Yosef’s Forgiveness: Achdus, Mechilah, and the Asarah Harugei Malchus

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Yaakov Avinu was niftar and buried. The brothers come back to Yosef HaTzadik, and they're afraid. There's fear. There's fear of retribution. The pasuk says clearly that the brothers said, Vayir'u achei Yosef, they were afraid, ki meis avihem. Vayomru, lu yistemeinu Yosef. Maybe Yosef is going to hate us. Very strong lashon, yistemeinu, hate. V'hashev yashiv lanu es kol hara'ah asher gamalnu oso. Now he's going to return and give us back everything that we did to him. Vayetzavu el Yosef leimor, Avicha tzivah lifnei moso leimor. And they give him a story that the tatteh tazeit bafoilt, ki ilu was his tzavah that you should be mochel, and this is what you should tell Yosef: Anna, sa na pesha achecha v'chatasam, ki ra'ah gemalucha. All it says, Vayech Yosef v'daber meihem, and he tells them, Don't be afraid, Ki hatachas Elokim ani. From the pesukim is mashma that it was okay, that there was an understanding between the brothers, Yosef and brothers, that, Taka, I'll be mochel you. The tatteh tazeit bafoilen, there's nothing to worry. Hatachas Elokim anochi. Was he mochel them? Was Yosef actually mochel the brothers? It's a very big shaylah. It's a famous Rabbeinu Bechaye in this week's parsha says clearly that he wasn't moichel them mefurash. That's the lashon of the Rabbeinu Bechaye. We don't find him saying, Machol lach, machol lach, machol lach. I've always in the past been around Chashuve Yidden. Whenever they asked mechilah, they would request that the person should expressly say, say, say, Machul the mechilah. No, say it clearly. It's not enough that you should say, Okay, yes. Say, I'm mochel. Choirah, it's based on this Rabbeinu Bechaye, where Rabbeinu Bechaye says we don't find clearly that the pasuk should mention a clear mechilah on the part of Yosef. And I want to quote the words of the Rabbeinu Bechaye because they're yesodos, tremendous yesod, and we have to be careful to bring it out exactly the way the Rabbeinu Bechaye said it, and be careful. It's something that we have to delicately, delicately discuss. Rabbeinu Bechaye says, Ve'af al pi shehizkir hakasuv vayenachem osam vayedaber al libam, the pasuk seems to say he was consoling his brothers, shenirah bazeh shehaya lahem ritzui meYosef. Choirah, it's mashma that he was merutzeh. He was accepting their mechilah. Mikol makom lo ra'inu sheyazkir hakasuv mechilah bYosef, v'lo sheyod lahem sheyisa pesha v'chatasam. We don't see clearly. Expressedly in the pasuk, with a clear wording in the pasuk that he was meichel them. V'im kein, meisu b'onsham b'lo mechilas Yosef. Says Rabbeinu Bechayei, bazeh we have to say that actually they died without mechilah. V'i efshar liskaper avroinom rak b'mechilaso. V'al kein, chutzrach ha'onesh lihyos kamus v'chasum. It stood waiting, waiting in the wings, kamus v'chasum, and locked away, lipaked, to be remembered at a different time, where b'inyan asarah harugei malchus. What's bothering Rabbeinu Bechayei is, if there was a mechilah, why was there an asarah harugei malchus? So the teretz is, we don't find clearly in the Torah that Yosef was meichel the brothers. The kasha is famous: the chiyuv is to be meichel. The chiyuv is to be meichel. The Rambam—we don't have the time to go through. I see they switched the clock already on the other side, so I'm going to have to train myself to look to the right from now on. Or maybe they did it for me so that I could not have to pay attention to the clock. Either way, rabosai, the halacha is that you should be meichel. Or maybe you have to ask three times. All right, pashtus you have to be meichel. Let's not—

Goes through the cheshbon in the Rambam right now. Hanoi bazoi, the kash is, yoiser vatzaddik. How could we say that he wasn't meichel? Kipshutai, I always felt the real pashut pshat is, that miyad mechilah v'al avicha tziva. That's not asking someone mechilah. My father told that you should... Mechilah means, ich, humbly, I come and I ask mechilah. Zogin, avicha tziva. I always understood that's the pashut pshat in the pasuk. Avicha tziva lifnei mosoi, leima, kasaymeru liyevas. Tatteh gezogt. We should have fell to the feet, ich bet rachamim. It's for something that I ask of you. U'meileh, therefore he wasn't mechuyiv. So kumt in zogin, as yenen, yenen mit mi gezogt kumt beten. That's not the way it should go. Just, I guess, a point of, to bring out the point, you should remember the kasha that ... used to say it over all the time, that someone once came to the Kotzker, that he has a friend that has issues with this aveirah and that aveirah and this aveirah, and he wants to know what the teshuvah should be. Kotzker ... k'muvan, k'yadua, farshtanen that there's no friend, it's him, and Hashem tzach. So he said, I don't understand. Why does your friend have to send you? He could have come himself and said that he had a friend that did all these aveiros, and asked for this shikul. So kumt alein, zogin, let him say he has a friend, yeah. Teshuva, rabosai, is about truth. It's about clean emes, the truth. Kol zman you're saying, I have a friend, and I have a father who said, and I have this, and I... dos is noch nisht gebeten mechilah. Azoi a bechalalimol farshtein. Another pshat I always understood, maybe, maybe. If you take a look, the kashya l'choira is stark. We do find gevaldige ritzuy. He said, he said that, Please, don't worry, I'm mochel you. Chayvetz, pretty clear that it was more or less a mechilah, but he didn't say the word, I am mochel. We needed the word mochel in the Torah. So I was thinking maybe another teretz, rabosai. Yosef HaTzadik didn't say he was mochel them, but maybe he was mochel them, like the halacha requires. But the fact that it wasn't expressed, the fact that it wasn't klapei chutz clear, and there wasn't the relationship of the achim, there was a difference. Chazal tell us there was a reason why they were afraid, because he didn't invite them anymore. They used to eat by him, to seider, and they stopped inviting them. Now the reason for that, of course, was l'shem Shamayim, with the cheshbon where the brothers are going to sit, and he shouldn't make pirudim. L'maaseh there was a difference, and they felt that difference. It's possible, rabosai, that the chet... Was nimchal מצד Yosef, like the halacha requires. But as the pasuk, and the Ramban, as the Rabbeinu Bechaye clearly states, mikomakom lo heirunu sheyazkir hakasuv mechilah b'Yosef, v'lo sheyodalem sheyisa pisham, that the pasuk doesn't mention it. What's the taich that the pasuk doesn't mention it? And vos iz shlecht that the pasuk has to mention mamash every detail? It's so important. And the teretz is that at the end there was klapei chutz a richuk in the achvah. In other words, could be there was cheshbonos chabeisei. Yavadah, Yosef meant to be mochel them completely, and avada he had no kavanos when he was not inviting them. But at the end of the day, lemaaseh the achvah wasn't the achvah of Yud-Beis Shivtei Kah after, the way it was before, to the point that there was something klapei chutz that was missing, which leads me, rabosai, to tell you a peledige chiddush, which I always thought for many years could be is the vort. There's another Rabbeinu Bechaye that's less known than this Rabbeinu Bechaye. Rabbeinu Bechaye in Parshas Miketz writes clearly that there was never an asarah rugim malchus, it never happened. It's mefurash...

Rabbeinu Bechaya. The fact that they were nifsak l'misa, says Rabbeinu Bechaya, the fact that the government decided that they're going to go and kill the Asarah Harugei Malchus, that was already enough for them to be miskaper for whatever the chet was. L'maaseh, we know they killed—they killed other people. They didn't kill Asarah Harugei Malchus. It was acheirim bimkoman. That's the lashon of the Rabbeinu Bechaya. Who are these acheirim? I've searched for years, and Baruch Hashem I found it. I found in the Nefesh HaChaim in Parshas Chukas, on the pasuk Vayikchu, by Korach, by the machlokes, and I don't have time to tie in the machlokes of the achim now to Korach, even though Chazal do it. Chazal say clearly that al techad kvodi, that Yaakov Avinu did not want to have his name to be mentioned with the machlokes of Korach one day, I'll talk to you, the kesher between Korach, Yaakov, the brothers. But that's where it is, by the way, the Nefesh HaChaim. The Nefesh HaChaim says that there were malachim who came down b'dmus Adam, and instead of killing the Asarah Harugei Malchus, they killed these malachim that looked exactly like the Asarah Harugei Malchus. And this, rabosai, says the Rabbeinu Bechaya: acheirim bimkoman. He doesn't express himself who, what, when—who are these acheirim? Zogt the Nefesh HaChaim. It's a mefurash Nefesh HaChaim, rabosai, that it was malachim who came down b'dmus; they looked just like the Asarah Harugei Malchus, and this was already enough, Asarah Harugei Malchus, to be miskaper in the chet. And the taich, rabosai, is— Even the wording of the Neimim HaMelech, it looked klapei chutz like they were killed. I believe that what was left, you know, I don't want to bring personal life into the shiur, but you start to understand how things work, how certain little things that are left, where they're not supposed to be, need to be taken care of and need to be eradicated. Sometimes it's a cell. Sometimes it's a small thing. And that tiny little thing is already enough to need to be taken care of. I'm not going to go into deeper, deep detail of ameivin yavin, but the point is that what was left was maybe a klapei chutz appearance. At the end of the day, this wasn't the kesher before, the way it was by the bed of Yaakov Avinu. It didn't remain that way afterwards, for whatever the cheshbonos may be. See, rabosai, that's what I want to point out. Whatever the cheshbonos may be, l'maaseh it wasn't the same. And klapei chutz it wasn't the same, and klapei chutz there was asarei rugmalchus. And that's this Rabbeinu Bechaye. This is nice Torah. This is nice Torah, rabosai, and the tzarah was taken away. So the fact that deep down the mechilah wasn't such that he eradicated the whole thing completely, something was tamun balev. You know, I always say pshat: the first son was Menashe, ki nashani Elokim es kol beis avi. Ves kol hamoli, kol beis avi. Why would someone want to forget? I think the other way around. He should try to say, I remember the tatte shtub. Why would he want to forget the tatte shtub? And I believe the pashut pshat, rabosai, emes l'amito is, he wanted to forget everything that happened to erase, that there should be no sin whatsoever. Ki nashani Elokim es kol beis avi. Whatever happened in beis avi, it's completely eradicated. Ki ilu lo haya. There was never fights between the brothers. There was never. That's the nashani Elokim es kol beis avi. And that was bentched to the tefillah of Yosef Hatzaddik, that it eradicated completely. So the brothers understood Yosef on his madreigah was able to talk to erase it as if ki lo haya, it never happened. So when they see that he comes and he makes a birchas hagomel, he's saying that he was in a tzar and the brothers did do something to him. U'meila, u'meila, they're afraid that that little left, he's going to want it to be mechaper. He's going to try to push them further to do teshuvah for it. U'meila.

Like the pasuk says, Es kol hara asher g'malanu oso. I believe the pshat with this we can explain an interesting shaila. Avicha tzivah lifnei moso never happened. It just never happened. It's just a story they made up from scratch. An open lie. The common zag, emes is chaf an sheker. So Chazal say that it's mutar l'shanos mipnei hashalom. You're allowed to bend for the sake of shalom. The halacha, rabosai, is—and again, there's not enough time to go through the detail of this halacha—l'shanos means to change. It's to say, Anochi Esav bechorecha. Anochi, Esav is bechorecha, like Yaakov Avinu did. You're not allowed to just lie. There's no heter in the world, even mutar l'shanos mipnei hashalom, to make up a story from scratch. L'shanos, Chazal say. This is not l'shanos. This is a complete story that never happened. And I believe, rabosai, the way I'm explaining the pshat is very simple. Not simple, but emes. The Avicha tzivah was not that he said those words. But what did Yaakov want? What did Yaakov leave over? Yaakov left over one bakasha: that the shevatim should remain united. Avicha tzivah doesn't need tzivah these words, anah, sana, pesh, achecha, v'lo charayah. He didn't even know about it. According to the Ramban, Ramban says clearly Yaakov Avinu never knew what happened to Yosef. And if Yaakov Avinu never knew what happened to Yosef, so Avicha tzivah—and I think even Yosef knew that. And almost positive that Yosef himself and the Rishonim even say that he never spoke to Yaakov because he didn't want Yaakov to know. So could you imagine, they're telling Yosef, Your father said, Ana sona, and he's looking at them and saying, You're that's what you're telling me? That's what he said? You know, I know he never said that. He never knew about the mechirah, so how could he have said that? The Torah says he said one thing: Sona, pesha, as a yesod in mussar, be able to be moichel. Sona, sona. Yaakov Avinu left over was the koach that Yidden are able to be moichel each other. Avicha tzivah means, what was his tzavah? What was Yaakov Avinu's tzavah? That a Yid is able to be moichel another Yid. Now soon show you how the Rambam writes it's unique to Yidden; goyim, which are arelei lev, don't have the inyan of mechilah. They don't know how to do it. Avicha tzivah. What Yaakov Avinu left over was the koach of ana sona, l'pesha achicha, to be able to be moichel a brother. So they weren't lying. They weren't being meshaneh. They weren't changing anything. He asfu. V'yagid lachem mah yikra b'acharis hayamim. That was the tzavah of Yaakov Avinu. He brings them all around the bed together, he asfu, the koach to be able to be misyached, to be me'ached, Jews to come together. HaG-d yevarechcha v'yishmerecha, I see it. I see it lately, the last few days, I see the koach where Yidden come together, to mobilize. One Yid for another. The koach of hei asfu. The Baal Shem, the Baal Shem explains, hei asfu, v'agid lachem what's going to be the acharis hayamim. That's what's going to be the acharis hayamim. You want to know acharis hayamim? I'll tell you acharis hayamim. It's talui in hei asfu. If there'll be hei asfu, there'll be acharis hayamim, and that will be Moshiach. That's going to bring Moshiach Tzidkeinu. Koach of achdus. Zei zogt the Baal Shem. But even in the pashut pshat, the pasuk, hei asfu, you see that he wanted them to come together. Now how does one do that? How does one do that? You see clearly that Yaakov Avinu, that Yosef HaTzadik, excuse me, tells them, Ki hatachas Elokim ani. It's all from the Eibishter. Baalei mussar speak that if you understand emunah and you understand yiras Shamayim, it means that everything is from the Ribono Shel Olam. Everything is from the Ribono Shel Olam. There's no room for sinah. There's no room for kinah. When you know that the Eibishter sent this matzav, this situation, he is just garada. He's the one that happens here. And I'm not saying that he doesn't have to keep a cheshbon why he's the one for bringing the difficult and making the machloikes or whatnot, whatever it is.

Well, once you have emunah shleimah and you realize כי אתה ה' אלוקים, it's the Eibishter, then there's no sinah. But I would like to go one step further, rabosai. Over the years, I've studied this and I've thought about it a lot. There is no explanation, like I said a few moments ago, to the koach, the Yid's koach to be mochel. It's just the way, that's our DNA, rabosai. I quote you a Rambam. The Rambam writes in Hilchos Teshuvah, perek gimmel. The Rambam—excuse me, perek beis, halachah yud: אסור לאדם שיחזור ולא יתעסק, אלא יהיה נוח לרצות וקשה לכעוס. A person should be mochel. He should be able to forgive. ובשעה שמבקש ממנו החוטא למחול, מוחל בלבב שלם ובנפש חפצה. Lev shalem and nefesh chafetzah, open-heartedness. Says the Rambam, it's in the heart. It's something unique to the heart of the heart. We're not even saying be mochel. It's not even in the mind, maybe. It's not something that the mind says, you know, it's the right thing to do. This is what I've taught. This is what I've learned. This is what... It comes from a... And as the Rambam is madgish, you see how the Rambam emphasizes, בלב שלם ובנפש חפצה, אפילו היצר לו הרבה וחטא לו הרבה, לא יקום ולא יטור. V'zehu darkom shel zera Yisrael, v'libam hanachah. It's the Yiddishe harts, rabosai. We got different—we were created differently than everyone else. HaKadosh needs maybe an entire perspective in life to make him forgive and forget, and how it's healthy for him to forgive and forget. By us, it's not about us and how healthy it is and how good it is to let go. It's about libam hanachah, something in the heart of the Yid. And this was Yaakov Avinu, tziva. This is what his whole life, what he wanted from the Shvatim, and this is what he gave over b'Yerushah. This is what he gave over b'Yerushah, zera Yisrael. It's one of the things that he gave over. So I believe that this is the inyan of the mechiras Yosef and the tikun of the mechiras Yosef. Until today, it's to be moichel, rabosai, to be moichel, to be moichel, to be moichel, to be moichel. You have hakpados, one on the other. We all have hakpados. To be able to let it all go. It's big. It's Yosef HaTzadik. I understand, it's shifchei ka. The Rambam didn't write his Rambam for Yosef HaTzadik; he wrote it for us. He wrote it for us, rabosai. It's zera Yisrael. It's what the Yid has. I will just end with the following. It's my bakashah, I ask. I'm not going to go into detail; the Olam here knows why I'm asking. I ask achdus. That's all I ask. That's what I need. That's what we need. The tzares of today, the Maharal tells us, and I'm going to quote a Maharal and with this I end. The Maharal says, it's in Nesivos Olam, beis, Nesivos HaShalom, perek tes. I quote you word for word. ומי יודע הסיבה של אריכות גלותנו? Who knows why we're so long in galus, bein haumos, אשר אין ראוי להתלות. There's nothing that we could attach it to. There is nothing, says the Maharal. He says there's nothing that we could say makes sense because of, כי אם בחטא הזה, and he's referring to machlokes and lashon hara. The only thing we could tie the arichus hagalus and the tzares is to the chet of lashon hara. And like I say, what was left by Yosef might have been a kernel, a kernel of something, and that was enough to cause asarah harugei malchus and galus, and from there on after. We need to be mechazek ourselves, my friends, in this nekudah: the lev, lev chafeitz, hakpadus. Not to be makpid, to see positive, to see good things in other people. It's very doable because we have it. It's who we are. It's a ... klal.

It's a hack in a Chinese. He knows how to do it. Mishreaden what's medaf, mishreaden. Zogn sheinus acher, gute zachen. And if you have a hakpadah on somebody, let's get the schusim going. Let's do it. We maychel, we maychel, we maychel, we mevater, and this will be taka zoche to the geulah, to the geulah, b'karov. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.