<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16705" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From: Yitzchok Levine <A
href="mailto:Larry.Levine@stevens.edu">Larry.Levine@stevens.edu</A><BR><BR>[quoting
RSRH]: >> But why didn't any of them attempt to sprinkle soothing balm
upon<BR>the wound? Why didn't they reveal to him: "Yosef is alive!"? The
answer:<BR>because that would have been the greatest cruelty of all. In the
minds<BR>of parents, a child who was torn by wild beasts is never lost, but a
child<BR>who is wicked is worse than lost. Therefore, he who would not
aggravate<BR>the father's grief a thousandfold would have to remain silent until
the<BR>day when Yosef would return and the joy of the reunion would
mitigate<BR>in the father's mind even the crime that had been committed by
his<BR>other sons. Had they told Ya'akov at that time the truth about
what<BR>had been done to Yosef, Ya'akov would have felt as though he had
lost<BR>not only one son, but ten sons at one time. <<</FONT></DIV><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT></DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>>>>><BR>There is some support for this reading in the words
of Rivkah to her son Ya'akov when she told him to run away because Esav was
plotting to kill him. "Hineh Esav achicha misnachem lecha
lehorgecha....LAMAH ESHKAL GAM SHENEICHEM BEYOM ECHAD?" (Ber.
27:42-45)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>IOW, if one of her sons kills the other one, she will be bereaved of both
of them, because a murderer cannot be any son of Rivkah's anymore.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>Rashi understands this pasuk differently, saying that Rivka will be
bereaved of both sons on the same day because if Esav attacks Yakov, Yakov will
defend himself and they will end up killing each other. But it seems to me
that an equally natural (if not so literal) reading of "bereaved of both sons"
is one that understands bereavement to be an emotional state, in which one son
is lost to his mother because of his death and the other is lost to
his mother because of his unforgivable crime. (He would not be lost to his
father, because he explicitly stated that he would not kill Yakov
while their father was still alive.)</DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><B>--Toby Katz<BR>=============<BR></B>"If you don't read the
newspaper you are uninformed; <BR>if you do read the newspaper you are
misinformed."<BR>--Mark Twain<BR><BR><B>Read *Jewish World Review* at <A
href="http://jewishworldreview.com/">http://jewishworldreview.com/</A></B></B><BR><BR></FONT><FONT
lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B><BR><BR>--------------------------</FONT></B></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="f9d0e5e6f778f02f2eb251d7fbacfc1"><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. <a href="http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025">Try it now</a>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>