Vayeshev 1982

We are now in the holiday of Chanukah. Chanukah is the longest holiday we have and we all know about the exploits of Judah Maccabee and his brothers. The Maccabees led a revolt against the Salucid Greek kings. Because of their valor and determination the Jewish people were saved from assimilation. The Rabbis in the Talmud, though, are very ambiguous about the Maccabees. The Maccabees are a symbol of the use of power.  In the Talmud there is a special tractate for almost every holiday. For Pesach there is a tractate called Pesachim. For Yom Kippur there is a tractate called Yoma. For Purim there is one called Megillah, but for Chanukah there is no special tractate. The Rabbis were very wary of power because they knew that power can corrupt. Even the Maccabees, themselves, their descendants ended up by corrupting power. Because of a dispute between two brothers, Pompei was called in and he captured Jerusalem and he made Israel a puppet state of Rome.  The problem of the use of power is a real problem. Each of us exercises power. When someone loves us we have power over them. Knowledge is a power. We can use knowledge for good or for eiL The chemicals we developed to help preserve our foods, to help run our machines, to help keep down insects are good, but these chemicals can also be used for germ warfare, etc. The more physics we use the more we can raise our standard of living, but we can also make atomic bombs. We have to know how to use power.  This Torah portion, Vayeshev, speaks about power.  It speaks first of all of how Jacob did not want to use power, how it says "Vayeshev Yaacov" "and Jacob sat in the land". Jacob wanted to rest. He just wanted to sit back and take everything in. He did not want to exercise power. That, the Rabbis say, is wrong. We have to exercise power. We just have to know how to do it. We then learn how Joseph used his power of prophecy and knowledge wrongly and how his use of it excited jealousy, how Jacob used the power of love to favor Joseph and created hatred, how the brothers used their physical power to sell Joseph into slavery. We learn also why Judah was chosen to be the leader of the Jewish people because he knew when not to exercise power. He had gotten entangled with his daughter-in-law, although he did not know it was his daughter-in-law, and he admitted
his error making sure she was not punished. Judah understood the limits of power. We learn also how Joseph was thrown into prison because of power. Power is a very delicate
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thing. The Maccabees had no choice. They had to revolt. The Syrian Greeks had attacked and banned the observance of Shabbos, of Rosh Chodesh, and of Bris Milah. It was not only these practices which were attacked, but the underlying premises. Bris Milah, circumcision, speaks about our role in the world, to try to perfect it, to be G-d’s junior partner in creation. Rosh Chodesh teaches us to never give up hope, to always come back. It gives us hope.  It tells us that things can get better and will get better, that we can always come back. Shabbos teaches us about the beauty of the universe, how we can be man the appreciator, how there is order and there is a Creator Who cares. To paganism all these ideas were nonsense. We are caught in a Catch-22 situation.  If you please one god you stir up the ire of another. You cannot win. There is nothing to perfect. There is no order in the universe. It is all random chance. You have to carve out your own happiness whether it comes from art, literature, or even murder and violence. The Maccabees had no choice.  They had to revolt. They had to use power. The word Maccabee teaches us how we are to use power. The word Maccabee we all know means hammer because Judah hammered the enemy.  It can also stand for the words Me Chamocha Belileem Adoshem (who is like you among the gods?), but the letters can also stand for a word which teaches us how to use power. The first letter, Mem, stands for Me. A person has to know who he is.  He has to have an identity and be responsible to a family or group in order to use power. The second letter, the Koof, stands for Koach. A person should always remember that his power, itself, is limited. Many times the worst thing that can happen to a person is to be successful too soon.  He then thinks power is unlimited and he or she plunges into things he shouldn't. The letter Beis stands for Brocha. Our use of power should result in a blessing. Power should not be used for power's sake. Our power should lead to a blessing for all. Finally, Yud stands for G-d. We must remember that there are certain things that we can never do, that certain uses of power will destroy us. We should always be modest. Even if we could save our business by killing or stealing we should never do it even if we have the power to do it. We believe that power should be used, but we have to use it correctly. Jacob was wrong when he did not want to use power anymore, but we have to be very careful how we use power. If we do it correctly it can
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become a blessing. If not it can destroy us all. That is one of the lessons of the story of Chanukah. The story about a man in 1948 who went to join the Israeli army. He was told to see the supply clerk. The clerk asked him what size shoe he wore. He said he wore an 8%. The clerk looked at him and said, "We have 8fs and 9fs but no 8%. Your sneakers look good enough. Just use them." The clerk then asked him what shirt size he took. He said he took a 16. The clerk said, "Oh, we have 15fs and 17fs but no 16fs. Your shirt looks all right. Just use it". The clerk then asked him if he could swim. He looked at him puzzled and said, "What's the matter? Don't you have any ships either?"