Justice, Justice you will Follow

Bereshit {37:1} Ya'acov (Jacob) lived in the land of his ab's (father’s) travels, in the land of Cana'an. {37:2} This is the history of the generations of Ya'acov. Yoseph (Joseph), being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his ab's wives. Yoseph brought an evil report of them to their 'ab. {37:3} Now Yisrael loved Yoseph more than all his children, because he was the ben (son) of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. {37:4} His brothers saw that their 'ab loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak peaceably to him.

In the second verse of Parsha Vayeshev when we are told, “This is the history of the generations of Ya’acov,” it is referring to the information that will follow, for that reason the rest of verse two as well as the balance of the Parsha goes on to tell the story of Yoseph and his brothers.

The verses I have chosen to comment on from this Parsha are very significant because they pose a spiritual and an ethical question, which I believe many of us have difficulty answering, as well as a principle many of us have a problem following.

In the above verses we are being told that Yoseph had first hand knowledge of something his brothers were doing wrong behind their father’s back. Whatever it was, it must have been significant enough to warrant him reporting the situation to his father Ya’acov. However his brothers did not appreciate what he had done and they hated him for it. We know from the rest of the story that this resentment of their brother, which I am sure did not start with this event but clearly must have been the final straw for them, led to much testing and pain for everyone in the family.

The question is, if you have first hand knowledge about something, which is either illegal, sinful or unbiblical are you responsible to do something about it?

In remembering back to my childhood, when either my brother or sister did something wrong, I would immediately run to my parents and tell on them. They called it squealing, I thought of it more as survival or earning favour with my mom and dad. The trouble is, for days or perhaps even weeks after the fact, I would be called a squealer by my siblings and even on occasion I would get in trouble with my parents for being such a nitpicking tattletale. Sometimes you just can not win!

Now I know that I am not the only one who ever told on a brother or sister and in return experienced this kind of name calling or backlash from parents. So if you are like me then squealing does not recall very good memories. The problem I believe, is that many people have carried these bad memories into their adulthood and because of them they are now reluctant to report illegal or sinful or unbiblical behaviour; information they have acquired first hand. So let me briefly discuss this principle seeing as it is relevant to our Torah reading this week.

The operative word here is “first hand knowledge.” If what you know has been told to you by a third party or if it is hearsay, then should you repeat the information to anyone you would be gossiping, which means you will be sinning. I do not think it is a good practice to expose sin by sin. However if you know first hand of some illegal, sinful or unbiblical activity that is taking place and you have taken the necessary steps to warn the perpetrator(s), using wisdom of course, then I believe it is your responsibility to report what we know to the appropriate people in authority. Now I am going to assume that Yoseph went to his brothers and brought his knowledge of the problem to their attention before going to his father.

This principle has everything to do with Mattityahu (Matthew) 18:15 which even thought it deals with another believer doing something personally against you (the narrow application of this passage) in the broader sense it can also be applied to you having knowledge of an evil which is being perpetrated against the law or against the L-rd, whether or not it is by a fellow believer. This would mean that after taking the appropriate steps, with wisdom, you are responsible to report it. I even think it goes beyond this. If someone you know has shared something with you, even if it was in confidence, if it was something illegal, sinful or unbiblical you are obligated to break your confidence and report the activity to the appropriate authority.

Yoseph did the right thing by going to his father, yes his brothers did not appreciate it and yes it caused pain and hardship for the entire family but in the end G-d used his honesty and it all worked for everyone’s benefit and for G-d’s glory.

Rabbi Jack "Yaacov" Farber is the spiritual leader of Congregation Melech Yisrael in Toronto, Canada.

Copyright 2003