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January 5 • 2017 35 » t o r a h p o r t i o n T he poignant moment when brothers Joseph and Benjamin are reunited after a separation of 22 years is one of the most tender scenes in the Torah. After a long chronicle of difficult brotherly relationships, we finally come across two brothers who truly love each other. The only children of Jacob's beloved Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin shared the same womb; and when their mother died in childbirth, we can feel assured that Joseph drew Benjamin close to him, protected him and shared with him the precious memories of the mother Benjamin never knew. Their exclusive relation- ship must have made their eventual separation even more painful and traumatic. After all, Benjamin was the only brother totally uninvolved in the fam- ily tension and sibling rivalry against Joseph. But I am left wondering: Where are the joy, the elation, the celebration? Why does the Torah only record the weeping of the brothers at this dramatic moment of their reunion? Rashi cites and explains a midrashic interpretation suggesting that these tears relate to the future destruction of the two Temples allotted to the portion of Benjamin, and to the destruction of the sanctuary in Shilo allotted to the portion of Joseph. Rashi stresses that Joseph's tears are for Benjamin's destruction, and Benjamin's tears are for Joseph's destruc- tion. In the tradition of "the events of the fathers foreshadow the history of the children," we can see that all tragedies to befall the Jewish people have their source in the sale of Joseph as a slave. This act was the foundation of causeless hatred between Jews. Rashi's interpretation assumes profound significance. In the midst of brotherly hatred, the love between Joseph and Benjamin stands out as a shining example of the potential for unconditional love. Rashi links their tears during their meeting to the destruc- tion of our Sanctuaries — the result of jealousy and enmity between Jew and Jew. Indeed, they each weep for the future tragedies that will befall their descendants. But although each brother will be blessed with a sanctuary on his allotted land, the brothers weep not for themselves, but each for the other. This act of selfless weeping and unconditional love becomes the only hope against the tragedies implicit in the sale of Joseph into slavery. The only thing that can repair that sin — and by implication the sins of all the causeless hatred between factions down the long road of Jewish history — is nothing less than a love in which the other comes first, when one weeps for the other's tragedy rather than for his own. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook taught that if the Temples were destroyed because of causeless hatred, the Temple will only be rebuilt because of causeless love, exemplified by the tears of Joseph and Benjamin. Rashi is providing a prescient lesson for our troubled times. * Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chancellor of Ohr Torah Stone and chief rabbi of Efrat Israel. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin regentstreetwestbloomfield.com It may be beautiful on the outside but its what's on the inside that really counts. Ask about our dedicated Memory Care Unit 4460 Orchard Lake Road >LZ[)SVVTÄLSK40 *HSS\Z[VKH`H[ It may be beautiful on the outside but it's what's on the inside that counts www.meridiansenior.com Parshat Vayigash: Genesis 44:18-47:27; Ezekiel 37:15-37-28. The Need For Brotherly Love