Joseph, with his sharp, intuitive intelligence, could have reached a conclusion of this sort. Is it sheer coincidence that the two episodes, that of Shechem and that of Moriah, both open in fear and end with a miracle? And that both Isaac and Joseph are designated by the same word: naar, adolescent? And that, called by God, Abraham said: Hineni, here I am. While Joseph, sent by his father, responded also by Hineni? And that while Isaac was saved by the sudden appearance of a ram, Joseph was saved by a passing caravan? Does this explain why Joseph was so petrified that he could not speak? And why, hurt and humiliated, he decided later to break with his family and forget his past? How can one blame him? Did he not have valid reasons to repudiate his enemy brothers who had plotted his death? And to detach himself from their father, who had handed him over to them? And to opt against all of them and for the society that had offered him shelter and happiness? His hostile reaction was normal and human; had he not broken, or thought he had broken, definitively, completely, with his family’s world and their laws? It was only natural that he felt closer to the Egyptians than to the Jews. And even to his political duties than to the God of the Jews. It was only normal that he withdrew from this family he could no longer love and thought of vengeance. Yet this was only a first impulse; he quickly pulled himself together: he would not be an avenger. There is rare virtue in forgoing justified reprisals, overcoming well-founded bitterness. It is not easy to resist dealing out deserved punishment. Only a Tzaddik forgives without forgetting.

Joseph forgave, but forgot nothing. In truth, he never forgot anything. He remembered his father at every moment and in every place. Though he could not understand some of his father’s attitudes, he still thought of him. And he always remembered his people. At the height of his glory the Pharaoh gave him the surname of Tzofnat Pa-neach, the code-breaker, but he chose to keep his Jewish name: Joseph. Though he was worshipped, idolized by Egyptian nobility, he showed himself openly with his destitute family. Beneath a succession of masks, his loyalty had remained intact. He was on his way to the top, yet he knew when to halt, turn back and reassert his faith in his family in spite of them. And his faith in God, in spite of himself. That was his strength.

Any man who is fair-minded with one man or one group of men is fair-minded with all. By working for his people, a Jew helps mankind. Joseph was generous both with his kin and with his fellow citizens. He was the first to know how to reconcile his love for Israel with his love of other nations; he was the first to know how absurd and futile it is to oppose Judaism to universality.