The Shame of Rebuke and Shabbos's Opening of the Eyes

1“His brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed before him” [Bereishis 45:3]. Rashi explains: “from shame.” The Midrash says (Bereishis Rabbah 93:10): “Abba Kohen Bardela said: Woe to us from the Day of Judgment! Woe to us from the Day of Rebuke! Bil'am was the wisest of the nations, yet he could not withstand the rebuke of his donkey. Yosef was the youngest of the tribes, yet his brothers could not withstand his rebuke. When the Holy One, blessed be He, comes and rebukes each person according to what he is, as it says, ‘I will rebuke you and set it out before your eyes’ [Tehillim 50:21], how much more so!” See the full wording of the Midrash there. Later, on “Come close to me, please” [Bereishis 45:4], the Midrash brings this teaching again in the name of R' Elazar ben Azaryah, in slightly different words.

2We have already suggested that Abba Kohen Bardela reads “they were dismayed before him” as shame before Hashem. At that moment the tribes began to reckon what will happen on the Day of Judgment, and the reckoning dismayed them deeply. This a fortiori argument came into their hearts: if the shame is so great before flesh and blood, how much greater before Hashem! R' Elazar ben Azaryah brings the teaching on “Come close to me, please,” because their shame kept them from coming close to him and looking at his face. Every one of us should take this lesson to heart: what will be when Hashem comes to rebuke us?

3aFollowing what we said above (section 2), based on the Midrash Rabbah in Parshas Vayeira, we can add the following. At first glance the Midrash is hard to understand. It compares the wicked Bil'am, facing the rebuke of his impure donkey (as Chazal explain on “Have I been accustomed to do this to you?” [Bamidbar 22:30]), with the rebuke that Yosef HaTzaddik, “the foundation of the world” [Mishlei 10:25], gave his brothers, the holy tribes. The two are worlds apart! But about Bil'am it says, “Hashem uncovered Bil'am's eyes” [Bamidbar 22:31]. As long as Hashem had not opened his eyes, he was simply blind, and did not see what his donkey saw. So too when Hashem wanted to hide from the tribes that this was Yosef. All of Egypt knew that a Hebrew slave, once a slave of the chief butcher, had come out of prison to reign [cf. Koheles 4:14] after interpreting Pharaoh's dream. Yosef himself told them, “I fear God” [Bereishis 42:18], and the holy Zohar on Mikeitz explains that with these words he hinted that he was the tzaddik, the foundation of the world.

3bThey spoke with him a long time amid open rebuke, yet sensed nothing, until the time came for their anguish to end and Hashem “set an end to darkness” [Iyov 28:3]. Then their eyes were opened, and they saw the shame on his face. He was the ruler and the king, yet his face was full of bashfulness and the fear of Hashem, as Chazal expound on “and Yosef was in Egypt” [Shemos 1:5; Shemos Rabbah 1:7]. This may be what the holy Rashi meant by “they were dismayed before him, from shame”: the shame on his face. As Chazal say, “‘So that His fear may be upon your faces’ [Shemos 20:17]: this is shame” (Nedarim 20a), and, “It is a good sign in a person that he is bashful” (ibid.). The point is this. The tzaddik, the foundation of the world, is called “good,” as it says, “Say of the righteous that he is good” (Yeshayahu 3:10). From that trait one comes to bashfulness on one's face: to feel abashed before every person and before Hashem, as the Ramban's letter explains. Yosef told them, “I fear God,” and the fear on his face could be seen in his great bashfulness. This is the fear that shows on the face, recognized by the greatness of the fear within. As the holy Zohar says, “David lowered his eyes out of fear of his Master.”¹

4aThe hint here is a living lesson in mussar. If “a soul sins and commits a trespass against Hashem” [Vayikra 5:21], and sins so much that the damage reaches the mind, then the sense of sight, which flows from the mind, is spoiled as well. “His eyes are plastered over” [cf. Yeshayahu 44:18] so he cannot see Hashem's greatness. He cannot see or contemplate against Whom he has sinned, as it says, “My iniquities have overtaken me, and I could not see” (Tehillim 40:13). How great is the evil of one who has rebelled against his Creator! How bad and bitter it is for one who has gone against Hashem's will, for through his deeds he damages the honor of the Shechinah. How far the pain reaches, so to speak, as Chazal say: “When Israel is in distress, what does the Shechinah say? ‘My head is heavy, My arm is heavy’” (Sanhedrin 46a).

4bCertainly there are people who cannot know or feel the pain of the Shechinah, because they do not stand on that level; people of such stature are few [Sukkah 45b]. Even one who knows and feels something of it grasps it only as a picture in his imagination, for this is no easy thing to know and understand. Still less can a person make a true accounting of his soul and see how low his state really is, since he is presumed blind in both eyes. But when Hashem comes and rebukes each person “according to what he is,” it will be according to the full and clear truth, not as a picture in the imagination. His eyes will be opened, and he will see and know against Whom he sinned and how far the pain reached, so to speak. That is “I will rebuke you and set it out before your eyes” [Tehillim 50:21]: Hashem will remove the screens that separate. How much greater, then, will the shame be!

5Now, through the wondrous light of the sweetness of Shabbos's holiness, which shines on a person in all its glory, he merits open eyes and true sight. As our holy Torah says, “See that Hashem has given you the Shabbos” (Shemos 16:29). He is able to see with an open eye Who it is that gives the holiness of Shabbos, and how precious Hashem's greatness is. As a result he also sees, by contrast, how low his own state is. This is what the Tikkunei Zohar means when it says that Shabbos corresponds to Yesod, “Foundation.” That is, if the count of the Divine attributes begins from Binah, understanding, then Shabbos, the seventh, is Yesod. Through the contemplation and true sight he gains from Shabbos's holiness, he truly sees his low state: how far he has strayed through bitter sin from “the light of the King's face” [cf. Mishlei 16:15]. And from his great humility and broken heart, his heart cut to pieces, he merits to repair the sin with the help of Shabbos's holiness. This is the meaning of the Shabbos song [Kol Mekadesh Shevi'i]: “Gladden them with a complete building; in the light of Your face make them shine.” “A complete building” is Yesod, as is known. When You make the wondrous light of Your face shine upon them, they will see and know Your greatness. They will see that they are “formed of clay” [Iyov 33:6], lowly and dark, and that they have sinned and rebelled against You. Then, from their great humility and broken hearts, “they will return to Hashem and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” [Yeshayahu 55:7]. That is “gladden them with a complete building”: they will repair Yesod, and that is the heart of their joy.