Guilt Feelings

One of the very moving verses in the Torah in פרשת מקץ, is the conversation between the brothers, when they are treated harshly by Yosef.

They say to one another, אבל אשמים אנחנו, “But we are guilty.” They finally recognize that they showed no compassion to Yosef when he begged them to have pity on them.

Rav Elie Munk in קול התורה wrote that until that moment, they were convinced that they had done the right thing in getting rid of their evil brother. They even thought that the grief they caused their father was necessary, to avoid having a cancer in their midst.

Too often, people and movements get carried away with what they believe to be the justice of their cause. It may take a dramatic event to wake them up and realize that they may have badly misjudged the situation.

There are numerous prophecies attesting to the guilt feeling the nations of the world will have, when they realize how they misjudged the Jewish people. They will acknowledge that the Jewish people suffered needlessly at their hands, when it was the Jews who stood up for morality and all that is good.

Yosef’s brothers eventually came to recognize the truth. And we are living at a time when the nations of the world are equally getting to the point of truth.