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NOVEMBER 25, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Chanukah and Yosef’s Dreams The Amazing Allusion to the Forty-Four Candles BY RABBI DANIEL GLATSTEIN
R
av Yosef Engel teaches an idea that is rooted in the Zohar, stating that all the bracha and happenings of a given week are latent in the koach, power, of the preceding Shabbos. Chanukah, therefore, draws its strength, kedusha, and bracha from the Shabbos immediately preceding it. This is usually the Shabbos on which we read Parshas Vayeishev. We would then expect Parshas Vayeishev to contain some compelling allusions to Chanukah. Let’s investigate Parshas Vayeishev and try to discover the remazim to Chanukah contained therein.
Yosef’s Dreams
The beginning of the parsha describes the dreams of Yosef HaTzaddik. In the first dream, he was in the field gathering bundles of grain, and his bundle was standing tall and erect. The bundles of his various family members bowed down to his bundle. Yosef then has a second dream in which the sun, the moon, and eleven stars all bow down to him. While a cursory reading of the parsha seems to yield that Yosef had two dreams, a closer analysis of the pesukim reveals that, in fact, this is not the case. The pasuk states, “Yosef dreamt a dream which he told to his brothers, and they hated him even more” (Bereishis 37:5). The next verse states that he told his brothers to listen to his dream, which he then describes to them. “Hear, if you please, this dream that I dreamt: Behold! We were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, when, behold! — my sheaf arose and also remained standing; then behold! — your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf” (ibid. vs. 6-7). The pesukim seem to indicate that there was an additional dream, the details of which are not revealed to us. If only one dream was being referred to, then the pasuk should have read, “And he told his brothers, saying,” as they would only begin to hate him once he shared the details of the dream. From the fact that the Torah tells us, “Yosef dreamt a dream which he told to his brothers, and they hated him even more” and only then the Torah relates that Yosef said, “Hear, if you please, this dream…” it seems clear that the dream that the Torah enumerates is not the original dream that contributed to their dislike of him. This idea is further supported by the fact that
the Torah continues, “And they hated even more — because of his dreams and because of his talk” (ibid. v. 8). This newfound hatred, this increase in their dislike, is prompted by his dreams – plural. Yet, up to this point, the Torah had only related the details of one dream — that of the bundles. This is yet another inference that up to this point Yosef had, in fact, shared at least one additional dream. Thus, after we read the details of his dream about the stars, we see that Yosef had three dreams.
The Missing Dream
These questions are raised by Rabbeinu Ovadiah M’Bartenura, and he answers by providing us with the details of the missing dream. In Parshas Vayechi, we read that after Yaakov Avinu’s passing and subsequent burial in the Me’aras HaMachpelah, the brothers were very worried, as they thought that now that Yaakov was no longer alive, Yosef would seek to take his revenge for their having sold him as a slave. Yosef is quick to comfort his brothers, and he offers them assurance that he will not seek to cause
them any harm at all, saying, “’So now, fear not — I will sustain you and your young ones.’ Thus, he comforted them and spoke to their heart” (Bereishis 50:21). The Gemara informs us that Yosef consoled his brothers by advancing a kal vachomer, an a fortiori argument: “If ten flames could not extinguish one flame, then how could one single flame possibly extinguish ten others?” When Yosef — the one flame — was dominated by his brothers — the ten flames— they had sought to kill him but were unsuccessful. Now that they are all under Yosef’s domain, he, as a single flame, would definitely not be able to harm them. Rashi cites this Gemara to explain how Yosef consoled his brothers. Yosef’s parable of candles is curious. Why flames? Why not any other example? Of all the myriad examples he could have used, he chose candles. Why? The Bartenura explains that Yosef did not simply just choose a random parable. He was referring to his first dream — the dream referenced in Parshas Vayeishev, whose details are not specified
