At the end of Parshat Miketz, we left the brothers, whose main spokesman was Yehudah, resigned to the punishment they expected for the discovery of the stolen palace goblet found in Binyomin's package. They are agreeable to serve out their punishment as slaves, and, by such admission, insinuate that all the brothers are culpable for this crime against Yosef.

However, by the time we are about to begin this week's parshah of Vayigash, something has changed, for Yehudah has undergone a huge transformation of attitude. The reason we know this, according to Rashi, is based on the fact that Yehudah addresses Yosef aggressively and forcefully when he states �Ve'al yichar apchah be-avdechah ki komochah ke-pharoh" (Bereishit, Vayigash 44:18). What brought this radical change in Yehudah from the meek, understanding comments that they were deserving of punishment, to the now strongly- worded denunciation of Yosef's decree against them?

The answer is provided for us by the Ohr HaChaim who describes the whole picture and change of attitude as follows: Yehudah interpreted the goblet incident as HaShem's punishment for their participation in the sale of Yosef. They could not overrule Yosef's decree against them, could not declare their innocence, or extricate themselves from this situation, for the discovery of the goblet was G-d's way of punishing all the brothers, wholesale. Yosef was just the instrument by which the Divine punishment was to be inflicted. Since they were all involved, they would all have to pay the consequences. But Binyomin was not involved in the sale of Yosef. Why does he have to be punished? And the Ohr HaChaim answers: because of osmosis, by association with the brothers, Binyomin is included in the general punishment. Much like, as the Talmud states, if you light two dry twigs next to a damp one, the latter will also burn by dint of its closeness to the other twigs. That sets the scene for why all the brothers will suffer the same fate.

However, now they face Yosef, and things begin to unravel in this association of mental deductive logic, for he wishes only to punish Binyomin, in whose baggage the goblet was found. He does not wish to involve the other brothers, and he even insists they all leave and return home. At which point, Yehudah realizes that this, then, is not the Divine punishment he was expecting. Rather, this is the cruel decree from a cruel and inhumane ruler, and it is at this point that Yehudah is transformed from a passive individual ready to face the consequences of the sale, to a forceful defender and verbal fighter against Yosef.

It takes a loving and just G-d to exercise the punishment that fits the crime, even though many might have to be the recipients of that punishment. But it only takes an unjust sentence of punishment from a human ruler even against a solitary individual, before which a courageous individual needs to protest strongly and fearlessly. And not just for our brother, but for all our brothers, for are we not all areivim zeh lo-zeh?