Mikeitz

I think we could answer this question from the beginning of the pasuk (43;34). The Torah states: “He passed portions from before him to them, and Benjamin’s portion was greater than the portions of all of them fivefold.” The pasuk then states: “They drank and they got drunk with him.” I think there’s a connection between the 2 parts of the pasuk. The reason why the brothers got jealous of Yosef and hated him was because of Yaakov’s favoritism towards him. Over here we see Yosef showing favoritism towards Binyamin and yet the brothers weren’t jealous. Therefore, it was specifically at that point in time that the brothers realized that they had properly corrected their character flaws which led to the sale of Yosef. The Vilna Gaon once said: “It is easier to know the entire Talmud, than to fix even one character trait.” Thus, this was a real cause for celebration and they therefore had to drink wine, for the Gemara (Pesachim, 109a) states: “There is no happiness without wine.”

The sefer Orchot Tzadikim (The Ways of the Righteous) writes that there is no hope for one who hates his fellow because of jealousy. (Interestingly, the sefer Orchot Tzadikim also writes that hatred which comes about through jealousy is even worse than baseless hatred, which destroyed the second Beis Hamikdash–Yoma, 9b!) However, why is there “no hope” for one to overcome their hatred towards another when that hatred came through jealousy? I think the answer is as follows: Regarding both jealousy and hatred one focuses on what their friend has. Jealousy causes one to strive and reach their friend’s level, whereas hatred causes one to completely forget about themselves and solely focus on bringing their friend down. When one acquires both of these evil character there is no hope for them because even if they eventually acquire more there will still be hatred. And why is that? Because from the very beginning that person placed their focus on what their friend had instead of themselves. They habitually placed their friend’s properties in the spotlight instead of their own. Therefore, even if the “tables turn” they will still focus on their friend’s winnings simply out of habit. We therefore see that the brothers had tremendous difficulty in order to overcome their jealousy and hatred towards Yosef. Now that they saw that they had completed the “impossible” they were absolutely ecstatic and just had to get drunk!

Now, how were they able to overcome their character flaws if there’s “no hope”?

I think the answer is through humility, for an arrogant person thinks they have no flaws to correct. At first the brothers had a lot of arrogance but after the sale of Yosef they were humbled. The Torah states that the brothers told Yosef (37;8): “Would you reign over us? Would you then dominate us?” The brothers were too arrogant to accept the possibility that Yosef would be greater than them. Now, however, they had completely changed their perspective on themselves and thought of themselves as lowly servants, as the Torah states (42;10,11,13): “No, my lord! Your servants have come to buy food…your servants have never been spies. We, your servants, are 12 brothers…etc.” How did they suddenly turn so humble? The answer is by realizing their mistake. Shortly after the brothers said (42;21): “Indeed we are guilty concerning our brother…etc.” It was only through humbling themselves that they were able to overcome their character flaws.

Summary: Yosef and his brothers got drunk together off of wine (43;34). Rashi (43;34) relates that the brothers had stopped drinking wine since they sold Yosef (out of regret from their sin). However, they didn’t know he was Yosef at that point in time–so why did they drink wine? They should have still felt regret!?! The beginning of the pasuk (43;34) relates that Yosef gave Binyamin 5 times as much as the rest of the brothers. It was this kind of favoritism which caused their jealousy and hatred towards Yosef…However, this time they weren’t jealous of their brother. Therefore, they realized that they had truly overcome their character flaws which causes the original sale of Yosef. This was a real cause for celebration, and “there is no happiness without wine” (Pesachim, 109a). However, how were they able to overcome their hatred/jealousy–the sefer Orchot Tzadikim writes that there is “no hope” for one to overcome hatred through jealousy? The answer is through humility, for prior to the sale the brothers were arrogant (see: 37;8), but then they called themselves servants (42;10,11,13) and admitted their mistake (42;21).