“I Seek My Brothers”: Unity for Future Generations

1“And his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem.”¹ Rashi explains: “There are dots over the word es, to show that they went only to pasture themselves.”² At first glance this is difficult. How can such a thing be said of the holy tribes of God: that they went to pasture themselves, to take their pleasure in eating and drinking?

2Further on, the Torah says: “Yisrael said to Yosef, ‘Are your brothers not pasturing in Shechem? Come, and I will send you …’”³ At first glance this whole verse seems unnecessary. For one thing, the very next verse says, “He said to him, ‘Go now, see to the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock …’”⁴ For another, “Are your brothers not pasturing in Shechem?” is something we already know from the verse before: “And his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem.” Why, then, does the Torah mention again that they were pasturing in Shechem?

3A little later there is another difficulty: “A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, ‘What do you seek?’ He said, ‘It is my brothers that I seek.’”⁵ Why does Yosef add anochi, “I,” in “I seek”? It would have been enough to say, “‘What do you seek?’ He said, ‘My brothers.’” What does the word anochi come to tell us? The verse there also says, “The man said, ‘They have journeyed from here,’” and Rashi explains, “They have removed themselves from brotherhood.”⁶ What does Rashi mean? Yosef HaTzaddik knew that his brothers were in conflict with him, and still he said, “It is my brothers that I seek,” which shows that he wanted to be with them again in brotherhood. If so, what was the man telling him with “They have removed themselves from brotherhood”? Yosef knew that himself!

4aIt seems we can explain this as follows. At the receiving of the Torah, the verse says, “And Israel encamped there,” and Rashi explains: “As one man with one heart.”⁷ The holy sefarim, among them the Be'er Mayim Chaim, raise a question.⁸ Bnei Yisrael made great preparations for receiving the Torah, in holiness and purity, by separating from their wives and by setting bounds around the mountain. Why, then, does the Torah not praise them for these preparations, and mention only the preparation of “as one man with one heart”?

4bTheir answer is this. Bnei Yisrael prepared themselves to receive the Torah, and, as the Mishnah teaches, “Not study is the main thing, but deed,”⁹ and the deed is to keep and do all 613 mitzvos. Yet even if a person lives many years, he cannot in reality fulfill all 613, since some depend on Eretz Yisrael, some belong to the Kohanim, and so on. But “all Israel are guarantors for one another.”¹⁰ So when each person does a mitzvah on behalf of all Israel, it is considered as if his fellow Jew has done it too. In this way a person can be privileged to fulfill all 613 mitzvos, as the Ohr HaChaim and the Toldos Adam explain.¹¹ This answers the question: the greatest preparation for receiving the Torah was unity above all, “as one man with one heart,” because only when all Israel become guarantors for one another can every Jew fulfill all 613 mitzvos.

5As is well known, “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children”:¹² whatever the Avos and the tribes did in their holy service had its effect on their descendants in the generations to come as well. This lets us explain the verses of the parshah. The Torah first says, “And his brothers went to pasture their father's flock,” and then repeats, “Yisrael said to Yosef, ‘Are your brothers not pasturing in Shechem?’” The repetition follows what the holy sefarim teach, among them the Bas Ayin, the Ohev Yisrael and the Tiferes Shlomo: the word biShechem, “in Shechem,” is formed from the first letters of Baruch shem kevod malchuso, “Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom.” Yaakov Avinu meant to tell Yosef that the brothers were surely occupied there with the honor of Heaven. For the commentators, among them the Sforno and the Malbim, explain that the tribes' wish to kill Yosef was in accordance with the law, since they judged him a rodef, a pursuer who threatens the lives of others.¹³ [This is not the place to go into it at length.] In any case, everything they did followed the way of the Torah. When Yaakov asked Yosef, “Are your brothers not pasturing biShechem?” he was telling him just this: the tribes were busy with the honor of Heaven.

6Yet although their intent was for the honor of Heaven, the Torah testifies that they did not act as they should have. It says, “His brothers went to pasture es”: they went only to pasture themselves. They did not, that is, give thought to the generations to come. The whole fulfillment of the Torah depends on Israel being guarantors for one another, as we explained, and the power of the fathers' deeds works for the generations to come. So the brothers should have taken this to heart. True, they were acting according to the law. But if they did not now go beyond the letter of the law and have mercy on Yosef out of brotherhood, where would Israel find the power, at the future giving of the Torah, to be guarantors for one another? That power comes through love and brotherhood, as one man with one heart, and this is a condition for receiving the Torah.

7Yosef HaTzaddik, by contrast, said as he searched for his brothers, “It is my brothers that I seek (anochi mevakesh).” With the word anochi he was hinting at the giving of the Torah, at the “Anochi, I am Hashem your God” of the Ten Commandments,¹⁴ for which brotherhood, “as one man with one heart,” is needed. He said anochi because through his seeking he wanted to bring the future generations who would receive the Torah to that level of unity. And about this Rashi writes that the man answered him, “They have removed themselves from brotherhood.” The man was telling Yosef, [beyond the quarrel he knew of,] that the tribes did not want to work toward unity, as one man with one heart, the unity we have described.

8May Hashem grant that we be privileged to serve Him in brotherhood and love for one another, and through this to greet Moshiach. As Chazal said, “Israel will not be redeemed until they form one band.”¹⁵ Amen, may it be His will.