[Avodah] Yosef

[Ilana Sober]

Thinking more about Yosef - the Stockholm syndrome was a way into the
question - why should we assume that Yosef WOULD normally have contacted
Yaakov? Would he, in fact, have considered himself free just because he had
gone from being a prisoner to being the viceroy?

I think we can suggest that Yosef did not feel especially "free" as the
viceroy. He was rich, powerful, and important. But I don't think that rich,
powerful, important people in totalitarian dictatorships feel "free." Those
men running in front of him shouting Avrech were keeping an eye on him
too....

Yosef knew perfectly well that a Pharaoh who, on a whim, could appoint a
prisoner from the dungeon to be viceroy could just as easily send the
viceroy back to the dungeon, or worse. He did not even need to use logic or
psychological insight to make this simple deduction - he had seen first hand
what happened to the Sar Hamashkim and the Sar Haofim.

Yosef's particular position was especially precarious, since he was in the
inherently unpopular position first as tax collector and than as the officer
who sold the Egyptians back their own grain at prices they couldn't afford.

I wonder if Yosef suspected that Pharaoh chose him specifically for that
position not only because of his brilliance and insight, but because he was
a solitary Hebrew, alone in Mitzrayim, without any clan or family loyalty.
An Egyptian in that position would have been particularly vulnerable to
corruption - collecting fewer taxes from his family, or giving them grain
for free or at a discount.

Thus, if Yosef had sent a letter to his family in Eretz K'naan - something
he could not have done secretly - he could have aroused quite a backlash,
jeopardizing himself without helping them. Alone, Yosef seemed like a wise
and fair administrator whose tough economic policies would get Egypt through
an unprecedented famine. But once he brought in a clan of dozens of
relatives, might he seem like a foreigner exploiting Egypt to line his own
pockets?

When ten of his brothers do turn up (and I will ignore for the moment
another essential aspect of the story - that these were the same brothers
who sold him into slavery), Yosef hatches up a complicated plot to bring the
rest of the family down to Egypt, where they can survive the famine. What
was he planning to do, before he broke down and revealed himself at the
beginning of Vayigash? Would he have used Binyamin as a lure to bring Yaakov
down? Would he ever have revealed his identity, or would he have considered
that too great a risk?

I haven't figured out quite what Yosef does expect when he invites the
family to come down. Initially, he seems very confident that they will be
welcome, and Pharaoh indeed responds enthusiastically. But later on, he
needs to do some careful maneuvering with Pharaoh, choosing a specific
delegation, presenting them as shepherds, etc.

Finally, it's important to remember that the story of Yosef - like that of
Esther - is not precisely a fairy tale of the young shepherd boy who rises
to become viceroy of Egypt and lives happily ever after. Yosef is NEVER
free, not even when he is joined by his family. Sefer Bereishit ends on a
poignant note, as Yosef  entreats his brothers to bring his bones with them
when they return to the Land, and dies and is buried in Egypt.

Note: I realize that Avodah posts carry some responsibility and I did not
exactly dash this off - BUT I also did not take the many hours of careful
learning that would be required were I to write a real article on this
topic. I am only trying to present some questions, suggestions, and initial
directions for thought and discussion.

- Ilana