Vayigash

Ten brothers traverse a great distance for food. After they encounter Egypt's most powerful leader, the Secretary of Agriculture, their reality starts spiraling downward. Mishaps escalate into impending tragedy; they are arrested as spies, one man is taken hostage, their baby brother is summoned and accused of stealing, and that's just part of it. They wonder why this is happening as they ineffectively struggle to handle their situation.
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When this leader tells them who he is they shift into a new reality through two spoken words, "Ani Yosef" (Breishit 45:3). They are left speechless, and we are left to speculate. The Medrash Rabbah cryptically connects Yosef's revelation to the brothers with our meeting our Maker at 120 by stating, "Woe to us for the day of judgment, woe to us for the day of reproach." OOOOOOOkkkk jj jjj
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Rabbi Bernard Weinberger in his work Shemen HaTov posits that the brothers were speechless for a powerful reason. They had never recognized Yosef for who he really was. Long before his beard and position disguised his identity, Yosef was a mystery to his brothers. As is often the case, rather than trust him at his word, or hope that he was something that they couldn't understand, they made him into something one dimensional. They decided he was a scoundrel, a threat, a daddy's boy, a potential murderer or worse, depending on which commentary you choose and how you yourself are inclined to think. But who was Yosef?
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The truth is that Yosef was a tzaddik. In fact, he was The Tzaddik. He is the paradigm of a tzaddik, our only ancestor that is always referenced with that title. The brothers didn't grasp Yosef's greatness for a long time. After the smoke cleared, after the years of anguish, in the moment of silence after Yosef revealed himself they got it. This annoying younger brother of theirs was now the viceroy of Egypt and more-so he was clearly righteous and G-d fearing.
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The Ohr HaChayim notes that twice in a row (Breishit 45:3 and 4) Yosef tells his siblings who he is. In the second instance he adds that he is "Yosef, the brother who you sold to Egypt." The Ohr HaChayim suggests Yosef was telling them, "I am who I always was - your brother who loves you. Even when you were pushing me away, I was your brother who loved you. The Ohr HaChayim also points out that Yosef shared with them one of those secrets endemic to all families, a fact that only he and his siblings knew. Then, there in the silence they heard.
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The brothers broke through the one way of thinking to which they had attached their minds. Yosef's unveiling provided his brothers with an awareness of his wholeness of being. In the past they had only seen his outer layer, represented by his coat. They now experienced an awakening and saw the full tapestry of Yosef.
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The brothers experienced the same kind of silence which followed the whirlwind of sound, action, and fire in which Eliyahu HaNavi could not find G-d. Finally, in the kol demamah dahkah - what Rabbi Jonathan Sachs translates beautifully as "the sound of a thin silence," Eliyahu hears G-d and understands. (Melachim I - 19:12)
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The Chafetz Chayim focuses on this paradigm shift that the brothers experienced, and says that it mirrors what will happen to each of us one day. When G-d reveals himself to us after we leave this physical world, we will view everything through a new perspective. This idea is in consonance with the illustration of the person who is presented with a gift of a gorgeous tapestry, or so he is told. But when he looks at the needlepoint picture he is confused because all he sees is loose ends and knots. The friend who gave him the gift tells him to turn it around. When he sees the breathtaking work of art on the other side, he realizes that he had been viewing the back, thus missing the beauty. The Torah tradition is that in this life we often only see part of the picture. This was the metaphorical message G-d presented Moshe with when he told him that he could view His back, but that in this life no man can see G-d head on.
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The Tribes of Israel traversed a variety of great distances. In a unique moment of silence, the brothers saw Yosef. One day will reach an end of our journey and we will see G-d's glory. We will gain complete understanding in retrospect, in a silent moment, after the lively whirlwinds that seemed so real have passed.
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To the degree that it is possible may G-d bless us to find a quiet moment and in that silence experience the truth of G-d – “Ani Hashem.” Why wait?