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The first Pasuk of this week’s Parashah appears to be fairly straightforward. Yehudah approaches Yoseif and asks if he can speak to him. The Pasuk concludes with Yehudah telling Yoseif, “Don’t get upset, for you are like Pharaoh” (BeReishit 44:18). However, nothing is as simple as it seems, and there are several issues with this Pasuk. Firstly, the Or HaChaim (ibid. s.v. VaYigash Eilav), along with many others, asks why Yehudah is now approaching Yoseif. The last few Pesukim of Parashat MiKeitz detail the conversation that took place between them, so if he was already talking to him at the end of MiKeitz and Yoseif was capable of hearing him then, why did he now have to approach him? Also, why is Yehudah telling Yoseif he is like Pharaoh? What is he insinuating? With regard to our first question, why does Yehudah at the beginning of Vayigash feel the need to approach Yoseif at this time, the Siftei Chachamim (Rashi on BeReishit 44:18 s.v. Yichnesu Devarai Be’Oznecha) offers a practical answer. Initially, Yehudah was speaking through a translator and not directly to Yoseif. Upon realizing that the translator was not necessary and that Yoseif is capable of speaking the same language, he spoke directly with him and thus he needed to approach him. Kol Torah is a community-wide publication that relies on the generous donations of our friends and family in the community for its continuous existence. To sponsor an issue in memory of a loved one, in honor of a joyous occasion, or for a Refuah Sheleimah, please contact: business@koltorah.org The Or HaChaim, along with the Chizkuni, does not operate under the assumption of the Siftei Chachamim that he was not already talking to him. Instead, he believes that the reason that Yehudah approached Yoseif was because initially there was a group of advisors that stood between Yoseif and Yehuda, as was common in ancient times. Thus, Yehuda approaches Yosef so they would not hear what Yehuda wanted to tell him. The Ba’al HaTurim (ibid. s.v. VaYigash Eilav Yehudah) explains that he approached him to demonstrate that just like you are a king in your land, so too I am a king in my land, and we are on an equal level relative to our location and power. The wording of “VaYigash,” “And he approached,” is a language of war. Yehudah was showing how, since he is a king, he is capable of war with Yoseif and that Yoseif should not regard him lightly, but instead, he should heed his words. When Yehudah tells Yoseif that he is like Pharaoh, what is he referring to, and for what is he appealing? A simple answer is the one that Rashi (s.v. Ki Kamocha KePharoh) presents. He states that Yehudah meant that Yoseif is like Pharaoh in that he is as powerful as he. Malbim (ibid. s.v. Ki Kamocha KePharoh) adds that this was also because he wanted to remind him that like Pharaoh, he is the only one capable of bestowing the “kindness” of releasing Benyamin. Yehudah said this as a compliment in an attempt to flatter him. Rashi then gives a second interpretation that takes a very different interpretation and states this was not a compliment but rather a reference to something negative. When Yehudah tells Yoseif that he is “like Pharaoh,” he is referring to the incident between Pharaoh and Abraham. In that story, Pharaoh kidnaps Sarah due to her good look; so too here, you are just like Pharaoh in that you are kidnapping someone (Binyamin) due to their good looks. We know Pharaoh, along with his household, were punished and essentially forced to return Sarah due to leprosy. Yehudah is hinting or possibly warning Yoseif that he, along with his household, may be punished for detaining Binyamin against his and their will. Rashi’s third interpretation, along with that of the Chizkuni, is that Yoseif is as untruthful and unreliable as Pharaoh. Pharaoh often made decrees and promises that he did not carry out. So too, argues Yehudah; you told us that you only wanted to see Binyamin. However, it was an attempt to deceive us so we would bring him down to you for you to take him. The Tur HaAroch (ibid. s.v. Ki Kamocha KePharoh) prefers an answer that is the polar opposite of the previous one; he writes that Yehudah told Yoseif he is like Pharaoh because he wanted to show Yoseif that he revered Yoseif like a king/Pharaoh, and a person of that stature is expected to keep their word, while Yoseif is not. The Chizkuni (ibid. s.v. Ki Kamocha KePharoh) offers another reason why Yehudah compares Yoseif to Pharoah. That they are both very respected and feared people, so they are the best people to inform of this “complaint.” The Seforno (ibid. s.v. Ki Kamocha KePharoh) presents an alternative; he argues that it meant that Yehudah is not meaning “you” as in Yoseif but instead means Pharaoh since it is like speaking with Pharaoh since he is his representative and that this is not a disrespectful attempt to chastise Yoseif. It is evident by the fact that Yehudah was the one to approach Yoseif, a king, that he was deserving of kingship himself. The courage he displayed in standing up to the second-in-command of Egypt to protect his younger brother clearly marked him as the son best suited to serve as king, whose job is to care for each and every one of his subjects.