1
AND HIS BRETHREN WENT TO FEED THEIR FATHER’S FLOCK IN SHECHEM. R. Simeon said: The dots on the top of the particle eth in this sentence indicate that the Shekinah accompanied them by reason of their being a band of ten. (They were only ten because Joseph was not with them and Benjamin remained at home on account of his tender age.)
2
Hence, when they sold Joseph they were in the company of the Shekinah, and, furthermore, they associated the Shekinah with them in their oath (not to reveal the affair of Joseph); and until the fate of Joseph became known, the Shekinah did not rest on Jacob.
3
The proof that the Shekinah accompanied the brethren is the verse of the Psalms which speaks of “the tribes of the Lord, a testimony unto Israel” (Ps. 122, 4), a title which shows that they were all of them righteous and devout, constituting the support of the whole world, both on high and below.’