A terrible crime takes place in this week’s parasha. Who is guilty?
The crime is the kidnapping and sale of Yosef. Few crimes are as cruel and the Torah itself includes a severe punishment for one who sells another into slavery.
So who is guilty of this crime. The Torah seems to engage in a sort of cover up. The hatred that Yosef ’s brothers feel towards Yosef is described collectively – as though all of the brothers feel an equal hatred. And no individual brothers are ever mentioned by name as being particularly guilty more than any other The Torah does not mention an instigator and the Torah does not mention a ring-leader.
Is that plausible? Could ten brothers conspire to kill or enslave another without some being more complicit than others? Let’s take a closer look. If Sefer Bereishit were, l’havdil, a mystery novel, how would we investigate this crime?
First, we would identify four brothers with no motive to kill Yosef. The parsha begins this week by telling us that Yosef shepherded, took care, of the children of the concubines. The four half-brothers whose mothers were not Yaakov’s full wives were apparently mistreated by their more noble brothers. Indeed, Yaakov himself had treated them as less important, placing them in the most vulnerable position when he confronted Esav.
Those four brothers, Dan Naftali, Gad and Asher had no motive to harm Yosef; Yosef was on their side.
Y’socher and Zvulun were Leah’s sons but they were a number of years younger than their oldest siblings; too young to hatch a plot and implement it.
That leaves Reuven, Yehudah, Shimon and Levi.
Reuven and Yehudah were probably not the instigators of the plot against Yosef since the Torah tell us that they wished to spare him . Reuven had intended to rescue Yosef from the pit that he was thrown into in order to restore him to his father and Yehuda, not knowing about Reuven’s plan, orchestrated the sale of Yosef down o Egypt as a means to save Yosef ’s life. So those two are unlikely suspects. This leaves Shimon and Levi as the prime suspects, the two brothers, sons of Leah, with the motive and opportunity to orchestrate this crime.
And there is additional evidence that places prime responsibility for this crime on none other than Shimon and Levi.
On his death bed, Yaakov blesses his sons with blessings that are not exactly blessings. Some are more rebuke than blessing. When he reaches Shimon and Levi, Yaakov says:
שִמְע֥ון וְלֵוִ֖י אַחִ֑ים כְלֵ֥י חָמָ֖ס מְכֵרתֵיהֶֽם׃
בְסֹדם֙ אַל־תָבֹ֣א נַפְשִ֔י בִקהָלָ֖ם אַל־תֵחַ֣ד כְבֹד֑י כִ֤י בְאַפָם֙ הָ֣רגו אִ֔יש ובִרצֹנָ֖ם עִקְרו־שֽור׃
Shimon and Levi are brothers; Weapons of violence their kinship.
Let my soul not come into their council; Unto their assembly let my glory not be not united; For in their anger they slew men, And in their self-will they houghed oxen.
There are two elements of this deathbed message that we should pay attention to.
First: Shimon and Levi are described as “achim” they are the quintessential brothers. Their relationship epitomizes brotherhood with one another and harkens back to the numerous times in our parsha when the Torah makes reference to “brothers” without any additional modification. “And he said to his brother” etc. The brothers who plot against Yosef could be instigated and lead on by the two brothers who were “brothers par excellence” the pair that was closest and most fraternal.
Second: Yaakov’s reference to Shimon and Levi houghing an ox could also be a reference to their collusion against Yosef, referred to as an ox later in the Torah (in Sefer Devarim). According to this reading, endorsed by none other than Rashi, Yaakov knew about the sale of Yosef and knew that Shimon and Levi were the prime culprits of this horrific crime.
This may explain why Yosef will be so eager to separate Shimon and Levi; keeping one safely locked away one in prison as he tests his brothers (in next week’s parsha – if you want to solve a crime, you can’t be limited to one parsha).
But, if identifying Shimon and Levi as the ringleaders and instigators of the plot against Yosef solves one fundamental question about this episode, it raises another question.
Last week, the Torah gave Shimon and Levi the final word as it records a confrontation between Yaakov on the one hand, and Shimon, and Levi on the other. Simon and Levi had just massacred the town of Shechem in order to avenge or rescue their sister Dina and Yaakov is furious. “How can you ruin my reputation among my neighbors,” Yaakov exclaims. This act of violence and rage, in Yaakov’s eyes is disgraceful, unethical, and dangerous. But, the Torah, at least in the moment, gives Shimon and Levi the last word as they say:
וַיֹאמְר֑ו הַכְזונָ֕ה יַעֲשֶ֖ה אֶת־אֲחותֵֽנו׃
Shall our sister be treated like a prostitute?
In other words, they reject their fathers ethical concerns and political concerns, and instead, speak about solidarity and about family and about brothers and sisters standing up for one another.
And so it’s all the more surprising, as my teacher Rabbi Menachem Schrader observed years ago, that the very same brothers who speak with such passion and urgency about their responsibilities to their sister are able to smother all feelings of brotherhood for Yosef and collude to kill him.
Upon reflection, this surprising dynamic should not surprise us and should actually be familiar.
When we justify an action we have taken by resorting to lofty ideals, appeals to family, tribe, or patriotism, are we truly committed to those lofty ideals or are they convenient justifications? Do we claim to be motivated by love for our fellow Jew, or by family bonds only when it is convenient, but indulge our hatred and violent urges at other times.
On Yom Kippur I shared a story of a man rushing into a store to have his suit pressed because he saw a sign on the door saying “we press suits.” The clerk at the store responded “we don’t press suits; we make signs.” We portray ourselves to others in certain ways. On social-media we curate with great care an image of ourselves that we show others. There is a need to constantly question whether the image of ourselves that we share with others corresponds to who we really are and how we truly act. Shimon and Levi failed that test. May we all learn to pass that test.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 