Spying Code

Accused of spying by no other than their brother Joseph, in unison they reply, "We were 12 brothers from one father."

How was that to extricate them from the incriminating accusations? Or, alternatively, exonerate them from blame?

There's a famous story about two former Israeli Mossad spies who met on a train. One asks the other about his family, he says, instinctively, he's an only child. The other looks at him quizically, and then they laugh together. Mossad spies were always told in their cover story to say they were only children; that way, they wouldn't have to remember endless - and fabricated details. Like Chazal teach, the Hebrew word sheker - shin, kuf, reish - had nothing to stand on; the base of all of the letters are pointed wobbly tips, without stable grounding. 

Likewise, having been caught - all of them - they knew that they would be more believable, and synchronized if they linked themselves to one person; also, there's less chance of an insidious uprising, or machination with multiple players in regime change, or enemy invasion if there's only one person behind the plot. That's why, to prove their innocence, they stated that they come from one father, to both disarm further questioning about their intent, and also convey that their story could be checked out easily exposing themselves minimally to further interrogation. 

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