The Dotted 'Et' of the Brothers — Genesis 37:12
אֶת
What to look for
In 'his brothers went to shepherd their father's flock in Shechem,' the tiny word et carries dots.
What it is
The smallest dotted word — dots on a two-letter grammatical particle that English cannot even translate.
Why it matters
Remove the dotted word and the sentence subtly shifts: the brothers went to shepherd — themselves. The midrash reads the dots as a wink: they went to feed themselves, not the flock.
How it has been understood
It is the scribes at their most granular: a question of motive raised over the least word in the sentence, on the very journey that ends with Joseph sold into Egypt. Small marks over a small word, at the hinge of the whole redemption story.