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Shabbat Shalom: Parshat VaYeshev
Genesis 37:1-40:23
By Shlomo Riskin
Efrat, Israel – In the “Al HaNissim” (“for all the
miracles”) prayer which we recite during every Amidah and Grace after
Meals prayer during all eight days of Hanukkah, our praise to G-d opens,
“In the days of Mattathias son of Yohanan High Priest Hasmonean and his
sons, when the wicked Greek Kingdom rose up against your nation
Israel to cause them to forget your Torah…” Why the seemingly
superfluous words, “and his son’s”? We have identified the
period by mentioning the name of the High Priest: is that identification
not sufficient?
We have previously explained that the major war which was fought between
the Hellenists and the Hebrews began not as a fight between the foreign
Greek Syrians and the Judeans but rather as a Civil War within Judea, an
internecine battle between the more traditional Jews who remained faithful
to the Jewish laws of Kashrut, circumcision and the Sabbath sanctity and
the more “enlightened” and sophisticated “Grecophile” Jews who
wished to transform Jerusalem into a Greek city-state (Polis) and bring
into the Holy city the Olympic Games dedicated to a god of Greek
mythology.
Now it might have been thought that while the older generation remained
true to Torah-Judaism, the younger generation was seduced by the more
modern attraction of Greek philosophy, Greek theatre, Greek art, and Greek
hedonistic pleasures. This was not the case, insists our Al HaNissim
prayer; the children of the High Priest remained together with their
father in their joint battle against the Hellenistic heresy. That is
why the addition of “and his sons” is so significant to the prayer!
It is as if we are being told that the younger Hasmoneans as well clung to
the eternal truths and values of our G-d-given religion and national
life-style; the fathers and sons fought side by side to purify our
menorah. And when the traditionalists seemed to be emerging
victorious, the Greek-Syrians were brought in by the assimilationist
ruling-class of priests in the false hope of turning the tide.
This special religious relationship between father and son is most
poignantly expressed by a famous Talmudic Commentary on a critical moment
in the life of Joseph in Egypt, described in this week’s Biblical
reading. The young and handsome Joseph, having been sold into
Egyptian slavery by his jealous brothers, is purchased by Potiphar,the
Egyptian Minister of Culinary Arts, who quickly appoints the Hebrew his
steward, in charge of all internal and household affairs. The
minister’s wife, obviously attracted by Joseph’s ability and charm,
attempts to seduce him. “And (Joseph) refused” (Gen. 39:8),
cries out the Biblical text – but with the drawn out and multi-trilled
cantillation known as the shalshelet. This is explained by Rabbi
Samson Raphael Hirsch in his nineteenth century Biblical commentary to
imply that Joseph took a long time in refusing, that it was difficult for
him – a stranger in a strange land - to resist the advances of such a
beautiful and powerful woman. What gave him the inner strength to
resist? “The persona of his father (Jacob) appeared to him in his
mind’s eye”, suggest our Talmudic Sages (Rashi on Genesis 39:11,
citing B.T. Sotah 3).
Rav Haim Sabbato, well-known Talmud teacher and author, recounts that
once, when lecturing to a non-religious kibbutz, he mentioned this
incident regarding Joseph, and the response was cynical disbelief.
At such an intense, erotic moment, the very last image in Joseph’s mind
would be his aged father, his audience insisted. Rav Sabbato
suggested to them what I believe was an ingenious interpretation. In
Biblical times, only the very rich had mirrors, and then only in the
bed-room. Hence Joseph had never seen how he himself actually
appeared. When ushered into Mrs. Potiphar’s boudoir, he saw his
image for the first time in the mirror hanging on her wall – and Joseph
was the exact physical replica of his father Jacob (Rashi on Genesis
37:3). Now Joseph did know how his father looked – and at this
point of his life and suffering, he most probably had a beard which was
turning grey if not white. In other words, Joseph thought he was
actually seeing his father Jacob in the mirror of Mrs. Potiphar’s
boudoir; and he immediately sensed hearing his father’s teachings of
morality and ethics. Because of this he found the moral strength to resist
temptation.
There is a great literal truth to the picture I have attempted to verbally
communicate. We are our parents and our parents are us –
genetically, historically and culturally. If not, there is no
historical continuity and there is no palpable tradition. This is
the real meaning behind giving our children ancestral names; Jacob’s
blessing to his grandchildren, “they shall be called in my name and in
the names of my ancestors,” refers not merely to a name but also to a
life-style, not merely to a calling card but also to a set of immutable
values. This indelible relationship between the generations is the
deepest expression of our eternal covenant.
In this way we also understand even more profoundly the commitment of
“Mattathias the son of Yohanan High Priest Hasmonean and his sons “to
fight unto death for a Jewish future based upon a Jewish past. The
entire focus of the Jewish family has always been the transmission of our
sacred tradition of values and life-style from generation to generation,
father to son, mother to daughter. And that is why we celebrate the
miracle of the cleansing of the menorah first and foremost within the
context of the Jewish home rather than the Jewish synagogue, “a candle
lit by each individual within the familial home” (ner ish u-veito).]
Shabbat Shalom and
Hanukkah Sameah
Shlomo Riskin
Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone
Chief Rabbi - Efrat Israel
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