The time had come for Yosef to reveal his true identity to his brothers. Before doing so the Torah relates:
וַיִּקְרָא הוֹצִיאוּ כׇל־אִישׁ מֵעָלָי וְלֹא־עָמַד אִישׁ אִתּוֹ בְּהִתְוַדַּע יוֹסֵף אֶל־אֶחָיו׃
He (Yosef) cried out, “Have everyone withdraw from me!” So there was no one else about when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. (45:1)
Rashi in his commentary explains that Yosef did this so that his brothers should not feel ashamed of what they did to him in the presence of others.
The Zohar presents another explanation. Yosef uniting with his brothers represents Hashem uniting with the Jewish people. When Hashem unites with the Jewish people no other peoples are present.
We find this by the holiday of Shemini Atzeret. The Talmud Sukkah 55a explains that the holiday of Shemini Atzeret is a message to the Jewish people at the conclusion of the festival of Sukkot. The Torah tells the Jewish people to bring 70 cows over the seven days of Sukkot to bring blessing upon the nations of the world ( the Talmud teaches that the nations of the world are divided into 70 primary nations).As Sukkot concludes and the Jewish people are ready to wrap things up and leave,Hashem requests that they stay for one more day and offer just one cow representing that this will be a celebration of Hashem alone with the Jewish people.
The Zohar states that this is the paradigm for Hashem’s unification with the Jewish people. When this occurs there are no others present.
We find a similar concept when the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) enters the Kodesh HaKodashim (the Holy of Holies) on Yom Kippur. The Torah says no one may be in the Beit HaMikdash when this takes place. Our Sages teach not even an angel is present! When Hashem unites with the Kohein Gadol there can be no other being present.
Yosef’s unification with his brothers that was about to take place represented Hashem uniting with the Jewish people who they represented. Therefore there could be no one else present at that time.
Why does this point of Yosef's reunification with his brothers carry so much significance that it has to represent Hashem’s unification with the Jewish people? Rabbi Yaakov Haber explained because this event would bring Yaakov and his entire family to live in Egypt. It was the beginning of a long and difficult exile which we know as the Egyptian enslavement of the Jewish people. Hashem becoming one with the Jewish people was necessary for the survival of Yaakov’s descendants and the eventual creation of the Jewish people. This unification was taking place through Yosef and his brothers.
If so,then Yosef and his brothers themselves had to unite because Hashem ,who is one, unites with the Jewish people when they are one. That meant that they had to shed any remnants of animosity, jealousy, and resentment from themselves. If the brothers would become one again, Hashem would become one with them.
We in our dark galut (exile) that we feel so intensely now, need Hashem’s protection for our survival more than ever. The events of October 7th have brought the Jewish people together in an amazing way. We have to work to strengthen it. We need to dispel negative feelings towards others and to develop a positive attitude towards them. That comes through giving others the benefit of the doubt and by seeing the good in them.
That will unite us and allow us to unite with Hashem.
Shabbat Shalom,
Yitzchak