In Parashat VaYeishev, we come across the striking story of Yosef and his brothers, the beginning of the story of Bnei Yisrael’s enslavement in the land of Egypt. Yosef’s brothers had been pasturing their father’s sheep in Shechem, so Yaakov sent Yosef to check on them and the flocks. Upon his arrival, the brothers strip him of his colorful tunic and throw him into a pit, intending to let him die there. They then leave the site of the pit to eat a meal, during which they devise a new plan to sell Yosef to the Ishmaelite caravan they had just seen in the distance. But meanwhile, a caravan of Midianites arrived: “וַיַּֽעַבְרוּ֩ אֲנָשִׁ֨ים מִדְיָנִ֜ים סֹֽחֲרִ֗ים וַֽיִּמְשְׁכוּ֙ וַיַּֽעֲל֤וּ אֶת־יוֹסֵף֙ מִן־הַבּ֔וֹר וַיִּמְכְּר֧וּ אֶת־יוֹסֵ֛ף לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִ֖ים בְּעֶשְׂרִ֣ים כָּ֑סֶף וַיָּבִ֥יאוּ אֶת־יוֹסֵ֖ף מִצְרָֽיְמָה,“ “Midianite men, merchants, passed by, and they pulled and raised Yosef from the pit, and they sold Yosef to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they brought Yosef to Egypt” (BeReishit 37:28).
Note the grammar of the פסוק. The “they” is never specified, leaving confusion about who it might have been referring to. רש”י explains the פסוק as referring to the brothers (ibid. s.v. VaYimshechu). While this answers the question of who pulled Yosef out of the pit and sold him to the Midianites, it raises another question, namely: Why, later on, would the תורה say “וְיוֹסֵ֖ף הוּרַ֣ד מִצְרָ֑יְמָה וַיִּקְנֵ֡הוּ פּוֹטִיפַר֩ סְרִ֨יס פַּרְעֹ֜ה שַׂ֤ר הַטַּבָּחִים֙ אִ֣ישׁ מִצְרִ֔י מִיַּד֙ הַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הוֹרִדֻ֖הוּ שָֽׁמָּה” (ibid. 39:1), that Potiphar purchased Yosef from the Ishmaelites who brought him down to Egypt?
רמב”ן offers an explanation for our questions, suggesting that the Ishmaelites and Midianites were all part of one large caravan, with the Ishmaelites serving as camel drivers for the Midianite merchants. Yosef, the רמב”ן explains, was sold from the brothers to the passing caravan of Ishmaelites and Midianites, then from the caravan to Potiphar. The references in the text to the Ishmaelites underscore their role as the ones who physically brought him to Egypt, while the Midianites are the ones who bought and sold him.
רשב”ם gives an idea radically different than any of the previous ideas: the brothers were not part of the sale, meaning all of the “they”s in the passage refer to the Midianites. This changes our entire perception of the incident, leaving the brothers totally out of the equation.
Suppose we are to subscribe to the idea that the brothers were none the wiser that Yosef was being sold. In that case, we must then explain what Yosef said to his brothers later in Parashat Vayigash: “וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יוֹסֵ֧ף אֶל־אֶחָ֛יו גְּשׁוּ־נָ֥א אֵלַ֖י וַיִּגָּ֑שׁוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אֲנִי֙ יוֹסֵ֣ף אֲחִיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־מְכַרְתֶּ֥ם אֹתִ֖י מִצְרָֽיְמָה,” “I am Yosef your brother, whom you sold to Egypt" (ibid. 45:4).
Per the רשב”ם, the brothers did not sell Yosef to Egypt, and were not part of the whole episode! How does that fit in with this פסוק, in which Yosef seemingly clarifies that it was, in fact, the brothers who sold Yosef into slavery?
Benno Jacob, cited by Nechama Leibowitz, suggests that “sale” in the Torah does not just cover the financial side of the transaction, but also the more general “disposing of” the object. Yosef’s point that the brothers sold him, then, makes sense. They didn’t actually sell him, but they planted the seeds for him to be sold, making it one and the same.
Additionally, Rabbi Menachem Liebtag suggests that we must look at the story from Yosef’s point of view: “Yosef was not aware of the conversations between his brothers or of their three plans. All that he knew was that as soon as he arrived, his brothers took off his coat and threw him in the pit. A short time later some Midyanim passed by, took him out of the pit and sold him to the Yishmaelim, who later sold him to the Egyptians. Yosef, trying to piece together what happened, may have assumed that his brothers had this all planned out with the Midyanim. Since his brothers did not have the 'guts' to watch him scream, they preferred not to be present when the Midyanim took him away.”[1] Hence, in Yosef’s mind, his brothers actually had sold him into slavery, and so that’s what he said when he revealed himself to them.
No matter which opinion you subscribe to, the fact that there are so many speaks volumes. Why is this whole episode related in a general, vague manner? What benefit is there for the Torah to give over the story in a way that leaves it up for interpretation? Rabbi Shmuel Goldin suggests that at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. Whether the brothers physically sold him or just set the stage for him to be sold, “their guilt remains constant.” The Torah, in Sefer VaYikra, says: לֹ֥א תַעֲמֹ֖ד” עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ” (VaYikra 19:16). If you witness danger to someone, you are obliged to act. We are responsible for the pain we cause others, so at the end of the day, the specific details of the story don’t matter.
While dealing with this whole story, however, we overlook an even more fundamental question: how can the brothers carry any guilt for what they did if it was already foretold to happen? רש”י, on the fact that the Torah records Yaakov sending out Yosef “ מֵעֵ֣מֶק חֶבְר֔וֹן” (BeReishit 37:14), asks why the phrase עֵ֣מֶק is used. עֵ֣מֶק means “valley” but חֶבְר֔וֹן is on a mountain, so the word עֵ֣מֶק is seemingly contradictory! He concludes by defining עֵ֣מֶק as a deep or mysterious place. Since חֶבְר֔וֹן is also the place of Avraham’s burial, רש”י says that this is figuratively referring to Avraham and the Berit he made with Hashem in which Hashem foretold that his descendants would sojourn in a land not their own. So the entirety of the story shows Hashem’s influence to make sure that Yosef ended up in Egypt. As Rav Soloveitchik put it, “Divine Providence caused Jacob to act so God’s stipulation in the Berit Bein HaBetarim would come to pass, and Jewish destiny could unfold.”
But, by understanding it this way, an apparent conflict of free will arises. How can Hashem influence Yaakov, Yosef, and his brothers’ lives to fulfill the prophecy while maintaining everyone’s free will, which is essential?
Rabbi Goldin answered this critical question by giving the example of Mashiach. While Hashem has foretold that Mashiach will come, it is up to us to freely choose when he will come, how he will come, and who he will be. As he said, “while our nation’s destination may be clear, the parameters of the journey towards that destination are not. Within the broad brushstrokes of preordination, we each freely choose the role we will play in our people’s unfolding story.”
May we learn from the story of Yosef and his brothers to make sure to take account of our actions and choices – because they are truly ours – as well as to pay more careful attention to our impact on others.
[1] https://etzion.org.il/en/tanakh/torah/sefer-bereishit/parashat-vayeshev/vayeshev-who-really-sold-yosef