Rabbi Frand on Parshas Vayeishev
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape # 352, "Chamar
Medina" -- Used for Kiddush?
Good Shabbos!
The Power of an Iota of Jealousy
In this week's parsha we learn of one of the most problematic stories in
the Torah -- the sale of Yosef by his brothers. We are paying for the
dissension that existed in the Jewish people, which led to brother selling
brother into slavery, until this very day. If we wonder why there is such
constant dissension and division amongst us, it is because of the seeds
that were sown on that fateful day.
It must be stated at the outset that in no way shape or form can we liken
our petty disputes to the division that separated the brothers. We
sometimes fight over terribly trivial things. We are ordinary people. The
brothers were righteous pillars of the world. They are the foundation of
our nation. We must never be guilty of superimposing our pettiness on the
founders of the Tribes. Our Sages take pains to explain the nature of the
situation between Yosef and his brothers. The approach is that the
brothers deemed Yosef to have the status of a 'Rodef' [a pursuer bent on
murder] and as such, they sat as a formal court that deliberated and
sentenced Yosef to death and subsequently sold him. This was done because
their best understanding of the situation was that Yosef presented a clear
and present danger to the family.
In spite of all this, the Sages are troubled by the fact that the brothers
made such a tragic mistake. There are not so many people in Jewish history
who were given the title "HaTzadik" [the righteous one]. How could the
brothers view one of their own flesh and blood, who was in fact righteous,
as a potential threat?
The Sages point to the verse "And the brothers saw that their father loved
him more that all the brothers and they hated him" [Bereshis 37:4]. The
situation resulted from at least an iota, a drop, of jealousy. The Talmud
advises that a father should never show even the slightest amount of
favoritism between children because the perceived favoritism that Yaakov
showed to Yosef ultimately led to our exile in Egypt [Shabbos 10b].
The following are the words of Rav Eliyahu Meir Bloch (1894-1955), the
Telshe Rosh Yeshiva, zt"l: The Torah teaches us that the first seed of the
mistake of the brothers flowed from a very natural human trait. In spite
of the fact that these human beings reached great heights and purity of
spirit, nevertheless their human traits were submerged deep inside their
consciousness to the extent that they did not realize that they were
there. They thought they were making a perfectly impartial judgment. We
see from here how powerful nature's rule is, even over the greatest of
people.
We thus see that even an iota of jealousy, in even a great person, can
impact his ability to judge even a capital case. The practical lesson for
us is clear. We may believe that we are thinking something through and we
may believe that we are acting purely with the best intentions and for the
Sake of G-d [l'Shem Shamayim]. But we as human beings must always question
our motives. We are subject to feelings of jealousy, of questing for
honor, and of the whole range of human emotions and character traits.
Therefore we must remain on guard.
Rabbi Zev Leff quotes the following Talmudic incident [Brochos 28b]: When
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai was deathly ill, his students came in to visit
him. When he saw them he started to cry. They said to him "Candle of
Israel, the Right Hand Pillar, the almighty hammer, why are you crying?"
Rav Yochanan ben Zakai responded, "If they would be taking me before a
mortal judge that is here today and gone tomorrow; who if he would be
angry at me, it would only be for a small amount of time; if he tortures
or kills me it is not permanent suffering; I would nevertheless cry (in
trepidation). Certainly now that they are taking me before the King of
Kings, the Holy One Blessed Be He who Lives forever, whose Anger is an
eternal anger, and if he tortures me it will be eternal torture, and if he
kills me it will be eternal death - should I not cry?
But the question must be asked, was Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai -- who was one
of the greatest Tanaim -- really worried that G-d would kill him with
eternal death? Was he really worried that he may deserve the punishment of
Kares -- being cut off from any reward in the Afterworld? The sins that
result in such punishment are clearly not transgressions that Rabbi Yochanan
ben Zakai ever came close to violating. So is the meaning of this Gemara?
Rav Zev Leff suggests that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai was worried about a
single incident in his life that really bothered him. He knew that he was a
pious Jew. He knew that he put on Tephillin. He knew that he kept the Torah.
That did not bother him. He was worried about the following incident.
The Gemara [Gittin 56b] states that before the Beis Hamikdash [Temple] was
destroyed, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai was given the opportunity to ask the
future Roman Caesar for a wish. Jerusalem was under siege and the Beis
Hamikdash hung in the balance. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai was told to make a
wish and he would be granted whatever he wished. The Gemara relates that
he asked for three things: He asked that the Yeshiva in Yavneh and its
Sages be spared; he asked that the House of Rabban Gamliel be spared; and
he asked for medical care for a sage named Rav Tzadok. He was granted all
three wishes.
The Gemara there asks the obvious question -- why didn't he ask that the
Beis Hamikdash be spared? This question was discussed in the Talmud many
years later. Some say that he was afraid to ask for the Beis Hamikdash,
because he knew that they would not grant such a request. The conclusion
of the Gemara however is that he made a mistake. Why did he make a
mistake? G-d wanted the Beis Hamikdash destroyed. Through Divine
Providence, G-d removed Rav Yochanan ben Zakai's insight to ask for the
Beis Hamikdash at that moment.
Now, as Rabbi Yochanan was about to die and he looked back over his
lifetime, he recognized that the most crucial decision of his lifetime was
his requests to the Roman general. "Maybe I should have asked for the Beis
Hamikdash, but I did not. Maybe the reason why I did not ask for the Beis
Hamikdash was for personal reasons.
There was an internal struggle within the Jewish people at that time. There
were great disagreements and strife between the elders of the community and
the group called the 'Biryonim' [young Turks]. The Biryonim wanted to fight
against the Romans. The Biryonim thought that they could prevail. Rav
Yochanan ben Zakai told them that they were crazy. They would never be able
to prevail. Rav Yochanan argued that we should try to make peace. (In fact,
the Talmud relates that they had enough provisions to hold out for 21 years
but the Biryonim destroyed all the storage of grain and wood - to force the
Jews to fight).
History proved Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai to be right. The Jews lost when
they fought the Romans. The Beis Hamikdash was destroyed. But, now on his
deathbed, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai was analyzing his motives in not asking
for the Beis HaMikdash to be spared. "Maybe I did not ask for the Beis
HaMikdash because I wanted history to prove me right in my argument
against the Biryonim. Perhaps, subconsciously, it was my desire for the
honor of being borne out by history that caused me to not ask for the Beis
Hamikdash. Maybe it was a personal motive." If my decision was colored by
personal motives then I lost the Beis Hamikdash for the Jewish people!
Then I will be deserving of Eternal punishment at the Hand of G-d. That is
why I am crying and that is why I am afraid.
The point is that even if someone is on the level of Rabbi Yochanan ben
Zakai, he still needs to ask himself some basic questions: Were my motives
pure? Were my intentions proper? Did I make a mistake? Did my personal
involvement ("negius") color my decision? It can happen to anyone.
This, says Reb Eliya Meir Bloch, was the downfall of the brothers. This was
not gross and coarse sibling rivalry, but a miniscule amount of jealousy.
Sometimes that is all that it takes to color a perception and to color a
decision to the extent that they could feel that Yosef was out to get them
and as such they could feel justified in condemning him to death.
Even the greatest of human beings - even the Tribes of G-d - are
unfortunately prone to the pitfalls and foibles of all mankind. They are
subject to be influenced by things like jealousy, lust, and honor that can
drive a person from the world [Avos 4:21].
This write-up was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tape series on the weekly Torah portion.
The complete list of halachic topics covered in this series for Parshas
Vayeishev are provided below:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from
Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
