Vayeshev
Why Can't He Just Live in Peace?
Ya’akov Avinu experienced great torment for many years. His twin brother wanted to kill him, his nephew, Elifaz took every last penny from him, he worked for seven years for Rachel and was presented with Leah by his devious Uncle Lavan, and finally, after escaping with his family, he was greeted by his brother Esav, who, even years later, still wanted to kill him. After all of these difficulties he wanted to settle down and enjoy his golden years, just sitting and learning and serving Hashem - “Bikesh Ya’akov leshev b’shalva”.
However, Hashem had other plans for him. Not long after that his beloved son Yosef was taken from him and disappeared for many long years. Hashem’s reason for this was that since tzadikim merit olam haba, they do not need to enjoy this world to boot.
The Long and Dark Nights of Chanukah
The Yom Tov of Chanukah falls during the longest nights of the year. It also falls during the darkest nights of the month when the moon is hidden from view. This alludes to the following idea.
A Yid is capable not only of “lehagid ba’boker chasdecha - to thank Hashem in the morning” - during the easy times, he also possesses “emunascha ba’leylos - faith in the nights - during the dark moments in galus.
This is the message of Chanukah. Specifically during the longest and darkest nights we light the candles, illuminate the darkness, and sing and praise Hashem despite the hardship and the difficulties.
The Period of “Enlightenment”
The era of the Yevanim, the Ancient Greeks, is known as the period of “Enlightenment”. There had been a revelation of knowledge of the sciences and the natural world, with many medical and scientific breakthroughs. However, the Torah considers it to have been a time of choshech - darkness. Why so?
R’ Pinkus offers the following explanation. Our belief system is the precise opposite to the goyim. In our view, the belief that human beings understand everything, that there is a solution to every problem, that there is no need for Hashem or his embrace - that is the greatest darkness of all.
Neros Channuka – the Deeper Meaning
To counteract this pernicious ideology we light the neros Channuka. These candles not only provide light but teach us a profound truth. If we would approach the greatest scientist or professor, show him a small jug of oil, and ask him if it could last for eight days, he would laugh and say it is impossible. But that is exactly what happened. A small jug of oil defied nature, and, despite what the great enlightened people would say, continued burning for a full eight days.
This miraculous light provided the greatest illumination that there has ever been. During the darkest period in history, in the darkest galus, in the most hopeless abyss of tzaros, it gave us hope, light, and understanding. It taught us that regardless of the dark and bleak times in which we live, we are not in the hands of nature; we are in the hands of Hashem.
Why Eight Days?
We celebrate eight days of Channukah. We perform bris milah on the eighth day of a child’s life. This indicates that there is something very significant about the number eight.
The world was created in seven days. This shows us that the number seven represents nature. When a baby is born we want him to join Klal Yisrael, to become a part of the nation of Hashem. To facilitate that we perform bris milah, a procedure that the goyim would deem to be dangerous, but to which we say: “Indeed al pi teva a child can die from this, however, we are beyond nature, we are in the hands of Hashem. We do not perform it on the day he is born, and also not on the seventh day of his life. We wait for the eighth day, once he has transcended the teva.”
This is why Chanukah lasts for eight days. Chanukah is the time that provides the light within the darkness, a time when we show that despite the darkness of teva, we can and will prevail.
The Purpose of the Pain!
After many years of suffering Ya’akov Avinu wanted to live b’shalvah. However, as mentioned above, Hashem had other plans. Why? Because all of Ya’akov’s suffering throughout the years had a purpose. Following his encounter with Elifaz he had no natural means of support - he had not a penny to his name and was surrounded by all the animals of the wild. However, it was precisely then that he had his dream and received all of the shefa in the world. Following that, he experienced the terrible trickery of Lavan. But it was precisely that which caused him to marry Leah who ultimately bore him a large proportion of the shivtey Kah. The less Ya’akov had and the more difficult the situation, the more he realised that it was not the teva that was helping him. Rather he was in the hands of Hashem and that is what had helped him through.
After all of these difficulties Ya’akov yearned for some time without hardship but Hashem would have none of it. He wanted Ya’akov to continue feeling, “gam ki elech b’gei tzalmaves lo ira ra ki atah imadi”, to not feel limited by the enlightenment of teva, and to feel embraced by the limitlessness of Hashem. That is why He instigated the troubles involving Yosef and all that stemmed from it.
The Next Generation
The Torah relates that Ya’akov loved Yosef more than all his other children. Rashi explains that this means that he taught him the Torah that he learned in Yeshivas Shem v’Ever. Why did he specifically teach him this Torah rather than the (apparently greater) Torah that he had learned from the Avos, Avraham and Yitzchak?
The sefarim explain that the reason Ya’akov went to Yeshivas Shem v’Ever (and the reason it did not constitute a violation of kibud av va’em given that his parents had instructed him to go straight to Charan) was because he had been forced to leave the tranquillity of his home and head into the most difficult galus. It was imperative that he learn how to conduct himself in these trying circumstances.
A Different Yeshivah!
This wisdom could not be derived from the Torah he received from the Avos for they had lived tranquil. Instead he had to go to the yeshiva of Shem who lived during the dor hamabul, and Ever who lived during the dor haflaga.
Both of them retained their emuna and connection to Hashem in these terrible eras. It was their Torah that Ya’akov needed before heading out into the darkness of Beis Lavan.
And it was specifically this Torah that Ya’akov had to transmit to Yosef before he began his personal galus in Mitrayim where he would encounter the terrible nisayon of eshes Potiphar. Yosef needed this Torah in order to establish a mode of existing in the mire of galus and yet still hold on tight to Hashem. It was this that gave a foothold for Klal Yisrael in Mitzrayim.
Current Times
We are currently experiencing some of the darkest times for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
The more we hear of the terrible atrocities experienced by the captives at the hands of savage terrorists and of the soldiers who are losing their lives on a daily basis, and the more we see the great number of children left orphaned, many from both parents, the darker everything seems to become. And then, this week we were rocked anew by the appalling attack at kenisa la’ir, in the heart of Yerushalayim, which tragically took the lives of the kedoshim she’ba’chaburah.
Chanukah is a time of great light amid intense darkness.
During the longest and darkest nights of the year we light the flames of the menorah. We are mosif v’holech, we do not stop at seven for we are not limited by the “enlightenment” of teva. We go beyond teva, lighting eight candles and celebrate the oil in the Beis Hamikash that kept on burning beyond its natural capacity.
As we endure these times and these unprecedented events, lest us cling to the light of emuna. Let us take the Toras Shem v’Ever that Ya’akov learned during the darkest times and then transmitted to Yosef, to help us survive today.
In that merit may we experience a Chanuka filled with the greatest light, with the swift redemption of all those in captivity, a refua shelema to the injured, a nechama to those in mourning, an end to all the atrocities, and most importantly, the light of the menorah not only within the confines of galus but within the Beis Hamikash haShelishi.
