פרשת מקץ - ויכר יוסף

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them; but he acted like a stranger toward them and spoke harshly to them. He asked them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to procure food.”

For though Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

[3] Another interpretation:"And El Shaddai did not need to say 'grant you mercy' but rather 'grant you mercy before the king,' or 'before the ruler,' just as it is written, 'and Joseph was the ruler, etc.'" (Genesis 42:6) Why does it say "before the man"? It could have just said to give you mercy before the king, or before the ruler, as it is written "and Joseph was the ruler, etc." (Genesis 42:6). And why did his mother call him by his name Joseph, as it is written "And she called his name Joseph" (Genesis 30:24), while Pharaoh called him Zaphenath-paneah ["treasury of the glorious rest"] (Genesis 41:45) and the Egyptians called him Avrech [father in wisdom.] (Genesis 41:43)? Jacob omitted all of these names and only said "And El Shaddai, etc." before the man. Why, when his father sent him to his brothers, did the angel who was assigned by God to watch over him find him wandering and ask him what he was looking for? As it is written "And a man found him, and behold he was wandering in the field" (Genesis 37:15), and he said to him "What are you looking for?" and he answered "I am looking for my brothers." Once he arrived there, they threw him into a pit, then took off his coat, and then sold him four times, as it is written "Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away" (Amos 2:6). And when the tribes went down to Egypt, as soon as he saw them, he had compassion on them." As it is written, "And Joseph recognized them" (Genesis 42:8). "And he turned himself away from them and wept" (Genesis 42:24). Immediately, the angel descended and appeared to Joseph in the form of a man, and he said to him, "Why do you have mercy on these people? Don't you know how much they have troubled you? They threw you into a pit and sold you four times. He began to accuse them and said to Joseph, "Immediately he revealed himself to them" (Genesis 45:1). He said to them, "Don't you know that I am a magician? I take the cup, smell it, and make myself a magician. He said to them, "I know that you are spies, but if you are honest, then you are finished." (Genesis 42:19). When they came to Jacob and said to him, "What do you think the king of Egypt said to us? He is not merciful to us." Only one person knows where he sent us from, and he stands and accuses us before him, as it is written, "The man said, 'Your servant, our lord, has asked us about our family'" (Genesis 43:7). For the man said, "You are spies" (Genesis 42:14). He said to them, "There is a man who accuses you, so be kind to him, as it is written, 'And Almighty God will give you mercy before the man' (Genesis 43:14), and not only before this man, but before all nations, as it is written, 'give them compassion before those who carried them captive.' (I Kings 8:50)"

“Joseph saw his bothers [and he recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them]” (Genesis 42:7) – Rabbi Yehoshua bar Neḥemya said: He became like a stranger to them.
“Joseph recognized his brothers…” (Genesis 42:8) – Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis, Rabbi Levi said: When they fell into his hands: “Joseph recognized his brothers.” When he fell into their hands: “But they did not recognize him.” The Rabbis say: He parted from them when they were bearded, so “Joseph recognized his brothers.” “But they did not recognize him,” as they parted from him when he was not bearded.
“Joseph remembered…and said to them…[They said to him:] We are all the sons of one man” (Genesis 42:9–11) – they had a spark of the Divine Spirit. They said to him: ‘We and you are the sons of one man.’
“Joseph said to them: That is what I spoke to you, saying: You are spies” (Genesis 42:14).
“They said: We, [your servants,] are twelve [brothers, sons of one man…and one is absent]” (Genesis 42:13) – He said to them: ‘Where is he?’ [They said:] ‘We sold him.’ He said to them: ‘For how much did you sell him?’ They said to him: ‘For five sela.’ He said to them: ‘And if a person would say to you: Give me five sela for him, and I will give him to you, would you do it?’ They said to him: ‘Yes.’ And if a person would say to you: ‘Give me double for him and I will give him to you, would you do it?’ They said: ‘Yes.’ ‘And if a person would say to you, even if you would give one thousand for him, we will not give him to you, what would you do?’ They said to him: ‘It is for that purpose that we descended, either to kill or to be killed.’ He said to them: “That is what I spoke to you, [saying: You are] spies.”
“With this you shall be put to the test: As Pharaoh lives, you shall not depart from here, unless your youngest brother comes here” (Genesis 42:15).
“Dispatch one of you and he will take your brother, and you shall be incarcerated, that your statements may be verified, whether there is truth with you; and if not, by Pharaoh’s life, you are spies” (Genesis 42:16).
“With this you shall be put to the test: As Pharaoh lives” – when he would seek to take a false oath, he would take the oath by Pharaoh’s life. Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to a goat that fled from the pasture and went to a widowed woman. What did she do? She stood, slaughtered it, flayed it, placed it in the bed, and covered it with a sheet. They came and sought it from her. She said: ‘This woman will tear from the flesh of this one and eat it if she knows about it.’ So, “as Pharaoh lives, you shall not depart…dispatch one of you.”
“He gathered them into custody for three days” (Genesis 42:17).
“He gathered them into custody for three days” – the Holy One blessed be He never leaves the righteous in distress for three days, and likewise they learned from Joseph, Jonah, Mordekhai, and David, and likewise it says: “He will revive us after two days; on the third day” (Hosea 6:2) of the tribes “He will raise us” (Hosea 6:2) – “Joseph said to them on the third day.”

AND JOSEPH SAW HIS BRETHREN, AND HE RECOGNIZED THEM. Immediately as he saw them he recognized them, and he feared lest they recognize him. And he made himself strange (‘vayithnakeir’) unto them by putting a mitre upon his forehead and part of the face, thus disguising himself, just as it is said concerning the wife of Jeroboam, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and it further says, For it will be, when she cometh in, that she ‘mithnakeirah’ (will pretend to be another woman). It may be that the word vayithnakeir here means that he made himself strange by his words, speaking to them harshly and asking them in anger — as if it were not customary to come before him to purchase food — “From where do you come to appear before me?” And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. When they mentioned this to him, it then became clear to him that they were indeed his brothers. This is the meaning of the expression, And Joseph recognized his brethren, which is mentioned a second time to indicate an additional sense of recognition and knowledge of the truth with respect to them.
Now Rashi wrote in explanation of the word vayithnakeir: “He made himself like a nochri (stranger) in conversation by speaking harshly to them.” According to Rashi’s opinion, the word vayithnakeir signifies that he spoke to them as a man who is a nochri (stranger). But this is not correct.

AND HE KNEW THEM. When Joseph first saw the group he recognized them as his brothers. He then looked at each one of them and recognized them individually. The latter is the meaning of And Joseph knew his brethren (v. 8).

The case came before Rav Ḥisda. He said to the brother: Mari bar Isak spoke well to you, as it is stated: “And Joseph knew his brothers and they knew him not” (Genesis 42:8). This teaches that Joseph left Eretz Yisrael without the trace of a beard, and he came with the trace of a beard. This proves that it is possible for brothers not to recognize each other. Mari bar Isak may be telling the truth when he claims he does not recognize you. Rav Ḥisda said to the brother: Go bring witnesses that you are his brother. The brother said to him: I have witnesses, but they fear Mari bar Isak because he is a violent man. Rav Ḥisda said to Mari bar Isak: You go bring witnesses that he is not your brother.

BUT THEY DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM. I.e., at all. And so he no longer needed to make himself appear strange to them. Now in this matter of recognition, our Rabbis have said that Joseph recognized his brothers because he had left them bearded, but they did not recognize him because when he left them he had no beard and now they found him with a beard.
Now Issachar and Zebulun were but a little older than Joseph, but having recognized the older ones, he recognized them all. Moreover, he recognized them because he knew they were bound to come, but they did not recognize him because it did not occur to them that a slave sold to the Ishmaelites should be the ruler of a land.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says: And he recognized them. That is, at first he recognized them to be his brothers, and following that, he looked at each one and recognized him individually.

ויכר יוסף את אחיו. Joseph recognised his brothers. Joseph had no trouble recognising his brothers since they all wore beards when he left them. Although it is normal for acquaintances who have not seen each other for a long time to recognise one another, i.e. that as soon as one person recognises the second person, he in turn suddenly is able to recognise the first person also, this was not the case here. Normally the heart communicates secrets as we know from Proverbs 27,19 "man's heart will be reflected by his counterpart;" the Torah reveals that in this instance this phenomenon did not work. The reason was that Joseph's exalted position stifled any glimmer of recognition there might have been on the part of the brothers.

ויכר יוסף את אחיו, “Joseph recognised his brothers;” because they addressed each other with their names, and he understood both their names and the language in which they spoke.

והם לא הכירוהו. Joseph had grown a beard, something, which at 17, when they had last seen him, he had not yet had. Furthermore, the Royal garments were something they would not have associated with their brother. They did not recognise his voice either, as they had never heard him speak Egyptian. Joseph made sure that there was always an interpreter between him and his brothers as we know from verse 23.

Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Naḥmani, the disseminator of Reish Lakish, interpreted a verse homiletically: Whoever looks at the following three things, his eyes will grow dim: One who looks at a rainbow, at a Nasi, and at the priests. He explains: At a rainbow, as it is written: “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about, this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (Ezekiel 1:28). At a Nasi, as it is written: “And you shall put of your splendor upon him” (Numbers 27:20), which indicates that the splendor of the Divine Presence rested upon Moses, who was the Nasi of Israel. The third item, looking at priests, is referring to one who looks at the priests when the Temple is standing, as they would stand on their platform and bless Israel with the ineffable name, at which point the Divine Presence would rest above the joints of their fingers.

[3] Another interpretation:"And El Shaddai did not need to say 'grant you mercy' but rather 'grant you mercy before the king,' or 'before the ruler,' just as it is written, 'and Joseph was the ruler, etc.'" (Genesis 42:6) Why does it say "before the man"? It could have just said to give you mercy before the king, or before the ruler, as it is written "and Joseph was the ruler, etc." (Genesis 42:6). And why did his mother call him by his name Joseph, as it is written "And she called his name Joseph" (Genesis 30:24), while Pharaoh called him Zaphenath-paneah ["treasury of the glorious rest"] (Genesis 41:45) and the Egyptians called him Avrech [father in wisdom.] (Genesis 41:43)? Jacob omitted all of these names and only said "And El Shaddai, etc." before the man. Why, when his father sent him to his brothers, did the angel who was assigned by God to watch over him find him wandering and ask him what he was looking for? As it is written "And a man found him, and behold he was wandering in the field" (Genesis 37:15), and he said to him "What are you looking for?" and he answered "I am looking for my brothers." Once he arrived there, they threw him into a pit, then took off his coat, and then sold him four times, as it is written "Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away" (Amos 2:6). And when the tribes went down to Egypt, as soon as he saw them, he had compassion on them." As it is written, "And Joseph recognized them" (Genesis 42:8). "And he turned himself away from them and wept" (Genesis 42:24). Immediately, the angel descended and appeared to Joseph in the form of a man, and he said to him, "Why do you have mercy on these people? Don't you know how much they have troubled you? They threw you into a pit and sold you four times. He began to accuse them and said to Joseph, "Immediately he revealed himself to them" (Genesis 45:1). He said to them, "Don't you know that I am a magician? I take the cup, smell it, and make myself a magician. He said to them, "I know that you are spies, but if you are honest, then you are finished." (Genesis 42:19). When they came to Jacob and said to him, "What do you think the king of Egypt said to us? He is not merciful to us." Only one person knows where he sent us from, and he stands and accuses us before him, as it is written, "The man said, 'Your servant, our lord, has asked us about our family'" (Genesis 43:7). For the man said, "You are spies" (Genesis 42:14). He said to them, "There is a man who accuses you, so be kind to him, as it is written, 'And Almighty God will give you mercy before the man' (Genesis 43:14), and not only before this man, but before all nations, as it is written, 'give them compassion before those who carried them captive.' (I Kings 8:50)"

AND JOSEPH SAW HIS BRETHREN, AND HE RECOGNIZED THEM. Immediately as he saw them he recognized them, and he feared lest they recognize him. And he made himself strange (‘vayithnakeir’) unto them by putting a mitre upon his forehead and part of the face, thus disguising himself, just as it is said concerning the wife of Jeroboam, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and it further says, For it will be, when she cometh in, that she ‘mithnakeirah’ (will pretend to be another woman). It may be that the word vayithnakeir here means that he made himself strange by his words, speaking to them harshly and asking them in anger — as if it were not customary to come before him to purchase food — “From where do you come to appear before me?” And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. When they mentioned this to him, it then became clear to him that they were indeed his brothers. This is the meaning of the expression, And Joseph recognized his brethren, which is mentioned a second time to indicate an additional sense of recognition and knowledge of the truth with respect to them.
Now Rashi wrote in explanation of the word vayithnakeir: “He made himself like a nochri (stranger) in conversation by speaking harshly to them.” According to Rashi’s opinion, the word vayithnakeir signifies that he spoke to them as a man who is a nochri (stranger). But this is not correct.

§ The Gemara relates: Mari bar Isak, who was a wealthy and powerful man, had a brother whom he did not previously know, come to him from Bei Ḥozai, which was distant from central Babylonia. His brother said to him: Divide the property that you inherited from our father and give half to me, as I am your brother. Mari said to him: I do not know who you are.

§ The mishna teaches that if she was informed that her husband was dead and she married another man, and her husband later returned, she must leave this one and this one. Rav said: They taught this halakhaonly if she married by virtue of the testimony of one witness, but if she married on the basis of the testimony of two witnesses, she does not have to leave him. They laughed at him in the West, Eretz Yisrael: The man, the first husband, has come and stands before us, and yet you say she does not have to leave her second husband. The Gemara explains: No, it is necessary in a situation when we do not know the man who comes before us claiming to be the first husband.