Mikketz: Suspects
Suspicion is a complex nexus of internal and external aspects of a person. At times there is a full-on clash with enormous frustration, and at times one heroically comes to terms with the wretched situation.
Time and again, the sons of Yaakov find themselves suspected of serious crimes. First, Yosef accuses them of espionage, saying “you are spies coming to see the nakedness of the land” (Genesis 42:9). Later on, when they are on their way back to the Land of Canaan, they discover that their money has been returned, and their hearts sink “and each man trembled with his brother to say ‘What is this that God has done to us?’” When they return to Yaakov and tell him about all that has happened to them, he accuses them of negligence and lack of responsibility. He asks them: “Why have you worsened things for me to tell that man that you have another brother?!’” Afterward, they are quick to tell the Egyptian authorities that their money was returned to them, and then they are embarrassed by the head of Yosef’s household who tells them “It is well for you; do not fear…your money has reached me” (43:23). And then they prepare to sell themselves as slaves to expiate themselves from the guilt of Yosef’s stolen cup that is dropped on them. “The one who is [found to have stolen] it will die, and we, too, will be slaves…” (44:9). Their mourning is deep when it becomes apparent that they are implicated in the crime, when “the goblet was found in Binyamin’s sack” (44:9). Years later, the brothers would be suspicious of Yosef after the death of Yaakov, worrying that he would seek revenge on them for the selling of Yosef. They made up a story, saying “Your father commanded before his death…” (Genesis 50:16; Yevamot 65b).
The first suspicion that befalls the sons of Yaakov is a complete surprise. It did not even occur to them to spy on Egypt. This was an accusation that came from nowhere; the type of accusation that leaves the accused gaping, unable to respond. The Sages explain that they divided themselves up when they came into Egypt, with each one coming through a different gate. When it became clear that they were brothers, their behavior was viewed as suspicious and evasive.
The emotion that comes with being suspected without any basis is intense frustration. The other type of suspicion is different – they themselves open their sacks to discover money that does not belong to them, so they fill in the picture of how things look from the outside: there will not only be suspicion – there is hard evidence of wrongdoing! There is no satisfying explanation for this circumstance. They knew very well that not only did they not steal—it never occurred to them to do something like this. They are being lined up as a wretched band of thieves and spies. They feel empty and abandoned, and express this by saying “What has God done to us?!” These words also express the loss of their self-esteem. The brothers simultaneously lose their presumption of innocence and become a burden in their own eyes.
There are two Halakhot connected to suspicion that parallel these two types of suspicion – that which lacks any basis, and that which seems more substantive. Masekhet Yoma describes the order of the study and preparation that the Kohen Gadol undergoes before the Yom Kippur Service in the Temple. As part of this preparation period, the Kohen would be taught the correct Ketoret service according to the laws of the Pharisees. He would then have to swear an oath that he would not stray from the order of the Service, as the Sadducees posited that the Ketoret was to be offered outside instead of instead. There was a concern that the Kohen Gadol would act according to the Sadducee opinion (Mishna Yoma 1:5).
In the Mishna’s description of the oath-ceremony, both sides cry – the side requiring the oath and the side taking the oath. The Talmud explains that the Kohen was crying because they were suspicious of him, and they were crying because they knew that it is bad to be suspicious of innocent people (Yoma 19b.
There are no words to defend against suspicion that has no substance to it whatsoever. Weeping is the only possible way of expressing the feeling of injustice. When someone is accused of being a mamzer, the Talmud says that his silence demonstrates that he is not a mamzer (see Rashi on Ketuvot 14b, s.v. ve-ha de-shatik).
A Halakha related to suspicion that has some basis is the case of the Sotah woman. There, too, there is a chance that it will become apparent that she did not sin, and that the whole fuss was not necessary. But the Halakhic process requires a disagreeable investigation of the compromising circumstances.
There is a fascinating treatment of the connection between the internal and the external by the Kli Yakar on the verse “And make an ark of acacia wood, two amot and a half lengthwise…and you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside overlay it – and you shall make a band of gold around it” (Exodus 25:10-11). The verse twice emphasizes the command to overlay the ark with gold – to overlay the interior and the exterior. The Kli Yakar changes the punctuation, saying that we should read it thus: “At first…’ you shall overlay it with pure gold inside.” And afterward ‘and outside you shall overlay it’ – and it does not mention the ‘pure gold.’” According to the new punctuation of this verse, it seems that there is no command to overlay the exterior with pure gold, specifically. The Kli Yakar explains that by default, the exterior is the significant part. Every artisan would overlay the exterior in pure gold; the problem is the internal overlaying. The part that is not seen by passersby is usually the part where unpolished seams, uncovered parts, etc. show. Similarly, man is commanded to overlay himself on the outside to work on purifying his internal self. We rely on the fact that he will invest in the exterior even without specific instructions. But it is also possible to explain otherwise, as the Kli Yakar writes:
When one purifies his inner self, God accepts him when he is pure in thought, but to purify himself from the outside is a very difficult task, because it is the way of our people to judge everyone unfavorably; because who do we have who is greater than Moshe? But they suspected him, too, without substance, and if the [great ones] are subject to [evil speech], what will the [lesser folk] do:” (ibid.)
It must be admitted that the instruction to overlay the exterior in gold is not practical in our world, all the more so among Jews. If it is possible to explain someone’s actions as improper, then that is how people are most likely to explain it. Therefore, man is commanded to make his heart pure gold, but for the external – he can only try. Thus we have various Halakhot that are based on the need to escape suspicion. one of them appears in the Rambam on the Halakhot of Megilla and Hanukka: a courtyard with two entrances in different directions requires two candles, so that the passersby of one direction will not say: ‘He did not set out Hanukka candles’ (Mishneh Torah Megilla ve-Hanukka 4:10).
The hope that we raise with the lighting of the Hanukka candles is the hope to remove barriers; to actualize the potential to spread the internal outward in the sense of “the candle of God is the human soul.”