‘Teshuva, u’tefila, u’tzedaka maavirin’ moment

As hopes rise and fall for the release of our hostages, it is easy to succumb to feelings of despair. Yet the lessons of last week’s, dramatic parsha, Vayigash, demonstrate how things can quickly change, k’heref ayin (as in the blink of an eye), if Hashem, wills it.

Considering Yosef‘s sale into captivity by his own brothers, his deceptive encounters with, and his low and high experiences in Egypt, we appreciate the dramatic story on a personal, national and religious level.

The two personalities most prominent of course, are Yosef and Yehuda. Two Titans.

Yehuda, who advised his brothers to sell Yosef, (ma betza ki naharog et achinu — what profit [to us] if we kill our brother? … Lechu v’nimkerenu — Come let us sell him.) (Bereishit, 37:26,27).

Later, Rashi tells us (38:1) that had Yehuda told his brothers not to kill Yosef and not to sell him, but rather return them to their father, they would have listened.

Now Yosef holds all of Jewish and world history in his hands. He knows these are his brothers and has manipulated them into a deadly chess-like strategic trap, while the brothers have no clue they stand before Yosef — to them he is a powerful foreign leader who can crush them in a heartbeat.

Yosef wants to get Binyamin, his beloved full brother, to stay with him. Why don’t they just cut a deal?

• • •

The old Yehuda, who was willing to make a few bucks to sell Yosef (“what profit”), who didn’t think how it would affect his father, would have gladly taken a deal, taken Shimon, the food, make a few Egyptian dinars (he saw previously how despite paying for food, the money “mysteriously” returned to their sacks) and skedaddle out of their, thinking he won, big time.

Ahh, but he promised his father he’d bring back Binyamin (43:9).

This is not the same Yehuda who sold Yosef. This is the Yehuda who after his encounter with Tamar realized the power of truth and righteousness. That was the beginning of Yehuda‘s teshuva.

Look at how Yehuda speaks to this “Egyptian” viceroy. The humble Yehuda pours his heart out, telling the tragic story of the loss of a brother (Yosef), that after endless mourning his father now faces the prospect of losing his remaining other son (Binyamin) from his beloved wife (Rachel).

Yehuda now cares about other people; he is humbled and debases himself repeatedly, calling himself “slave” and addressing Yosef as “Adoni,” my master. He has done teshuva, he is a changed man.

This is not the Yehuda, Yosef was expecting. What began as the clash of two antagonists, became the reunion of two brothers, the baal-teshuva and the tzaddik! What a dramatic lesson for us today, so appropriate to our situation. Yehuda and Yosef, representing the conflict of the kingdom of Yehuda (Beit David) and the kingdom of Yisrael (Beit Ephraim/Yosef) that splintered the Jewish people, but will come together once again, b’acharit hayamim, at the end of days (Yechezkel 37), fittingly the haftarah for parshat Vayigash.

For us today, we need the ahavat achim, the coming together of the dati (religious) and non-dati, the right and left, brothers all, as one family.

You want to bring the kidnapped hostages home? Just as Yosef was brought “home” to his brothers through ahavat achim, through teshuva (Yehuda), tefilla (Yosef) and tzedaka (both of them), our hostages can be brought home, and we will be mevatlim et hagezerah kasha (annul the harsh decree) of Oct. 7 and bring about the ultimate geulah.

Shabbat Shalom.

Dr. Alan A. Mazurek is a retired neurologist, living in Great Neck, Jerusalem and Florida. He is a former chairman of the ZOA. To reach him, write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com