Brotherly Hatred

Rabbi Jonathan Bernhard
Adat Ari El, Valley Village
Corresponding Secretary, Board of Rabbis of Southern California

Vayeshev
Genesis 37:1-40-23
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14-4:7

Jacob settled in the land of his father's sojournings in the land of Canaan. These are the begettings of Jacob. Joseph, seventeen years old, used to tend the sheep along with his brothers, for he was serving-lad with the sons of Bilha and the sons of Zilpa, his father's wives. And Yosef brought a report of them, an ill one, to their father.

Now Yisrael loved Joseph above all his sons, for he was a son of old age to him, so that he made him an ornamented coat. When his brothers saw that it was he whom their father loved above all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak to him in peace.
(Genesis 37:1-4)

Many of us are under the impression that Joseph's brother's hated him and sold him into slavery because he told his father about inappropriate things they did when tending the sheep. However, the Sefat Emet, (Rabbi Yehudah Leib of Alter, the Ger Rebbe) has a different take. He notes:

When his brothers saw that it was he whom their father loved above all his brothers; they hated him and were not able to speak to him in peace" (Genesis 37:4). The verse does not mention that Joseph's brothers hated him because of his tale bearing. In fact, it seems likely that Jacob did not tell them of the bad reports Joseph brought about them. Rather it seems that the reason the Torah tells us that "Joseph brought ill reports about them to their father" (verse 2) is to establish a reason why Joseph had to be sold to Egypt. Had he remained with their father and continued to bring those ill reports, the tribes would have been pushed aside altogether. The meaning is thus: The task of the tzaddik is to raise up before God the good deeds of Israel.

Most of us would assume that Joseph's brothers would have hated him because of his tale bearing, a logical assumption for whom of us does not hate a tattletale. But the Sefat Emet picks up on how the brothers only react to the favoritism Jacob shows Joseph and not his tale bearing. This seems odd and the wrinkle in the text allows the Sefat Emet to define the role of a tzaddik, a righteous one. He believes that the tzaddik's role is to praise and highlight Israel's good deeds and not dwell on their bad ones.

If this is the ideal way a tzaddik relates to God on Israel's behalf, then should we not see that as a model for how we should talk about one another. We are quick to point out others' faults and harp on what we do not like. Would we all not be better off if perhaps we sought to extol the positive with the same verve that we publicize the negative?