They’d just sold him into slavery, a betrayal that surely echoed in the heavens. But now, they had a bigger problem: how to explain his absence to their father, Jacob.
According to Legends of the Jews, a monumental work by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg drawing from countless sources, the brothers first swore a solemn oath. An oath of silence. They vowed, on pain of death by the sword, to never reveal the truth of what they'd done to Joseph to their father or anyone else. Imagine the weight of that promise, a dark secret binding them together.
Then came the agonizing question: What story could possibly mask their deed? Issachar, one of the brothers, offered a chillingly pragmatic solution. Tear Joseph's distinctive coat of many colors – that symbol of their father's favoritism. Then, dip it in the blood of a young goat, a giddi izim in Hebrew. Why a goat? Because, as the story goes, its blood bears a disturbing resemblance to human blood.
Think about that for a moment. The calculated nature of the deception. The brothers, wrestling with guilt and fear, choosing a path paved with lies. It's a stark reminder of how far people will go to protect themselves, even at the cost of immense pain to others.
But here's where the story takes an even more unexpected turn. As a consequence of this act of deception, the narrative suggests a fascinating link to the future. It was ordained, Ginzberg tells us, that a kid, a young goat, would be used as an atonement sacrifice when the Mishkan – the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary – was dedicated.
Do you see the irony? A sacrifice, intended to cleanse and purify, born from a moment of profound dishonesty. A ritual, forever tied to a brother's betrayal. It makes you wonder about the tangled web of cause and effect, doesn’t it? How even the most sacred acts can be shadowed by the imperfections of humanity.
It's a reminder that even in our striving for purity and atonement, we carry the weight of our past. The blood of the kid, a constant, silent echo of the blood spilled – metaphorically, at least – by Joseph's brothers.