2020/5781
Editor’s Note: The following article is based on a series of Shiurim given over and Rabbi Chaim Jachter’s Navi Class.
In Parashat Mikeitz we find Yehudah taking responsibility (Areivut) for Binyamin. He tells Yaakov, “Anochi E’ervenu MiYadi Tevakshenu Im Lo Havi’otiv Eilecha VeHitzagtiv Lefanecha VeChatati Lecha Kol HaYamim,” “I will guarantee him; from my hand you can demand him. If I do not bring him to you and stand him up before you, I will have sinned against you forever” (BeReishit 43:9). A question arises when we examine BeReishit Perek 42, where Yaakov forbids Reuvein from taking Binyamin with him to Mitzrayim. Why would Yaakov now all of a sudden trust Yehudah? What set Yehudah apart? One possible suggestion, from my peer Gavi Kigner, is that Yehudah, having lost two children in Parashat VaYeishev, knew what losing a child felt like and thus understood the importance of keeping Binyamin safe. Reuvein, on the other hand, offers to kill his two sons if he didn’t bring Binyamin back, an offer no father with a keen sense of what it feels like to lose a child would make.
Yehudah’s Areivut for Binyamin does not end here. In Melachim I Perek 12 Bnai Yisrael split into two separate kingdoms - Malchut Yehudah and Malchut Yisrael. Despite the name, Malchut Yehudah did not consist of only Sheivet Yehudah, because Sheivet Binyamin allied with them.
There are two difficulties with this alliance. The first is history: Sha’ul Hamelech, a staunch rival of Malchut Beit David, was from Binyamin, as was Shimi ben Geira, who even cursed David! The second issue is the Tanach's own words: Hashem tells Shelomoh that because of his sins, the kingdom will be ripped away from his descendants, but that one Sheivet will remain with his family line (for example, in Melachim I 11:11-13).
Radak in Melachim solves these two issues by explaining that since Binyamin shared a portion of Yerushalayim with Yehudah, the two Shevatim were considered one and the same. At the surface, this Radak seems to be giving an almost simple explanation of why Yehudah and Binyamin are counted as one group. If we dig a little deeper into this Radak, however, we can understand this alliance in a new light. Binyamin was not just joined with Yehudah because they shared a portion of land in Eretz Yisrael, but because they had a deep sense of Areivut for each other that traced back to BeReishit 43:9. We can suggest that these two tribes shared Yerushalayim because they are so deeply connected that they are basically one. Rav Nissan Alpert explains this sense of Areivut between Binyamin and Yehudah as being not a composite of two Shevatim, but a new persona as one unit. It is not Sheivet Binyamin-Yehudah, but rather Sheivet BinyaminYehudah (there is purposely no space). Although this new persona had some quarrels, such as with Sha’ul and Shimi ben Geira, Binyamin and Yehudah’s deep sense of responsibility for each other kept them together.
Yehudah’s Areivut with Binyamin saves him twice. In Sefer BeReishit it allows the entire family to go to Mitzrayim for food, and in Sefer Melachim, after Binyamin almost is destroyed because of Pilegesh BeGivah, Yehudah takes them into its kingdom. Does the Areivut ever work in the other direction? Does Binyamin ever save Yehudah? In Megillat Esther, Mordechai is referred to as, “Ish Yehudi Ish Yemini,” “A man from Judah from the tribe of Binyamin” (2:5). In light of what we have seen, it makes sense that he is called both a Yehudi and a Yemini as they are one unit. (The Gemara in Megillah says that the dual language has to do with his lineage: one parent was from Binyamin and the other was from Yehudah.) Mordechai is from Sheivet Binyamin (at least partially) and he comes along with Esther to save the Jewish population (which primarily consisted of Sheivet Yehudah) of the Persian Empire. From BeReishit to the times of Mordechai and beyond we see a profound connection between Sheivet Binyamin and Yehudah.