א. וְלֹא יָכֹל יוֹסֵף לְהִתְאַפֵּק לְכֹל הַנִּצָּבִים עָלָיו וַיִּקְרָא הוֹצִיאוּ כָל אִישׁ מֵעָלָי וְלֹא עָמַד אִישׁ אִתּוֹ בְּהִתְוַדַּע יוֹסֵף אֶל אֶחָיו:
1. Now Joseph could not bear all those standing beside him, and he called out, "Take everyone away
from me!" So no one stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
Why is it that Yosef sent out all the people in the room except his brothers when he reveled himself to them?
Rashi explains that he sent the Egyptians around him because he did not want the Egyptians to see and hear the embarrassment of his brothers when he reveled who he truly was to the brothers.
Why else might have Yosef sent them out of the room? Was him sending them out significant? Was him sending them out right or wrong?
Was him sending them out right or wrong?
ReplyDeleteThe Medrash (Bereshis Rabbah 93) brings an opinion that explains that Yosef acted irresponsibly by sending out the officers. Based on Yosef’s past problems with his brothers attempting to kill him, it seemed unwise to be alone with them. The question is, with that known risk, why would Yosef send out the officers? The answer is that Yosef used the idea of “It is preferable for a person to throw himself into a fiery furnace rather than to embarrass his fellow man publicly” (Sotah 10b) Yosef was careful not to embarrass his brothers based on this idea, even though it meant taking a large risk.
Arielle Samuel- The Midrash Rabba qutoes Rabbi Chama bar Rabbi Chanina and Rabbi Samuel bar Nachmani. Rabbi Chama bar Rabbi Chanina says that Yosef should not have sent the officers out because if one of his brother would have hurt him, he would die right away. So it is better to be safe than sorry, and Yosef should have let the officers stay in the room. However, Rabbi Samuel bar Nachmani says that the way that Yosef acted was right and wrong at the same time. He knew that his brothers are very respectful and would not harm Yosef, but there is always a chance that they can hurt him. Therefore, Yosef gave them a chance to act rightfully and sent the officers out.
ReplyDeleteWas sending them out right or wrong?
ReplyDeleteRabbi Sima tell us that Yosef made the right choice sending the egyptians out of the room. Yosef understood the rocky relationship he had with his brothers and how sacred it truly was. If yosef hadnt sent the egyptians out of the room he would have embarrassed his brothers thereby worsening his relationship with them.
Why did Yosef send everyone out of the room?
ReplyDeleteRashbam says that he sent everyone out not to protect his brothers, but to protect his own image. It would had been undignified for him to start crying in front of all his advisors.
The Ibn Ezra says that he could not bear to wait for everyone else to leave on their own. Therefore, he ordered them to leave immediately. Similar to this, Rashbam says that Yoseph lost his self control and ordered the Egyptians to leave.
ReplyDeleteRamban agrees that Yosef did not want the Egyptians there at the moment of his revelation. However, he offers an alternative explanation for this concern. Yosef planned to bring his father and brothers down to Egypt. His plan would require the reluctant acceptance of Paraoh and the Egyptian people. He expected Egypt to open its borders to foreigners. This new group must be positively represented. Yosef needed to convince the Egyptians that they should not fear these foreigners. The Egyptians could not discover that Yosef’s family had intrigued against him and showed disregard for their father’s feelings. This knowledge would bring suspicions. How could the Egyptians trust the loyalty of a family that sold one of its members into slavery? How could the brothers be expected to be faithful to Paraoh? They had not been faithful to their own father! In order to avoid creating these suspicions, Yosef hid from the Egyptians the events leading to his slavery.
ReplyDeleteRashi brings a religious approach to the situation by suggesting that yosef didn't want to embaress his brothers due to his Jewish morals and how it is equivilant to killing them. However, a non Jewish commentator had a very interesting political approach to the situation. Hermann Gunkel suggests that yosef was nervous that pharoah would not approve of him bringing in immigrants from a foreign country during a time of famine and therefore he conducted this conversation in private.
ReplyDeleteThe Medrash [Bereshis Rabbah 93] says that Yosef was not smart at that time, his brothers tried to kill him in the past, so being alone with them is considered reckless. So it was not wise of him to do it because he had no protection against them.
ReplyDeleteAriella Rand
DeleteWas Joseph sending them out significant?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Rabbi Frand the midrash states that Yosef took a chance when he sent all the Egyptians out of the room before revealing himself to his brothers. The midrash says that they could have killed Yosef on the spot. Here we are dealing with people who had the physical ability or at least the spirituality of such physical ability to kill the second in command of Egypt, there brother Joseph.
Tamar Dubin:
ReplyDeleteRamban argues that Yosef feared controlling the crowd so he decided to take the easy route out and ask everyone present to leave. As a semi-relevant but important point, Yosef was scared that everyone in Egypt would not welcome his brothers because their opinion of him would only be based off of their cruel decision to sell him. He wanted the people of Egypt to welcome him and feel as emotionally attached as he did when he found out his brothers had arrived. In short, he had to keep the details of his brotherhood on the down-low to preserve his and his brothers' reputation.
The Medrash in Bereshis Rabbah (93) quotes two opinions. The first opinion is that when Yosef sent everyone out of the room, he was being extremely reckless. His brothers had tried to kill him in the past, and by shooing everyone out of the room, he was putting his life on the line! The second opinion is that Yosef did not act reckless in that moment. He was actually acting appropriately by shooing everyone out of the room. He was about to reveal himself to his brothers!!!! Which was a huge deal and would COMPLETELY inappropriate with a room full of unnecessary people! He had faith in his brothers. He knew that they wouldn't dare try to kill him again.
ReplyDelete