Miketz
Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy in my care,
and let us be on our way, that we may live and not die – you and we and our
children. I myself will be surety for
him; you may hold me responsible; if I do not bring him back to you and set him
before you, I shall stand guilty before you forever. For we could have been there and back twice
if we had not dawdled.”
43:9
(Judah)
meant that as long as he would live on earth he would consider himself as
having sinned against his father.
Rabbeinu Bachya (13th Century)
Why did Jacob refuse to accept Reuben’s proposal,
seeing he knew quite well that sooner or later the brothers would be forced to
undertake a second journey to Egypt? What new dimension did Judah’s proposal contribute which moved his
father to approve of their journey?...Judah’s
guarantee is different from Reuben’s in that he himself offers to be the
guarantor, not merely his sons.
Akedat
Yitzchak (15th Century)
Concerning Benjamin’s personal safety en route to
Egypt Yehudah said:
“send the lad with me,”… When Judah had failed to elicit a
positive response from his father he added that he would personally guarantee
Benjamin. When he had said previously
“send the lad with me,” he had meant; “send him with us;” however, he implied
that he would be responsible for his safety as a guarantor over and above the
brothers’ collective responsibility for Benjamin’s welfare and safety…Judah
made it plain that his guarantee included the return to Benjamin alive and
well…possibly, up tot hat point, Jacob had suspected Judah as having had a part
in Joseph’s disappearance…
Moshe Alshich (16th
Century)
And I shall stand guilty before my father for ever. This phrase is quite precious, since it points
to something not explicitly stated in the Torah, which is that there is no
punishment but the sin itself. For Divine justice, the sin is itself the
punishment - and it takes the place of reward and punishment, that is why Judah
says, And I shall stand guilty [literally
stand in my sin] before my father for ever.
(R. Eliyahu ben Amzug, Em Lamikra) (19th Century)
(Judah
has pierced Joseph’s deception to recognize that the Grand Vizier standing
before them is none other than their lost brother) Let us clearly examine the development of Judah’s
argument…Benjamin is about to be imprisoned.
Judah, who had promised is father that he would be responsible for
Rachel’s youngest, steps forward…Apparently, Judah is
interpreting the catastrophic treatment suffered by the brothers as God’s
punishment for their sale of Joseph.
Hence Judah
offers collective punishment. But the
Grand Vizier wants only Benjamin…Apparently the brothers weren’t being punished
by God for their cruelty toward Joseph; after all, Benjamin had never been part
of the conspiracy…Judah’s new found awareness as to what was happening, and
exactly who was the Grand Vizier!...Judah recalls that Simon, the brother with
the most blood on his hands, was singled out to sit in prison…He also remembers
how, upon their second visit, the Grand Vizier arranged their seats according
to their ages. Only two other people
could have known the proper ages of the brothers; father Jacob and brother Joseph…Jacob’s tragedy was his sin of
deception before his father when he posed as Esav, perversely continued by
Joseph’s pose as Egyptian Grand Vizier; Judah’s mastery is his gift of cutting
through the deception.
Shlomo Riskin (contemporary)