The Weekly Mission: Parshat Vayeishev
Yaakov’s role in the Torah has seemingly now been placed on the back burner, so-to-speak. As the Torah states, he is now a man who is “settled.” He fulfilled his mission of bringing the 12 tribes into existence, essentially the progenitors of the Jewish people. Joseph was someone who Yaakov loved dearly. Yaakov invested more time into Joseph than he did for his other sons. Joseph stayed close with his father and learned the secrets of HaShem’s world with him.
As we see in this week’s parsha, Joseph, like the other leaders in the Torah, quarrels with his brothers. Joseph provokes his brothers by telling them his dreams, which indicate that they will one day bow down to him. This bothered them greatly, and thus, they sold him into slavery. Joseph is sold into slavery and then sent down to Egypt. (Please note, this is a very simple summary of this story--- there is a lot more to be discussed and analyzed further).
While in Egypt, Joseph, like the rest of our forefathers, was blessed with the ability to rise to the top. Joseph went from being a slave to becoming a master basically overnight. Also, Joseph fights a battle with his evil inclination when his master’s wife desperately tries to seduce him into lying with her. When she grabs Joseph’s garb, the Midrash says that he saw his father’s face and he ran.
Nobody likes rejection, so his master’s wife sought revenge by saying that Joseph tried seducing her.
Consequently:
“Joseph’s master took him and placed him in the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined—and he remained there in prison (39:20).”
In those days, there was absolutely no reason why Joseph’s master shouldn’t have killed him. Clearly the master did not want him dead, but wanted to suppress him and prevent him from living in harmony. Joseph, regardless of his struggles, rises to the top. Regardless of the pain, frustration and the persecution, HaShem remained with him. Joseph knew that even though he was abandoned and betrayed by his brothers, his master’s wife and practically everyone he loved, he knew that HaShem was with him. Even when he was in a dungeon that seemed to be utter darkness, He felt the light of HaShem with him always.
The Holiday of Chanukah is exactly this. The Greeks hated and persecuted the Jews because they hated seeing the Jews in such simcha (happiness). The Maccabim were few in number, and weak in form, but they had HaShem with them. They fought against the Greeks because they knew that HaShem was with them even where there was no menorah burning. They knew that HaShem would redeem them.
During the times of Chanukah, the Jewish people were put in prison just like Joseph, and just like Joseph, they all said, “You think this is going to bring me down? You want me to change my name to Christina? You want me to lose my reason for existence? Heck no! I am a Jew, and HaShem loves me and wants me to fight through this hardship!”
Joseph, like the Jews of the Chanukah story, showed pride. His commitments to HaShem allowed him to rise to the top in Egypt and eventually save an entire civilization.
Some of the mitzvot of Chanukah include bringing praise for G-d and expressing Jewish pride. Since we were suppressed and brutally slaughtered by the Greeks, we counter this by lighting a menorah, singing songs and bringing light into the world. Lighting candles in your window and showing the world that G-d is with you is the biggest tikkun (fixing/rectification) for the Jews who have been murdered throughout history.
We should all be blessed to see G-d in our lives even in the darkest times. We should be able to realize that, we too, are like the maccabee soldiers. We too have the potential to change the state of this world. To do so, we must realize that HaShem is with us even in the darkest places and the darkest phases.
This week I will try to: light the menorah within me. I will realize that HaShem will liberate us once again, even though it seems so dark. I will be like Joseph; I will fight and conquer the detrimental flaws of my environment even when no one else will. I will realize that it only takes one candle to light a room, just as it took one person (Joseph) to save a civilization.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
Edited by: Rachael B. Goldberg
As we see in this week’s parsha, Joseph, like the other leaders in the Torah, quarrels with his brothers. Joseph provokes his brothers by telling them his dreams, which indicate that they will one day bow down to him. This bothered them greatly, and thus, they sold him into slavery. Joseph is sold into slavery and then sent down to Egypt. (Please note, this is a very simple summary of this story--- there is a lot more to be discussed and analyzed further).
While in Egypt, Joseph, like the rest of our forefathers, was blessed with the ability to rise to the top. Joseph went from being a slave to becoming a master basically overnight. Also, Joseph fights a battle with his evil inclination when his master’s wife desperately tries to seduce him into lying with her. When she grabs Joseph’s garb, the Midrash says that he saw his father’s face and he ran.
Nobody likes rejection, so his master’s wife sought revenge by saying that Joseph tried seducing her.
Consequently:
“Joseph’s master took him and placed him in the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined—and he remained there in prison (39:20).”
In those days, there was absolutely no reason why Joseph’s master shouldn’t have killed him. Clearly the master did not want him dead, but wanted to suppress him and prevent him from living in harmony. Joseph, regardless of his struggles, rises to the top. Regardless of the pain, frustration and the persecution, HaShem remained with him. Joseph knew that even though he was abandoned and betrayed by his brothers, his master’s wife and practically everyone he loved, he knew that HaShem was with him. Even when he was in a dungeon that seemed to be utter darkness, He felt the light of HaShem with him always.
The Holiday of Chanukah is exactly this. The Greeks hated and persecuted the Jews because they hated seeing the Jews in such simcha (happiness). The Maccabim were few in number, and weak in form, but they had HaShem with them. They fought against the Greeks because they knew that HaShem was with them even where there was no menorah burning. They knew that HaShem would redeem them.
During the times of Chanukah, the Jewish people were put in prison just like Joseph, and just like Joseph, they all said, “You think this is going to bring me down? You want me to change my name to Christina? You want me to lose my reason for existence? Heck no! I am a Jew, and HaShem loves me and wants me to fight through this hardship!”
Joseph, like the Jews of the Chanukah story, showed pride. His commitments to HaShem allowed him to rise to the top in Egypt and eventually save an entire civilization.
Some of the mitzvot of Chanukah include bringing praise for G-d and expressing Jewish pride. Since we were suppressed and brutally slaughtered by the Greeks, we counter this by lighting a menorah, singing songs and bringing light into the world. Lighting candles in your window and showing the world that G-d is with you is the biggest tikkun (fixing/rectification) for the Jews who have been murdered throughout history.
We should all be blessed to see G-d in our lives even in the darkest times. We should be able to realize that, we too, are like the maccabee soldiers. We too have the potential to change the state of this world. To do so, we must realize that HaShem is with us even in the darkest places and the darkest phases.
This week I will try to: light the menorah within me. I will realize that HaShem will liberate us once again, even though it seems so dark. I will be like Joseph; I will fight and conquer the detrimental flaws of my environment even when no one else will. I will realize that it only takes one candle to light a room, just as it took one person (Joseph) to save a civilization.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
Edited by: Rachael B. Goldberg
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