“So Pharaoh sent and called for Yosef, and they rushed him from the prison, and he shaved and changed his clothes, and he [then] came to Pharaoh.” (Bereishis 41:14)
Why does the Torah need to let us know that Yosef shaved and changed his clothes before he appeared before Pharaoh?
The Torah is teaching us a valuable lesson. Although Yosef was rushed to hear Pharaoh’s dreams, he took time to prepare himself before standing in front of the king. All the more so, we need to prepare ourselves before tefilla - even though we might be in a rush - so that we can stand before HaShem with proper thoughts, feelings and concentration.
נֵר ה' נִשְׁמַת אָדָם - A man's soul is HaShem’s candle (Mishlei 20:27). This candle, teaches the Sefas Emes, exists in every Jew and it always remains pure - it is our holy Neshama. We testify about it in the morning blessings as we say "...the Neshama that You gave me is pure." Quoting from his Rebbi, the Chidushei HaRim, the Sefas Emes says further that finding the one pure jar of oil in the Beis Hamikdosh is a symbolism that inside a person - who is a mini Beis HaMikdash - there is "one jar of pure oil" that HaShem always protects from impurities [Sefas Emes, Chanuka 5632].
On a physical level, Chanukah is a time of lighting the candles of the menorah to publicize the miracle. The Sefas Emes [Chanukah 5631] teaches that on a spiritual level, Chanukah is a time to learn how to find and reveal the inner candle - the pure Neshama. In the story of Chanukah, that one jar of pure oil was spread out in a miraculous way to the entire duration of time that was needed to prepare new oil. Similarly, teaches the Sefas Emes, our job is not only to find that "one jar of pure oil" within ourselves, but to also spread it into every action of our lives. In other words, once a person finds that pure light of his Neshama, he now needs to infuse that light into every fiber of his life.
Further, it follows, that on Chanukah one also needs to learn how to find the "jar of pure oil" in his/her partner in life – i.e., in his/her spouse. And certainly, parents need to find the "jar of pure oil" in every child that they brought into the world. This will enable the parents to light the most precious menorah which they possess.
