Musar su Genesi 44:41

And it is fitting for a penitent to do this before the confession, so that he can be accepted with his confession. And at the time of [his] repentance, King David, peace be upon him, did this before the confession, as it is stated (Psalms 51:6), "Against You alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight; so that You are just in Your sentence, and right in Your judgment." The explanation [of this] is that I am only considered a sinner to you, and I need nothing besides your forgiveness; and if I sinned to a person, I have requested forgiveness from him and I have made amends with him. And similar to it is (Genesis 44:32), "I shall stand guilty before my father forever" - for this sin, I will be considered a sinner to my father forever, as he will never forgive me for it. And its translation (Onkelos), is "and I will be a sinner to father." Or (alternatively) the explanation [in the verse in Psalms above] is, "Against You alone have I sinned" - I have not sinned to a person and I have not said extra words about him, nor have I taken anything from a person; that I should require his forgiveness and return his stolen goods. So my atonement is only dependent upon You. "So that You are just in Your sentence, and right in Your judgment" - in order to show Your charity and the greatness of Your forgiveness to the nations, on the day of Your speech and Your judgement at the time that You judged me. And the expression, "so that," is [to mean] that the greatness of the sin is the reason to make known the greatness of Your charity in Your forgiveness. Therefore the thing is compared to the head of sin, in order that God's kindness can be revealed - as well as His charity in His forgiveness - on the day of [David's] judgement. And like it is [the usage of, so that] (in Hosea 8:4), "of their silver and gold they have made themselves images, so that it will be cut off." For their making the images is the reason for the cutting off of their silver and their gold - the thing was compared, as if they made the images in order that they would be cut off. Or its explanation (in Psalms) is, because of this, You will be justified in Your word about the judgement and the repayment (meaning to say that he is justifying His judgement, may He be blessed). And likewise (in Hosea), "so that it will be cut off," [can be understood] as, because of this will it be cut off.

One who does not perpetuate a dispute against those who stand on a path that is not good, and those that haul in iniquity, is surely punished for their transgressions in all their sins (of the actual sinners); and [also] transgresses a negative commandment - as it is stated (Leviticus 19:17), “and not bear sin because of him..” And it is stated (Hosea 10:9) “You have sinned more, O Israel, than in the days of Gibeah; there they stand; shall they not be overtaken [as] at Gibeah by a war upon scoundrels?” Its explanation is [that] if that generation (of Hosea) was standing there, they would not have overtaken those in Gibeah in war, to destroy the evil, as that generation had overcome [the evildoers of that time] in war. The understanding of “there they stand” is, if they stood there. And likewise “and leave his father” (Genesis 44:22) is, if he left. [This is] meaning to say, that their sin was of the type of sin of Gibeah. However [the earlier generation] was better than these, since they gathered and stood with their lives to destroy the evil. And it is stated (Judges 5:23), “‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord; ‘Bitterly curse its inhabitants, because they came not to the aid of the Lord, to the aid of the Lord among the warriors.” And it is stated (Deuteronomy 1:17), “do not fear in front of a man.” And anyone who is for God, may He be blessed, should give over his life for the sanctification of God, as it is stated (Exodus 32:26), “‘Whoever is for the Lord, come to me’; and all the Levites gathered to him.” And it is [also] stated (Numbers 25:7), “And Phinheas saw, etc. and he took a spear in his hand.” And it is an obligation on all that fear [God] - even if he is one that loves pureness of heart - to arouse zealotry when he sees that behold, the officers and the prefects are in trespass, as it is stated (Ezra 9:2), “and it was the hand of the officers and prefects who were in this trespass first.”

And Judah said (Ibid. 43:9): "If I do not bring him [Benjamin] to you and present him to you [alive], I shall have sinned against you all the days," Judah going surety both in this world and the next, and through this, experiencing great suffering, more than all of the other brothers, as written in Parshath Vayigash. The reason for this is that he caused Joseph's being sold as a slave. In truth, Judah was the most eminent of the brothers, and he should have strengthened himself to return Joseph to his father, wherefore he was punished by Heaven by having to go surety for a different brother [Benjamin], to bring him to his father. And in this, he strengthened himself with all his power, and he also acquiesced in prostrating himself before the lord of the land to be taken as a slave, so that his brother could return home to his father. And all the other brothers who acquiesced in the sale were made to undergo great sorrow by acquiescing in becoming slaves themselves, as it is written (Ibid. 44:9): "And we, too, shall be slaves to my lord." And also (Ibid. 50:18): "And his brothers also went, and they fell before him [Joseph] and they said: 'Behold, we are your slaves.'"

Another awesome thing which befell Judah: Our sags of blessed memory have said (Sotah 7b): "All those years that Israel was in the desert, the bones of Judah were 'rolling around' in his casket, until Moses arose and implored mercy for him. He said… (Devarim 33:7): 'Hear, O L-rd, the voice of Judah' — at which his limbs reunited. But he was not yet brought to the Heavenly synod, at which Moses said (Ibid.): 'and to his people shall You bring him.' But he could not engage in halachic converse with the sages there, at which Moses said (Ibid.): 'Let his hands do battle for him', etc." All this befell him because he had said (Bereshith 43:9): "If I do not bring him [Benjamin] to you and present him to you [alive], I shall have sinned against you all the days." __ But he did bring him! But, "the curse of a sage is fulfilled even if the condition [(in this instance, bringing him back)] is fulfilled" (Makkoth 11b). And we have already said that whatever issues from a man's mouth is by Divine providence, so that the L-rd's will was being enacted here. It seems to me that the explanation is as follows: It is known that they [the brothers] placed a ban on anyone who would reveal this [(the sale of Joseph)] to our father Jacob, and they included the Shechinah in this ban, wherefore the Holy Spirit [of prophecy] was removed from our father Jacob (until the end [of the episode], where it is written (Ibid. 45:27): "And the spirit of Jacob their father revived," which Onkelos translates: "And the Holy Spirit [again] reposed upon him.") And because of this ban it was decreed upon him [Judah] that holiness depart from him entirely, (as any man who is excommunicated), wherefore Judah was constrained to accept excommunication upon himself, as it is written: "And I shall have sinned against my father all of the days."

But, in truth, all this was "measure for measure." Because of their sitting to eat bread when Joseph was in the pit, it was decreed upon them to also sit and eat bread under terrifying circumstances, until Judah himself said (Ibid. 44:16): "What shall we speak and how shall we justify ourselves? G-d has found out the sin of your servants." [And he, taking upon himself the din of Heaven, as it were,] — "Behold, we are slaves to my lord, etc." And with this, he averts the essential din for the selling [of Joseph]. [And though Joseph is not yet reconciled in this parshah and says (Ibid. 17): "The man in whose hand the goblet is found — he shall be my servant. And you, go up in peace to your father," Judah does not agree to this, viz. (Ibid. 18): "And Judah drew near to him," until the end of the episode, (Ibid. 45:1): "And Joseph could not restrain himself, etc."]

In Genesis 44,17, Joseph said to his brothers: ואתם עלו לשלום אל אביכם, "As for you, go up in peace to your father." The word אתם, in that connection was used advisedly. Joseph meant that the brothers themselves could come to their Father in Heaven safely, i.e. they would not in this world suffer the execution as kidnappers who sell their prey. On a future occasion, however, their re-incarnates would have to pay for the crime with their lives. The Ten Martyrs mentioned were the ones who had to pay with their lives for that sin which had gone unpunished for so long. The allusion in the verse just quoted serves some Kabbalists as the reason why Reuben, who had not been a party to the sale of Joseph, was included among those who were executed for the crime. His sin had been of a different nature, namely the incident described in Genesis 35, 22, involving Bilhah. Reuben's own words provide us with a hint of this when he said after discovering that Joseph had been removed from the pit (37, 30): ואני, אנה אני בא, "Where can I go to?" Rabbi Abraham Saba in his Tzror Hamor comments on this that the letters in the words and אני and אנה are the respective first letters of א-ל נקמות י-ה-ו-ה נקמות הופיע, "G–d of retribution, Lord, G–d of retribution, appear!" (Psalms 94, 1) The reincarnations of Joseph and Benjamin were not among the Ten Martyrs described.

Before this will occur, the משיח בן יוסף the natural enemy of Esau will come forth and will complete his task of liberating Israel from the serpent's pollutants just as he had begun to do when he had been given the mission to be "a father to Pharaoh" in the land that is known as ערות הארץ, "the naked part of the earth." Then the Messiah, who has his roots in the נחש (Yishai) can come forth as a צפע (as described on page 309 based on Isaiah 14,29. When Joseph's butler told the brothers that his master had said נחש ינחש איש אשר כמוני in 44,5, he alluded to the process of defeating the serpent at its own game; his master would be able to parry and subdue the negative forces from where they had emanated.