AZA & BBG
Does jealousy make us bad people?
Parashat Miketz talks about the time when Josephās brothers go to Egypt seeking food during a famine, and Joseph accuses them of spying. He insists that they return with their youngest brother, Benjamin, and later plants a goblet in Benjaminās bag.
Before this instance, Joseph always speaks angrily about his brothers, harboring anger toward them because of what they did to him. Jealous of his āreplacementā (Benjamin), he chooses to frame him and unjustifiably condemn him. This mirrors the time when his brothers sold him because they were jealous of him.
So, we could say that instead of changing for the better and ābeing the bigger person,ā Joseph chooses to follow the same path his brothers had taken, motivated by jealousy and a desire for revenge.
Therefore, he ends up doing the same bad thing that someone did to him to someone else. This raises the question: even though what the brothers did was horrible, does that make them bad? And does this make Joseph a ābad personā (the way his brothers are portrayed throughout the whole story)?
Overall, my personal takeaway is that we cannot judge someoneās character based on one action. As shown in Joseph's case, you can be a āgood personā and still make a bad decision based on human emotion.
Amy Hornstein
BBYO Argentina
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