He Lifted His Eyes, to See What?

Parshat Miketz 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The phrase וישא עיניו (or some plural equivalent) appears a few times in the book of Bereshis, to simply depict what someone sees. Sometimes the area of scope is an investigation, sometimes it turns out to provide a solution to a problem. 

In 13:10, Lot lifts his eyes to scope out Sodom, which is “like the garden of God, like the land of Egypt.” 

On 18:2, Avraham lifts his eyes and sees 3 men/angels walking towards him, and he runs to bring them to his home. 

In chapter 22, twice Avraham raises his eyes: first to see the mountain, and second to discover a ram caught in the brambles, which will now serve as the offering in place of Yitzchak. 

In 24:63, Yitzchak lifts his eyes to see a caravan of camels, who are coming to bring his bride to him. 

In 33:1, Yaakov lifts his eyes to see Eisav approaching with 400 men. Eisav returns the favor 5 verses later, lifting his own eyes to examine Yaakov’s family. 

Last week we read of how the brothers lifted their eyes to see the caravan of Yishmaelites heading down to Egypt (37:25), and they take the opportunity to plan to sell Yosef to Egypt through these traveling merchants 

Finally, this week we read of how Yosef lifted his eyes to see Binyamin when Binyamin was brought down to Egypt by his brothers (43:29). 

Each of these liftings of the eyes comes at a pivotal moment in history. Lot decides where his fate will lie, and his decisions brings him to Sodom, where he will lose most of his family, and emerge to father Moav and Ammon from his daughters. 

 Avraham cements his reputation as a Machnis Orchim (one who welcomes guests), as he goes above any base requirement, even while he is healing from his recent circumcision. 

He discovers the mountaintop where he will have the most profound moment of connection with the Almighty that he’s ever had, and he also sees the ram that will essentially save Yitzchak’s life, through taking his place on the mizbeach. 

Yitzchak, the erstwhile offering, sees the potential for his continuing to build this family and this nation. 

Yaakov and Eisav size each other up, to discover they are not threats to one another. Their meeting concludes with an agreement to part ways and to possibly meet up again some day. 

When the brothers notice the Yishmaelites, and Yehuda makes the suggestion to sell Yosef, what might have been an otherwise mortal descent to a pit became the prequel to his life being spared albeit while being sold to slavery. 

Yosef’s own gaze upon Binyamin may have set into motion a new plan that would direct the fate and destiny of the family of Rachel. 

There are interesting debates surrounding what Yosef’s plan was. Why did he want Binyamin to come down? Why did he want Binyamin to stay with him? Why does he seem unconcerned about the pain to which he is subjecting his father? Is there significance to the fact that Binyamin has ten sons and Yosef has two (10+2=12), as we discover in 46:20-21? 

One possibility is he wanted to start a new nation with their combined 12 sons. 

Another possibility is that he was testing how the brothers would respond to another son of Rachel being taken away. 

Another possibility is that he simply needed time to talk with Binyamin without anyone else around so the two of them could strategize next steps, and see which brother(s) could fit into their shared vision for the family. 

Our Sages had much to say about seeing and vision, but we’ll use one example for now.

 איזהו חכם? הרואה את הנולד . Who is wise? One who can anticipate outcomes. (Tamid 32a) 

One wonders how much, of the visions we see in the book in Bereshis, were accompanied by a true thought process, and how often did the vision trigger a spontaneous and unanticipated reaction? 

There seems to be a parallel between the way Yitzchak is saved at his binding and how Yosef is saved. The fact that Yishmael makes an appearance in the latter case may also indicate something about Yishmael’s own near-death experience, and his own salvation. This is not a question of whether Yishmael deserved to die, but was saved באשר הוא שם, as he was in the moment (a point emphasized on Rosh Hashana). Whether Yitzchak was deserving of death and was spared, or was never meant to die is beside the point. He too was answered מי שענה ליצחק בנו כשנעקד על גבי המזבח הוא יעננו. Perhaps the brothers seeing the caravan of Yishmaelites reminded them that no matter what they thought of Yosef after his dreams, when he was yelling from the pit to which they had thrown him, he deserved to be viewed by them the way Yishmael had been viewed by God – worthy of living. 

Certainly in the case of Yosef’s vision of Binyamin while viceroy, while he may not have been able to anticipate what happens at the beginning of Vayigash – when Yehuda lays everything on the table to save Binyamin, and Yosef breaks down and reveals himself to his brothers, perhaps earlier than planned – his hopes and plans may have had different directions entirely. But that’s ok. Even the best laid plans are sometimes met with setbacks and hurdles. 

We just finished Chanukah, a holiday celebrating our spiritual survival from the hands of an enemy bent on destroying our souls. It was the heroes of that time who lifted their eyes and had a vision that complacency and accepting the viewpoint of those who rule over us is not in our best interests. If we are to survive as a Jewish people, we have to anticipate outcomes. They did – it wasn’t a pretty outcome – so they took up arms to fight for their very survival. We know that without Judaism there are no Jews. 

Had the Maccabees known their descendants would turn away from observance would they have fought the good fight? They anticipated outcomes. They foresaw that the legacy they’d leave would outlast the legacy of corruption their descendants might leave behind 

For Yosef, no matter how much “he planned and God laughed,” he did manage to reunite the family, bring everyone down to Egypt, and take care of everyone for the rest of his life. Whatever he saw when he looked upon Binyamin may or may not have come about. But he continued to demonstrate throughout his rulership in Egypt that he had learned the lesson from Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. 

When you have the chance to take a step back, raise your eyes and look, what do you see? Confusion? Or hope and salvation. 

May we merit to experience hope and see a salvation במהרה בימינו.