פרשת וישב
This week’s Parsha tells us about the incredible hatred which the ten sons of Yaakov had fostered for their brother Yosef, and because of that hatred their intent to kill him. Chazal teach us, however, that this hatred was not baseless, and that the ten sons of Yaakov were in fact the local Beis Din, entrusted with privilege and responsibility of enforcing the laws of the Torah. This being the case, their intention to kill Yosef was not meant to be a mindless act carried out by an angry mob who was frothing at the mouth, but rather a calculated decision based on hours or maybe even days of pluming through the appropriate Gemorahs and Halachos to arrive at the proper ruling. In any event, when the brothers were about to carry out their sentence which they ruled upon, and execute their brother, Reuven had a change of heart and decided to put Yosef in a pit so that he could return later and save his life. Yehuda, not knowing of Reuven’s plans, also attempts to save Yosef by convincing the brothers that it would be more “profitable” to sell him instead of just killing him.
R’ Chaim Shmuelevitz poses a powerful difficulty on the above quoted Chazal. R’ Chaim asks, if the brothers had decided that Yosef was deserving of the death penalty, what kind of an argument is it to say that it would not be profitable? If that is the law, then it must be carried out! What does profit have to do with the law? R’ Chaim explains that the verse itself answers this difficulty. Yehuda says to the brothers, “How can we cover up our brother’s blood”? Rashi comments that they meant so say, “Although we have to kill him, how can we hide his death?” R’ Chaim explains that Rashi meant, although it is true that he is liable the death penalty, how can we take the responsibility for what will ensue after his sentence is carried out?
R’ Chaim understands that this Chazal is laying down a foundation. The Torah is teaching us that even if a person knows something is correct, if they are unable to take responsibility for that action, they may not perform it. The Mishna in Avos (2:9) asks, “Which trait should a person distance themselves from”? The Mishna offers five possibilities, but R’ Shimon says, one who borrows money and does not repay it. R’ Chaim points out that all the other possibilities which are mentioned in the Mishna are human traits, whereas this one seems to be an action more then a trait. R’ Chaim explains that the Mishnah is teaching us that a person must take responsibility for himself, and for his actions, and if he doesn’t, he is lacking a crucial component in his development as a Jew.
On the other hand, if a person develops his sense of responsibility for himself and his actions, he essentially prepares himself for greatness. The Tosefta (4:16) asks, “Why did the tribe of Yehuda merit to produce the royal family of the Jewish people? Because Yehuda answered ‘what good will come from us killing our brother’.” Based on what we have explained, there is no more fitting reward then kingship for Yehuda. When a person is willing to take responsibility for his decisions and his actions, he proves himself as a leader of the Jewish people, whose primary quality must be one who can take responsibility for the entire nation.
By nature, human beings attempt to shirk responsibility whenever they can. The verse in Jeremiah (2:34) says, “Even in your bosom, the blood of innocent paupers can be found… and yet you still say, ‘I am innocent’”. Rashi explains that very often, even when we can help the poor, we choose not to, and sometimes, this can even lead to their demise. Yet even after these events, in our hearts we don’t feel any liability for their death because we choose to see no correlation between our decisions, and the ultimate results of those decisions. This is called “shirking responsibility”.
How can we attempt to combat our natural pull to deny all accountability for our actions? The Gemorah in the first chapter Kidushin offers a very practical piece of advice. The Gemorah says that every person should view themselves as if their actions are hanging in the balance at the half way point, and their next action will either make or break them. R’ Elazar the son of R’ Shimon Bar Yochai says even further that each person should realize that the entire world is hanging in the balance, and it could very well be that his next action will determine the fate of the world. This is true because Chazal teach us that the world is judged based on the majority. If the majority of people or worthy, the universe can continue to exist, and if they are not, then the world as we know it will cease to continue living. This being the case, every action we do, even in the privacy of our own homes, can very well decide the fates of millions of people! This thought will certainly help a person to take his responsibilities more seriously.
A person will be encouraged to know that if he does manage to develop a proper sense of the importance of his actions, he will be aided supernaturally with powers that he did not possess in the past. Moshe Rabenu (Bamidbar 11) explains that he does not have meat to feed the entire Jewish people because he did not give birth to them. Most people would understand this verse sarcastically, as if Moshe was complaining. But Chazal understand it completely differently. They explain that Moshe was saying that since he did not give birth to the Jewish people, he was unable to feed them, whereas had he given birth to all two million of them, he felt confident that Hashem would provide a way for him to feed them. In other words, Moshe was telling us that when a person is in a position of responsibility, and they take that responsibility seriously, they will be aided in a supernatural way to carry out those responsibilities, as preposterous as they may seem.
I would just like to conclude with the words R’ Chaim Shmuelevitz used to use to inspire the young grooms in his Yeshiva. He would tell them that the Yerushalmi in Bikurim, (3:3) says that a groom is forgiven for all of his sins. This seems extremely magnanimous, when we know that even Yom Kippur isn’t effective unless a person repents. What did a groom do which is more powerful than Yom Kippur? R’ Chaim explains that a groom takes on a new responsibility in his life – a woman. This new project, this willingness to take full dependability for another human being’s needs, is such a monumental task, that Hashem is willing to wipe the slate completely clean to prepare a person for his new obligations and not punish his wife for his previous wrongdoings, even without a full repentance. From this incredible display, we can see in what esteem our decision to take our job seriously is held.
May we all merit to accept upon ourselves and successfully fulfill all of our duties!