A little after Yosef revealed himself to his brothers and spoke to them about telling their father that he was alive, the Torah states: “Then he fell upon his brother Binyamin’s neck and wept; and Binyamin wept upon his neck” (Breishis 45:14). The Medrish Rabba (Vayigash 93:12 [13 in some editions]) learns from this pasuk “That just as Yosef only appeased his brothers through crying, so to Hashem will only redeem the Jews through crying, as it says ‘With weeping they will come and through supplications I will bring them’” (Yirmiyahu 31:8)”
There is a concept called מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, the actions of the fathers is a sign about the children. The Maharz”u points out that this is even more true regarding Yosef, for all Jews are referred to in Yosef’s name as mentioned at the end of Breishis Rabba 71:2. This is the connection between Yosef crying on Binyamin’s shoulder and the Jews crying by the Redemption. But what does one crying have to do with the other? (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The Etz Yosef in the name of the Radak as well as the Eshed Hanachalim answer that Yosef was crying tears of joy over becoming reacquainted with his brothers, and his brothers were relieved to recognize that he was overjoyed to see them. So too will be the Jewish crying by their redemption. The Eshed Hanachalim adds that this is an incredible depiction of how sometimes, through so much happiness, one comes to cry; because of the overwhelming feeling of emotion that comes from knowing the sorrow of one’s past and the joy of his future, which is why Yosef cried. So too when Jews contemplate the torture and suffering of their past and the redemption that they will be living through, they will come to cry out of joy.
However, the Yefeh Toar seems not to be saying that Yosef was crying tears of joy. He connects back to the medrish before, which points out that the pasuk mentions twice that Yosef cried on Benyamin’s shoulder. The medrish says that once was for the destruction of the First Beis HaMikdash and one was for the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash, which he saw through Ruach Hakodesh, Divine inspiration. He did this when crying on Benyamin’s shoulder, since both would be partially built on Binyamin’s portion of the Land of Israel. The Yefeh Toar goes on to say that for this reason the next medrish (which is our medrish) “now says another reason why crying is mentioned here, for it was a crying of appeasement since he saw they were still very disturbed in his presence, as Rashi on the chumash mentions.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
It sounds like Yosef was not crying out of joy, because the Yefeh Toar juxtaposed this crying to the previous crying over the downfall of both Holy Temples. And the Yefeh Toar says Yosef saw that his brothers were still distraught, even after he revealed himself to them and told them to bring his father and the rest of the family down to Egypt to be with him. One might think then that the crying was just a way to relate to his brothers, and relating to them was their solace or appeasement. But if that’s the case, then it doesn’t correlate with the next part of the medrish, because it’s not that Hashem will be crying with the Jews by the Redemption but that the Jews themselves will be crying. It must be therefore that crying by itself gives a sense of comfort and solace to a person. Crying has a way of calming people and appeasing their feelings of sadness, anxiety and suffering. Even seeing other people cry over your plight has that effect, not only your own crying.
We see the power of crying whether tears of joy or tears of comfort it’s an appeasement and a solace which can change people’s lives and prepare them for their next stage in life.