Joseph Wept…Moving to the Exodus…
Joseph wept” … I have been unable to get these words out of my mind since first reading them in the Torah portion of Miketz several weeks ago. I have a special fondness for the Joseph stories as I am sure do many of you. Much has been written on them, but I think there is another point that needs to be considered here before we move on to yet another powerful saga of the Egyptian bondage and another deliverer, Moses, whose story is recounted in the powerful book of Deuteronomy.
Our Torah portion this past week in the annual cycle is Vayechi. It ends Beresheit, Genesis, and with it, the life of Jacob or Israel and also Joseph. Going back several chapters to the account of the brothers coming home with Joseph’s bloody coat and showing it to their father, Jacob, we read in Gen. 33:37-35 that Jacob rent his garment, and wept and said that he would go down to his grave weeping. There are no other instances, however, that record Jacob ever weeping again, not even when he found that his beloved Joseph was alive or even when he was reunited with him and saw his grandchildren for the first time! This seemed somewhat strange to me. Rabbi Hirsch states in his commentary that Jacob in Joseph’s absence had led a dull and monotonous life and that all his energies had been spent in weeping for Joseph. Joseph, on the other hand had had a very eventful life, and as a result had had no time to surrender to the feelings of the separation from his father and give in to weeping. He had to expend his energies for the tasks that were set before him. Yet, in his father’s embrace, he must have truly felt the impact of the long and painful separation and he wept openly.
This passage above is what began my thinking. I knew that there were other passages regarding Joseph weeping, when he revealed himself to his brothers, etc, but I wanted to read them all, and found some that I had not really taken into account. When I did read them all, one after the other, the impact was quite strong and I was struck at how profound they are! Believe it or not, there are EIGHT passages. I will copy them below and I think that if you will read them, perhaps they will jump out at you in a similar way. The bold print, italics and parenthesis in the texts are mine.
1. Gen 42:23-24
“And they (the brothers) did not know that Yosef understood them, for the interpreter was between them. He turned away from them and wept.”
2. Gen 43:29-30
“ He (Joseph) lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin, his brother, the son of his mother, and said: ‘Is this your younger brother, of whom you have told me:’…”And Yosef hastened– for his feelings toward his brother had been stirred up and he wanted to weep—and he went into the room and wept there.” Speaking of Joseph’s deep feelings, the TEV (Transparant English Version) puts it very graphically, “his insides were inflamed toward his brother.”
3. Gen 45:1-3
“ Yosef could no longer restrain himself before all those who stood before him. He cried, ‘Everyone go away from me and go out!’ And no one remained with him when Yosef made himself known to his brothers. He gave his voice free rein in weeping; Mitzrayim heard it, and Pharaoh’s house heard it Yosef said to his brothers: ‘ I am Yosef; is my father still alive?’ The brothers could not answer him because they were bewildered in his presence.”
4. Gen 45:14
“He fell upon the neck of his brother Benyamin and wept and Benjamin wept upon his neck.”
5. Gen 45:15
“He kissed all his brothers and wept in their embrace, and afterwards his brothers spoke with him.”
6. Gen 46:29
“When he (Joseph) presented himself to him (Jacob), he flung himself upon his neck and was still weeping upon his neck”
7. Gen 49:33-50:1:
“When Yaakov had concluded the commands to his sons, he drew his feet back into the bed, expired and was gathered to his peoples. Then Yosef threw himself upon his father’s face and wept upon him and kissed him.
8. Gen 50:17
“Say this to Yosef: ‘O please forgive the crime of your brothers and their sin, that they did evil to you.’ And now please grant forgiveness for the crime of the servants of the God of your father.’ Yosef wept when they said this to him.
What hit me so strongly is that it was Joseph who was doing the weeping in passage after passage! And each time, it had to do with his family, his long lost father and his brothers…seeing them after so many years, and his brother’s mistrust of him. He did attempt to restrain himself a few times and was successful, but in the end he could no longer hold back the tears and deep emotion of seeing his family again…especially little Benjamin. Note that aside from Benjamin, his little brother and son of his own mother Rachel, none of the other brothers wept. Why was this?
I have to wonder whether there an inherent difference in the emotional/psychological make-up between Joseph and the rest of his brothers? I believe there is. If so, could that inherent difference stem from the deep passion that Jacob felt in his union with Rachel, Joseph’s mother, as opposed to his lesser feelings for Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah?
It is becoming clearer and clearer as our understanding of genetics increases, that psychological tendencies are inherited. To carry this theory further, would it not also make sense that the descendants of Joseph would reflect his personality? Is there an ancient DNA thread that can be traced back to Joseph and his brothers that would account for difference in their emotional make-up?
In light of this possible scenario of inherited psychological/ emotional tendencies, think about what happens today when we go into a church today and when we go into a synagogue. Most evangelical churches have “greeters” at the door who will greet you with a hug or a hearty handshake whether you want it or not; and some even non-appointed greeters will do the same. In most of these churches, the services can get quite emotional with weeping, raising of hands, etc. On the other hand, most synagogues do not have “greeters” and the services are more reserved with less of a welcome to visitors. I realize that there are exceptions, but could we say that those of Joseph are in general more openly emotional than those of Judah and is it as a result of an ancient DNA thread?
Perhaps this is a stretch, but I cannot help but think that it is Joseph and his children, those of the lost tribes, that are still weeping today. Rachel is weeping for her children because “he” (Joseph) is not, Jer. 31:14. Joseph is weeping because he has been lost in the land of Mitzrayim and has been separated from his family and when he finally discovers them, they do not recognize him and when he reveals himself to them they mistrust him. How often has this been the case with Joseph today when we “reveal ourselves” to our brother Judah and they don’t trust us initially.
One thing that we might need to make mention of is that in the beginning of last week’s torah portion, VaYigash (Gen 44:18), it was Judah who “drew near” to Joseph. There are definitely some of those of Judah drawing close to us, such as David Horowitz, founder of UIWU, Rabbi Chayim Richman of UTN, in addition to other rabbis, and of course our own Hanoch Young. This in itself is encouraging beyond words, and one has to wonder how close it is to the time when the final revealing of Joseph to Brother Judah will come to pass.
One day when the “two sticks” are joined, we will all be reunited and will become “one in His hand.”
In the meantime let’s think about why it would be Joseph who did most of the weeping? Is the EIGHT TIMES at all significant or did it just happen that way?
Betty/Elisheva Givin