MIKETZ 1990  
 
The rabbis have always arranged that we read the Torah portion Miketz on
Chanukah.  Why should it be that we always read the Torah portion Miketz
on Chanukah?  What's more, if we look at the mitzvah of lighting the menorah
on Chanukah we notice that we do it at home.  Why should it be that we
should light the Chanukah candles at home?  It would be more appropriate
if we light them in the synagogue, but we know that if we do it in the synagogue
it does not count.  It is only publicizing the miracle, but the real mitzvah
is to do it at home.  Nobody can fulfill the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah
candles by seeing them lit in the shul or lighting them in shul.  This indeed seems strange because the whole miracle of the oil occurred at the Temple, and although it is true that our modern synagogues are not temples, that there was only one Temple in Judaism and that was in Jerusalem, yet, we do call our synagogues little temples, and they do partake of some of the holiness of the Temple.  Why is it, though, that we do not light the Chanukah lights in the shul?  That would be the most appropriate place. It is not proper, it seems, that we light them at home.  The miracle of the oil happened in the Temple, and the whole purpose of lighting the oil was that the menorah in the Temple should be lit.  Why is it then that we light them at home?
It is true that because we do not have a temple today that maybe people would get confused, but that seems unlikely because even during the time of the Temple the mitzvah was not lighting them at the Temple but the mitzvah was to light them at home.  From the very beginning the mitzvah was to light the lights at home.
Perhaps if we look carefully at the story of Chanukah we can understand why it is that the home was singled out to be the place where we light the Chanukah candles because the miracle of the Chanukah candles was not
 
just the miracle that they found some oil that had not been defiled by the Syrian-Greeks and they lit it in the Temple.  That was not the total miracle.  The miracle, of course, was the defeat of a major power by a small band of rebels led by Judah Maccabee, but, more than that, the miracle was that the Jewish people would even think that they should fight.  The whole enterprise looked hopeless.  How could the Jewish people win against a super power?  It was impossible.  The situation could never be resolved in their favor, but Judah Maccabee and especially his father were very stubborn and said they were going to persevere and make sure their religion was not wiped out from the face of the earth.
Similarly, at the turn of the century there were Hebrew writers who persisted
in writing in Hebrew even though they, themselves, questioned whether anybody
would ever read it in the next generation.  They felt they were the last
generation of Hebrew readers, and that perhaps it would be better if they
wrote in Yiddish.  Some of them succumbed and only wrote in Yiddish and
stopped writing in Hebrew, but we see that it turns out that Yiddish is
a dead language and Hebrew has a huge audience in Israel today where everybody
speaks and reads Hebrew.  Many times it looks as though those things that
are completely hopeless ~hat we should give up and not even try, but it
was the perseverance of the Maccabees in the face of what looked like almost
certain defeat which allowed the miracle to occur.
That's why the rabbis all ask the question, why is it that we light 8 candles on Chanukah?  We should light only 7 because the first day was not miraculous. The first day was how long the candles should have lasted so the miracle was only 7 days.  The answer they give is that the first day, too, was a miracle because for these people even to start, to even think that they
could win, even to persevere against oil odds is a great miracle in itself. Therefore, the miracle of Chanukah really had its origin not in the Temple but in the home.  It was because of Mattathias1 influence over his five sons, because of the upbringing that they had that they were willing to persevere even though everyone told them that they would be defeated and could not possibly prevail.  It is true that it took them a long time to prevail, 3 years to recapture the Temple and another 25 years before the Jewish people got their independence, but they knew that they could not give up because if they gave up that would be the end of the line.  Judaism would be finished.  It is one thing to compromise here and there with the authorities if you know that you are going to persevere and your religion is not going to be touched.  You may have added taxes or persecution, but your religion is going to persevere.  Your religion is going to continue, but if your religion is going to be completely wiped out you have no choice.
Therefore, where did the spirit come from?  The spirit came from the family. That is why we light the Chanukah candles in the bosom of the family. That is why the rabbis say we read the Torah portion Miketz because of the third word of the Torah portion, which is Shenasaim.  The rabbis say that stands for on the left side of the door you should light the Chanukah candles.  On the right hand you should light the mezuzah.  In the olden days they used to light the Chanukah candles outside, not inside.  The reason for that was to publicize the miracle, to tell everybody not to give up.  We did it at the home, not at the synagogue, to tell us that the strength of the Jewish people has always been in the home.  If you teach your children correctly, if you give them the right education, if you, yourself, serve as a good example Judaism will thrive and miracles will happen for our people because this is the promise that G-d has made
to us.  You have to take care of the hidden things, and that is why it says that the mezuzah is on the right and the Chanukah light is on the left.  We stopped lighting the Chanukah candles outside when the Zorastrian religion prohibited us from doing so.  They believe that fire is one of the important elements, a sacred element, and you could not use it any time you wanted to, so we were forced to light the Chanukah candles inside instead of outside.  The concept remains that we are supposed to publicize the Chanukah miracle.  Why did the Chanukah miracle happen?  Because it was tied to the mezuzah.  The most important thing in the mezuzah is not the cover, although people spend hundreds of dollars for a cover and they get mad when you tell them it is $25 for the parchment, but the parchment which has the Shma Yisroel is the most important thing.  It is the thing that you cannot see.  The most important things in life you cannot see, the most important things like love and devotion and respect and integrity and sincerity and enthusiasm you cannot see.  You can only feel them. You can only see them by their effects, and sometimes you can be fooled. Even the negative qualities, hatred and envy and greed, you can only see by their effects.  You cannot really see them.  The most important things are the things that are not seen.  How do you convey passion and love and sincerity and warmth and dignity and respect?  These things you can only transfer in a home in interactions with people.  These are things that are not composed of book knowledge.  You cannot memorize them.  You have to learn them by interacting with your family.  If you have a strong family you will be able to have these things.  You will be able to understand the importance of certain values and be willing to sacrifice for them. You will be willing to commit yourself to them and to live them.
Unfortunately, today there are many good people who are willing to give a lot of money for Judaism but they have no passion about Judaism.  To them Judaism is a museum.  They do not want to practice it themselves. They do not want to implement it into their own lives.  The mezuzah tells us that it is the hidden things that are most important.  After the hidden things are taken care of then you will be able to blaze with the Chanukah lights.  Everybody will be able to see your dedication and devotion.
Therefore, Chanukah is basically a holiday which revolves around the family because it is the family which teaches us about dedication and devotion and self-abdegnation.  The father gives over his paycheck to the mother while the mother devotes herself to the children and the great moral courage she displays in rising early with them and supplying all their needs and taking care of them and also subsuming her interests for their interests. These are great qualities.  These qualities can only be learned in a loving family.  It is only these qualities which allow Judaism to survive.  They are also the only qualities which allow us to fully achieve happiness in life because, to my way of thinking, happiness is composed of just three elements.  It is composed of achieving certain self-set goals, which America believes is the only road to happiness but it is only a partial road. You need the other elements, too.  Knowing that you are loved for yourself, that you do not have an identity crisis, and knowing that you can bring joy to others.  If you have these three things you will be very happy, and these three things are also found within the family.  These things are the basis of the family.  If a family has goals that they work on together and everyone in the family knows they are loved for themselves and everybody in the family knows they can bring joy to other members of the family. That is why the family is so important because it teaches about the hidden things
That is why we read this Torah portion every Chanukah because we learn about Joseph and Joseph was very good at understanding the hidden things. He took the outward dreams of Pharaoh and he understood what they meant. It is the hidden things, the things you cannot really see in life that are the most important things, and Joseph was very good at discerning them. It is very important that we realize this.  It is very important that we realize that the strength of Judaism has always been the family and that we do everything we possibly can to strengthen the family.
I am reminded of the story they tell about a young man 21 years old who came to ask for the hand of a man's eldest daughter who was only about 20, and he had four other daughters, and he came up the man and said, "Sir, I would like to marry your daughter."  The man said, "Well, young man," looking him over, "do you think you can support a family?"  The young man said he thought he could.  The father said, "Well, I want you to remember there are 7 of us."  In Judaism we draw strength from our family and from our extended family, too.  It was because of the bravery of the five brothers who fought together that the Jewish people were redeemed.  It is not well known but all five of the brothers died violent deaths.  They gave their all for the Jewish people.  It is important that we realize ^hat it is family which causes us to be strong.  There is a movie out called "Avalon". It is a beautiful movie.  It shows how in America the family completely disintegrates because on the list of priorities it is 372 down the list. People feel family gets in the way.  The family no longer wants to help its individual members.  We see that when the family disintegrates human beings disintegrate, too, and the quality of life disintegrates, and, of course, Judaism deteriorates and decays and quickly disintegrates also.
Let us hope and pray that we will all realize that it is the family that is the strength of our people so that by working within the family we will gain the proper values and the Mashiach will come.