Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

(Bereshith 42:9): "And Joseph remembered the dreams … and he said to them: 'You are spies, etc.'" In all of this his intent was to secure atonement for their sins," as it was [his intent] in (Ibid. 25): "And Joseph commanded that their vessels be filled with grain, that their money be returned, each to his sack, etc." And, in truth, the money caused them much grief in the beginning of their [return journey], when (Ibid. 27): "the one [Levi (according to Rashi)] opened his sack (28) … and their hearts went out, and each trembled to his brother, saying: 'What is this that G-d has done to us?'" And also at the end, when they came to their father (Ibid. 35): "And, as they emptied their sacks, behold, each (found) his money bundle in his sack, and they saw their money bundles, they and their father, and they were afraid." And also (Ibid. 43:18): "And the men were afraid, for they were brought into the house of Joseph … and they said: 'It is because of the money which was returned to our sacks, etc.'" They suffered greatly because of the money; this, to atone for them because of the money they had taken for him [in selling him as a slave].

And it was, therefore, brought about by Heaven that the first to open his sack and find the money was Levi, as explained by Rashi. For he was the first who said to his brother Shimon (Ibid. 37:19-20): "Behold this dreamer of dreams is coming, and now, let us go and slay him."

(Ibid. 42:37): "And Reuven said to his father: 'You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him [Benjamin] back to you… (38): And he said: 'My son shall not go down with you.'" The Midrash relates that Yaakov said about him [Reuven]: "He is a foolish bechor [(first-born)]. Are they his sons and not my sons?" The words of Reuven must, indeed, be understood, but, essentially, this is the explanation: Whatever issues from a man's mouth [(aside from what relates to fear of the L-rd, which is a function of man's free will)] is brought about by Heaven. This is the thrust of Chazal's statement: "All is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven." And the Midrash tells us that this ejaculation of Reuven's [("You may kill my two sons, etc.")] was fulfilled in his sons, [i.e., descendants], Dathan and Aviram [(in the episode of Korach)]. And, in truth, he [Reuven] himself was the cause of this, by saying (Bereshith 27:32): "Cast him into this pit which is in the desert." The act was extremely evil, for which reason they [Dathan and Aviram] descended, living, to Sheol, to the midst of the pit. As to his intent, being good, as it is written (Bereshith, Ibid.): "in order to rescue him from their hands to return him to his father," he merited that one of his descendants, On ben Peleth, be saved, by returning in repentance to His Father in heaven (wherefore he was called "On," his being in aninuth ["mourning" (for his sin)] all of his life, as Chazal have stated.

And Judah said (Ibid. 43:9): "If I do not bring him [Benjamin] to you and present him to you [alive], I shall have sinned against you all the days," Judah going surety both in this world and the next, and through this, experiencing great suffering, more than all of the other brothers, as written in Parshath Vayigash. The reason for this is that he caused Joseph's being sold as a slave. In truth, Judah was the most eminent of the brothers, and he should have strengthened himself to return Joseph to his father, wherefore he was punished by Heaven by having to go surety for a different brother [Benjamin], to bring him to his father. And in this, he strengthened himself with all his power, and he also acquiesced in prostrating himself before the lord of the land to be taken as a slave, so that his brother could return home to his father. And all the other brothers who acquiesced in the sale were made to undergo great sorrow by acquiescing in becoming slaves themselves, as it is written (Ibid. 44:9): "And we, too, shall be slaves to my lord." And also (Ibid. 50:18): "And his brothers also went, and they fell before him [Joseph] and they said: 'Behold, we are your slaves.'"

Another awesome thing which befell Judah: Our sags of blessed memory have said (Sotah 7b): "All those years that Israel was in the desert, the bones of Judah were 'rolling around' in his casket, until Moses arose and implored mercy for him. He said… (Devarim 33:7): 'Hear, O L-rd, the voice of Judah' — at which his limbs reunited. But he was not yet brought to the Heavenly synod, at which Moses said (Ibid.): 'and to his people shall You bring him.' But he could not engage in halachic converse with the sages there, at which Moses said (Ibid.): 'Let his hands do battle for him', etc." All this befell him because he had said (Bereshith 43:9): "If I do not bring him [Benjamin] to you and present him to you [alive], I shall have sinned against you all the days." __ But he did bring him! But, "the curse of a sage is fulfilled even if the condition [(in this instance, bringing him back)] is fulfilled" (Makkoth 11b). And we have already said that whatever issues from a man's mouth is by Divine providence, so that the L-rd's will was being enacted here. It seems to me that the explanation is as follows: It is known that they [the brothers] placed a ban on anyone who would reveal this [(the sale of Joseph)] to our father Jacob, and they included the Shechinah in this ban, wherefore the Holy Spirit [of prophecy] was removed from our father Jacob (until the end [of the episode], where it is written (Ibid. 45:27): "And the spirit of Jacob their father revived," which Onkelos translates: "And the Holy Spirit [again] reposed upon him.") And because of this ban it was decreed upon him [Judah] that holiness depart from him entirely, (as any man who is excommunicated), wherefore Judah was constrained to accept excommunication upon himself, as it is written: "And I shall have sinned against my father all of the days."

And see further that the Holy One Blessed be He does not withhold [any] reward [that is due]. We have already mentioned above that in the counsel of Judah there was also great good for Joseph, for he rescued him from death. It was in this regard that Jacob said about him (Bereshith 49:8): "Judah — you, will your brothers praise" (see Rashi there). Our sages of blessed memory have said that because he saved Joseph from death the L-rd pitied the kingdom of the house of Judah, not destroying their seed until the destruction of the Temple, unlike the other kings of Israel, who were all temporary. When one finished his [allotted] time, another arose and killed him and his entire household, not leaving a trace — as opposed to the kings of the house of David, of the seed of Judah.

And see another extremely awesome thing which unraveled itself in the course of time, measure for measure. For Joseph stumbled in the sin of lashon hara [against his brothers] as related in the Torah. And his brothers did not want, by any means, to forgive him, relating to him in the extreme of din, saying (Bereshith 37:20): "Let us go and kill him (that is: "Let us sic the dogs on him" and the like,) and they wished to sell him as a slave because of this, though Judah defended him and did not allow them to kill him, as it is written (Bereshith 37:26): "What profit if we kill our brother, etc." Still, he by no means wanted to forgive him, saying (Ibid. 27): "Let us go and sell him." And because of this, in the succeeding generations, when one of the seed of Judah stumbled in the issur of accepting lashon hara, the distinctive one of the seed of Joseph would by no means forgive him. And who is it that stumbled in this way? No less than our lord, King David, may peace be upon him, who believed the evil that Tziva spoke of Mefibosheth, and said (II Samuel 19:30): "You [Mefibosheth] and Tziva shall divide the field" — at which a Heavenly voice came forth and said: "Rechavam [of the seed of Judah] and Yaravam [of the seed of Joseph] shall divide the kingdom." And, as it is written in Scripture, that after the death of Solomon, Yaravam and all of Israel came to Rechavam and besought him to ease somewhat his yoke upon them and they would serve him, and he answered them (I Kings 12:14): "My father [Solomon] chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpion-thorns" — whereupon all of them answered (II Chronicles 10:16): "Each to your tents, O Israel," and they crowned Yaravam. And the underlying cause was David's acceptance of lashon hara. As our sages of blessed memory said: "If David had not accepted lashon hara, the kingdom of the house of David would not have been divided and Israel would not have served idolatry, and we would not have been exiled from our land." And all of this is "measure for measure," as we have written.

And now let us see the suffering that came to them from Heaven because of the bread, their sitting down to eat bread [(before selling Joseph)]. For when they brought Benjamin and stood him before Joseph, they thought that they had thereupon satisfied his demand, and that he would permit them to return home. But it was not to be so, as it is written (Bereshith 43:16): "And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and he said to the overseer of his house: 'Bring these men into the house, and [see to it] to slaughter something (for a meal) and prepare it, for with me will these men dine.'" And, later, (Ibid. 25): "…for they heard that they would eat bread there," and (Ibid. 18): "And the men were afraid, for they were brought into the house of Joseph. And they said: 'It is because of the money that was returned to our sacks … and to fall upon us, and to take us as slaves." And (Ibid. 31): "And he said; 'Place bread.'" (Ibid. 33): "And they sat before him, the first-born according to his seniority, etc." And, similarly, the entire episode of the goblet, everything centering around the meal, where they saw the goblet by which he divined. For if he had not invited them to dine with him and to see the goblet, they could not in the end have been suspected of theft, and undergone the great suffering [which followed] whereby they all consented to become slaves.

But, in truth, all this was "measure for measure." Because of their sitting to eat bread when Joseph was in the pit, it was decreed upon them to also sit and eat bread under terrifying circumstances, until Judah himself said (Ibid. 44:16): "What shall we speak and how shall we justify ourselves? G-d has found out the sin of your servants." [And he, taking upon himself the din of Heaven, as it were,] — "Behold, we are slaves to my lord, etc." And with this, he averts the essential din for the selling [of Joseph]. [And though Joseph is not yet reconciled in this parshah and says (Ibid. 17): "The man in whose hand the goblet is found — he shall be my servant. And you, go up in peace to your father," Judah does not agree to this, viz. (Ibid. 18): "And Judah drew near to him," until the end of the episode, (Ibid. 45:1): "And Joseph could not restrain himself, etc."]

And from all of this awesome episode we can understand how much one must guard his tongue and his deeds. And also, from [the account of] Joseph, we can understand his holy trait, viz. (Ibid. 45:5): "And now, do not be grieved, and do not vex yourselves that you sold me here." And, similarly, at the end of the parshah (Ibid. 50:21): "And he comforted them and he spoke to their hearts." And witness further the greatness of Joseph, who did not tell his father what had been done to him, until it was revealed to him prophetically before his death, as it is written [(Jacob speaking)] (Ibid. 49:23): "They [the brothers] embittered him and they antagonized him and they hated him, etc." And, more than this, we find in the words of Chazal that Joseph took care not to be alone with his father, so that his brothers not suspect him of telling his father what he had suffered at their hands.