Vayigash

“And they (the brothers) told him (Yaakov Avinu), saying that, ‘Yosef is still alive,’ and that ‘he is the ruler over all of Egypt,’ and his (Yaakov’s) heart skipped, for he didn’t believe them.” (Breishis 45: 26).

The syntax of this sentence is puzzling: The brothers could have simply related to their father Yaakov all the details of Yosef’s situation in Egypt. Why then does the verse record a distinct pause after their revelation of Yosef’s continued existence (“Yosef is still alive”)—“and that” he was ruling in Egypt? Isn’t this phrase extra?

In parashas Miketz, the midrash relates Yosef’s acceding to his position of power with the following unique phrase: "(This grandeur) was given to him (through Divine Providence) from that which was already his.” (See B.R. 90, 3) This cryptic phrase is in marked distinction to the one used to describe Yehuda’s kingship, where our sages say that he “merited” his station of royalty. What is meant here, by inferring that Yosef already possessed the station to which he was elevated in Egypt?

The Telsher Rosh Hayeshiva, Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch, zt”l., explains that the midrash teaches that the essence of Yosef’s kingship was not the external trappings of royalty which he came to possess in Egypt. Rather, Yosef, as evinced in his behavior with Potifar’s wife, was already a complete ruler over himself, over his body, his character, and his soul. Thus, explains Rabbi Bloch, unlike Yehuda, who became king, the midrash wishes to have us understand that Yosef possessed kingship in his soul long before he became viceroy over Egypt. Moreover, this external royalty was merely the symbol of his long-established spiritual achievements.

Now, Rabbi Bloch continues, we can understand the apparently extra phrase in the brothers’ explanation to their father Yaakov of Yosef’s situation. If they had simply related all the pertinent facts, that Yosef was still alive as the viceroy of Egypt, it would appear that the two pieces of information were of equal significance. Yet, in truth, Yaakov was solely concerned not which Yosef’s physical situation, but with his spiritual health. Hence, the brothers specifically told their father that first, Yosef was “alive”, i.e. in a Torah sense, that he had maintained his righteousness and commitment to Torah values. Merely as an aside, as a continuation of their description, do they add “and that” Yosef was ruler over Egypt.

Once again, we see in the subtleties of the of the Torah text just how our Avos understood just what was truly important.

This d'var Torah is based on the work Peninei Daas, the essays of the Telsher Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch, zt"l, edited by Rabbi Noson Tzvi Baron, shlit"a, and Rabbi Avrahom Chaim Levin, shlit"a, (Vol. 1, p. 116)