VaYeishev (2): Holy Hesitation

וישלחו את כתנת הפסים ויביאו אל אביהם

And they dispatched of the cloak and they brought to their father.

The brothers find themselves tossing Yosef into a pit and selling him off to traveling merchants. To cover their tracks and come across as innocent they stain Yosef's cloak with so that it will seem as if he was devoured by a wild beast. Then they bring the tattered remains of the garment to validate the fiction.

But there is one factor in their plot that seems to be an inconsistent blip. "וישלחו את כתנת הפסים" - They tossed the woolen tunic. Then they brought it to their father. What does throwing it have to do with anything? What did they gain out of that?

R' Yisrael Hopztein (Talis),
zy"a. Author of Avodas
Yisrael and others.

Says the Kozhnitzer Magid, a Jewish soul is sensitive enough to have second thoughts. We can catch ourselves right in the middle of the act. We are spurred into a double take and ask ourselves, "what is going on here?!" And while it's true that even after the hesitation, the Yetzer HaRa can grab hold once again, even so there is particular holiness in that moment of hesitation. For that moment displays the inherit holiness of the Neshamah. That slight holding back is a glimpse as to what a Jew really wants.

Knowing that my true essence wanted what was good, and that even as I sinned it called out out to be noticed gives me the knowledge that achieving Teshuvah and eventually Tzidkus is closer than I though. The potential is already there.

This is what the Passuk is telling us. Even though they went through with the falsehood, there was a brief moment where the better nature and higher, truer self was able to shine through. They threw the cloak away as if to say, "This whole thing is so wrong". They caught themselves red-handed and wanted to set things straight. The end result was that the flash of inspiration was overshadowed, but the Torah wants to teach us about the value of that pure moment.