Joseph and His Brothers, page 170
one might come to rest, lies in such hierarchies, or in systems that may be ranged higher still. The final "because" evidently lies or sits enthroned in a place so remote that it is already near again—for in it remote and near, cause and effect, are one; it is where we find ourselves by losing ourselves, and where we suspect a design that on occasion may also do away with such things as sacrificial cakes for the sake of its own goals.
Drought and scarcity were oppressive, and it did not even take a year before Jacob was worn down. The food his sons had acquired— gratifyingly, though mysteriously, for nothing—had been eaten; there had not been all that much for so many mouths, and more was not to be had locally at any price. And so a few months earlier than he had the year before, Israel initiated the conversation for which the brothers had been waiting.
"What do you think?" he said. "Is there not a gaping contradiction, a preposterous incongruity between my prosperity, which I have maintained and enlarged since I first broke the dusty bars of Laban's realm, and this calamity by which we must once again do without seed corn and baked goods, so that your children cry for bread?"
Yes, they suggested, that all came with the times.
"And strange times they are," he said, "when a man has adult sons, a whole crew of them, whom, with God's help, he did not fail to sire, and yet they sit about on their backsides and do not lift a finger to deal with this scarcity."
"That is easy to say, Father. But what can a man do!"
"Do? There is grain for sale in Egypt, or so I have heard from several quarters. How would it be if you would risk the journey and go down to buy us a little food?"
"That would be fine. Father, we would already be on our way. But you fail to note that the man down there made an unyielding demand concerning Benjamin: that we shall not see his face unless our brother is with us, our youngest, whom we were unable to present to him to testify for our truthfulness. The man's an astrologer, it would appear. He said that of us twelve one was hidden behind the sun, but not that two are to be hidden at once, and that the eleventh must be presented to him before he would see us again. Give us Benjamin, and we shall go."
Jacob sighed.
"I knew," he said, "this would come up, that you would torture me again about the child."
But now he rebuked them in a loud voice. "Thoughtless wretches! Why did you have to babble and chatter before the man, foolishly unpacking everything about yourselves, so that he now knows you have another brother, my son, and could demand him of me? Had you had the dignity to stick with matters of business, instead of gossiping, he would know nothing about Benjamin and could not set my heart's blood as the price for bread flour. What you all deserve is my curse!"
"Do not do that, my lord," Judah said, "for what would then become of Israel? Consider rather what straits we were in and how we were forced to make a clean breast of things, since he pressed us hard with his suspicions and interrogated us about our friends and family. For he questioned us very carefully and wanted to know: 'Is your father still alive?' 'Do you have another brother?' 'Is your father well?' And when we told him that you were not as well as you should by rights be, he grew angry and rebuked us loudly for having let it come to that."
"Hm," Jacob said, stroking his beard.
"We were frightened," Judah continued, "by his stern manner and yet taken by his sympathy. For it is truly no small thing to be shown such kind and zealous regard by one of the great men of this world, on whom everything depends in that moment. That might well open a man's heart and make him share his thoughts, though not gossip." And how could they have possibly foreseen, Jehuda also asked, that the man would then demand their brother and command them: "Bring him down here!"
It was he, the tried and tested man, who was their chief spokesman today. They had agreed upon this in case Jacob were to show any sign of wearing down; for Re'uben, after having very clumsily and rather tastelessly gushed on about his two sons and how Jacob could strangle them, had been rejected; and Levi, although hard hit by the loss of his twin and only half a man ever since, could not be put forward because of Shechem. Judah, however, was an excellent speaker, whose words carried a persuasive, manly warmth.
"Israel," he said, "you must conquer your reluctance and wrestle with yourself until dawn, as you once did with someone else. This is
the hour of the Jabbok—that is, if you want to come forth from it as a hero of God, Behold, the mind of that man down there is fixed. We cannot see him unless Benjamin is with us—and Leah's third will remain in thrall to that house of bondage, nor can there be any thought of bread. I, your lion, know how bitter it is for you to send Rachel's token on this journey, for he is to be always at home and this is, moreover, a journey down to the Land of Mud with its dead gods. Nor do you probably trust this man, the lord of that land, and you fear that he is setting a trap for us and will not give back either your youngest or the son left there as surety—and perhaps none of us at all. But as one who knows people and does not expect much good from either high or low, I say to you: The man is not like that. I know him well enough and shall lay my hand in the fire—he will not lure us into a trap, that is not what the man has in mind. He is indeed strange and uncanny, but also engaging, and though full of error, a man without guile. I, Judah, will go surety for him, just as I go surety for this your son, our youngest brother. Let him travel at my side and I will be father and mother to him, just as you are, both under way and in the land below, so that his foot may not dash against a stone or the vices of Egypt sully his soul. Give him into my hand so that we may be on our way at last and may live and not die—we, you, and our children. For you may require him of my hand, and if I do not bring him back to you and set him before your eyes, I shall bear the blame all my life. As you have him now, so shall you have him, and could have had him again long before now, except that you still have him, for had we not delayed so long we could have returned twice, together with the son left as surety, the son who is witness, and bread."
"Give me time to think," Jacob replied, "until dawn." And by morning he had yielded and consented within himself to send Benjamin on the journey, not to Shechem a few days away, but far into the land below, a distance of seventeen days or more. His eyes were still red and he made sure that his expression told just how hard this coerced decision had been for his soul. But he had truly wrestled hard with necessity—it was no pretense, but something he expressed with grand suffering and dignity, so that everyone was deeply impressed and moved, and they said: "Behold, Israel has conquered himself this night."
Tilting his head to one shoulder, he said, "If indeed it must be so
and it has been written in brass that all shall depart from me, so then take him and do this and go forth, I consent. Take some of the best fruits for which our land is celebrated in your pack, as a present for that man and to soften his heart: balm, tragacanth from the goat thorn, grape honey such as is boiled down to thick syrup for me, that he may sip it with water or sweeten his dessert with it, and also pistachio nuts and fruits of the terebinth—and say that it is but a little. Moreover, take double the money with you, for both new wares and old, since I recall that your silver was found again at the top of your sacks the first time—it may have been an oversight. And take Benjamin—yes, yes, you have heard me right, take him and lead him down to your man, that he may stand before him, I give my consent. I see dismay traced in your faces at my decision, but it has been made, and Israel prepares himself to be like a man bereft of all his children. But may El Shaddai," he exclaimed, raising his hands toward heaven, "grant you mercy before the man, that he send back your other brother and Benjamin. Lord, it is only as a loan to be returned that I give him to You for this journey. Let there be no misunderstanding between You and me. I am not sacrificing him, that You may devour him like my other child—I want him back! Think of the covenant, Lord, and how man's heart is to become fine and holy in You, and You in him. Do not, in Your might, fall short of the tender feelings of the human heart, so that You defraud me of the boy on his journey and cast him before the Monster, but restrain Yourself, I beg You. Return this loan to me with honesty, and I will serve You, bending low before You and burning such things as will delight Your nose—the very best parts."
He sent his prayers on high and then together with Eliezer (actually Damasek) set about making preparations to send his Son of Death on his journey, caring for him like a mother. For the very next morning the brothers would set out for Gaza in order not to miss the caravan assembling down there; and that suited Benoni's happy impatience, for he was overjoyed that he would see the world and be freed at last from his symbolic confinement, from this "always at home" that meant innocence. He did not jump about before Jacob or kick up his heels—because he was no longer seventeen, as Joseph had been that day long ago, but almost thirty, and he did not want to offend that passionate heart with his joy at escaping; and also be-
cause a life hung with matricidal crepe did not allow him such leaps, and he dared not fall out of his role. But he boasted not a little before his wives and children of his new freedom and that he would be traveling to Mizraim and by appearing there would liberate Shimeon, for he alone had such power over the lord of that land.
One could make rather short work of the preparations, however, since the travelers would not buy what they needed for their desert journey until they came to Gaza. The bulk of their baggage—all of it items that the young Eliezer had furnished from their storehouses— consisted for now of presents for Shimeon's jailer and Egypt's marketeer: aromatic drops of grape syrup, myrrh resin, nuts and fruits. A single ass was put into service to bear these presents, for which the land was celebrated.
By the light of dawn the brothers departed on their second journey, the same number of them as had set forth the first time, for they were missing one and had added one. The people in the camp stood in a circle surrounding the ten who held their animals by the bridle. But at the very center stood Jacob, holding on to the one thing left to him from his early love. Indeed people had come to hear how Jacob would say farewell to the son he protected and to be edified by worthiest expressions of the pain of separation. He held to his youngest son for a long time, hung his own amulet around Benjamin's neck, and murmured close to his cheek with eyes upraised. But the brothers cast their eyes toward the ground, smiling bitterly forbearing smiles.
"Judah, it is you," he finally said for all to hear. "You have gone surety for my son and said that I may require him of your hand. Hearken, however: You are relieved of that surety. For can a man go surety for God as well? I will not trust in you, for what can you do against God's wrath? Rather I will trust in Him alone, my rock and my shepherd, that He will restore to me what I have entrusted to Him in faith. Hearken all of you: He is no fiend who mocks the hearts of men, stamping them in the dust like a brute. He is a great God, purified and enlightened, a God of the covenant and of trustworthiness, and if a man should go surety for Him, then I have no need of you, my lion, for I myself will go surety for His faithfulness and that He will not commit the wrong of letting that surety be dashed to pieces. Go forth," he said, pushing Benjamin away from
him, "in the name of God, the merciful and faithful! But you are to keep an eye on him all the same," he added with a faltering voice and turned back to his tent.
The Silver Cup
This time, as Joseph, the Provider, returned home from his office with the news in his heart that the ten people from Canaan had passed the border, Mai-Sakhme, his steward, could read it all in his face and asked, "Well then, Adon, so it really has happened, and the wait is over?"
"It has happened," Joseph replied, "and the wait is over. It has come to pass as it had to come, and they have come. They will be here three days from today—with the little one," he said. "With the little one! This story of God's stood still for a while, and we have had to wait. But things have kept on happening, even when there seemed to be no story, for the sun's line of shade is gentle in its passing. One need but calmly put one's trust in time and scarcely worry about it at all—as the Ishmaelites I traveled with once taught me—for it ripens and brings forth everything on its own."
"A great many things," Mai-Sakhme said, "must now be considered about how best to arrange for the continuation of our game. Are suggestions welcome?"
"Ah, Mai, as if I had not long ago considered and arranged, sparing no cares in my inventions. It will be played out as if it already stood written and were being played out to the letter. There are no surprises here, only the thrill of the present taking on the look of familiarity. I am not at all agitated this time either, but merely in a high and festive mood as we stride ahead, and at most my *it is F sets my heart pounding—that is, I fear for them on that account. You had best have your foaming drink at the ready for them."
"It shall be done, Adon. But though you wish no advice I shall advise you all the same: watch out for the little one. He shares not just half your blood, but is your full brother, and, if I know you, you will not be able to leave well enough alone, but will set his nose on the scent. Besides, the youngest is always the slyest, and it could easily happen that he will trump your 'it is I' with an 'it is you' and spoil your whole game."
"What if he does, Mai! I would not object all that much to such an alteration. There would be hearty laughter, just as children shout for joy when they set a tower they've made tumbling. But I don't believe in your worries. A little whelp—and he is to say right to the face of Pharaoh's friend, the Vice-Horus and great man of commerce: Tooh, you're nothing more than my brother Joseph!' That would truly be brazen! No, the declaration of my role, that I am I, is surely reserved for me."
"Do you want to receive them in the central office again?"
"No, this time here. I shall break noonday bread with them, they shall be invited to join in my meal. Slaughter whatever necessary, my steward, and arrange for eleven more guests than planned three days hence. Who has been invited for the day after tomorrow?"
"A few dignitaries from the city," Mai-Sakhme said, consulting his list. "His honor Ptahhotpe, priest and chief reader of the house of Ptah; our sovereign's warrior. Colonel Entef-oker, from the god's permanent garrison; Pa-neshe, the surveyor and setter of boundary stones, who has a tomb in the rocks where the lord lies; and a couple of bookkeepers from the main Office of Provisions."
"Good. They'll find it rather extraordinary to dine with these foreigners."
"All too extraordinary I fear, Adon. For, just by way of warning, there is an unfortunate difficulty of certain proscriptions, of rules for dining decorum. It may be an offense to some of them to break bread with these Ibrim."
"Oh, none of that, Mai—you're talking like a Dudu, a dwarf I once knew, a man of pious principle. Don't try to teach me about my Egyptians—as if they would still be horrified. They would then also have to be horrified to eat with me, for none of them is unaware that I did not drink Nile water as a child. And there is Pharaoh's ring: *Be as I am'—that trumps everything. That will hold for whomever I eat with, even at mealtime. Besides, there is Pharaoh's doctrine, admired by all who wish to please the court, which states that all men are the dear children of his father. As for the rest, the only special arrangement should be for the sake of maintaining good form: the Egyptians are to eat by themselves, these men by themselves, and I by myself. But you shall seat my brothers in a row according to their age—big Ruben at the head and Benoni last. Make no mistakes—let me tell you the order once again and you can enter it on your tablet."
"Fine, fine, Adon. But this is dangerous. Why should they not be surprised that you know the sequence in their ages?"
"In addition you shall set my cup before me, the one in which I read things—you know, the silver showpiece."
"I see, I see, the cup. Are you planning to play prophet and read their sequence of birth from it?"
"It could be used for that as well."
"I wish, Adon, that it could serve me for prophesying too, so that things would stand out like pieces of gold or polished stones in pure water, from which I could then read the plans that you've invented for this story and by which you will lead them to your word of self-disclosure. I fear I shall serve you poorly if I do not know them; and certainly I must serve you and be helpful to you if I'm not just to stand around in this story that you've been kind enough to include me in."
"You certainly must not do that, my steward. That wouldn't be right. But first set out my cup, the one from which I sometimes read and prophesy for fun."
"The cup, yes, yes, the cup," Mai-Sakhme said, with eyes that looked as if he were struggling to remember. "And so they are bringing you Benjamin now and you will see your Httle brother among your brothers. But when you have dined with them and have filled their sacks a second time, they will take the youngest away with them and return home to your father—and you will be left the loser."
"You must read the cup better, Mai, and see what becomes clear in its water. They shall surely depart, but what if they have forgotten something, so that they must turn back again?"
The captain shook his head.
"Or if they have something with them," Joseph said, "that we find missing, and pursue them for that something and bring them back?"
Mai-Sakhme stared at him with round eyes, his black brows arched above them—and behold! his little mouth slowly broke into a smile. When a man has such a little mouth with which to smile, no matter how stout and portly his constitution, the smile is a woman's smile, and despite the black stubble of his beard his smile was ladylike, delicate, almost sweet. The man must indeed have read from the cup himself, for he nodded to Joseph with a mischievous, knowing
