 Torah Thoughts
This week we read the Torah portion
"Mikeitz" (Genesis 41-44:17).
It contains 146 verses and no commandments.
Since it is also Chanukah, we read a special portion of
the Torah in addition to the weekly portion.
MAFTIR
(Numbers 7) Describes the offerings brought by
the leaders of the twelve tribes during the dedication ceremony of the
completed Tabernacle. The Hebrew word for “dedication (ceremony)” is
“Chanukah”.
The festival of Chanukah celebrates the rededication of
the Temple
after its defilement by the Greeks and their pagan culture.
HAFTARA
This week we read a special Haftara for Chanukah, Zechariah
2:14-4:7. (This is the same Haftara that is read for the Torah portion of
“Beha’alotecha”.)
The Haftara alludes to the inauguration (“Chanukah”) of
the Menorah of the rebuilt second Temple when
the Jews returned to the Land
of Israel from the
darkness of the Babylonian exile. The Haftara opens with a reference to a
future redemption when the nations of the world will recognize Israel's
special status.
Zechariah describes his vision of the high priest,
Joshua, standing before G-d, being prosecuted by Satan for not rebuking his
sons for marrying gentile women while in exile (the sin symbolized by the
filthy garments worn by Joshua). G-d Himself defends Joshua by referring to
him as a "firebrand plucked from the fire" i.e. the hardship and
suffering and spiritual damage caused by the exile inevitably led to his
predicament. The angel of G-d removes Joshua's filthy garments and replaces
them with pure raiment- giving him a new start and another chance to prove
himself as a servant of G-d.
Zechariah then sees another vision. This time he sees a
golden menorah with seven lamps and seven funnels into each lamp. There are
two olive trees on either side. (Incidentally, this image is the official
seal of the State of Israel.) The olive trees are there to provide the fuel
for the lamps of the menorah. This is a reminder that all of our physical and
spiritual sustenance is ultimately supplied by G-d. It is only through this
recognition that the nascent redemption can be sustained. The prophet is to
deliver a message to Zerubavel, the temporal leader of the Jews returning
from Babylon.
"Not by means of an army and not by might, but through My spirit,"
says G-d. The mountain will then become a plain before Zerubavel and the
Jewish people.
A couple of centuries after Zechariah’s vision, the
return from Babylon and the construction of the second Temple, the Jewish
People once more found themselves under the iron fist of a cruel occupier.
The sophisticated Greeks so admired by secularist Jews removed their velvet
glove and attempted to extinguish the light of G-d in the Land of Israel.
The ultimate victory of the small band of Jewish
fighters, led by the priestly Maccabees, over the mighty Greek army during
the events of Chanukah was in essence a victory of the spirit. The struggle
was against an ideology of assimilation and surrender to the hedonism of
Hellenist culture. There were those Jews who felt that the adoption of the
culture of the superpower of the day was the key to success. Unfortunately,
that voluntary assimilation was a Trojan horse. Values antithetical to those
of the Torah bring in their wake havoc for the Jewish people.
Ironically, in America, the Chanukah menorah is
often juxtaposed with symbols of other religions. Chanukah is one of the few
Jewish holidays celebrated by many assimilated Jews, only because it
“merited” proximity to December 25. Those Jews would be shocked if they knew
that Chanukah was a celebration of the rejection of assimilation and
rededication to the values and principles that have preserved our People’s
distinctness through the ages.
The very fact that the menorah is lit in America,
albeit without understanding of its import, is some what reminiscent of
Zechariah’s prophecy. Ours is a generation of firebrands, languishing in the
furnace of exile. As long as we have not melted completely, we stand a chance
of being plucked from the fire.
Chanukah and the number Eight
The last day of Chanukah (this year- Friday night and
Saturday) is referred to as “Zot Chanukah” (literally “THIS is Chanukah”).
This refers to the verse in our Maftir reading (7:88) which states at the
completion of the presentation of the offerings of the princes of Israel,
“This (zot) is the dedication (chanukat) of the altar…” Our Sages understand
this verse homiletically to mean that the eighth day is the ESSENCE of
Chanukah (THIS is Chanukah). The eighth day, the number eight, represents the
essence of Chanukah.
The natural order has a framework of seven. A seven day
week is a universal concept. Eight indicates movement beyond the confines of
the natural order. A Jewish male child is circumcised on the eighth day after
birth. The child has to first pass through the natural cycle and experience
Shabbat.
When we experience the natural order and seek G-d within
its framework, we merit Divine assistance to achieve spiritual connection
beyond that which is possible through natural means.
During the period of Greek oppression, the Jews sought
G-d in the darkness. They battled an enemy greater in number and might. They
searched the vandalized Temple
where it seemed every jug of oil had been desecrated. They lit the menorah
with one day’s supply of oil even though they knew it would take another
seven days to obtain new oil. To serve G-d, they confronted the natural order
with the odds stacked against them. That perseverance connected them with the
power of eight, which supersedes the natural order- the weak defeated the
mighty, pure oil was found where there seemed to be none, one day’s volume of
oil produced light for seven more until fresh oil was brought.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Baruch Price
Technical
Note: Page is suitable to print.
|
