His brothers could not answer him[2]
Chazal[3] teach: “Woe to us on the day of judgment; woe to us on the day of rebuke. Yosef was the youngest of the shevatim [present at the confrontation], and yet the brothers could not withstand his rebuke. All the more so when Hashem evaluates each person according to what he really is.”
This midrash makes a powerful point about the shame and heaviness of the moment when a person’s faults are completely exposed, leaving with no response or excuse. That seems clear enough. Why add that Yosef was the youngest of the brothers? His position in the family hierarchy is beside the point. What is important is that laying bare a person’s mistakes leaves them like a deer caught in the headlights. Also – what is the difference between “judgment” and “rebuke?”
Rambam and Ramban disagree about the nature of gehinom. Rambam[4] refuses to take it literally, as a particular location. Rather, it is not a place, but a spiritual process. Ramban, however, sees no need to reject a physical gehinom.
I would submit that both are correct. When we sin, we involve different parts of our selves. When the sinner is punished, each part is afflicted in a manner that causes pain. The body experiences physical pain; the spirit is chastened with psychic pain. (This is close to our experience. We observe that many commoners are most fearful of physical pain and punishment, while loftier people fear public embarrassment more than any physical discomfort.)
It seems to me that there is no more potent gehinom to the spirit than having to face the unvarnished truth of one’s crimes and failures. Such a person must face the gravity of their actions in offending the King of Kings, without the slightest chance of excuse or mitigation. Nothing can hurt more than this. “Judgment,” then, refers to paying the price through physical pain. “Rebuke” is the psychic pain experienced when one is left confounded by his misdeeds, with no excuse possible.
This, then, is the intent of the midrash. Yosef was the youngest of the brothers. How easy it would have been for one or more of them to mitigate their crimes – to manufacture lies and arguments to save face, in whole or in part. It didn’t happen. The recognition of what they had done to Yosef left them literally dumbstruck. Their defenses were immobilized, as they froze in shame. On the day of judgment, the psychic horror will be so much worse. We will have clarity about Hashem, and how much we owed him for every breath of life. And we will understand the gravity of our offenses. How much greater our inner terror will be!
- Adapted from Divrei Shaul, by Rav Yosef Shaul Nathanson, the Shoel U-Meishiv ↑
- Bereishis 45:3 ↑
- Bereishis Rabbah 93:10 ↑
- Hilchos Teshuvah 8:1 ↑