THE PITS

By Rabbi Joshua (hiddenly known as the Hoffer) Hoffman

When Yosef’s brothers, following Reuven’s entreaties, agreed to cast Yosef into a pit in the wilderness, the Torah describes the pit as being “empty, without water” (Bereishis 37:24). Rashi, citing the gemorah (Shabbos 22a), explains this apparent superfluity to mean that although there was no water in the pit, there were snakes and scorpions in it. The Ramban, also citing this teaching, adds that the brothers must have not known that there were such creatures in the recesses of the pit, for had they known, they would have realized Yosef’s great righteousness which was displayed by his being saved from any harm by them.

The Ramban’s remarks bring to mind the innovative comments of the Ohr HaChaim, who says that the brothers specifically wanted to judge Yosef by throwing him into the pit with deadly creatures in it. The theory, he says, is that while humans who have free will can do things that bring about results contrary to G-d’s will, animals who do not have free will cannot do things that bring results against G-d’s will. The brothers felt that if they judge Yosef themselves they may err, so they left his fate to the creatures.

There are actually some who have suggested that this distinction of the Ohr HaChaim can be used to explain the devastation of the Holocaust. Since man is given free will, he can bring out results that are against G-d’s will. My teacher, however, Rav Aharon Soloveichik zt”l, always warned against trying to explain the Holocaust, because we are too close to the events to understand them. Anyone who tries to explain it, he said, will at best speak nonsense and at worst speak heresy.

Rav Aharon himself explained the gemorah in Shabbos in a homiletic fashion. He said that nature abhors a vacuum. A pit cannot be totally empty. If it has no water in it, it must have something else there. If a person does not fill his conscience with the water of Torah, then he will fill it with all kinds of spiritual snakes and scorpions. In the context of the parsha, we can say that the brothers did not use the proper Torah standard in judging Yosef and as a result used an improper set of values.

Note to readers: We thank you for your tefillos (prayers) and other efforts on behalf of R. Hoffman shlit"a. He remains in need of Heavenly mercy and healing, so we ask you to continue having him in mind, in your prayer and otherwise, among the other sick of Israel. Thanks to all of you for your concern and be well.