Then Yehudah approached him and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.”
English: Another interpretation of “Yehudah approached him”: Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Nechemyah, and the Rabbis. Rabbi Yehudah says: An approach for war, as it says, “Yoav and the people with him advanced to the battle.” Rabbi Nechemyah says: An approach for conciliation, as it says, “The children of Yehudah approached Yehoshua.” And the Rabbis say: An approach for prayer, as it says, “Eliyahu the prophet approached.” Rabbi Elazar said: If it is for war — I come; if for conciliation — I come; if for prayer — I come.
On the daf / in context: Bereishis Rabbah reads the single verb “vayigash” as carrying three possible intents. Yehudah stands ready for any of them, and the midrash presents Rabbi Elazar’s synthesis that he approached prepared for all three simultaneously.
Type of Learning
Derash on the verse (midrash — multiple scriptural parallels for one verb) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The midrash gathers three biblical uses of the same root and applies them to Yehudah’s stance.
What Is Learned
Yehudah’s approach to Yosef was ready for war, for conciliation, or for prayer — whichever the situation would require.