Yosef acting like a stranger toward his brothers

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  1. Family Healing

    Rabbi Alex Israel | 38 minutes

    Yosef acts like a hostile stranger when his brothers come to Egypt. Even if one could understand his behavior toward his brothers, he must know that his charade causes pain for Yaakov. How could he do this to his father, and why does Yosef frame Binyamin? Ultimately, the story touches upon mistakes of long ago and offers a chance for renewal and atonement.

  2. Ramban on Parshat Miketz - But We are Guilty For Our Brother

    Rabbi Ezra Bick | 31 minutes

    When the brothers are accused of being spies and one is held hostage in Egypt until the return of the others, their reaction is to see this as punishment for their cruelty to Yosef many years before. They recall that they ignored his pleading to them from the pit. Apparently, they view their passive cruelty as justifying a greater punishment than the sale itself!  

    We compare their view with Ramban’s ideas about the relative value of intentions, personality, and actions as they relate to Avraham’s test during Akeidat Yitzhak, and compare Avraham at the Akeida with the story and transformation of the brothers.  

  3. Seforno on Yosef's Tears for his Brothers

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  4. The Guilt of Shimon and Levi

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  5. Yosef Models Rethinking One's Course

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  6. Prisoner or Prisoners: Yosef's Change of Heart

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  7. Accusing the Brothers of Spying

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  8. The Saba of Kelm on the Brothers and Wealth

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  9. The Second Yishmael

    Rabbi Yoseif Bloch

  10. The Selling of Yosef and Yosef's Treatment of His Brothers in Egypt

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  11. Parashat HaShavua Parashat Mikketz

    Rabbi Jonathan Snowbell | 29 minutes

    In order to understand this week's parasha, we must examine the context of the previous parshiyyot. Is it true that Yosef was sold by his brothers? Though they still bore responsibility and culpability, what would have happened if, after the progressive cooling of their tempers, they had gotten to the pit before Yosef had disappeared?  Was Yosef aware of this possibility? Why didn't Yosef attempt to contact his father in the years that he was in Egypt? Considering the above allows us to Mikketz with a heightened appreciation of what may have been going on with Yosef and his brothers in Canaan and Egypt.

     

  12. Yosef's Appearance to his Father

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  13. Yosef's Self-Regulation

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  14. Mikketz: Suspects

    Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky

  15. Yosef Reveals His Identity

    Rabbi Gad Eldad

    The story of Yosef and his brothers takes a surprising turn when Yosef reveals himself to his brothers. Just when it seems that Yosef wishes to permanently cut himself off from his brothers, and when he manages to get his hands on Binyamin, he finally reveals his identity, and everything appears to work out well. What did Yosef see at this time to make this sharp turn? And why did his brothers later fear that he would seek revenge after Yaakov's death?

    The Bible creates a parallel between he passage at the end of the book in which Yosef's dreams are fulfilled and the passage in which he reveals his identity, and seeks to hint that the story of Yosef and his brother is a drama of errors. The brothers erred in their false suspicion of Yosef, while Yosef erred in his maintaining an estranged attitude for such a long time. He should have ended that earlier, thereby sparing everyone, and especially his father, unnecessary grief.