Mikeitz: Did you pack your own bags?

Mikeitz: Did you pack your own bags? 

When I came to this verse, it took my breath away : 

וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֗יו אֲבָל֮ אֲשֵׁמִ֣ים ׀ אֲנַחְנוּ֮ עַל־אָחִינוּ֒ אֲשֶׁ֨ר רָאִ֜ינוּ צָרַ֥ת נַפְשׁ֛וֹ בְּהִתְחַֽנְנ֥וֹ אֵלֵ֖ינוּ וְלֹ֣א שָׁמָ֑עְנוּ עַל־כֵּן֙ בָּ֣אָה אֵלֵ֔ינוּ הַצָּרָ֖ה הַזֹּֽאת׃

They said to one another, “Alas, we are being punished on account of our brother, because we looked on at his anguish, yet paid no heed as he pleaded with us. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

 I was reminded of the holocaust: the burden it put upon the Jews of the world; no matter how much they did to help their kin in Europe, it was not enough.  They were torn between the desire to help and the fear of raising antisemitism against themselves based upon their claim of kinship to the persecuted of Europe. Can this score ever  be settled?

The sale of Joseph is an eternal wound.  In Mikeitz, when all of the brothers offer to be slaves, to accompany Benjamin into bondage, 

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוּדָ֗ה מַה־נֹּאמַר֙ לַֽאדֹנִ֔י מַה־נְּדַבֵּ֖ר וּמַה־נִּצְטַדָּ֑ק הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים מָצָא֙ אֶת־עֲוֺ֣ן עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ הִנֶּנּ֤וּ עֲבָדִים֙ לַֽאדֹנִ֔י גַּם־אֲנַ֕חְנוּ גַּ֛ם אֲשֶׁר־נִמְצָ֥א הַגָּבִ֖יעַ בְּיָדֽוֹ׃

Judah replied, “What can we say to my lord? How can we plead, how can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered the crime of your servants. Here we are, then, slaves of my lord, the rest of us as much as he in whose possession the goblet was found.”

the Egyptian servitude begins. The brothers who cared so little about Joseph  that they sold him into servitude have now enslaved themselves ( and their descendants).

  It is a  replica of the curse that Jacob placed upon Rachel when the family was fleeing from Lavan. In this parsha, prior to the search, the brothers declare: 

אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִמָּצֵ֥א אִתּ֛וֹ מֵעֲבָדֶ֖יךָ וָמֵ֑ת וְגַם־אֲנַ֕חְנוּ נִֽהְיֶ֥ה לַֽאדֹנִ֖י לַעֲבָדִֽים׃

Whichever of your servants it is found with shall die; the rest of us, moreover, shall become slaves to my lord.”

 Jacob said that whoever had stolen the Trafim, the totem that Lavan used for divination, should die.  he did not know that Rachel (Benjamin and Joseph's mother) had indeed stolen them. 

   ׃עִ֠ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּמְצָ֣א אֶת־אֱ לֹ֣א יִֽחְיֶה֒   ...וְלֹֽא־יָדַ֣ע יַעֲקֹ֔ב כִּ֥י רָחֵ֖ל גְּנָבָֽתַם

"But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not remain alive!.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

 Jacobs curse soon comes to pass; Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin. 

Joseph wanted to make trouble for Benjamin and his brothers. Joseph planted the "evidence",  his chalice, in the Benjamin's sack.  The brothers make the error of Jacob.  They pledge a severe penalty  in their certainty that no one had perpetrated the crime. They misspoke and thus volunteered for servitude. The committed the  error of naivete.  They believed in the honesty of their party, but they had not packed their own bags. They were transporting a bomb and did not know it. 

The haftarah is a selection from the Prophets that is reminiscent of the week's portion, and is thus a commentary on it.  This week we read a rare haftarah, it is usually supplanted by the reading for Chanukah ( which reminds us that the haftarah was  a reaction to edicts that forbade the reading of the Torah).  This haftarah starts with Shlomo waking from his dream.  The dream occasions Shlomo's ascent to the throne of Israel.  The word וַיִּקַ֥ץ is from he same root as the name of our parsha. 

The haftarah tells the famous story of the baby claimed by two women.  One of the women is accused  by the other of infanticide. As a commentary on the parsha,  this story hints at the possibility that Joseph, who had been discarded by his brothers, was trying to rescue Benjamin, Rachel's other son (perhaps the special heir) from those same brothers.  Shlomo devises a test: threaten to kill the baby.  Joseph's test is similar: threaten to enslave Benjamin.  If the brothers protect him ( as they do), all is fine; and if they fail to do so, Joseph has rescued Benjamin  from a fate similar to his own ( or worse).  Joseph is not naive.

We come into the world with a gift basket of our identity, packed by others.  Be careful what you promise.