The Truth and Nothing Butt the Truth!

In this week’s parsha of Vayigash, we are privy to the highly emotional scene
as Yosef reveals himself to his brothers. His brothers are completely stunned
and shocked by this revelation, and herein lies the obvious question: How
did the brothers consistently fail to recognize that the Viceroy of Egypt was
their long-lost brother Yosef? After all, Yosef was the spitting image of his
father, Yaakov. And Yosef, as Viceroy, was giving his brothers information
that only a family member could have known. The list of giveaway signs that
the Viceroy of Egypt was actually Yosef goes on and on. Coupled with the
fact that the brothers were highly intelligent people, how is it possible that
they couldn’t figure out the obvious?
The answer is that this was a case of cognitive dissonance at its best.
Because the brothers were so convinced that Yosef was sold as a slave and
would remain a slave and could never in a million years be worthy of being
the leader of Egypt, it was completely incomprehensible to the brothers
that they could be wrong about him. Therefore, no matter how many signs
pointed to the fact that this leader of Egypt was, in fact, Yosef, his brothers
were blind to it. This is so true in life. So often, we are guilty of the same
thing. Intellectually, we may know that we are wrong with what we say or
do, but because we have such prejudice in favor of our position and we
are so emotionally invested in being right, we cannot acknowledge that we
are wrong. “Please don’t confuse me with the facts!” I always mention to
anyone willing to listen that the most important character trait to have in
life is to seek the truth no matter where it leads you. With the truth, you can
accomplish anything. Without it, you accomplish nothing.
Wishing you an inspiring Shabbos,
Rabbi Moshe Gruenstein