Vayigash: Did Jacob Know Whodunit?

  How naive was Yaakov? Did he suspect that  the brothers had something to do with Yoseph's disappearance? Let us investigate the Torah and try to see if we can find the hidden answer to that question. Number one: When Jacob mourned all those years, the brothers tried to comfort him. Nowhere does it say that  the brothers cried at Yoseph’s so- called death. Yaakov must have wondered after a while what was going on.  It was certainly  a suspicious clue.

  Second of all, when the brothers are telling Yaakov what a mess they got themselves into in Egypt with the food distributor, who of course is really Yoseph, they tell Yaakov that they told the man they had another brother at home and the "other brother is  not around" What does he mean that he's not around? Shouldn't they tell their father that Yoseph is dead? Isn't that the official alibi? We have caught the brothers admitting to their own father that they know Yoseph isn't really dead.

  Thirdly, in the blessing of Jacob to his sons, Jacob alludes to Joseph being under fire. Could this be an allusion to the attack of the brothers? If we look carefully at the blessings which Yaakov gave to his sons, we may discover that Yaakov drops little hints or clues  that he knew that the brothers sold Joseph.   The brothers even claim that Yaakov asked Joseph to forgive the brothers. All the evidence points to the possibility that Jacob did in fact know that Joseph was sold into slavery. Ramban, Nachmanides, though, believes that Jacob never figured it all out. The verdict is still not out.