[Avodah] yosef

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 12:32:08PM -0500, Zev Sero wrote:
: The piyut doesn't say anything of the sort.  The wicked king claims to
: be exacting justice for the sale of Yosef, and says he would have killed
: the shvatim themselves if they were still alive, but since they aren't
: he'll kill these 10 as their proxies.  None of this is supposed to be
: just or legitimate; the paytan is just showing the wickedness of the king,
: that not only did he kill these 10 tzadikim, but he dressed the murder up
: as some sort of mitzvah.

Midrash Mishlei 1:13 does say they were a kapparah for the sale of
Yoseif. See also Pirqei deR' Eliezer (p' 38).

Rabbeinu Bachya says the 10 Yarugei Malchus were because Yoseif never
verbalized his mechilah of his brothers.

In http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol05/v05n124.shtml#15 , RYDubitzky
(CC-ed) transcribed his notes of a shiur by R Prof SZ Leiman. Among
the things RYD writes:
> [RDZL] noted that early countings of the harugei malkhut never count
> 10; it's only in the later sources that the number 10 is mentioned
> specifically. Also, the Torah at mekhirat Yosef only counts 9 brothers:
> recall, Yosef, Binyamin AND Reuven cannot be counted ...Yosef, because
> he was the victim, Binyamin and Reuven were both not there then. So the
> 10 rabbis could not possibly be exact punishment for that. Besides the
> geographical and chronological differences between the 10 rabbis that
> everyone is aware of. Nowhere in classical .Hazal is there a hint to
> the 10 serving as punishment/ atonement for Yosef: after all, "u-vanim
> lo yumtu al avot, ish be-.het'o yumatu" [Dev. 24:16], no vicarious
> punishment. Except, of course, "poked `avon avot" which is "midat HKBH"
> -- if the sons perpetuate the actual sins of the fathers. Surely the
> 10 rabbis were not guilty of selling Yosef. In fact, in various other
> places in .Hazal, these rabbis' "death scenes" are narrated and in each,
> a particular "sin," for which the rabbi himself ascribes his "meriting"
> death, is detailed. See, for example, Mekhilta (Mas. Nezikin, ch. 18);
> Tosefta BK 8:13; Avoda Zara 17b for some of their "iniquities" (very,
> very minor ones). In none of these cases, is there hinted punishment for
> the selling of Yosef. So, where did the paytan get his idea of "atoning"
> for the brothers' sale?

> The piyyut, of course, is based on the late midrash known as "Midrash
> Eleh Ezekrah/10 Haruge Malkhut"[found in *Bet ha-Midrash*, ed. A.
> Jellinek (3rd ed., Jerusalem: 1967), II:64-72; VI:19-35] (or both are
> based on a third as-yet unknown source). The piyyut and midrash are
> anti-Christological in nature:

> The midrash begins with a metaphor to the paritse ha-dor [a
> technical/code word for early Christians] after the .Hurban ...

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             One who kills his inclination is as though he
micha at aishdas.org        brought an offering. But to bring an offering,
http://www.aishdas.org   you must know where to slaughter and what
Fax: (270) 514-1507      parts to offer.        - R' Simcha Zissel Ziv