Crying for Your Brother

And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.                                          Genesis 45:14

“And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept” – (Joseph) wept for the two Temples which will be in the portion of Benjamin and are destined to be destroyed; “and Benjamin wept upon his neck” – for the Tabernacle at Shiloh, which will be in the portion of Joseph and is destined to be destroyed.                     Rashi

            Ḥassidic Master, Rabbi Yeḥezkel of Kazmir (1775 – 1857) raises two questions:

1) Why did Joseph and Benjamin cry at the time of their joyful reunion? (Without in any way denigrating the answer that the Master will present below, the simple answer seems to be that it is an expression of “raising Jerusalem above their greatest joy.” [Psalms 137:6]);

2) Why did each cry for the other’s sorrow and not their own?

            Rabbi Yeḥezkel explains that when Joseph and Benjamin met after being separated for twenty-two years, they felt that their separation was caused by baseless hatred, and thus they cried since baseless hatred would cause the Temple’s destruction.

            The antidote to baseless hatred is increasing mutual love to the point where each experiences the other’s pain and sorrow more acutely than his own. Thus each of the brothers cried for his brother’s sorrow.

            The Master adds that though the Temple in the portion of Benjamin could be built only after the destruction of the Tabernacle in Joseph’s portion, nonetheless Benjamin cried over its destruction, believing that it would be better to not have the Temple built if his brother’s Tabernacle would not be destroyed.

            The Master concludes that the mutual love demonstrated by Joseph and Benjamin indeed should serve as the rectification of baseless hatred.