In Vayeishev we begin the Biblical story of Joseph. Joseph is transformed from a clueless, spoiled teenager to the person who ultimately saved his family. Granted Jacob and Joseph did everything to anger Joseph’s brothers. Jacob favored Joseph unabashedly and Joseph related dreams to his brothers that would infuriate any sibling. He tells his brothers his dreams. In the dreams, Joseph is always top dog and the brothers are subservient to him. No wonder they threw him in a pit!
As justified as they are in hating Joseph, their behavior was unthinkable. They lied to their father causing him terrible sadness by saying Joseph was dead. The worst thing about their behavior was that after they threw Joseph in the pit, told their father he was dead, they sat down and ate a large meal, showing no remorse. Truly how cruel can brothers be to their own flesh and blood.

The scary part is that we can rationalize anything. There is a “Banality of Evil” a phrase coined by Hannah Arendt. Evil comes in common garb and sometimes it is very hard to compute when evil enters our lives. We do not recognize it because we can not believe people can act so terribly.

In the biblical story, eventually the brothers are remorseful and Joseph forgives them. This of course points out that if you are truly sorry for bad behaviors forgiveness can occur.