Commento su Genesi 45:24

אל תרגזו בדרך BE NOT AGITATED BY THE WAY — Do not busy yourselves with Halachic discussions lest the road become unsteady for you (i.e. lest you lose your way). Another explanation is: Do not take very long steps and enter the town where you will stay over night while the sun is still shining (Taanit 10b). According to the plain sense of the verse, however, it must be explained thus: Because they felt ashamed he feared that they might quarrel on the way about his having been sold, arguing one with another. One would say: “It was through you he was sold”. Another: “It was you who made slanderous statements about him and caused us to hate him”.

DO NOT ‘TIRG’ZU’ BY THE WAY. Rogez is an expression of trembling and movement, and is usually applied when the trembling is a result of fear, as for example, a heart ‘ragaz’ (that is trembling);⁵⁷Deuteronomy 28:65. ‘V’ragzu’ (and they shall tremble), and be in anguish;⁵⁸Ibid., 2:25. And where I stand ‘ergaz’ (I tremble);⁵⁹Habakkuk 3:16. And drink thy water ‘b’ragzah’ (with trembling) and with anxiety.⁶⁰Ezekiel 12:18. Therefore, the correct interpretation of this verse is, in my opinion, that Joseph said to them, “Do not fear by the way,” and the purport thereof is that since they were carrying corn and bread and sustenance⁶¹Verse 23 here. and the best of Egypt in the days of the famine, they might fear lest robbers attack them while they travelled on their journey to Canaan, and the moreso when they return to Egypt with all their possessions, and thus they will not hasten the matter.⁶²See II Chronicles 24:15. Therefore he told them that they should go quickly and hurry to come there, as it is said, Hasten ye, and go up to my father,³⁸Verse 9 here. and they should have no fear at all on the way as his name is upon them. Since he is the ruler of the entire land of Egypt, and the lives of the peoples of those countries are in his hand, and all are fearful of his awe, they will travel and arrive in peace.

וישלח את אחיו, every expression denoting accompaniment (sending something along) is made clear by means of the dagesh, whereas when the word means merely “sending” it is in the “weak” construction without the dagesh. [The author speaks of the use of the root שלח, which may mean “to send,” or to “send with.” When it means the latter, this is noticeable through the dagesh in the letter ל. Ed.] In our verse it means the latter.

וישלח את אחיו, he gave them permission to leave, as when the angel had said to Yaakov (after the wrestling match) שלחני כי עלה השחר, “let me go for dawn has risen.” (32,27) and שלחוני ואלכה לאדוני “let me go, that I may go back to my lord.” (24:56).

וישלח את אחיו, He sent off his brothers, etc. This means that Joseph sent everybody home, including Benjamin. Benjamin's testimony would convince Jacob most of all; this is why Joseph had already stressed previously (45,12) that Benjamin was a witness that he was Joseph. Now that Yehudah had fulfilled the conditions of his guarantee it is clear that if his bones rattled in his coffin during the years Israel travelled in the desert this was only because he failed to have his vow annulled, as pointed out in Megillah 11.

אל תרגזו בדרך, do not quarrel with one another on the journey concerning your having sold me, blaming each other for the decision taken at the time.

אל תרגזו בדרך, “do not engage in recriminations while on the journey.” He told them not to be concerned over the fact that they, as opposed to everyone else, traveled in style, equipped with luxuries at a time when the rest of the population had to make do with a very austere lifestyle due to the famine. He assured them that potential robbers and men of violence would be in awe of him when they found out that they traveled under Joseph’s special protection.

וישלח את אחיו וילכו “he sent off his brothers and they went on their way.” All his brothers, Reuven, Shimon and the rest, including Binyamin so that Yehudah kept his promise to his father. Why then did the sages (Sotah 7) say that Yehudah was punished for his guarantee so that the bones in his coffin rattled during all the 40 years the Israelites wandered through the desert? The reason is that his vow and its fulfilment depended on the goodwill of others. It is sinful to make such promises unless the factors relating to fulfilment of the promise are all under the control of the person making the promise. Yehudah had known from the outset that it would depend on the ruler of Egypt if he could make good on his guarantee.
Our sages (Makkot 11) used this incident to formulate a halachah concerning conditional excommunication, saying that the threat of excommunication even if conditional, requires a retroactive annulment even if in the meantime the party who had been threatened with such excommunication had fulfilled the conditions imposed upon him. This explains why Yehudah qualified for punishment for having guaranteed Binyamin’s safe return.

Do not become involved in halachic discussion... Meaning: halachic discussion requires more delving into, and your attention will thus be diverted from travelling. As a result the road will lead you astray, i.e., you will get lost (Rashi, Taanis 10b). Yoseif warned them only against involvement and delving. But he did not warn them against reciting Torah teachings, since our Rabbis of blessed memory say (ibid): “Two who were walking on the road and there were no words of Torah between them...”

רגז ,אל תרגזו בדרך ist überwiegend nicht eine zürnende, sondern eine fürchtende innere Bewegung. Daher wohl: Leget eure Reise guten Mutes zurück und machet euch für alle Zukunft keine Sorgen!

אל תרגזו בדרך, “do not fear any danger on the way,” as I have complete control of the region. The root רגז is used here in the same sense as in Psalms 4,5: רגזו ואל תחטאו, “tremble and do not sin anymore.” We also encounter it in this sense in Deuteronomy 28,65: לב רגז which the Targum renders as “a fearful heart.”

וישלח את אחיו, “he sent off his brothers;” [the following refers to the difference between vayishlach and vayeshalach. Ed] the former means “to send something along,” whereas the latter means simply: “to send someone, or something.” In order to identify which is which, the former has a dot, dagesh in the letter ל. (based on Rash’bam)

אל תרגזו, do not be nervous about robbers that you might encounter on the route. I have no hostile neighbours on any of my borders. This is also the meaning of the word רגזו in Psalms 4,5. The verse there implies that you should be worried not to commit a sin against G’d. If you are, you will not have to worry about any man-made hazards. The meaning of the same root in Deuteronomy 28,65 is also the same, i.e. as a result of your sinful conduct G’d burdened you with a heart which is constantly worried about all kinds of disaster that may befall you. This is part of the punishment you will experience for not having worried about ignoring G’d’s commandments previous to the retribution. Chabakuk 3,7 as well as Isaiah 32,11 make similar points. On the other hand, the same root used in Job 9,6 or when it appears in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Ezra refers to a state of anger. The word טרנבלד (old French for trembling) is the translation of כעס for anytime that word appears in the 24 books of the Bible.

An alternate explanation. Do not take very large steps... Maharshal writes that Rashi’s first explanation follows one opinion in Taanis 10b, and Rashi’s alternate explanation follows the Baraisa there. Rashi also explains, “And arrive at your evening destination while there is still daylight.” The Baraisa itself offered these two explanations [of “large steps” and “daylight”] because it understands תרגזו בדרך to mean overly intensive walking, but it did not know whether it means taking large steps or walking a long time, i.e., until nightfall. Thus it offered both explanations: one pertaining to taking large steps, and one pertaining to arriving at their destination while there is still daylight. An overly intense person takes large steps, and the Rabbis taught (ibid), “Large steps remove one-fivehundredth of a person’s eyesight.”

אל תרגזו בדרך, “do not worry of dangers on the way;” Joseph reassured the brothers that although they would migrate with great herds and flocks, something that would draw attention to them all over, his status in the region was such that no one would dare to attack them as they were his brothers. We have encountered the meaning of “nervousness” as being רגז, also in Deuteronomy, 28,65, לב רגז. An alternate exegesis: even though I have loaded you with great wealth in a time of famine when everyone else suffers from possessing very little, you have no reason to be nervous about its implications.