Geulah Within Galus
We have been told that we are on the very threshold of Geulah. And yet, we have seen examples of the process seemingly placed on hold. We should not be discouraged because it is only a test and we will imminently see how it will turn out to be a mirage and the Geulah will unfold in its full glory.
The two Torah readings associated with Chanukah are Vayeishev and Miketz. As explained in preceding essays there is always a thematic connection between the Torah portion and the Holiday that is in close proximity to it.
Parshas Vayeishev is about the dissonance between Joseph and his brothers. This portended the struggle between the Jewish loyalists and their Hellenists brethren who in the days of Chanukah sought to destroy Judaism, just as his brothers tried to kill Joseph.
This Parsha can be said to highlight the negativity of Galusexile because exile is characterized as a time when there is division and discord.
Indeed, the parsha ends with the verse:
“And the butler did not remember Joseph, and he forgot him.”
One of the symptoms of exile is forgetfulness; where we forget our Divine Source, we forget the miracles of the past, we forget of our kinship to other Jews and Judaism. Galus is a period of alienation from everything outside of ourselves and eve alienation from our inner self. Our bodies and its needs cloud the needs of the soul.
The next parsha Miketz picks up with the expression that also signifies a state of Galus. The opening words of the Parsha Miketz are:
“And it came to pass at the end of two years that Pharaoh was dreaming…”
In this verse we can see the beginning of the transition from the state of exile and the seeds of Geulah.
The Talmud and Midrash state that whenever the Torah uses the word Vayehi-And it came to pass” it is a sign of distress. Joseph (read: the Jewish people) are languishing in prison-Galus.
However, this period of exile is coming to an end. This is alluded to in the word Miketz-end, which is the name of this parsha.
The next word shnasayim-two is said to be an acronym for the basic law of Chanukah: Shemonah-eight or Smol-On the left, neiros-lights, tadlik-you shall kindle, yemin-on the right, Mezuzah-shall be the Mezuzah.
This refers to the law that we are to kindle the Chanukah lights on the left side of the entrance to our homes whereas the Mezuzah is paced on the right.
How is the end of the exile manifesting itself?
The Torah says it is due to the light of Chanukah that we kindle for eight days on the left side of our doorways.
The significance of the number eight has been explained in other essays that it represents the light that transcends the natural order which is characterized by the number seven.
Likewise the fact that we place it on the left symbolizes the power of the Chanukah lights to even illuminate and ultimately transform the left, which is the symbol of evil.
The Parsha continues with Joseph successfully interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams.
The Rebbe explains that a dream is the symbol of exile where opposites coexist and is not reality. Joseph, however, was able to find the solution to the problem the dreams portended in the dream itself. The Rebbe takes this to mean that Joseph was able to discover the salvation or the power of Geulah within Galus itself.
However, the Parsha ends on a tentative note. Joseph accuses Benjamin with stealing his silver goblet. All of the hints to Redemption seem to be placed on hold. We have to wait for the next parsha to see how the drama unfolds.
Only there do we see the rapprochement of Joseph and his brothers.
In our own day and age, we have been told that we are on the very threshold of Geulah.
And yet, we have seen examples of the process seemingly placed on hold.
We should not be discouraged because it is only a test and we will imminently see how it will turn out to be a mirage and the Geulah will unfold.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Miketz by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
