Judah Draws Near and Confronts the Ruler of Egypt

Parashat Vayigash. "My son, if you have gone surety for your neighbor" (Genesis 44:18; Proverbs 6:1). Said Rabbi Chanina: flee from three things and cling to three. Flee from accepting deposits, from refusing-declarations, and from going surety between a man and his fellow; and cling to chalitzah, to the release of vows, and to making peace between a man and his fellow. Said Rabbi Shimon bar Abba: a deposit (pikadon) is called nothing other than "go out, this one" (puk dein). Another interpretation: "my son, if you have gone surety for your neighbor," this is Judah, as it says, "I myself will be surety." "You are snared by the words of your mouth" (Proverbs 6:2), "if I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then I shall have sinned against you all the days." "Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself; go, humble yourself" (Proverbs 6:3), in the dust of his feet; "and importune your neighbor," and make him king over you, "and Judah drew near to him." "For behold, the kings assembled" (Psalms 48:5), this is Judah and Joseph, who met together. "They passed by together," this one was filled with fury (evrah) against that one, and that one was filled with fury against this one. "They saw, and so they were amazed," "and the men marveled, each at his fellow" (Genesis 43:33). "They were terrified, they hurried away," "and his brothers could not answer him." "Trembling seized them there," these are the tribes; they said: kings are contending with one another, what concern is it of ours? "And Judah drew near to him." "One is so near to another" (Job 41:8), this is Judah and Joseph; "and no breath can come between them," these are the tribes, who said: the kings, etc. "Apples of gold in settings of silver" (Proverbs 25:11), Aquilas the convert rendered it: golden apples within silver dishes. "A word fitly spoken upon its wheels," just as a wheel shows faces on every side, so were Judah's words seen on every side when he spoke with Joseph. "And Judah drew near to him." "Counsel in the heart of a man is deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out" (Proverbs 20:5). A parable: a well whose waters were fine and deep, but no creature could drink from it. One came and tied rope to rope and cord to cord, drew up and drank from it, and then all began to draw and drink from it. So Judah did not budge from answering Joseph word for word until he reached his heart. "And Judah drew near to him." "Behold, days are coming, says the LORD, when the plowman shall draw near the reaper" (Amos 9:13). The plowman is Judah, "I will make Ephraim ride, Judah shall plow" (Hosea 10:11). The reaper is Joseph, "and behold, we were binding sheaves" (Genesis 37:7). "And the treader of grapes," this is Judah, "for I have trodden Judah for Myself" (Zechariah 9:13). "In the one who draws out the seed," this is Joseph, who drew out the seed of Jacob and brought them down to Egypt. "And Judah drew near to him." "Wisdom strengthens the wise" (Ecclesiastes 7:19). Said Rabbi Yochanan: when Joseph seized Benjamin, Judah said to him: Benjamin you have seized, and is there peace in my father's house? Immediately Judah grew angry and roared in a loud voice, and his voice traveled four hundred parasangs until Chushim son of Dan heard, and he leaped from the land of Canaan, and the two of them roared together and sought to overturn the land of Egypt upon them. Job said, "the roaring of the lion" (Job 4:10), this is Judah, as it says, "a lion's whelp is Judah" (Genesis 49:9). "And the voice of the fierce lion," this is Chushim son of Dan, as it says, "and of Dan he said: Dan is a lion's whelp" (Deuteronomy 33:22). "And the teeth of the young lions are broken," these are the warriors of Joseph; for when Judah cried out, the teeth of all of them fell out. Said Rabbi Levi: even his brothers, when they saw Judah angry, were filled with fury, and they stamped on the ground and made it furrows upon furrows, as it says, "the old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness" (Job 4:11). "The old lion perishes for lack of prey," this is Judah, who handed himself over for Benjamin, saying: perhaps the Holy One, blessed be He, will pardon me that sin of saying to my father "Joseph is surely torn in pieces" (Genesis 37:33). "And the cubs of the lioness are scattered," these are his brothers, who were filled with fury at Joseph. When Joseph saw the signs of Judah, that he was angry, he was at once shaken and said: woe to me, lest he kill me. And what were the signs of Judah? His right eye dripped blood. And some say: he was clothed in five garments, and a single hair was upon his heart, and when he grew angry it would tear all of them and burst out. What did Joseph do at that hour? A pillar of stone on which he was sitting he kicked, and made it a heap of pebbles. Judah said: this one too is a mighty man like us. At that hour Judah grasped the sword and sought to draw it, but it would not be drawn. He said: surely this man is a fearer of Heaven; therefore it says "wisdom strengthens the wise," this is Joseph; "more than ten rulers," these are his ten brothers. "And Judah drew near to him." Rabbi Yehuda says: drawing near is for war, as you say, "and Joab drew near, with the people who were with him, for battle." Rabbi Nechemiah says: drawing near is for appeasement, as you say, "and the children of Judah drew near to Joshua to appease him" (Joshua 14:6). And the sages say: drawing near is for prayer, "and Elijah drew near" (1 Kings 18:36). Rabbi Elazar resolved it for them: if for war, I come; if for appeasement, I come; and if for prayer, I come. Rabbi Meir says: vayigash is only an expression of peace, as it says, "and he drew near, etc., and asked them of their welfare" (1 Samuel 30:21). Rabbi Yehuda says: vayigash is only an expression of consolation, as it says, "and he drew near and kissed him." Rabbi Nechemiah says: vayigash is only an expression of offering, as it says, "and he brought near the bull of the sin offering" (Leviticus 8:14). Rabbi Yose says: vayigash is only an expression of rebuke, as it says, "stand back." Rabbi Nathan says: vayigash is only an expression of feeling, as it says, "come near, that I may feel you, my son" (Genesis 27:21). "And he said: please, my lord" (Genesis 44:18). "By me" and not by him: if for war, I am good; if for service, I am good; if for splitting wood, I am good. Another interpretation: "please, my lord," you are bringing trouble upon us; yesterday you said to us, "bring him down to me that I may set my eye upon him" (Genesis 44:21), is this setting of the eye, is this blinding of the eye? In our laws it is written, "if he has nothing, he shall be sold for his theft," and this one has means to pay. "Let your servant speak a word," let my words enter your ears: the grandmother of this lad, because Pharaoh drew her to himself for one night, he and all his house were stricken with plagues. Beware lest this man be stricken with leprosy. The mother of this lad died only from the curse of my father, "with whomever you find your gods, let him not live" (Genesis 31:32); beware lest one curse take effect upon you and this man die. Two of us entered a great city and destroyed it for the sake of one female; and here, for the sake of a male, on account of love of the eye he came to the lodging-place of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it says, "and between his shoulders He dwells" (Deuteronomy 33:12), how much more so. "Let your servant speak a word." [Read as davar/dever:] a word I bring out of my mouth and bring a plague into the city of No. When Judah would raise his anger he would put bars of iron into his mouth and bring them out as dust. "For you are like Pharaoh" (Genesis 44:18). Just as Pharaoh decrees and does not fulfill, so you decree and do not fulfill; and as Pharaoh lusts after males, so you lust after males; and as Pharaoh is king, and you are second to him, so too my father is king in the land of Canaan, and I am second to him. And if I draw my sword against you, I begin with you and I finish with Pharaoh. Had he said "from Pharaoh I begin and with you I finish," Joseph would have let it pass; but since he said "from you I begin," he signaled to Manasseh, who stamped one stamp, and the whole palace shook. He said: this stamp is from my father's house. When he saw this he began to speak gently, "my lord asked his servants." Another interpretation: "and Judah drew near to him," they entered into rebukes. Judah said to Naphtali: leap and see how many marketplaces there are in Egypt. He leaped and saw and said: twelve marketplaces. He said: let each one destroy his own, and I will destroy three. Joseph said: Egypt is not like Shechem; if you destroy Egypt you destroy the whole world, as it is written, "like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt" (Genesis 13:10). "For you are like Pharaoh." If I draw my sword I will kill all of Egypt. Joseph said: if you draw it out, I will wind it around your neck. Judah said: I will open my mouth and swallow you. Joseph said: if you open your mouth, I will stop it with a stone. He said: if I go to my father, what shall I tell him? He said: tell him, the rope went after the bucket. Judah began to grow angry, for he did not understand the riddle. Joseph sent to Pharaoh to send him three hundred warriors. He said: with a false oath he judges us. Joseph said to him: falsehood belongs to falsifiers; with a lie you brought up your brother out of the pit. Judah said to him: the fire of Shechem burns in my heart. He said: the fire of Tamar your daughter-in-law, we will quench it. He said to him: I will cause the marketplaces of Egypt to run with blood. He said to them: you are practiced in the matter, for you dipped the tunic in blood. When Joseph saw that he wished to destroy Egypt, he made himself known to his brothers. They sought to kill him; an angel came and scattered them into the four corners of the house. Judah cried out one cry, and all the princes of Egypt fell, and the beasts fell, and Joseph fell from his stool, and the teeth of the three hundred warriors fell out, and they turned their faces and did not return until the day of their death. Even Pharaoh fell from his throne, as it says, "and the report was heard in Pharaoh's house" (Genesis 45:16).