Vayigash

Yosef reveals himself to his brothers and says, “I am Yosef; is my father still alive?” The passuk continues, “and the brothers could not answer him for they were astounded from before him.” The Gemara writes: Woe to us on the day of judgment, woe to us on the day of rebuke. The brothers could not answer Yosef who was from the youngest of the shevatim; when Hashem will come and be mochiach each of us, we certainly won’t have what to answer!

The Maharsha wonders what tochacha did Yosef give them; all he said was that he is Yosef and asked if his father is still alive? The Maharsha explains that the brothers were simply afraid that Yosef would come afterwards and give them tochacha for what they did, and they would not be able to answer that tochacha.

The Beis HaLevi, however, offers another explanation. There was actual tochacha being given here, and he explains with a mashal. Regarding the mitzvah of tzedakah, if a person declares he cannot give because he doesn’t have enough money, what is the test to see if that person really cannot fulfill the mitzvah or he is just giving excuses? The test is if he spends his money on random things which are not necessary for him. This shows that his not giving tzedakah, was not because he couldn’t afford it, but rather, only because he did not want to. He prefers to spend his money on personal desires than to fulfill the will of Hashem. Here too, the brothers claimed they were worried that if they did not bring back Binyomin, their father would not be able to handle it. Yosef said, “if you are truly worried about our father, what happened to your father’s pain when you sold me? He’s still alive!” The Gemara means: “Woe to us on the day of judgment,” for the things which we were supposed to do but we did not. And “Woe to us on the day of rebuke,” Hashem will show us that our excuses were not honest and we really were able to do the things which we claimed we couldn’t! This is the tochacha that Yosef gave his brothers!

There is a story told about a bachur who’d come late to davening and learning. Before the end of the zeman he said shalom to the Rosh HaYeshiva, as he had a flight that night to return to Chutz La’aretz. The next morning the Rosh HaYeshiva noticed the student in Yeshiva. When he confronted him, the student said, “I missed my flight.” Said the R”H, baruch Hashem, this shows that you’re not mezalzel in davening or learning, you just have the habit to come late.

May Hashem help us be honest with our actions and deeds for His sake!