Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parasha summary followed by a Dvar Torah on the festival of Chanukah;

“Parsha in a Nutshell”

Joseph’s imprisonment finally ends when Pharaoh dreams of seven fat cows that are swallowed up by seven lean cows, and of seven fat ears of grain swallowed by seven lean ears. Joseph interprets the dreams to mean that seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of hunger, and advises Pharaoh to store grain during the plentiful years. Pharaoh appoints Joseph governor of Egypt. Joseph marries Asenath, daughter of Potiphar, and they have two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Famine spreads throughout the region, and food can be obtained only in Egypt. Ten of Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to purchase grain; the youngest, Benjamin, stays home, for Jacob fears for his safety. Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they do not recognize him; he accuses them of being spies, insists that they bring Benjamin to prove that they are who they say they are, and imprisons Shimon as a hostage. Later, they discover that the money they paid for their provisions has been mysteriously returned to them.

Jacob agrees to send Benjamin only after Judah takes personal and eternal responsibility for him. This time Joseph receives them kindly, releases Shimon, and invites them to an eventful dinner at his home. But then he plants his silver goblet, pretending to have magical powers, in Benjamin’s sack. When the brothers set out for home the next morning they are pursued, searched, and arrested when the goblet is discovered. Joseph offers to set them free and to keep only Benjamin as his slave.

“Dvar Torah”

Chanukah, the festival of lights! Not only, it is one the most favorite Holidays among the children, but it is also adored by the adults too. Lighting candles, eating “sufganyot” (donuts) and exchanging gifts is some of the highlights of this Holiday. It is one of the only festivals that is celebrated by all kind of Jews, from Orthodox to non-observants. It’s a time of joy and celebration. But what are we really celebrating? Well, we are told that we are celebrating a miracle that happened over 2000 years ago. The oil that was sufficient to light the Menorah in the Temple for one day, lasted for eight days! But you may ask yourself, why are we only celebrating this miracle? There has been many miracles that occurred in the course of Jewish history, such as “manna” the heavenly bread that was showered for the Jews in the desert for forty years, or splitting of the Red Sea and many more. Why don’t we celebrate any other miracles? What’s so special about this miracle?

Well, to answer this question, let us review a little history together. In the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the Second Holy Temple, the Syrian-Greek regime of Antiochus took over the land of Israel, including the Temple in Jerusalem, and sought to pull Jews away from Judaism, with the hopes of assimilating them into Greek culture. Antiochus outlawed Jewish observance ― including circumcision, Shabbat, and Torah study ― under penalty of death. As well, many Jews ― called Hellenists ― began to assimilate into Greek culture. This began to decay the foundation of Jewish life and practice.

When the Greeks challenged the Jews to sacrifice a pig to a Greek god, a few courageous Jews took to the hills of Jerusalem and started an uprising against this threat to Jewish life. Led by a small group of Kohanim known as the Maccabees, who had little experience in battlefield, started a guerrilla warfare against the Syrian-Greek army.

Antiochus sent thousands of well-armed troops to crush the rebellion, but after three years, the Maccabees beat the Greek army by incredible odds and miraculously succeeded in driving away the foreigners from their land.

The Jewish fighters entered the Holy Temple and found it to be desecrated with idols. The Maccabees cleansed the Temple and decided to re-light the Menorah. They searched the entire Temple, but found only one jar of pure oil that could only burn for a day. The group of believers lit the Menorah anyway and were rewarded with a miracle: That small jar of oil burned for eight days, until a new supply of oil could be brought.

But this story raises the following question. Isn’t the victory over the Greeks, the mightiest nation of the time, by a small group of Priests, a bigger miracle than the oil lasting for eight days? Why don’t we make a parade or a feast to celebrate a major victory over the world’s greatest army? Why is the main commemoration over a little oil? Why is Chanukah symbolized by Menorah and lights?

The Chachamim give the following explanation. At the time of Chanukah, the Jews almost lost everything they had. Jerusalem was taken away from them; the Greeks took over the Temple and brought many idols inside and all the holy services were stopped. But, at the time when many people thought that Judaism is going to be perished, a small group of Kohanim never lost hope. They stood up and fought. And because they had faith in G-d, Hashem made a big miracle happen for them and they defeated the Greek army and they took possession of Beith Hamikdash once again. And then, another miracle happened that the oil enough for one day, lasted for eight days. All of these miracles happened because a small group of Kohanim never lost hope! “Light” symbolizes hope. When they say “there is a light at the end of the tunnel”, it means that there is always hope for a better future if you are going through tough times. That’s why we celebrate Chanukah with lights, since all these miracles happened because a small group of people never lost “hope”!

Yes my friends, Chanukah is a festival of hope! When things are not going right in our lives, when the pressure of life is getting to us or when we are faced with tragedies and sorrows, suddenly, Hashem sends us a miracle! Chanukah reminds us that even at the darkest point in our lives, when everything seems to be going wrong, Hashem never abandons us, as long as we never give up hope! And this is the greatest message of Chanukah!

The halacha says that when we light the Chanukah candles, we should not benefit from them whatsoever and they are there for observation purposes only. But, what are we suppose to look at? Just the flames? The answer is, no. We are suppose to see the light and be inspired by it! We should see the light in order to give us hope for a brighter future!

So my friends, never give up hope and always believe in miracles. Life isnot a fairy tale. But who said that miracles can only happen in fairy tales, anyway?!

Shabath Shalom, Rosh Chodesh Tov, Chanukah Sameach and Regards;

Martin