The eternal debate over free will vs. preordained behavior continues…

By Genesis 44, Joseph’s brothers (remember, the guys who sold him and told their Dad Jacob he was dead?), have already been to Egypt once to purchase food. The famine continues and the brothers travel to Egypt again. Joseph secretly knows it’s them, but as a result of his fancy new clothes, Egyptian accent and authoritative air, the brothers don’t recognize him.

After the brothers purchase food to bring to their elderly father, Joseph orders his steward to fill the brothers’ sacks with food and money, and to surreptitiously place Joseph’s silver goblet in Benjamin’s sack. Recall Benjamin is Joseph’s beloved youngest brother; the two shared both the same father and mother (whereas the other brothers were half-brothers.)  In an elaborate scheme to frame them, Joseph commanded his aide to catch up with the brothers en route home to find out “who stole” the goblet from Joseph.

The aide announced all bags would be searched. So convinced were the brothers of their innocence, they said, “Should it be found with any one of your servants, let him die; moreover, the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.” (44:9) The steward searched the sacks starting with the oldest brother, and found the goblet in the youngest, Benjamin’s sack.

Naturally, the brothers freaked out, ripping their clothes as if already in mourning, bracing for the tragedy about to hit. They returned to the city to face justice, recognizing these were trumped up charges but assuming this was some Divine retribution for their past sin of selling their brother Joseph.

Not knowing that he was speaking to his brother, Judah explained to Joseph that if anything happened to Benjamin it would kill their father, who had already lost his favorite son. Judah offers to take on Benjamin’s punishment – to be a slave himself — to spare his father more sorrow. He offers himself as an “Arev,” ערב a guarantor (44:32), a sort of human collateral in exchange for Benjamin. Now a mature, moral man, Judah had obviously come a long way from the youngster who’d had the misguided idea to sell his own brother.  This was all too much for Joseph, who openly and loudly wept, revealing his identity to his brothers.  The brothers were frightened to see it was him, and assumed he was after revenge.

But Joseph had a different message. Don’t be angry with yourselves because you sold me, he tells them. It was God’s idea to send me ahead of you to Egypt, to ensure the survival of our family.  God put me in a position to guide Pharaoh to store food away for the years of famine, of which five remained. Even though your motivation in selling me was bad, He meant it for the good.

Judah’s willingness to sacrifice himself – to be his brother’s guarantor, “Arev” – marked an end of the sibling rivalry, opening the door to reuniting the family. A guarantee is not just a slip of paper you give the bank, it’s a gift to share. The Talmud says: Kol Israel Arevim Ze La’Ze, that is, the nation of Israel is responsible for one another. It’s not enough to look out for number one. We have to look out for one another – all the more so in these difficult times: are our neighbors OK, our elderly relatives, our children’s friends? We may not always realize it, but we all have gifts to share, our integrity not being the least of them.

Joseph told his brothers to bring their father Jacob so they could all live in Egypt together. Pharaoh was pleased and promised them they would enjoy “the fat of the land.” (45:18)