In an early episode of the show, a stranger comes to town and seems to know everything about everyone, but no one knows who he is.  This is so disturbing to the townspeople that they are ready to "run him out of town" (of course, riled up by the lovably paranoid Barney Fife); until Andy discovers the stranger's secret and calms everyone down.  A happy conclusion (this is 1960's sitcom after all), but you can imagine the sinister possibilities when one party seems to know all and the other party is in the dark.

In this week's parashah, Miketz, after successfully interpreting Pharaoh's dreams, and stewarding Egypt through the feast then famine, Joseph is reunited with his older brothers when Jacob sends them to Egypt in search of rations.  The reunion is not immediate, however, "for though Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him."  (42:8)  Interestingly, although the brothers do not recognize Joseph, their discussion reflects that they believe they are being punished for what they did to him when they are detained and being asked to return with their youngest brother, Benjamin.  Why don't the brothers recognize Joseph?  It had been slightly more than twenty years, but this is someone they had seen virtually every day from his birth until they threw him in the pit.  Why does Joseph not reveal himself immediately to his brothers?  Is he punishing them?  Is this his revenge?  Is he still angry?  Is this such a shock to Joseph that he needs time to come to terms with the idea of a family reunification?  Is the family schism something that can only be healed by the tests and trials that Joseph will now put before his brothers?

It is possible to find satisfactory answers to all of these questions to help explain Joseph's secrecy.  Certainly, Joseph's brothers, like the good people of Mayberry, are being tested by the stranger.  But, perhaps more importantly, Joseph is not ready for a reunification.  Although he may have dreamed of this possibility every day for more than twenty years, it was not until the moment his brothers walked through the door that reunification was something real that Joseph had to address.  Joseph needed to undergo an internal healing before he could externally reunite with his family.  At this point in the narrative, Joseph is still a stranger in the midst of his brothers.  He was unrecognizable, but he now knows that his dream of reunification will soon be a reality.