Who is innocent? The Midrash tells this story about Joseph’s brothers who had sold him into slavery and years later had come to Egypt to get food during the times of the famine that Joseph had predicted. That prediction freed Joseph from prison and raised him to be a viceroy to the Pharaoh, unbeknownst to his brothers. Joseph recognized them, but they didn’t recognize him, and in their encounters, Joseph has his silver goblet secretly stuffed into the bag of the youngest brother Benjamin. When accused of theft by Joseph’s representative (his son Manasseh) and when the object is found in Benjamin’s sack, his brothers attack him, beating him on his shoulders. Joseph was testing them to see if they had developed a heart of forgiveness, which they didn’t have when they threw Joseph in a pit. And here they still were too quick to bad judgement. Their maturity will happen, but not yet. We sometimes have to go through our own negativity to develop compassion.