Parashat Vayigash tells of Yosef's dramatic revelation to his brothers, at which point, we read, "his brothers could not answer him, for they were petrified from him" (45:3). A well-known Midrashic passage (Bereishit Rabba 93) points to this incident as an effective model of what awaits us on the final Day of Judgment:
"Woe unto us on the Day of Judgment; woe unto us on the Day of Rebuke! Yosef was the youngest among the tribes, and yet they could not withstand his rebuke. When the Almighty will come and rebuke each and every person based on what he is… how much more so [that we will be unable to withstand it]!"
Many writers have addressed the question, to what does the Midrash refer when it tells of Yosef "rebuking" his brothers? All Yosef said to them was, "I am Yosef; is my father still alive?" Where in this announcement and question lies any sort of harsh rebuke towards his brothers, one we can equate with the chastisement awaiting all people at the end of days?
Several years ago, we presented the famous explanation of this Midrash offered by the Beit Ha-levi. He claims that the Midrash refers to the obvious, inherent contradiction of which Yosef makes note in his response to Yehuda's plea to release Binyamin. The parasha opens with Yehuda begging the Egyptian vizier (Yosef) to allow Binyamin to return home to Canaan, despite his alleged crime, while Yehuda himself remaining as a slave in Binyamin's place. He argued that Yaakov would assuredly die if his beloved son did not return home. Yosef responds to Yehuda: "I am Yosef; is my father still alive?!" Meaning, if you're so concerned for the consequences of Father losing a beloved son, then why did you sell me into slavery? The Midrash warns that similarly, when each of us faces judgment, we will be shown how we lived an inherently contradictory life; all the excuses we make for our shortcomings will be proven false by our own conduct. If, for example, we claim to have no time for further religious growth, then how have we found so much time for the many useless activities in which we engage? And so on.
A somewhat different approach to this Midrash is cited in the name of Rav Avraham Pam zt"l, who explained, quite simply, that the harsh rebuke spoken of in the Midrash is longtime held beliefs that will suddenly be disproved. The brothers were so confident that Yosef was but a childish, arrogant boy who longed for power and honor for his own ego. Given their father's apparent interest in appointing him leader, they saw Yosef as a threat to the family and, by extension, to the nation soon to emerge from the twelve brothers. Upon hearing the two words, "Ani Yosef," the brothers were suddenly shown that their entire approach had been mistaken. In spite of their hostility, Yosef had indeed lived to become a world leader and have his brothers under his charge and command. This, says the Midrash, is the harsh rebuke that awaits us in the world to come. We will see how we lived our lives under grave illusions and errors, how so many of the assumptions on the basis of which we conducted our lives are simply false. The Midrash thus impresses upon us the critical importance of constantly reexamining ourselves, our beliefs and our conduct, so as to avoid the humiliation of this harsh rebuke at the end of days.
We might suggest yet an additional interpretation of this Midrash. The verse upon which the Midrash comments concludes that the brothers "could not answer him, for they were petrified of him." Why were they "petrified"? Rashi explains this as reference to "busha" – shame and humiliation. By contrast, Chizkuni and Rabbenu Yosef Bekhor Shor explain that they feared Yosef's vengeance, that he would repay them for their mistreatment of him. Perhaps to this fear the Midrash refers when it speaks of "tokhecha" – rebuke. In an instant, the brothers found themselves at the mercy of the very person whom they abused and tried to kill. Similarly, when the time comes, we will finally understand - far more powerfully than we do during our lifetimes – that the One against whom we sin has absolute control over us and our eternal fate. This, perhaps, is the most frightening "rebuke" which none of us will have the strength to withstand: the realization that we are entirely at the mercy of the Almighty, mercy which, based on our conduct, we hardly deserve.