Concerning the question of Nachmanides that it is surprising that Joseph’s prediction of seven years of famine was not fulfilled, and that therefore his reputation as an interpreter of dreams must have suffered, it appears that Joseph had covered this eventuality by saying: (41,28) אשר האלוקים עושה הראה לפרעה, “what G’d is about to do He had shown Pharaoh.” This left it open to G’d to forego the unpleasant part of Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream.
G’d’s decrees, (negative ones) are definitive unless a tzaddik intervenes and asks Him to cancel or to “soften” them. On the other hand, the tzaddik has no power to cancel or “soften” a decree by G’d which is manifestly beneficial for the people concerned. When we read in 47,7 that Joseph introduced his aged father Yaakov to Pharaoh, the Torah describes this with the words: ויעמידהו לפני פרעה, “he made him stand (not bow) before Pharaoh.”
This was a hint that his father had the power to affect G’d’s negative decrees which his son had predicted. In other words, although G’d had taken him, and through him, Pharaoh, into His confidence, Yaakov, Joseph’s father took precedence over both Joseph and Pharaoh in his intimacy which G’d. Genesis 42,6. “and Joseph was the effective ruler of the land; he was the one in charge of grain sales to the whole nation.”
The expression עם הארץ in this verse is meant to contrast with עם ה', “the Lord’s people.” The latter, whenever used in the Bible, refers to the pious people, the righteous people. The former are the ones whose entire orientation in life revolves around earthly concerns, an attitude that ought to be drastically changed, broken down. This is why Joseph is described as possessing the attribute, i.e. משביר, that is capable of bringing about a re-orientation in the average Egyptian’s order of priorities.
If the provision of שבר, “life-sustaining rations” is understood in this sense, then one can understand that the Egyptians thanks to Joseph’s selfless concern with the welfare of the whole nation could produce a religious reorientation of the whole population. [It is difficult for people living in a democracy where the so called ruler is not given more than a maximum of 8 years of continuous rule, that Joseph who did not once have to worry about being re-elected in a rule spanning 80 uninterrupted years, could concentrate all his talents on the task of improving the population’s well being.
Ed.] Alternatively, the line commencing with describing Joseph as the sole authority concerning vital grain sales, is the Torah’s way of emphasizing that Joseph was the exception to other tzaddikim, having been granted the best of two worlds, i.e. a position of supreme honour and influence in this life, as well as a commensurate position in his afterlife, considering the abundance of merits he had accumulated while on earth. Genesis 42,5-6.
“Joseph’s brothers arrived (in Egypt) and bowed down, and prostrated themselves to him.” (The ruler in charge of grain sales) וירא יוסף את אחיו ויכירם ויתנכר אליהם, “When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them and he acted as if he was a stranger to them.” We need to understand what the Torah intended to teach us by writing that Joseph acted as a stranger to them, when this would have become apparent as soon as we read about their dialogue.I believe the line is introduced by the Torah to teach us that the Torah considers Joseph’s conduct at this time as justified. Joseph’s dream had shown him that his brothers would at one stage prostrate themselves before him. (Genesis 37,7) His brothers had opposed the idea that he would become king, ruling over them.
It is the way of the world that if someone has been vanquished in a battle or duel, that if he knows who the victor is, he will aim to take revenge sooner or later. If the vanquished person does not know who has defeated him, his embarrassment and desire for revenge will be far less, as other people presumably are also unaware of his having been the loser in a conflict. In our story, Joseph had become the victor; now that his dream had been fulfilled and his brothers had prostrated themselves before him this was all that concerned him, as he no longer felt that his brothers’ accusations that he was an egomaniac, were true.
Had the brothers been able to, they would have made every effort to prevent Joseph’s dream from becoming fulfilled. They would have harboured ill will against him as soon as they had realized that his dream had come true, just as they had imagined him as hoping that it would. Therefore, Joseph contented himself with the knowledge that his dream had indeed been fulfilled, making sure that this would not have been at the expense of his brothers becoming upset about this and probably hostile towards him.
He therefore acted in a manner that would convince the brothers that the person before whom they had prostrated themselves had not been their long lost brother. Seeing that the person before whom the brothers prostrated themselves was a duly appointed king, -not even one who had come to the throne by revolution- they did not mind having to prostrate themselves before a king such as he, especially as he volunteered- against payment of course- to save them from total economic ruin.
Joseph on his part did all that he could to not let the brothers feel that he had bested them. When the Torah describes the sequence of this encounter with the words: “they prostrated themselves and he recognized them, etc.,” this is to hint that it now dawned on Joseph that just as he had recognized them, they might recognize him; in order to avoid their becoming embarrassed he then devised a scheme to disguise himself in every way possible so that they did not recognize him.
The Torah reports this to show that his disguise worked.It is also possible to see in the sequence of these verses an explanation why during all these years (22) Joseph had never sent a message to his father showing that he was alive and even prosperous. He knew that his dreams would become true prophetic visions and that that as a result of this his brothers would become deeply saddened and frustrated.
Once his father would have been informed of his being alive and well, this would become known to the brothers even if their father did not tell them outright. Yaakov’s whole bearing would change from that of a father grieving for a lost son, and the brothers would notice this. Genesis 42,12. “he said to them: ‘no but you have come to reveal the weak (exposed) parts of the land.’” [In order to understand what follows, the reader must first refer to the concept of the “fallen sparks of the Shechinah” discussed on page 21.
Ed.] Joseph, i.e. the ruler of Egypt, aware that if the brothers had intended to elevate him spiritually, they themselves would look very bad by comparison to him seeing that they had been guilty of selling their own brother into slavery, added the adjective ערוה, “the shameful aspects of the land of Egypt,” instead of merely saying: “you have come to spy out the land.” This would make even his spiritual elevation more problematic. [The words ערוה and ערלה are closely related, as before the circumcision which enables the body to attain a degree of holiness, the male Jewish body is defined as ערלה, “totally foreskin,” always seen as a something despicable. Ed.]
According to our author, the brothers told the “King of Egypt,” that if he thought that they were able to bring about his spiritual elevation at this stage he was sadly mistaken, as it required the presence of all twelve brothers, as their youngest brother was still in the land of Canaan. They added that even if the youngest brother were to be here, seeing that one of their number had been missing for a long time they would not possess that power until he too were here. [What might have prompted the brothers to think in these terms may have been that they had heard of how this ruler of Egypt had miraculously risen to power, having no former claim to fame. They saw in this an act of G’d, possibly preparatory to this ruler’s achieving further greatness if assisted by the sons of Yaakov. Ed.]
This approach sounds more plausible when we consider a statement of our sages that during the 22 years that Yaakov and Joseph were separated, Yaakov never experienced the presence of holy spirit. (Aggadat B’reshit 69) As long as such holy spirit did not rest on one of their number, their power as intermediaries to the celestial domain was blocked. They indicated that as soon as it would be G’d’s will to remedy this temporary “spiritual blackout,” they could be of assistance to what they perceived to be the ruler’s desire. [I have “fleshed out”, what the author barely hints at.
Ed.] Genesis 42,18. “on the third day Joseph said to them: ‘do this and live, seeing that I am G’d fearing. If you are truthful, one of your brothers will be kept captive, etc.” The position of the words: את האלוקים אני ירא in this verse is puzzling. We would have expected it at the beginning of the verse. Furthermore, the words: ויעשו כן, “the brothers did so,” is strange, as it gives the impression that the brothers immediately brought Binyamin to Egypt, something that is impossible.
The brothers not only first had to return to their father’s house in Canaan, but, as the Torah testified they procrastinated until they ran short of food before their father agreed to let Binyamin travel with them. (Genesis 43,13) Perhaps the lesson Joseph wanted to teach the brothers was that if one determines to do G’d’s will, this will be accounted as if one had already done so, when the circumstances make immediate execution of the task at hand impossible.
Joseph told the brothers that their lives would be secure once they had made up their minds to carry out his demand. The Torah confirms this by describing the brothers as if they had immediately brought Binyamin to Egypt. Joseph was at pains to demonstrate to the brothers that his insistence that Binyamin come to Egypt was not based on distrust or ill will toward them. When they found themselves in jail they realized this and did not blame Joseph for this but themselves, when they said: “but we are guilty, etc.”(Gen. 42,21).
They accepted his statement that he was a G’d fearing individual, whereas they had brought their troubles upon themselves.