“It is my brothers that I am seeking"
(Genesis 37:16)
Kislev 22, 5786/December 12, 2025
"It is my brothers that I am seeking!" (Genesis 37:16) For twenty three generations of man HaShem has been waiting to hear these words. Ever since Cain, the first born child of Adam and Eve, killed his younger brother Abel, the world has suffered from a dearth of brotherly love. Where fraternal love should have blossomed only fraternal animosity, jealousy and hate took root.
Our blessed patriarchs and matriarch, Avraham, Sara, Yitzchak, Rivka, Yaakov, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah and Bilhah, all righteous, pure of heart and G-d fearing, nevertheless struggled with little success in raising sons that loved one another. Yosef and his older siblings were no exception. And Yosef's precocious nature and provocative behavior toward his older brothers only made matters worse. His dreams of dominance over his brothers, which he foolishly shared with them, his habit of tattling on his older brothers, and their father Yaakov's obvious affection for Yosef brought the brothers' ire to a boiling point.
Yaakov was acutely aware of this, as we are told outright: "So his brothers were wrought up at him, and his father kept the matter in mind." (ibid 37:11) So it's a bit shocking when Israel says to Yosef, “Your brothers are pasturing at Shechem. Come, I will send you to them... Go and see how your brothers are and how the flocks are faring, and bring me back word.” (ibid 37:13-14)
Perhaps Yaakov saw an opportunity, hoping that Yosef, meeting up with his older brothers in a different setting, far from home, and seeing for himself the serious responsibilities the older brothers were burdened with, tending to their father's flocks, would create an atmosphere of reconciliation.
Whatever Yaakov was thinking, Yosef's response reveals that something profound, something life changing, was about to happen: Yosef answered “Hineni - I am ready.
” We have heard this pronunciation - hineni - before. The word first came out of G-d's mouth when forewarning Noach of the impending flood, and again, when establishing His covenant with Noach. Avraham uttered the word when told by G-d to offer up his son on Mount Moriah. He said the word to Yitzchak when Yitzchak asked his father "where is the lamb for the offering," (ibid 22:7), and one more time when the angel stopped him from offering up his son.
Yitzchak says the word to Esau, telling his son to prepare for him a meal and then he will give him his blessing, and again, unwittingly, to his son Yaakov who was posing as Esau. Yaakov said it to an angel in a dream when preparing to part fromLavan: "And an angel of G-d said to me in a dream, 'Yaakov!' And I said, ' Hineni - Here I am."' And now this word hineni - a word suggesting utter profundity, revealing a depth of commitment, of trust and allegiance - emerges from the mouth of Yosef. He knew not what lay before him, but he knew he was obliged to find out.
But all the trust and allegiance and determination in the world did not prevent young Yosef from swiftly losing his way. No sooner does he arrive in Shechem than he loses the trail. And then we are told, "A man found him wandering in the fields. The man questioned him, saying, 'What are you looking for?'” (ibid 37:15) Yosef replies with those long longed for words: “It is my brothers that I am seeking. Please tell me where they are pasturing.” (ibid 37:16) The man had apparently run into Yosef's brothers, for he tells Yosef that he overheard them saying they were heading for Dotan. He points the way and Yosef goes off to find his brothers.
It's a minor incident. Who among us hasn't stopped and asked a stranger for directions? Do we ask the stranger his name? No. The stranger remains anonymous. But had the unnamed stranger not set us upon the right track the entire trajectory of our life might have changed. We wouldn't have made that meeting which determined our career. We wouldn't have met that person we would ultimately share our life with.
And Yosef would not have caught up with his brothers. He would have returned home to Yaakov, confessed his lack of success and everything that followed - being stripped of his tunic and thrown into a pit; being sold to traveling merchants and sold again into slavery in Egypt; being falsely accused of accosting Potiphar's wife and thrown into jail; interpreting the dreams of his fellow cellmates and ultimately interpreting Pharaoh's dream and rising to prominence.
None of this would have happened. But it did happen, and all because of an unnamed stranger who just happened to be where he was and just happened to notice that Yosef was lost and just happened to have overheard the brothers' intentions. Life is full of propitious coincidences.
Or is it? Rashi tells us that the man was none other than the angel Gavriel, sent to that very spot at that very moment by G-d, who saw Yosef stray and wanted him sent in the right direction. What was about to happen, all the events that would lead the sons of Israel into Egypt, where their children would be enslaved - it all had to happen.
This is what HaShem had promised to Avraham: "You shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and oppress them, for four hundred years. And also the nation that they will serve will I judge, and afterwards they will go forth with great possessions. But you will come to your forefathers in peace; you will be buried in a good old age. And the fourth generation will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites will not be complete until then." (ibid 15:13-16)
It is not conceivable that the word of G-d should be confounded by a young boy whose GPS failed him at the crucial moment. So G-d sent a man, an angel, to nudge Yosef in the right direction. The brothers never learned of this man's presence. Yaakov certainly remained forever unaware and quite likely, Yosef, in all the turmoil that followed, also forgot all about the mysterious stranger who set him on the path to his brothers. But the Torah sees fit that we all know.
We have encountered a number of angels in our travels through Genesis. With the exception of angels who appear in a dream, and the angel who stayed Avraham'shand, the Torah refers to all the other angels, those that visited Avraham's tent, those that rescued Lot and his family from Sodom, and that which wrestled with Yaakov throughout the night, simply as men.
They are given no name and when Yaakov inquired of his opponent's name, he was flat out refused. Their identity is obfuscated, blurred, intentionally made unclear. Yet each arrived with a message to deliver and a mission to complete. And each appears in our lives when we need them most and by direct command of HaShem. The Torah tells us many times to love the stranger. He might just be on a mission from G-d.
No comments:
Post a Comment