Parshat Vayigash: The Hidden Message of the Trope

In the beginning of this week's parsha we are presented with Yehuda's desperate plea to save his youngest brother, Binyamin, from incarceration in Egypt. After having been found with a royal goblet in his bags Binyamin was sure to face a stiff punishment. Yehuda, fearing that the pain of losing another son, the only son remaining from his beloved Rachel, would kill his father, stepped forward with an emotional appeal to the Egyptian viceroy. The Torah tells us (Breishit 44:18),

ויגש אליו יהודה, ויאמר בי אדני, ידבר נא עבדך דבר באזני אדני, ואל יחר אפך בעבדך כי כמוך כפרעה

Then Judah came near unto him, and said: 'Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

Surely, this was a daring proposition. Who was Yehuda, a foreigner, to question the judgment and actions of the Egyptian viceroy? By confronting Yosef he was putting his own well being at risk. The Vilna Gaon asks an even sharper question: Why did Yehuda step forward? Yehuda was the fourth born son of Yaakov, why didn't Reuven the first born, or the brave warriors Shimon and Levi, challenge Yosef?

The Gaon writes that in order to answer this question we must look back at last week's parsha. In convincing Yaakov to permit the brothers to bring Binyamin down to Egypt, Yehuda told his father (43:9),

אנכי אערבנו מידי, תבקשנו אם לא הביאתיו אליך והצגתיו לפניך, וחטאתי לך כל הימים

I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever.

Rashi comments on Yehuda's assurance and writes,

וחטאתי לך כל הימים: לעולם הבא

Then let me bear the blame for ever - for the world to come

According to Rashi, Yehuda offered to give up his share in the world to come if Binyamin did not return home with the rest of the brothers.

The Gaon writes that this is what motivated Yehuda to step forward and challenge Yosef - he saw that losing Binyamin was a real possibility and he could not stand by idly as his share in the world to come was slipping away before his very eyes. The Gaon says that there is iron clad proof that this is what motivated Yehuda within the trope, the cantillation, of the first words of our parsha. (Below is the trope, if you find it difficult to view the image, you can view it in larger form by following this link)

The cantillation on the first two words, are קדמא ואזלא, which the Gaon says refer to the fact that Yehuda was קדם ואזל, meaning he came forward and went. On the word "Yehuda" is the cantillation known as רביעי, meaning fourth. Why did the fourth son come forward and go toward Yosef? The answer is found in the next set of cantillation - on the words ויאמר בי אדני, "and he said, please my master", are the notes of זרקא מנח סגול, with זרקא meaning "thrown" and מנח סגול meaning "from the chosen resting place." Explains the Gaon, Why did Yehuda, the fourth son, step forward? Because he saw that he was going to be thrown out of the resting place of the chosen people, the world to come. The Gaon's explanation is brilliant and authentic, especially considering that the Torah's trope is a tradition passed down from Sinai.