How Moses Recovered Joseph's Bones While Israel Gathered Spoil

"And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" (Exodus 13:19). Come and see how beloved the commandments were to Moses our teacher: all Israel were busy with the spoil of Egypt, while Moses was busy with a commandment. And of him it is said, "The wise in heart will take commandments" (Proverbs 10:8). And from where did Moses our teacher know where Joseph was buried? They said: Serach the daughter of Asher remained from that generation. Moses went to her and said, "Where is Joseph buried?" She said to him, "The Egyptians made a metal coffin for him and set it in the Nile river so that its waters would be blessed." Moses went and stood on the bank of the Nile and said, "Joseph, Joseph, the time has come that the Holy One, blessed be He, swore to Israel to redeem them, and the time has come for the oath that you made Israel swear. Now, listen, for Israel are detained because of you. If you reveal yourself, well and good; and if not, we are clear of your oath." Immediately Joseph's coffin floated up. Rabbi Nathan says: Joseph was buried in the mausoleum of the kings. Moses went and stood over the mausoleum of the kings and said, "Joseph, Joseph!" Immediately Joseph's coffin shook. Moses went and took it and brought it with him. Therefore it is said, "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him." What is "with him"? Within the camp of the Levites. From here they said: one defiled by a corpse is permitted to enter the Temple Mount, and even the corpse itself, as it is said, "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" [meaning] with him within the camp of the Levites. All those forty years that Israel were walking in the wilderness, the Ark of the Divine Presence and Joseph's coffin traveled side by side. Passersby would say, "What is the nature of these two arks?" They would answer them, "One is of the Divine Presence and one is of a dead man." "And is it possible for a dead man to travel with the Divine Presence?" They said, "This one fulfilled what is written in that one." On the tablets is written, "I am the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:2), and of Joseph it is written, "Am I in the place of God?" (Genesis 50:19). On this one is written, "You shall have no other gods" (Exodus 20:3), and of Joseph it is written, "I fear God" (Genesis 42:18). On this one is written, "You shall not take up the name in vain" (Exodus 20:7), and of Joseph it is written, "By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave from here" (Genesis 42:15). On this one is written, "Remember the Sabbath day" (Exodus 20:8), and of Joseph it is written, "And slaughter an animal and prepare it" (Genesis 43:16), and "prepare" means only for the need of the Sabbath. On this one is written, "Honor [your father]" (Exodus 20:12), and of Joseph it is written, "And Joseph sustained his father" (Genesis 47:12). On this one is written, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13), and of Joseph it is written, "How can I do this great evil and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:9). He said to her: it is not enough that I should be counted with adulterers, but also with murderers? On this one is written, "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:13), and of Joseph it is written, "And he did not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her" (Genesis 39:10). On this one is written, "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:14), and of Joseph it is written, "And Joseph gathered up all the money, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house" (Genesis 47:14). On this one is written, "You shall not bear false witness" (Exodus 20:14), and of Joseph it is written, "And Joseph brought their bad report" (Genesis 37:2). It is not written "Joseph took out a report" but rather "brought." On this one is written, "You shall not covet" (Exodus 20:16), and of Joseph it is written, "But he refused, and said to his master's wife" (Genesis 39:5). "For he had firmly sworn the children of Israel." Rabbi Nathan says: why did he make his brothers swear and not make his own sons swear? He said: if I make my sons swear, the Egyptians will not allow them to bring me up; they will say, "Their father brought up his father." But they will say to them, "Your father was a king." Therefore he did not make his sons swear. "He firmly swore [hashbea hishbia]": he made them swear, and their sons their sons. "Surely visiting [pakod yifkod]": two visitations, one in Tishrei and one in Nisan. In Tishrei they ceased from the labor, and in Nisan they were redeemed. Another interpretation: "surely visiting": He visited in Egypt, He will visit at the sea; He visited in the wilderness, He will visit at the brooks of Arnon; He visited in this world, He will visit in the world to come. "And you shall bring up my bones." He said to them: I, who am a king, brought up my father whole, but you, bring me up even as bones. And when you bring me up, bury me anywhere you wish, for I have received a tradition that I do not enter the burial place of my fathers, for none enter the grave of the fathers except three fathers and three mothers, as it is said, "There they buried Abraham" (Genesis 49:31), and it says, "In my grave which I have dug for myself" (Genesis 50:5). "And you shall bring up my bones." I might hear immediately; the verse therefore teaches, "with you." Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: from where do we learn that the bones of all the tribes went up with him? The verse teaches, "And you shall bring up my bones"—from this, "with you." I might think that had Moses not occupied himself with him, Israel would not have occupied themselves with him; the verse therefore teaches, "And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried in Shechem" (Joshua 24:32). This teaches that it was in their hearts to bring him up, but once Israel saw that Moses was occupying himself with him, they said, "Leave it to him; his honor is greater with the great than with the small." I might think that had Moses and Israel not occupied themselves with him, his sons would not have occupied themselves with him; the verse therefore teaches, "And they became the inheritance of the sons of Joseph" (Joshua 24:32). But once his sons saw that Moses and Israel were occupying themselves with him, they said, "Leave it to him; his honor is greater with the many than with the few."