Shabbat Parshat Miketz - Chanukah I - 5763

The Hammer, the Anvil and Other Force-Multipliers

Miketz is the Parshah of Yoseph HaTzaddik, Yoseph the Righteous, emerging from incarceration under false pretenses, and rising to greatness as the interpreter of Pharaoh’s Dreams. Yoseph acts as a representative of HaShem, for he attributes his success entirely to Divine Aid, as we see in Bereshit 41:16, “Yoseph answered Pharaoh, saying, ‘That is beyond me; it is G-d Who will respond with Pharaoh’s welfare.’ ” He rises to the penultimate seat of power, and acts to protect the 70-soul nucleus of the “holy nation” to be, surrounded by millions of individuals making up a corrupt society.

Chanukah is the Holiday of the Hasmoneans, led by Yehudah “HaMaccabee,” Yehudah the “Hammer,” who in a successful struggle inspired by faith in HaShem, miraculously succeeded in defeating the “Mityavnim,” assimilationist Jews to the Greek cause, backed by the forces of the Syrian-Greek Empire. Here too we find “You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure ... For Yourself You made a great and holy Name in Your world, and for Your people Israel You worked a great victory and salvation as this very day.” (“Al HaNisim” Prayer, recited on Chanukah)

Skipping ahead 2,167 years, demographic studies are pessimistic regarding the outlook for the Jewish People who once again are plagued by high rates of assimilation and inter-marriage, combined with low birth rates and abysmal ignorance of their own Tradition. There are only some 15-18 million Jews in the world, and trends are not favorable. On the other hand, there are about a billion Muslims in the world, amounting to a troubling ratio of approximately 67 Muslims for each Jew.

In Parshat Bechukotai, the Torah assures us that if we obey HaShem’s Laws, the L-rd will be on our side, and numbers will become irrelevant. “You will pursue your enemies; and they will fall before you by the sword. Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand ...” (VaYikra 26:7-8)

At the beginning of Parshat VaYeshev, RASHI cites a Midrash (Tanchuma 1) that discusses in metaphorical terms the fear that descendants of Yaakov might have when confronted by the offspring of the Twelve Kings of Esav: “A flax peddler, with his over-loaded flax-bearing camel, tried to enter a market by a narrow pathway. A blacksmith asked how that load of flax could possibly pass. A clever individual answered, ‘One spark from your anvil could burn it all up.’ So did Yaakov, upon contemplating the Twelve Kings, ask HaShem, ‘Who can conquer them all?’ The verse in Ovadiah 1:18 answers, ‘And the House of Yaakov will be a fire, and the House of Yoseph will be a torch, and the House of Esav will be stubble.’ One spark will come forth from Yoseph that will consume and burn them all.”

Next week, we will read Parshat VaYigash, the Parshah of Yehudah’s rise to greatness from the disgrace of having suggested the sale of Yoseph, by seizing an opportunity engineered by Yoseph. Yehudah will risk his life to save Binyamin, because of the ultimate vow of responsibility he had taken to his father. Yehudah and Yoseph will be together again at the end-of-days, when Mashiach ben Yoseph and Mashiach ben David (a direct descendant of Yehudah) will redeem the People of Israel from its enemies.

King David, who was a fearless warrior for the Name of HaShem, says in Psalms 118:10-12,

“All the nations surrounded me, but with the Name of the L-rd I cut them off.
They surrounded me; indeed they were all around me! But with the Name of the L-rd, I will cut them off.

They surrounded me like bees, but they are quenched as a fire of thorns. For with the Name of the L-rd I cut them off!”

The following question arose, in connection with the recent Kenya incident; in particular, with the Al Qeda missile attack on the Israeli chartered plane that carried 261 souls, that was in effect a “sitting duck:” How could they have missed their target? I certainly don’t know. But I do know that when the Chanukah lights are kindled, one of the blessings that is recited contains an expression thanking and praising HaShem as the One “Who performed miracles for our ancestors, in those days, at this time.” And also that we express our gratitude to HaShem in the “Modim” Prayer recited in the “Shemoneh Esray,” as “the One Who is Good, for your Mercies have not ceased, and the Merciful One, Whose Kindness has not been exhausted; forever have we placed our hope in You.”

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

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