MIKETZ 1992
 
The rabbis have always arranged it that we read Miketz on Chanukah.  It seems strange that the rabbis should have chosen the Torah portion Miketz for us to read on Chanukah.  It is true that we do find a few allusions in the text to Chanukah, but they are very esoteric.  For example, there are 2025 words in this Torah portion.  The numerical equivalent of the word in Hebrew Nair, or candle, is 250.  Two hundred and fifty times eight equals 2000, and Chanukah happened on the 25th day of Kislev, so we have the 8 days of Chanukah plus the 25th of Kislev.  Also, the third word of this Torah portion, Shenotayim, the rabbis say, stands for Small Mair Taleek Yameen Mezuzah, which means that when you enter your house the mezuzah is at the right and the Chanukah candles should be on your left.  Originally the Chanukah candles were supposed to be lit outside, but when we Jews lived in Babylon under the rule of the Persian kings who were followers of Zoastrianism they banned us from lighting the Chanukah candles outside.  As the western religions believes in the sanctity of the four elements, earth, air, water, and fire, and they would not let us light the Chanukah candles outside.
The rabbis tell us that the miracle of Chanukah happened because hidden in the Jewish heart was the fire and enthusiasm for Judaism.  Without this inner light the outer lights of Chanukah could never have been lit.  That's why the mezuzah is on the right because the parchment is hidden.  The most important part of the mezuzah cannot be seen, but it is what animates the Jewish soul. When the fire does not burn inside it can never burn outside.
We have seen this in our own day.  After all, why did the Soviet Union collapse? Were they defeated militarily? Did they forget how to use their atomic weapons? Did their army revolt? Was their military industrial complex destroyed? No, none of these things happened.  What happened was that the people stopped believing in communism.  They were not willing anymore to sacrifice for it. No one was willing to die for communism anymore.  With just the loss of 3
 
lives, 3 lives of young people who were opposed to communism, communism collapsed, The reason why Judaism has survived to this day is because people have been willing to sacrifice for it.  When Jews are no longer willing to sacrifice for Judaism then Judaism dies.  One of the reasons why Judaism is so weak in America is that there are so few people who are willing to sacrifice for it.  It is hard to be a Jew in America, not because we are hounded and persecuted. It is true that 20% of the American people are anti-Semitic but by and large Jews have no trouble obtaining high positions in America.  It is hard to be a Jew in America because you have to be willing to sacrifice to be a Jew. The tuition at the Hebrew Academy this year is $5000 per child.  I understand it is going to have to go up to $5500.  That's a huge chunk of money.  I know people who have refused very good positions because they would have to work on Saturday.  By and large, it is not the Jewish community who has won Sabbath observing rights for Jews in America; it has been the Seventh Day Adventists. Most Jews mock other Jews who want to keep the Shabbos.  In order for Judaism to survive you have to be willing to sacrifice for it.  Sometimes the sacrifices are severe.  There is another person I know whose income was halved because he did not just want to celebrate Rosh Hashonna and Yom Kippur with his children. He wanted to take his children to shul on Succos and Shavuos and Pesach, too. The Maccabees won but only because they were willing to sacrifice for Judaism and they paid a high price.  They not only gave up their careers and their homes but not one of the five brothers died a natural death.
It still, though, seems strange why the rabbis have chosen this Torah portion to be read on Chanukah.  It is also hard to understand why Joseph had the temerity to not only interpret Pharaoh's dreams but also to give him advice. Who called upon Joseph to give advice to Pharaoh? What's more, why didn't Pharaoh listen to the interpretations of the magicians and wise people of
Egypt when they told him that his dream stood for the fact that he would have seven daughters and they would die, etc.? Why didn't Pharaoh accept their interpretation? Finally, what is this game that Joseph played with his brothers? Was he G-d that he could imprison one brother and send all the others back tot their father telling him that they had to bring down their younger brother to him if they wanted to see his face again? Also, what right did he have to frame Benjamin by having his cup be put in his bag of grain?
The answer to these questions, I believe, is found in the telling of the dreams
by Pharaoh, himself.  Pharaoh first had the dreams of the seven fat cows and
the seven skinny cows.  Then it says, "And Pharaoh woke up." It continues
by saying, "And he went to sleep and he dreamed a second time and, behold,
there were seven ears of corn, healthy and good, who were later swallowed
up by the seven small ears of corn." The key here is "and Pharaoh woke up
and he went to sleep and he dreamed a second time".  Pharaoh was warned and
what did he do? He went back to sleep.  Things were going from bad to worse.
The first dream was stated that there would be a shortage of meat in Egypt.
The second dream stated there would be a shortage of grain.  People would
not have bread to eat. What did Pharaoh do after he was warned the first
time? He went back to sleep.  To a Jew when a person has a dream he must
act on it.  Dreams require action.  This explains the difference between traditional
Jwish worship and the worship of other religions.  In most other religions
when you go into their house of worship it is as if you are entering into
heaven.  You are surrounded with beautiful art, many times with statues and
sculptures which are bedecked with jewels.  You hear beautiful music.  You
have an aesthetic experience.  You are, so to speak, transferred into another
realm.  It is a beautiful, warm experience but also depressing because you
know you cannot enjoy these things.  You cannot do these things.  It is like
watching a wonderful athlete or a dancer or a skilled musician.  We marvel and are awe stricken by the beauty they can produce, although we know we cannot do it.  The purpose of the experience is to just let you know that there is this beauty in the world and there will be beauty in the next world.  The fact that there is this beauty gives you some hope.
The traditional Jewish prayer experience is altogether di”erent. We do not want to come up to heaven.  We want to bring G-d down to earth.  We want G-d to help us with our problems.  If you go to synagogue in Jerusalem, Bnai Brak, and other parts of Israel they are, for the most part, not beautiful to look at, but they must have 50 minyans a day.  The purpose of Jewish prayer is to cause us to bring G-d down to earth to help us with our problems.  That's why the rabbis say Chanukah is 8 days.  After all, Chanukah should be only 7 days.  The oil, after all, should have lasted one day naturally, but the miracle was not only that the oil lasted 8 days instead of one but also that the Maccabees were willing to light the candles on the first day knowing that it might not last the 8 days.  G-d helps those who help themselves.  When a Jew has a dream he must act on it.  If there are 12 million Jews in the whole world, that's a lot, but if you read the newspapers you would think that the Jews comprise a sizeable proportion of the population.  There are so many Jewish scientists and artists and even look at the people who Clinton appointed for Cabinet and sub-Cabinet positions.  We are represented way out of proportion to our numbers. . In fact, if you look at so many of the great men of the arts and sciences you will find that many of them are Jewish. Even Chopin's mother was Jewish, something which astounded me.
Joseph knew that dreams were not meant to wallow in.  Dreams were not meant to be thought about.  Dreams were meant to act upon and the situation was critical.  The interpretations of the magicians of Egypt did not satisfy Pharaoh
because, again, they were all passive interpretations. Why did Joseph play this game with his brothers? Joseph named his first child Menashe, which means "G-d made me forget my troubles in the house of my father".  His second child he named Ephraim, which means "G-d made me fruitful in a strange land". Joseph was not sure that the Jewish people were worthy of carrying on G-d's promise.  They were so fractious and disunited.  He wanted to make sure that they were going to stick up one for another because only if the Jewish people are united can they serve as a vehicle of G-d's promise.
One of the miracles of today is how the Jews throughout the world and especially the United States have banded together to help their brethren.  The UJA does marvelous work.  The Jews of America, by helping the Jews of Ethiopia and Russia, prove that the Jews are united and the monetary sacrifices that some of them have made shows that the light of Judaism still burns in our heart. Judaism, though, requires not only sacrifice of money but also personal sacrifice of time and life style.  In order for Judaism to survive a saving remnant must continue to be willing to sacrifice for Jewish ideals.  If they will then, rest assured, like the Maccabees of old it will ensure that Jews will not only survive but will triumph.
I am reminded of the story they tell about a man who was just staying around the house not doing anything and not talking.  This disturbed his wife greatly so she insisted that he go to a psychiatrist.  He went one Tuesday and the psychiatrist told him to lie down on the couch and when he felt like saying anything to talk and he would listen to him.  The man laid down and fell asleep. After an hour the psychiatrist woke him up and said, "That will be $100, please." The man came back the next Thursday, the next Tuesday, and the next Thursday and the same thing happened.  Finally on the third Tuesday before he laid down on the couch he looked at the psychiatrist and said, "Now, I have something
to say." The psychiatrist looked at him and said, "All right.  What is it that you have to say?" He looked him in the eye and said, "Do you need a partner?" We Jewish people have been chosen to be the partner of G-d in bringing about the redemption of the world.  We, though, have to act.  We cannot just sit and do nothing.  If we act G-d has promised that He will help us and we will be able to create a world filled with love, brotherhood, and compassion. Let us all hope and pray that we will act together united to fulfill these goals so that the Mashiach will come quickly in our day.  Amen.
Today is Shabbos Chanukah.  On Shabbos Chanukah we always read the Torah portion
Miketz.  It seems strange that we should read the Torah portion Miketz since the
Torah portion Miketz does not have anything in it about lighting candles, about
the building of the Temple, about rededicating the Temple, about the revolt against
an oppressive power.  It just talks about Joseph getting out of prison and interpreting
Pharaoh's dreams, offering Pharaoh advice and becoming the Viceroy of Egypt.  It
then talks about how the famine spreads to the land of Canaan and how his brothers
were forced to come down to Egypt and how they bowed down to him, as his dreams
had predicted, and how Joseph then accused them of being spies.  In order to prove
that they are not spies he takes Shimon prisoner and orders the other brothers to
bring back his younger brother, Benjamin, who his father, Jacob, had not wanted
to leave Canaan lest something would happen to him.  Then we learn how Jacob is
very reticent to let Benjamin go but eventually he has to because they are running
out of food and Judah agrees to guarantee his safety and they come before Joseph
and they are very afraid because when they had returned the first time from the
land of Canaan their money had been returned in their sacks, and when they are called
to come to Joseph's house they are very much upset and they think that it is because
their money has been returned, that this is going to be used as a pretext against
them to fall upon them, but everything is fine until they leave.  They are sent
o” with great fanfare but then after they have gone just a few miles they are overtaken
by a representative of Joseph's household who said, "How dare you steal our master's
diving cup?" They are abashed and embarrassed to be accused of such a deed and they
say that they will become slaves to Joseph if this is true, and, lo and behold,
they found the diving cup in Benjamin's bag and Joseph's servant said, "Now Benjamin
will be a slave to Joseph forever and you can go." There does not seem to be anything
in this story at all about Chanukah.  Why should we read this story on Chanukah?
If we look carefully we will see this whole story that is recounted in this Torah portion has to do with interpreting things.  Joseph had the uncanny ability to see