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What justified the brothers' desire to kill Yosef, and why did Yosef keep telling dreams that only increased their hatred? The shiur develops that the fundamental dispute was whether they had already achieved the status of Bnei Yisrael or still required a transition: the brothers held that mesirus nefesh for each other made them Jewish; Yosef insisted that becoming a Jew requires bittul—submission to a reality outside oneself—not merely an expanded sense of collective self.
Rabbi Zweig explores the profound dispute between Yosef and his brothers by first examining what justified the brothers' desire to kill Yosef. The behavior seems extreme—killing someone merely for being a ba'al chalomot (dreamer) or ba'al ga'avah (arrogant person) appears unjustifiable. Similarly, Yosef's intelligence is evident from his later ability to run Egypt, yet he tells a second dream after the first already generated hatred. The Torah (תורה) itself provides a clue: after the first dream, the brothers hated Yosef; after the second, they were only jealous—a surprising downgrade from the stronger emotion of hatred to the weaker one of jealousy. The Mizrachi, as explained by other commentaries, suggests the dispute centered on whether the brothers had the status of Bnei Yisrael or Bnei Noach. Yosef accused them of eating ever min hachai (a limb from a living animal), forbidden under Noahide law. The brothers claimed they performed shechitah (ritual slaughter) and ate while the animal was still in its death throes (mefarcheses), which is permitted for Jews but forbidden for Bnei Noach. According to Yosef, they were Bnei Noach and could only be machmir (stringent) by adopting the 613 mitzvos, but couldn't create leniencies. The brothers countered that they already possessed the status of Yisrael l'kula—permitted to follow Jewish law's leniencies—not merely Yisrael l'chumra.
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What is the primary purpose of the cities of refuge - protecting the accidental killer or something else? The shiur argues that creating respect for law takes precedence over providing sanctuary. True deterrence comes from recognizing the gravity of murder itself, not fear of punishment.
