The passuk reads:
(15) A man found him wandering in the fields. The man asked him, “What would you be looking for?” (16) He answered, “I am looking for my brothers. Could you tell me where they are pasturing?”
Was this just a case of Yosef getting lost in celestial translation, or does this peculiar conversation hold something more profound?
I’d like to suggest an answer based on a personal anecdote of when I was in 9th grade in Mechina. I was in Rabbi Eisgrau’s shiur for 9th grade, and about mid-way through the year, a few people from our shiur “moved up” to join Rabbi Mintz and Rabbi Wenger’s shiur.
I was hoping to be among those elite few, but when I looked at the updated shiur list after the Pesach break, I was still listed in Rabbi Eisgrau’s shiur. The news that I would remain in Rabbi Eisgrau's shiur felt, at the time, like a setback.
I even enlisted my father's help to appeal what I perceived as a gross injustice.
But the verdict was final, and I stayed in Rabbi Eisgrau’s shiur until the end of the year. At the end of that year, I already realized that the Hanhala had made the right decision; I thrived in Rabbi Eisgrau's shiur, did exceptionally well on the Masechta Bechina, and discovered a confidence that might have eluded me had I been in a harder shiur.
Similarly, when the angel found the lost Yosef in the fields, he asked him what he was really looking for, what do you truly want in your relationship with your brothers?
But perhaps at such a young age, Yosef didn’t have the capacity to absorb such a deep question, and so he answered what he was looking for in the present moment, of what he wanted right now.
As the Ner Yisrael dinner approaches, I'd like to express my deep gratitude to the Hanhala, because like the Malach Gavriel, they were able to discern and address my present-focused request with a future-oriented response which helped me grow into the person I am proud to be today.
Good Shabbos!
End Note:
The Onkelos learns both the question of Gavriel and the answer as being in the present-tense.
(טו) וְאַשְׁכְּחֵיהּ גַּבְרָא וְהָא תָעֵי בְּחַקְלָא וּשְׁאָלִנֵּיהּ גַּבְרָא לְמֵימַר מָה אַתְּ בָּעֵי: (טז) וַאֲמַר יָת אַחַי אֲנָא בָעֵי חַוִּי כְעַן לִי הֵיכָא אִנּוּן רָעָן:
(15) A man found him going astray in the field. The man asked him, What are you seeking? (16) He said, I am looking for my brothers, tell me please, where are they pasturing?
The Nesina LaGer makes note this diversion of Onkelos but doesn't offer a reason why Onkelos decided to change the tenses here.
