In the first verse of Genesis 45, we read that "Joseph was unable to control himself in front of the people standing before him, so he called out, 'Everyone must leave me alone!' There was no one else there when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers."
The simple meaning of the verse is that his brothers' presence made him very emotional, and he didn't want to cry in front of the royal court.
Rashi gives us a different interpretation. He says that Joseph ordered everyone out of the room because he did not want his brothers to be publicly shamed when he revealed himself.
In other words, Joseph was uncomfortable with airing Jewish dirty laundry in front of non-Jews. This topic remains a hot one today. There are those who argue that a Jew must never turn in a fellow Jew to the state authorities under any circumstances. Some even hold that the sin of snitching on a fellow Jew is far worse than the sin of, for instance, child molestation!
Those who hold such extreme opinions are generally of the opinion that Jews should take care of Jewish criminals within their own communities, and that non-Jews should not become aware of the fact that some Jews break the laws.
Assuming one lives in a democracy governed by the rule of law, one should not hesitate to report the crimes of a fellow Jew to the authorities. Indeed, those who are concerned about airing Jewish dirty laundry should well consider that the charge of protecting the criminals who live among us is arguably more embarrassing to the Jewish community than the untoward acts of any particular Jew. If we really care about our people's reputation, then we should not stand in the way of legitimate criminal investigations.
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