Page 619 - BERESHIT
P. 619
When Yosef and Binyamin finally met, they cried on each other’s
shoulder. Rashi explains that they cried because they saw with Divine
inspiration the future destruction of the Mishkan and the Temples.
Why did they cry over something in the distant future, when the galut of
Egypt was an immediate reality? We are told that the final redemption is
dependent on our actions. If so, our suffering was only a ‘possible’
eventuality, and should not have merited their tears.
Yosef and Binyamin taught future generations the message of averting
destruction before it ever happens. By seeing their unity and identifying
the causes of destruction, we can take our ‘preventive medicine’ and avert
its materialization.
If they cried profusely over its ‘possible’ eventuality, how much more so
should we cry over its actualization and rectify the causes of the
destruction.
“Then he fell upon his brother Binyamin’s neck
and wept; and Binyamin wept upon his neck”
(Bereishit 45:14)
“Yosef harnessed his chariot and went up to
meet Yisrael his father in Goshen. He appeared
before him, fell on his neck, and he wept”
(ibid. 46:29)
