In the third aliyah of Parshat Vayeishev, Reuven returns to the pit intending to find Yosef, but instead, Yosef is gone. We read, וישב אל אחיו ויאמר הילד איננו ואני אנה אני בא, ‘And he returned to his brothers, and said, ‘The child is not, and I, where shall I go?’ This response from Reuven is fascinating— why does he immediately express concern for himself? Wouldn’t we expect him to worry about Yosef? Rashi tells us that Reuven meant, ‘Where can I run to escape the sorrow of my father?’ With Rashi’s explanation, Reuven’s reaction teaches us that when we hurt another person, we cannot escape the pain we have caused. Everywhere we turn, we see the sadness and the hurt. Our destructive actions hang over us, and they will continue to until we repair the sorrow we have caused. May we have the humility to admit when we have hurt one another, the strength to face the sorrow we have caused, and the self-awareness to recognize that we not only injure others with hurtful deeds, but we also injure ourselves.
