Q&A: The Camera, the Goblet, the Divination
The Camera, the Goblet, the Divination
Question
My brother asked me:
A grocery store owner, afraid of theft, installed a camera so everyone would be deterred from stealing in full view of the camera.
One day, the camera itself was stolen.
He suspected someone, grabbed him, and cried out: Why did you steal the camera?
The suspect chuckled: I’ve been shopping with you for 20 years and never once stole anything, so why would you suddenly suspect me? I have a presumption of honesty…
The grocer replied: That’s exactly the point. You didn’t steal for 20 years because you were afraid of the camera, and so you finally worked up the nerve—the brazenness—to steal it…
1 out of 10: all the more so with the a fortiori argument in the Torah: “The money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you—so how could we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?”
Exactly the point.
Until now I was afraid because he has a goblet with which he divines.
You worked up the nerve—the brazenness—and stole it…
Seemingly, it’s a problematic a fortiori argument…
Answer
Indeed. One can suggest various explanations, and I have no idea which is correct. For example, perhaps the goblet is not a necessary condition for divination. And the proof is that Joseph knew about the theft of the goblet itself, so when he told them that he would surely divine with it, he meant an ability of the person even without the object—the goblet (since they did not know that he had put the goblet into their sack). If there is no goblet, Joseph will divine by means of something else.
Beyond that, perhaps the brothers did not know about the goblet when they stole the money. Otherwise, they obviously would not have stolen it. After all, even when they “stole” the goblet they did not know about its powers. Joseph and his agent are the ones who tell them about them.
Because of this question—how could he divine with the goblet if it was stolen—the commentators explain “he will surely divine with it” as meaning on its account: the goblet is valuable, so he would turn to expert diviners and ask them about it.