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Judaism
ASK THE RABBI
Looking for answers? Send your question to Rabbi@RabbiSchochet.com
LIBERAL FAKE NEWS
Dear Rabbi
I attended the big Menorah lighting in Trafalgar Square in previous years and always found it so uplifting. Thousands of Jews gathering in front of a magnificent Menorah was always beautiful and made me feel proud to be Jewish. I was always under the impression that this was a Chabad spearheaded event so imagine my surprise when I read online that the director of Liberal Judaism was invited to light the Menorah this year. According to their own announcement, it is the first time that a woman, and a liberal rabbi was invited to light the menorah at the ceremony at Trafalgar Square. Pardon the pun – but can you enlighten me on this?
Debra
Dear Debra
First, to be clear, nobody ever heard let alone had anything to do with public Menorahs. It is a Chabad innovation already for decades. Of course, over time, it became increasingly popular, so other organisations jumped on the bandwagon and to one extent or another took it over. So, whatever happens there, cannot be blamed on Chabad.
More to the point, for me the most surprising element is the blatant misinformation. Firstly, there was no ceremony. There were no adverts, there were no people; just a smidgen of those who gathered for a quick photo-op with the mayor. There was one candle being held by the “rabbi” in question, nothing to do with the main Menorah there, and what’s worse is that she recited a blessing over the candle. The reason I say that it is worse is because – get this - it was apparently all pre-recorded according to my sources – so it wasn’t even Chanukah yet. Essentially, everything about that news item was apparently fake news.
To be sure, it might be better described as the first time anyone recited the Chanukah blessing over a candle in Trafalgar Square a few days before Chanukah. Now, that would be a first!
HOW CAN I PROTECT MY SON?
Dear Rabbi
This might not be a question suitable for your cross mix of readers but I am hoping you can answer me. I am sending my son soon to a Yeshiva in Israel. My problem is that I recently discovered that he’s figured out how to bypass our computer filter and for the past year or more has been exploring the open web under our noses. I am wondering how to deal with this in the here-and-now, as well as how to strengthen him so that I can safely send him out of town next year. While the Yeshiva will certainly have rules in place to limit availability, I believe the world is wide open everywhere and the only thing that will keep him in check is his own self-control. I fear for the risks that presents and wonder whether you can offer any advice that might help put my mind at ease.
Shlomo
Dear Shlomo
Per this week’s Torah portion, Jacob is reluctant to send his youngest son Benjamin down to Egypt, “lest an accident occurs to him on the way.” Benjamin is also referred to as a “lad,” even as a quick calculation suggests that he would have been at least thirty at the time. The point is that he was always sheltered, cocooned in his father’s home. Stepping out into the world would pose obvious danger.
That’s the reality every parent faces when sheltering their kids for so many years, then having to send them into the big wide world. And the concerns extend well beyond just fears about technology. As to your specific question, filters are essential but that should be consistent in the home environment and not limited to your son’s phone, otherwise he’ll feel singled out and resent that. Some filters enable parents to see whatever their child is accessing with their technology as well. There is always the option of a “kosher phone” which restricts any access to the web. Shouldn’t all Yeshivas and Seminaries insist on only kosher phones? Needless to say some will always smuggle in a smartphone, especially a young man who’s already spent time figuring out how to bypass filters at home.
To that end, open conversation is essential. To be sure, overemphasis on the perils that lurk out there can be counterproductive. It’s about finding the right words and striking the right balance. Rather than a wagging finger and a admonitory speech which will likely have the opposite effect; some kind words and establishing mutual trust will go a long way to encouraging a young man or woman to be more honest with their parents about their struggles. Above all else, keep praying for his wellbeing and enduring nachas.
A FREUDIAN CHANUKAH PRESENT
Dear Rabbi
I enjoyed your explanation about Chanukah gifts and more to the point so did my kids. By that I mean that I never did believe in the whole idea before, but having read what you wrote it resonated with me. So this year my kids are the recipients of some Chanukah presents, and in exchange they will be doing some extra Jewish study projects. I thought you might want to know the impact you had on one family.
Rosanna Dear Rosanna
Thank you for that feedback. My wife told me the other day; “Yitzchak. I had a dream last night, that you gave me this wonderful gift box for Chanukah and inside was a beautiful gold necklace. What do you suppose it means?” I smiled wryly and said, “You’ll find out tonight.” Sure enough after candle lighting Tuesday night, I handed her a beautiful gift wrapped box which she opened with glee. Inside, was a book, “Freud: The Meaning of Dreams.” You can’t please everyone. Wishing a truly happy, illuminating and meaningful Chanukah to one and all.
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Pirkei Avot
Rabbi Elazar of Bartotha said: give to Him of that which is His, for you and that which is yours is His; and it says similarly with regards to King David: “for everything comes from You, and from Your own hand have we given you”. Rabbi Jacob said: if one is studying while walking on the road and interrupts his study and says, “how fine is this tree! or how fine is this newly ploughed field!” the Torah accounts it to him as if he was mortally guilty.”
Whilst the first half of this Mishna is readily understood, the second half demands explanation. Why would someone who is in awe of G-d’s creation be held accountable for praising G-d whilst in the middle of Torah study? Two explanations are offered. The first, as explained by Rabbi Avraham Katz is that it is comparable to one who receives a diamond presented in a cushioned gift box from a king. When accepting the gift, the person exclaims, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for the cushion!”. This is in fact a disgrace for one is ignoring the purpose of the gift for the surrounding detail. The Torah is likewise the purpose of creation and is in fact the blueprint of the world. If one is engaging in Torah and fails to appreciate this and instead gets carried away by the peripheral detail, they are held accountable.
A further explanation given is that one must not “interrupt Torah” to appreciate nature. Our appreciation of the incredibly meticulously designed world we live in must come within the framework of Torah. It is a shame to read well-written science books which repeatedly refer to “wondrous” and “miraculous” workings of the human body, for example, but which then blatantly deny that these “miracles” are a result of chance, not design.
We see with King David himself how this Mishna’s message ended up killing him. King David asked Hashem to tell him when he would die so he could properly repent. Whilst this is not allowed, Hashem did compromise somewhat. As David was thoroughly righteous, Hashem in His mercy agreed to tell him that he would die on a Shabbat, but not which one. David made sure to always learn Torah each shabbat so the Angel of Death couldn’t take him, yet the Malach Hamaves made a noise outside and David got up to go outside and investigate the noise. This allowed him to be killed. It’s a very high level to learn non- stop but King David tried it and nearly succeeded. The King of Israel truly lives forever! Wishing all our readers a very happy Chanukah!
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Torah from Israel
Shabbat Chanukah: Greeks, Jews and the Value of Charity
BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN
About 200 years prior to the Chanukah miracle, Alexander the Great marched upon Yerushalayim, designing to capture this renowned capital. Encountering the Cohen Gadol named Shimon Hazadik, Alexander immediately recognized this man as the saint who had visited his dreams prior to each Greek military victory. Deferring to this holy man, Alexander spared Yerushalayim, opting instead to penalize the local Samarians who had been harassing the Jews.
This “chance encounter” between a Jewish Priest and a Greek general was characteristic of a broader cultural exchange between Athens and Yerushalayim. As ancient Greece expanded their culture and their global influence, they looked to the cradle of prophecy- the city of Yerushalayim- for eternal truths. The Chanukah military faceoff was just a small instalment of a larger confrontation. During the actual Chanukah battles, this encounter turned violent as the Northern Greeks attempted to crush our religion. However, in the centuries prior to the battles, the encounter between the two cultures was nonviolent, as Greece looked to Yerushalayim for knowledge and religious truth.
Though Alexander paid great honor to Shimon Hazadik, unfortunately he didn’t read the Mishnah which this cohen had authored. Had he studied Rebbi Shimon’s well-known proverb, he may have discovered a vital religious value sorely deficient in Greek philosophy. In a well-known saying, Rebbi Shimon Hazadik delineated three pivots upon which the world is “founded”: Torah study, prayer and chesed. Greek culture accounted for the first two, but was oblivious to the third. In the 3rd century, about one hundred years prior to the Chanukah miracles, the Greek King of Egypt named Ptolemy II, authorized the translation of the Torah into Greek- once again reflecting the great thirst in ancient Greece for Torah muse. The Greeks realized that Torah contained eternal “Heavenly” truths inaccessible through scientific inquiry. To study these prophetic truths, it must first be translated to Greek. In a more general sense, beyond the study of Torah, Greece appreciated the importance of philosophical study, acquisition of knowledge, and the inquiry into the human condition. Likewise, Greece acknowledged the value of prayer, offering praise to their gods or petitioning them for support. The “general” concepts - study and prayer- were familiar to the Greeks.
Unfortunately, ancient Greece placed little value in chesed, or charity for the poor or needy. For all their grand visions about an enlightened civilization, altruism was almost completely lacking. As Greek culture rapidly advanced across the world it promoted a model of religion and of society devoid of charity. By defeating the Greeks, the Jews protected the world from this fraudulent ideology. Chanukah assured that charity would always sit at the heart of the religious experience.
To be more precise, charity did exist in ancient Greece, but in a very different form. The Greek word “philanthrôpia” doesn’t refer to assistance to the poor or the underprivileged. Instead, it refers to hand-outs to socio-economic peers: friends, family members or guests. It was more hospitality than charity. Specific care for the needy or support for the impoverished isn’t a feature of Greek “philanthropy”.
Greek charity was also driven by very different motives. Generosity to others wasn’t motivated by selflessness, but rather by what could be acquired “in return” for generous deeds. Kindness was reduced to a transactional “exchange” rather than unselfish charity. By performing acts of charity, a person could achieve honour, fame, social status and prestige. Charity was, in reality, a personal pursuit of social standing rather than a noble act of relieving suffering. Shockingly, many Greek philosophers encouraged charity only in situations of actual reciprocity. The 8th Century Greek poet named Hesiod wrote: “Give to him who gives but do not give to him who does not give [back].” Giving to others purely for reciprocal benefit perverts charity into a selfish and greedy practice.
Not unsurprisingly, there is little record in ancient Greece of organised charities or charitable societies allocating public funds to the poor. In the Greek ‘polis’ state poor people were viewed as inferior in the eyes of the gods who instead celebrated strength and power. The comfortable station of the rich was evidence that they, and not the poor, had been preferred by the gods. Why should humans shower mercy on those who the gods disliked? The gods had little interest in the weak and the feeble, so why should humans show them any kindness?
Ancient Greece made great strides in science, art, philosophy, mathematics. Additionally, they were the first to craft a semi-free democratic state, paving the way for modern democracies. However, The Greeks could not imagine a society which cared for the weak and lent a hand to those who could not support themselves. Greece was a cold and efficient state, in which the anguished cries of the needy were unheeded by the gods and ignored by humans.
Likewise, the Greeks they could not imagine a divine Being who was all-powerful, but also compassionate and caring for the weak. To their credit the Greeks liberated the human imagination from the folly of paganism. They no longer worshipped nature or metal images. Science replaced darkness and logic supplanted the world of black magic. Religiously, the Greeks were veering in the right direction- toward a world of monotheism. Yet their image of the divine was bereft of empathy and benevolence. By defeating the Greeks, Judaism preserved the vital role of chesed and charity within religion. The cold and uncaring societies of Greece would not become the norm. The impersonal and aloof gods of Greek mythology were discredited. The Chanukah triumph upheld the image of a caring and compassionate G-d. It preserved the centrality of chesed to our religious experience. The third leg upon which the world “rests” was safeguarded.
Greece envisioned a society built upon honorable ideals of democracy, honor, science and progress. Yet these noble ideas never trickled down to day-to–day behavior and to simple acts of kindness for the needy. Greece constructed a moral foundation for the “state”, but compassion and kindheartedness never inhabited their cities.
Ancient Greece is still alive in the modern world. We defeated their armies but their ideas still infiltrate the human imagination. The moral trap of Greece still ensnares modern man. The modern world has adopted numerous moral and social causes- from environmentalism to social equality to the defeat of bigotry and racism. These broad-scale movements are based on high-minded ethical values. Any desire to craft a better world for all its inhabitants is a noble calling. However, moral behaviour can’t be expressed solely in global or political agendas. Campaigning to change public opinion or to inspire policy changes is not equivalent to a life of compassion and kindness. Crafting a better “society” does not substitute for acts of charity and generosity to the “individuals” in our lives. Sadly, renowned social crusaders who launch grand reforms are often incapable of charity and morally sensitive behaviour. Don’t be trapped in ancient Greece. It is not sufficient to dream of a more democratic society or even a more prosperous world. Without charity our world turns cold and callous. Without kindness we no longer resemble our Creator.
The writer is a rabbi at Yeshivat Har Etzion/ Gush, a hesder yeshiva. He has smicha and a BA in computer science from Yeshiva University as well as a masters degree in English literature from the City University of New York.
Weekly Dvar Torah
FROM ERETZ YISRAEL
To Be Successful
BY SIVAN RAHAV MEIR
What is success? Once a year, as we read Parashat Mikeitz, we are reminded of a believing Jew living in a foreign culture – Yosef the tzaddik. As long as complete redemption has not arrived, most of us encounter many contradictions daily in our world of values. We live, study and work in settings where we do not feel entirely at home. Many of us can be inspired by the character of Yosef, so it is worth dwelling on every detail:
“Hashem was with Yosef, and he was a successful man; he stayed in the house of his Egyptian master.”
This passage raises in full force a modern question: Is it possible to combine success in working in a foreign environment with a strong Jewish identity? Note that the phrase that describes Yosef sounds as if it was derived this morning from the newspaper – “a successful man.” Usually, in modern culture, one who is rich, handsome, or famous is referred to as “successful.”
In the Torah, success is something else. A successful person connects success to the Source of success all the time. Even his Egyptian master knew how to attribute the success of Yosef – to G-d. Rashi writes: “The name of G-d was a familiar word in his mouth.” Everyone who knew Yosef heard from him about G-d! He did not attribute the success to himself – even strangers who came in contact with him immediately understood his identity.
The Midrash writes of Yosef, who was “whispering and coming in, whispering and going out.” Yosef would pray while at work, not forgetting for a moment where he came from and who he was. Yosef, who is in a completely foreign Egyptian culture, where it is more difficult to maintain spiritual independence; Yosef, who a short time ago was thrown into a pit by his brothers; Yosef, who has all the reasons and excuses to be angry with his family and maybe even assimilate – Yosef does not break away from his father’s house and identity.
And more than that: If he had faced hardship and bitterness in Egypt, it might have been more apparent to us that he was supposed to turn to G-d, but, even when he is advanced and very successful, he turns to G-d! It’s not easy to behave in such a manner. But Yosef does, and it evokes respect in the non-Jewish environment around him.
This is a principle that is important to remember: Awe inspires awe. Once a candidate for vice president, Joe Lieberman is the Jew who has reached the highest status in American politics. In his book about Shabbat (that was recently translated into Hebrew), he writes that, in particular, keeping Shabbat aroused great appreciation for him. He would stop the presidential race once every seven days, and people around him praised him for standing by his principles. His message to the younger generation, in America and worldwide, is huge: You do not have to give up your tradition to reach the top.
On the contrary, tradition is part of what you bring with you to the role. Lieberman summed it up when he wrote: “When asked: ‘How can you stop all your work as a senator to keep Shabbat every week?’ I answer: ‘How could I do all my work as a senator if I did not stop to keep Shabbat every week?’”
May we all have such success.Yosef would pray while at work, not forgetting for a moment where he came from and who he was.
Sivan Rahav Meir is a popular Israeli media personality and World Mizrachi’s Scholar-in-Residence.
Mikeitz Sidra Summary
1ST ALIYA (KOHEN) – BEREISHIT 41:1-14
Pharaoh dreams that he is by the River Nile, from which seven healthy cows emerge. Seven lean cows follow them out of the river and consume them. Pharaoh then dreams about seven good ears of grain on a stalk, which are swallowed up by seven thin ears growing after them. Pharaoh’s magicians cannot interpret the dreams satisfactorily. The cupbearer, who had been imprisoned with Yosef, tells Pharaoh that Yosef interprets dreams. Pharaoh summons Yosef from prison.
2ND ALIYA (LEVI) – 41:15-38
Pharaoh relates both dreams to Yosef, who explains that there will be seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. He advises Pharaoh to appoint someone to oversee grain storage during the years of plenty.
3RD ALIYA (SHLISHI) – 41:39-52
Pharaoh appoints Yosef as viceroy of Egypt to implement his economic plan. Pharaoh gives Yosef his ring, dresses him in regal clothes, changes his name and gives him a lady called Asenat to marry. They have two sons, Menashe and Ephraim. Yosef organises mass grain storage during the seven years of plenty.
4TH ALIYA (REVI’I) – 41:53-42:1
The famine begins and the Egyptians are starving. Yosef sells them spare provisions. There is also a famine in Cana’an. Yaakov tells his sons, apart from Binyamin, to go to buy food in Egypt. The sons arrive in Egypt. Yosef recognises them but they do not recognise him. Yosef accuses them of spying and imprisons them; they will only be released after one of them goes to fetch Binyamin.
5TH ALIYA (CHAMISHI) – 42:19-43:15
Three days later, Yosef changes the conditions. One of the brothers must stay in prison; the others must go to Cana’an to bring Binyamin. Yosef imprisons Shimon and sends back the brothers with grain in their bags. Yosef also plants money in the bags. During their journey, Levi discovers the money in his bag and fears that Yosef will accuse them of theft (Rashi). The brothers arrive home and tell Yaakov their story. They discover that in fact each one of them has money ‘planted’ in his bag. Yaakov refuses to let Binyamin go. Yehuda persists, guaranteeing Binyamin’s safety. Yaakov finally agrees, telling them to take a tribute for Yosef, in addition to the original ‘planted money’ and payment for the new grain. Point to Consider: Why did Yosef specifically choose to imprison Shimon? (see Rashi to 42:24) instructs his chamberlain to invite his brothers to come in and eat a meal. Shimon is released. Yosef asks them if Yaakov is still alive. He identifies and blesses Binyamin. Overcome with emotion, Yosef rushes to his room, cries, composes himself, then returns and gives them all food. Yosef orders them to be sent home, but has his own silver goblet
‘planted’ in Binyamin’s sack. Yosef’s chamberlain chases after them, accusing them of stealing the goblet.
After denying the charge, they find the cup in Binyamin’s sack. They return to the palace. Yosef demands that Binyamin remain as his slave, allowing the others to leave. Yehuda says that they will all stay as slaves, not just Binyamin.
7TH ALIYA (SHEVI’I) – (BEMIDBAR 28:9-15)
The reading for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh is taken from parashat Pinchas and details the additional Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh offerings in the Temple.
HAFTARAH
Yehoshua was the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) at the time of the inauguration of the second Temple. The prophet Zecharia describes an angel warning Yehoshua to listen to God’s laws and perform the Temple services properly. The angel shows Yehoshua a Menorah with olive trees on either side of it, symbolising prosperity and spirituality.
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Mikeitz: What keeps us Jewish?
BY GAVRIEL COHN
Writing this week’s article posed several challenges. How could we possibly explain this troubling story? Yosef became, in his own words, “master over all of Egypt,” second only to Pharoah. His brothers then came to Egypt to buy food, due to the famine. Yosef (who they didn’t recognise) “spoke to them harshly” and set them several heart-wrenching challenges. Why? Furthermore, what messages could this sedra have for Chanukah? Are there any elaborate interpretative theories that we could advance to explain it?
R’ Joshua Berman of Bar Ilan University wrote a fascinating article explaining “the tension that Yosef experienced as a Hebrew, on the one hand, and as a prominent Egyptian, on the other – a tension between what we might call his host culture and his heritage culture.” Yosef, that “Hebrew youth,” was dragged out of Pharaoh’s dungeon, shaved (Semitic men were all bearded then), given an Egyptian name and an Egyptian wife from a politically prominent family; Pharaoh then “placed him in charge of all the land of Egypt.” Yosef even remarked how he had “forgotten all my hardships and all my father’s household.” He was an integrated Egyptian perhaps, embracing his “host culture.” Yet Yosef also remained loyal to his ancestral home land, referring to Egypt as “the land of my suffering.” So, there seems to be plenty of material in our sedra to link to Chanukah, when we mark the Jewish People’s tension with a foreign, Hellenistic culture. Perfect.
Yet perhaps all of this is missing the point. Arguably, no matter how high Yosef climbed up the Egyptian social ladder, how he far he was succeeded within his “host culture,” he never became lost in it; he never forgot his people. As the verses describing Yosef’s encounters with his family make clear, Yosef always possessed deep empathy towards them. Yosef bursted with both a palpable love towards his brothers and a searing pain at the tragedy of his situation: Yosef remained connected to his people. These passages are some of the most emotive in Sefer Bereshit:
“He turned away from them and wept, then returned to them and spoke to them; and he took Shimon from among them and imprisoned him before their eyes.”
“And Yosef hastened, for his mercy was stirred toward his brother and he wanted to weep; so, he went into the room and wept there. And he washed his face and came out, and he restrained himself and said, ‘Serve the food.’”
“And he fell on his brother Binyamin’s neck and wept, and Binyamin wept on his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and afterwards his brothers spoke with him.”
“And Yosef harnessed his chariot, and he went up to meet Israel, his father, to Goshen, and he appeared to him, and he fell on his neck, and he wept on his neck for a long time.”
So, Yosef remained emotionally bound to his family. Yet he wished that they would have the same feelings for him as he had for them. Perhaps, that was the whole purpose of the tests he set for his brothers. He was trying to make his brothers understand what they put him through, to feel his pain.
He imprisoned them for a few days (42:17), like when they threw him into the pit; he separated them from their brother, Shimon (42:19, 24), like when they tore him away from his family; he thrusted important possessions upon them, hiding money and his silver goblet in their sacks, to be either a blessing or a curse – perhaps like the coloured tunic he was given by his father, awarded to him without any choice. Furthermore, Yosef knew that the demands he made on his brothers, for them to bring Binyamin, would be difficult for them to ask of their father, despite the fact that they would have to - perhaps mirroring the dreams of Yosef’s youth, which Yosef felt compelled to share. Even though it pained him, Yosef desperately wanted his brothers to appreciate what they put him through, to feel what he felt, for them to have an affinity with him, like he had with them.
Yosef rose to unprecedented heights in Egypt. Pharaoh bestowed upon him almost unlimited power. Pharaoh even proclaimed to his subjects, “Go to Yosef, whatever he tells you, you should do!” Yet, Yosef’s inner life, his personality and emotional pulse, did not become marred by these foreign corridors of power. He didn’t become driven to become a ‘real Egyptian,’ to erase those deep feelings for his family or his origins. Instead, he did the opposite. On the inside, he remained totally connected to his family. He used his political position primarily to help his people. The only times in the Torah that Yosef, as viceroy, had an audience with Pharoah, he uses them to plead for his family: requesting permission for his brothers to settle in Goshen and to allow Yaakov to be buried in Canaan. He sees his life only in the context of his family and his people: “God has sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival and to sustain you for a momentous deliverance.” When he finally reveals himself to his brothers, he doesn’t even want his Egyptian courtiers to be present:
“Yosef could not bear all those standing beside him and he called out, ‘Take everyone away from me!’ So, no one stood with him when Yosef made himself known to his brothers. And he wept out loud… Yosef said to his brothers, ‘I am Yosef… please come closer to me,’ and they drew closer. And he said, ‘I am your brother Yosef, whom you sold into Egypt.’”
So, ultimately, remaining loyal to Judaism and the Jewish People (and this is our sedra’s link to Chanukah), isn’t just a question of navigating our “host culture with our Jewish heritage” or of rejecting foreign philosophies (although these are certainly important demands). Rather it’s about having that unbreakable bond and connection, deep inside us, to our family and our people – just as Yosef had. Furthermore, we don’t need any “elaborate interpretative theories” to understand Yosef’s actions in this week’s portion. He simply loved his brothers and wanted them to share that same affinity for him. Despite how distant he had become from his family, how far he was culturally from the old country, and how powerful he now stood up – in control of the world’s economy – his only wish, which he whispered lovingly, choking back the tears, was “please, brothers, come closer.” That is the secret of maintaining our Jewishness. Happy Chanukah!”
Gavriel Cohn is an informal educator at Immanuel College, Bushey. If you have any feedback, please get in touch! gavcohn@ gmail.com.
Mikeitz
RABBI DR RAYMOND APPLE
THE LIFTING OF THE DREAMS
This sidra and last week’s tell us a great deal about dreams. The dreams are mostly concerned with events and phenomena in Egypt and reflect times of slavery and oppression. Living all day in circumstances of persecution the Hebrews almost automatically dreamed of persecution.
But the hard times are never the end of the story. No-one merely dreams that the future will always be a black nightmare. There is always the glimmer of hope, of the eventual coming of light when the darkness will roll away and a great destiny will unfold. That is Jewish history – the gloom that lifts and the glory that emerges.
The situation today is that Jewish population figures are on the rise, Jewish observance is increasing, and Jewish loyalty is deepening. This is our response to antisemitism and anti-Israelism. Chief Rabbi Hertz used to say, “The answer to more antisemitism is more Semitism.”
WAS JOSEPH AN AVRECH?
When Joseph went by in his chariot in Egypt, the court officials called out Avrech!
If this word comes from berech, a knee, it is a call for homage, “Kneel in obeisance!” (cf. Gen. 24:11).
The view of the Talmud (BB 4a), together with Onkelos and Rashi, is that it means “Father (av) of the king (rach)” suggesting “a royal statesman”.
Rabbinic usage in the halachic Midrash, the Sifrei, says avrech is a Talmudic student; in that sense the word combines “young in years, old in wisdom” – av b’chochmah, rach b’shanim.
There are two categories of yeshivah student, the unmarried bachur and the married avrech. The second category act as role models for the first. One of the great achievements of the contemporary Jewish world is the proliferation of yeshivot and the constant increase in numbers of bachurim and avrechim.
The alarmists who snoot about how bad things are on the Jewish scene have not realised (or prefer to deny) that our great growth industry is Jewish learning.
A PRISON SENTENCE
Joseph was very trusting. He thought that people are grateful and return favours.
In prison he did the royal cup-bearer a good turn and asked the latter to keep him in mind and mention him to Pharaoh (Gen. 40:15). A reasonable request? The Midrash (B’reshit Rabba 89:3) does not think so.
Its view is that because of the two things Joseph asked (“remember me” and “mention me to Pharaoh”), two further years were added by G-d to the time Joseph spent in prison. This explains why the sidra commences, “And it happened at the end of two full years…” (Gen. 41:1). But why should Joseph be punished in this way?
The Midrash quotes the Psalmist, “Happy is the man who makes the Lord his trust and does not turn to the arrogant” (Psalm 40:5).
The Natziv (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin) of Volozhin (1734-1802), author of the commentary Ha’amek Davar, says this shows that one should not rely on human beings alone when one needs help, nor rely solely on miracles from G-d.
Someone who seeks a way out of a difficult spot should not fail to pray for Divine support, and often G-d will answer by sending an earthly agent to work on His behalf. But if one tries to manage without G-d entirely, human beings may prove to be a broken reed.
The point is beautifully illustrated in a story told of David Ben Gurion and Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog.
In the tense days of the Israeli War of Independence, it is said that Ben Gurion came to the rabbi and asked, “Why does G-d not send us some miracles to get us out of this crisis?” Rav Herzog is reported to have answered, “Prime Minister, He has. You are one of G-d’s miracles!”
Rabbi Raymond Apple was for many years Australia’s highest profile rabbi and the leading spokesman on Judaism. After serving congregations in London, Rabbi Apple was chief minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, for 32 years. He also held many public roles, particularly in the fields of chaplaincy, interfaith dialogue and Freemasonry, and is the recipient of several national and civic honours. Now retired, he lives in Jerusalem and blogs at http://www.oztorah.com
BY RABBI SHMUEL REICHMAN
There was once a public debate between a rabbi and an astrophysicist regarding the nature of our universe. The astrophysicist, representing the atheist perspective, confidently approached the podium and began addressing the audience: “I don’t know much about Judaism, but I believe I can sum it up in a few words: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” With that, he went on to detail how physicists could now adequately explain the nature of our universe, without the need for religion. When he finished his speech, it was the rabbi’s turn to address the audience and represent the religious approach. With a sparkle in his eye, he turned to the crowd, and said: “I don’t know much about astrophysics, but I believe I can sum it up in a few words: twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are.” With that, he went on to deliver the rest of his speech.
THE AGE-OLD DEBATE
Spiritual debate has been a recurring phenomenon since the beginning of time. Chanukah is when we tap into the spiritual debate between the Jews and the Greeks, as the Greeks specifically attempted to destroy our spiritual way of life. They aimed to cut off our connection with Hashem and replace it with the worship of the natural, physical world. Yavan, the Hebrew name for the Greeks, means quicksand (Tehillim 69:3)- the Greeks sought to “drown” us in their secular culture, replacing spirituality with atheism and hedonism. The Midrash says that the Greeks attempted to darken our eyes- “hichshichah eineihem” (Bereishis Rabbah 2:4). Darkness represents a lack of clarity, the inability to perceive true form. Physical darkness prevents physical clarity, spiritual darkness prevents spiritual clarity. This was the Greek attack on the Jewish People: a distortion of truth, a darkening of knowledge and perception. For this reason, the Jewish People went to war against the mighty Greek army, and to this day we carry on that fight against Greek culture, a culture that we view as damaging and antithetical to Judaism. GREEK CULTURE
However, if we take a deeper look into Jewish literature, we find a strikingly different picture of the Greek nation and their culture. In Parshas Noach, Noach blesses his two sons, Shem and Yefes, with a seemingly peculiar bracha: “Yaft Elokim l’Yefes, v’yishkon b’ohalei Shem,” Hashem will grant beauty to Yefes, and he (Yefes) will dwell within the tents of Shem. Yefes is the precursor to the Greeks, and Shem to the Jews. This seemingly paints the Greeks in a positive light, as a beautiful nation fitting to dwell within the framework and boundaries of Judaism. In a similar vein, the Gemara (Megillah 9b) states that despite the general prohibition of translating the Torah into different languages, it is permissible to translate the Torah into Greek due to the beauty of the language. According to both of these sources, it seems as though Greek culture does not contradict Judaism, but is meant in some way to complement it, harmonizing with Jewish ideology. How can we understand this contradiction? In order to explain it, we must first develop a deep spiritual principle.
THE SPIRITUAL-PHYSICAL RELATIONSHIP
How do we understand and perceive Hashem? Is Hashem within time and space, limited to this world alone, as Pantheists believe? Or is Hashem completely transcendent, beyond time, space, and this physical world, as many of the ancient philosophers believed?
The Jewish approach, as explained by the Rambam, Maharal, Ramchal, and others, is a beautifully nuanced blend of these two approaches. Hashem is transcendent, completely beyond our physical world of time and space, and yet, He is also immanent, within our physical world. This principle applies to all spirituality; we believe that the spiritual and transcendent is deeply connected to the limited and physical world. In other words, our physical world is a projection and emanation of a deeper, spiritual reality. This is the meaning behind the famous Midrash, “Istakel bi’oraisa, u’bara alma”, Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world (Bereishis Rabbah 1:1). This means that the physical world is an emanation and expression of the Torah, the spiritual root of existence. To give an analogy, imagine a projector: the image you see on the screen is emanating from the projector. The projector and film are the source, the image on the screen is the expression. Similarly, each and every one of us was once a zygote, half and male and half a female genetic code. From that single cell a fully developed and expressed human being ultimately manifested. The same is true regarding the physical world, it stems from a spiritual root, a transcendent dimension.
Thus, we are able to understand and experience the spiritual through the physical, as the two are intrinsically connected. If you’re wondering how to understand this concept, consider the way other human beings experience, relate to, and understand you. All they have ever seen is your physical body. They’ve never seen your thoughts, your consciousness, or your emotions. The only way they can understand you is by relating to how you express yourself and your internal world through your physical body. Through your words, actions, facial expressions, and body language, other people experience what’s going on inside of your body, inside of your head, inside of you.
The same is true regarding our experience of Hashem and the spiritual. We can’t see spirituality, only physicality. We must therefore use the physical to connect back to the spiritual root.
THE BATTLE OF CHANUKAH
The Greeks sought to uproot this Jewish perspective, to detach the physical world from its higher root. They claimed that human beings have no connection to anything higher than the physical world itself, and that it’s therefore impossible to connect to Hashem. As the Ramban explains (Ramban Al Ha’Torah, Vayikra 16:8), the Greeks believed only that which the human intellect could grasp. Anything that requires spiritual sensitivity, that transcends rational proof alone, was dismissed as false. Even the Greeks G-ds were glorified humans- as anything that transcended the physical, human world was dismissed. In essence, the Greeks served themselves.
THE JEWISH PERSPECTIVE
The Jewish approach is much more nuanced. We embrace human intellect and reason but are aware of a realm that transcends it. We recognize the wisdom of science, medicine, psychology, mathematics, and other forms of worldly wisdom, but also recognize a higher form of wisdom, the Torah. As the Vilna Gaon explains, where logic and human intellect ends, Jewish wisdom begins. The reasoning behind this principle is based on the aforementioned idea: the physical world is an expression of the spiritual world. Just as the physical world stems from a higher, spiritual realm, physical wisdom is an expression of a higher form of wisdom, the Torah. While the wisdom of the physical world is true, it stems from a higher truth, the Torah. Torah is the absolute foundation and root; all physical wisdom is its expression.
THE IDEAL RELATIONSHIP
The ideal is for the physical wisdom of the Greeks and Yefes to reside within the tent of Shem, for science and the wisdom of the world to be in harmony with Torah. The problem occurred only once the Greeks denied the existence of anything beyond their independent intellectual wisdom. This was the battle of Chanukah. The Greeks tried to destroy the Torah, which contradicted their ideology, and the Jews were forced to fight for their beliefs, to defend their spiritual connection with Hashem and the transcendent wisdom of Torah.
Rav Hutner explains that Chanukah is the chag of Torah Sheba’al Peh, the Oral Torah. Chanukah is the one holiday with no source in Torah Shebiksav. Unlike Purim, it does not even have a Megillah; it is completely of Rabbinic origin. Furthermore, it doesn’t even have a Mishna; the only canonized source for Chanukah is a few Gemaras which mention Chanukah in an almost coincidental manner. Why is this so?
Chanukah represents the battle against the Greeks. The Greeks claimed that the only source of truth is the human intellect; nothing transcends human logic. The Jews not only showed that there is a transcendent source of truth, but took it one step further. When done appropriately, with humility and proper recognition of the Torah’s transcendent root, the limited human being can actually use his human intellect to participate in the creation of Torah. This is the unbelievable nature of Torah Sheba’al Peh: human beings are given the ability to participate and even create novel Torah ideas and insights. The greatest victory over the Greeks wasn’t to simply prove that transcendent Torah exists; it was to reveal that even the human intellect can connect to Torah, even limited human beings can connect to the infinite.
OUR PLACE OF CONNECTION
The Greeks tried to spiritually destroy our Beis Ha’Mikdash, the point of connection to the transcendent, where Hashem most intimately connects to this physical world. After our victory on Chanukah, we reignited the flame of that spiritual building, and every year since, we must reignite that same flame within our own homes; we must inaugurate our own personal Beis Ha’mikdash.
Every day, we get to choose whether we’ll become further entrenched in secular and Greek culture, or if we’ll build our connection to the infinite, the transcendent, and carry the message of Chanukah deep within our hearts. Our life is like building a personal Beis Ha’Mikdash, building an ever-deeper and ever-closer relationship with Hashem. It’s the result of every brick we lay down; every day is like another brick, another opportunity to add to our eternal home, our eternal self, our eternal existence.
Rabbi Shmuel Reichman is an author, educator, speaker, and coach who has lectured internationally on topics of Torah thought, Jewish medical ethics, psychology, and leadership. He is the founder and CEO of Self-Mastery Academy, the transformative online self-development course based on the principles of high-performance psychology and Torah. After obtaining his Bachelors degree from Yeshiva University, he received Semikha from RIETS, a Masters degree in Jewish Education from Azrieli, and a Masters degree in Jewish Thought from Revel. He then spent a year studying at Harvard as an Ivy Plus Exchange Scholar. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Chicago. To find more inspirational content from Rabbi Reichman, to contact him, or to learn more about Self-Mastery Academy, visit his website: ShmuelReichman.com
