An Irony of the Calendar To be specific, the Chanuka story which we just finished celebrating a week ago, occurred roughly midway between the beginning of the siege around Jerusalem that led to the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash and the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash that was rededicated by the Chashmona'im, said dedication being the reason for our celebration of Chanuka. And, the tension between Yosef and his brothers occurred so many years before the clash between Hellenized Jews and those who remained steadfast to Torah values and observance, that lies beneath the surface of the same Chanuka celebration. Yet the reading of the sedras of Vayeishev, Mikeitz, and Vayigash at the same time of the year that we observe Chanuka, cannot help but push these events together, despite their separation by time. So what do we do with this hodgepodge of different periods of Jewish History? We note the irony and we hopefully resolve to do something positive and constructive to turn the irony into a neat picture of the Geula. The rededication of the Beit HaMikdash should not be followed - so soon or at all - with a fast day that is related to Churban Beit HaMikdash. The Chanuka story and celebration should be followed by, "and the Jewish people lived happily ever after, in Eretz Yisrael with the Torah as its guide and Life." And that sequence will, IY"H in the future, become fact when the prophecy of Zecharya of the fast days becoming Yamim Tovim comes to fruition. Fasting a week after Chanuka, on the other hand, brings home the point that although we've come a long way, we have a long way still to go. What we want is for Chanuka and what it represents, to stay with us, and that the Fasts of Churban should go away. That can and will happen when we learn all of the lessons - positive and negative - of Jewish History and the Jewish Calendar. [The Parshat Vayigash Homepage]
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