked to speak directly to him, without a translator. And in truth, it is not proper to tell a king something in the one's language, since it is possible that the king does not understand one's language, and this is why Yehudah says "let please your servant say something in the ears of my master", and these are the words that come out from a mouth to a ear, without a translator, and this is how he was able to speak directly, even though it is not a display of honor. And this is why he said "please don't get angry at your servant", on this, that I am speaking to you in my language, there is no deceit intended by me, it is clear to me that you know how to speak seventy languages, because that was the way of the kings in the past, that they knew every language. That is why he says "you are like Pharaoh": you, just like Pharaoh, has the knowledge of 70 languages, and of course you know our language. And this is written in the Gemara (Sotah 36b) "he came and taught him [Yosef] 70 languages" and Pharaoh did not know Hebrew, which was a disgrace for him, since the expectation of all kings is that they know every language, as to answer difficult questions, as we stated, and this is easy to understand.

Genesis 44,18. “Yehudah came forward and said: ‘please ‎my lord allow your servant to say something for your ears ‎only, and do not become angry at your servant, for you are ‎similar to Pharaoh himself.” When reading this ‎introduction of Yehudah’s plea we are reminded of a statement in ‎the Talmud Moed Katan 16b, when quoting Samuel II 23:3 - “Israel’s God said: ‎‎'concerning me [David]: 'be ruler over mankind; be ‎righteous, rule'.” Who ‎‎“rules” over Me? the righteous person. - as we know, the righteous person is ‎able to cancel a decree issued by God. ‎

The Praised Name gave strength and power to the righteous, that they can cancel through prayer every harsh decree, and they are, as it were, 'rulers over Me'.

This also appears to be the meaning of the verse (Psalms 48:5) “see the kings joined forces,” (strove against ‎one another) quoted by the Zohar I, 206. The “kings” in our ‎verse are understood as being Yosef and Yehudah respectively; ‎Yosef is there as the Holy One of Blessing, whereas Yehudah is there as the collective soul of the Jewish people. And our verse says "bi adoni" [usually translated as 'please my lord'], as it were [Yehudah is saying] in me there is the power and the ability of 'who rules Me': the righteous whose prayers cancel all harsh decrees and bring to Israel the flow of goodness and blessing.

And this is "please do not get angry" - when the righteous, who are people normally ‎content to live by the stringent standards of the attribute of ‎Justice, resort to an appeal to the attribute of Mercy, they do so ‎only when they plead on behalf of others, and they request that there should be no anger because of this [towards themselves, they will continue to accept the stringent standards to themselves]. The category of tzaddikim ‎to whom such power of squashing God’s decrees is attributed are ‎the ones who relate to God from the vantage point of ‎אין‎, ‎‎“naught” [explained by the author as a negation of “self,” ‎one’s own interests] This total ‎negation of self is rewarded by God when they intercede on behalf ‎of others in an effort to squash or soften a negative decree.‎‎
The sages, (introduction to the Zohar 10,) when ‎commenting on Jeremiah 10:7 “for among all the wise men of the gentile nations and ‎among all their kings there is none comparable to You,” the ‎implication is that “but among the Israelites” there is someone ‎comparable to You, reviving the dead [Elisha and Elijah] and bringing down rain [Elijah].‎
According to the writings of the Ari’z’al the “attribute” ‎אין‎ is described in the Hebrew alphabet in the Holy Scriptures as ‎the letter ‎כ‎, whereas the “attribute” ‎יראה‎, “awe” is ‎represented by the letter ‎י‎. The word ‎כי‎ in the verse from ‎Jeremiah quoted in the previous paragraph therefore alludes to ‎this quality of ‎אין‎, total negation of self, that characterizes some ‎of our tzaddikim in their relationship to God, and in their ‎service of Him, when they completely deny their ego, or “self.” ‎This very denial of self, obliteration of one’s ego, is capable of ‎resulting in a commensurate degree of ‎התגלות ה'‏‎, “revelation” of ‎aspects of G’d’s essence. When Yehudah described Joseph as ‎כ-‏פרעה‎, where the ‎כ‎ symbolizes this negation of self found in the ‎most exalted ruler, (who does no longer need to impress his peers ‎with his “superiority,”) who can therefore reveal a different ‎virtue, the revelation of an attribute superior to that of Justice, ‎the attribute of Mercy. ‎