We find in this weeks parsha, How when Yosef reveals himself, he uses the words “is my father still alive” if these men were all brothers shouldn’t he have said “is our father still alive?” Besides Yehuda had just told him that their father was alive. So what’s going on here? The answer is as follows, Yehuda just gave Yosef the speech of a lifetime about how he cannot keep Binyomen, because of their old father who will not be able to be comforted. So Yosef is saying “what about me? My father is also alive, no?” In the very next pasuk Yosef calls in his brothers to a huddle and he very lovingly says “don’t have any regrets, bec as you see Hashem sent me before to arrange all the food, so you were only acting bshlichus” wasn’t Yosef starting off sounding like he is going to give them a guilt trip, yet now he is saying look there is a borei olam watching over us and he sent me here. So it is sort of a mixed message. Suppose a person had a gzeira min shamayim that he was going to loose $100, either it can fall out of your pocket and it won’t hurt so much, or you get a bill saying you owe one of the utility companies another $100 it hurts but not so much, and then you have the case where someone smashed your car window, that hurts.
Yosef is saying, “don’t be regretful about the fact that I have been in Mitzrayim all this time as we see now, “עתה” that this was what g-d wanted from me and I am mikabel that bahava, but why did it have to be by being sold?
Good Shabbos
Zevi