Vayeishev

When studying the story of Yosef and his brothers, it is worthwhile to remember the famous “Din

Torah” that took place in the Yeshiva of Volozhin. There was a dispute between two great Rashei

Yeshivots — Rav Chaim Soloveitchik and the Netzi”v — . One of the judges on the Rabbinical panel

who were convened to hear the Din Torah was the Vilna Magid. The Vilna Magid commented to the

other Judges that the Din Torah coincided with Parshat VaYeshev. The other Dayanim did not

understand what the Vilna Magid meant because it was not Parashat VaYeshev, it was a totally

different parasha that week! The Vilna Magid explained: In the Book of Bereishit, up until Parashat

VaYeshev, all disputes involved a “good guy” and a “bad guy”. There was the dispute between

Adam and the Snake, between Yitzchak and Yishmael, and between Yaakov and Eisav. All of these

were “no brainers” in terms of which side to pick in the argument. However, in Parshat VaYeshev –

regarding the argument between Yosef and his brothers — we have great difficulty deciding who is

right and who is wrong. Both sides were righteous individuals. Both sides had rationales for doing

what they were doing. Therefore, it is not so easy to rule who is right and who is wrong. This is the

same situation in the dispute here in Volozhin between the Netziv and Rav Chaim, he noted. 

It is important to bear this perspective in mind when we engage in any type of discussion of the

Machloket between the Shevatim. The pasuk says that the brothers saw that Yaakov Avinu loved

Yosef more than them and they began to hate him. There is an interesting insight from Rabbi

Yaakov Toledano zatsal, based on an interesting reading of the pasuk. Many times, we have feelings

we are not proud of. These are feelings of inferiority, or otherwise stem from the non-glorious side

of our personalities. The brothers sensed they were jealous of Yosef, but they could not just come

out and say “We hate Yosef because our father likes him better.” It was not Yosef’s fault that his

father liked him better. People have this strange ability to rationalize their behavior and try to

elevate their very base and mean emotions; rationalizing them into something other than what

they really are, in order that they may be proud of themselves. Therefore, the brothers concluded

“it does not bother me that Yaakov loves Yosef more than ME”, what bothers me is that “Yaakov

loved Yosef more than ALL HIS BROTHERS (kol Echav)”. Each brother was championing the rights of

the other —of his siblings who were being discriminated against because Yaakov loved Yosef more

than THEM. “Personally, I am a ‘Baal Midots’ so I can handle this. I do not harbor any jealousy, but I

need to champion the rights of my other brothers.” 

The irony of all this is that the same brothers who took up the rights of the “other brothers” were

themselves guilty of some degree of sibling oppression. Chazal say that Yosef befriended the sons of

the maidens (Bilha and Zilpa) because they were looked down upon by the sons of Leah. However,

regarding Yosef, they argued that “this Yosef is worthy of our hatred because he causes the other

brothers to be looked down upon by Yaakov”. This did not prevent these same brothers from

looking down upon their other brothers (Gad, Asher, Dan, Naftali). In that case, they failed to

champion the “rights of all the brothers equally”. 

It is not an uncommon phenomenon that our own deeds become an accusation against us. Our

arguments on behalf of the oppressed are themselves demolished by things we ourselves do that

are just as bad, if not worse, than the “evils” we are decrying.