MIKETZ 1988
 
Today is Shabbos Chanukah.  The rabbis have always arranged it so that on Shabbos Chanukah we will read the Torah portion Miketz.  This Torah portion talks about the dreams that Pharaoh had in which the skinny cows ate the fat, good looking cows.  Appearance is not everything. Sometimes those things that look good do not have any strength and vigor, and they are actually prone to disaster.  The rabbis teach us that we read this Torah portion, too, because of the third word in the Torah portion, "Schnatayeem“, which the rabbis say stands for "Smol Nayer Tadlich Yameen Mezuzah“, which means that in the old days we used to light the Chanukah candles outside, and we were supposed to light the candles on the left and the mezuzah on the right.  This again emphasizes the fact that the hidden things are more important than that which can be seen.  We were to publicize the miracle of Chanukah.  The importance of the mezuzah, of course, is that which is hidden inside, the parchment inside.
The rabbis in the Talmud teach us that if we do not have enough money to purchase Chanukah candles we must go beg for the money.  They also teach us that if we do not have enough money to buy wine for the four cups of wine on Passover we should also go beg for the money.  These are the only two mitzvahs which the rabbis say we should go beg money for if we do not have the money to purchase them.  Why should this be so?  The rabbis do not tell us to go beg for money to purchase a lulav and estrog or go beg for money to purchase a succah or even matzah, but they tell us we should do this for the four cups of wine and the Chanukah candles.  This is indeed strange because Chanukah candles and the four cups of wine are only rabbinic commandments.  The commandment of the lulav and etrog, the succah, and matzah are from the Torah.
It seems to me, though, that the rabbis are teaching us something very
important, and that is if you want to preserve Judaism, you must base
Judaism on joy and a positive appreciation of it.  You cannot build
Judaism on fear and guilt as we are trying to do here today in America.
The Judaism that we are building in America knows what it is against
but not what it is for.  We know that much of the Judaism in America
is based on fear of anti-Semitism and fear of assimilation and intermarriage,
but you cannot base a religion on negative things.  You have to be for
something, not just against something.  In fact, many of the very measures
which are meant to keep Jews in the fold actually drive them away.
Every time a Jew compromises his heritage in order to keep his children
he makes his children more assimilated and more like the general culture.
People marry people to whom they are similar in culture.  The Jews in
America today have much more in common with the American gentile than
they do with other Jews throughout the world.  There are many things
Jew do to so-call preserve Judaism which actually have the opposite
effect.  They cause Jews to be no different than their gentile neighbors.
What do most young Jews want today?  They want to get an education,
make lots of money.  They are in favor of freedom, against persecution,
etc.  How does this differ from their gentile neighbors?  Also, you
cannot base a religion on guilt.  It is true we did not do enough during
the Holocaust, but young people who were not even born during the Holocaust
do not feel this guilt.
We also cannot base Judaism on fear of anti-Semitism.  This is similar to the story told of a young Chusid who comes to his rebbe and says, "My cellar is very dark.  How can I get rid of the darkness?"  The rebbe said, "Why don't you take a broom and sweep it away?"  The Chusid left
 
and swept his ce1lar and nothing happened.  He went back to the rebbe and said, "I swept the cellar and nothing happened.“  The rebbe said, "Why don't you take a stick and beat it?"  The Chusid took a stick and beat it and nothing happened.  Finally the rebbe said, "Why don't you take a candle and light it?"  Sure enough, the darkness was dispelled. If we want to get rid of the darkness we must do it with positive acts, not negative acts.  The Jew must stand for positive values if he is to dispel the darkness about him.  You cannot get rid of the darkness by sweeping it under the rug or trying to beat it.
That's why the Maccabees knew they had to light the menorah.  The menorah is a symbol of Jewish values and spirituality, values which are not just for show but which are believed in the heart.  That's what the mezuzah stands for:  the values that are in the heart.  The Chanukah menorah must display these values.  We must be proud of them, show them outside.  The reason why we light candles outside now was because the Zoastrian religion forbid us to light the candles outside, but we still try to light them near a window.  If Jews are positive about their values and are joyful about them (that's what the four cups of wine stand for), then we will not have any trouble maintaining Judaism in the future. We cannot base Judaism on fear and guilt.  We must base Judaism on a positive appreciation for its values.  We must be proud of these values and be willing to display them openly.  We must believe that the world needs them.  The way to keep young Jews Jews is by giving them spiritual values, by making them proud of themselves and their heritage.  Being negative will not help.  Many times we find Jews who know what they are against, but then you ask them what they are for, and they do not know.  They know they are against prayers in school and against this belief and that belief.  Fine, but what are you for?  We know that even
in this town there was a synagogue who forty years ago had their own ten commandments.  You could not believe in keeping kosher, putting on tephillin, Zionism, and belong to them, but what were they for? In order to keep our young people we have to be for things.  The problem with most American Judaism is it knows what it is against but not what it is for.  What is it for that is distinctly Jewish?  Many of the early Zionists may have misinterpreted Judaism, but they knew what they were for and were willing to sacrifice for what they were for.  Our Chanukah candles must burn bright.  We cannot be negative.  We must be positive. We cannot maintain a Jewish community based on fear and guilt.  Our Judaism has to be based on a positive appreciation of what Judaism stands for and the realization that this adds joy and meaning to our lives.
I am reminded of the story they tell about a young boy who was invited to a masquerade party.  He begged his mother to buy him a horror suit which he could scare all his friends with.  His mother finally relented and bought him a horror outfit for $100 which would scare his friends. He was putting it on and noticed the price tag.  He had promised his father to show him his outfit before he went to the party.  He asked his mother whether or not he should take the price tag o”.  She said, "No, keep it on.  That way we can scare your father, too."  In order to make sure Judaism survives we must base it on positive appreciation of its values, not fear and guilt.