Eternal Flames of Hope
By: Rabbi Jordan Silvestri
While it may be the final day of Chanukah, the last day is always special. We see the full brightness shining forth as the chanukiah (menorah) is fully lit. We sing Maor Tzur for the final time with fervor as we embrace one another. It is truly a special moment.
Yet, after all of that, the holiday of Chanukah itself should have been abolished years ago!
What event, what miracle does Chanukah commemorate? The underdog beating the frontrunner in a military triumph for the ages? The 3 year process of rededicating the Beit HaMikdash that centered around the oil used to rekindle the wicks of the menorah? This moment in time, as the holiday’s name insinuates, focuses on the centrality of the Beit HaMikdash as the physical manifestation of the religious contract that is forged between us and Hashem. Without a Beit HaMikdash, asks the Gemara, what place does Chanukah hold in our religious calendar?
In last week’s Parsha and this week’s - Vayeshev and Miketz - we are introduced to the motif of dreaming as it applies to Yosef, the baker and winemaker and then, finally, Pharoah. We experience how this metaphysical act acted as the catalyst for pain, glory, triumph and revival. Of the 6 dreams we are introduced to, those that take place with Pharoah are most intriguing.
Pharoah finds himself the ruler of a nation whose military is the most technologically advanced, its economy is thriving and his position is as secure as it ever could be. Yet, Pharoah, as the Torah describes, is physically shaken from his sleep as he experiences two nights of harrowing dreams. Why does the Torah wait until the last dreams to finally share what the dreamer was experiencing on an emotional level?
The Ohr HaChaim explains that unlike any of the other dreamers, deep down Pharaoh knew that his dream was true, not a function of his subconscious coming to the surface, rather, that it had real life implications. He had hopes and dreams for what his empire would accomplish and what name he would build for himself in the annals of history. His hope, that stemmed from his ability to dream of a bright future, was being attacked from within the dream world itself.
Pharoah’s sense of hope was being threatened and he sought an explanation, one that could restore his sense of hope, faith in the future and himself. Every interpretation that his own people attempted to provide simply would not suffice. It was only when Yosef came along did that change. What did Yosef possess that made him special? Yosef epitomized Jewish hope, a hope that was beyond words, feelings or emotions. A hope that was impervious from any outside stimuli and that endured beyond time and space. His hope was a manifestation of something bigger.
Why do we still celebrate Chanukah thousands of years after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash?
While the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, our Jewish hope was never lost. Our memory, the light that burns throughout time and space and the story of our people have outlasted the destruction of what once was the religious center of our national identity. This notion that our hope could/would never be lost became the essence of Hatikvah and the spirit of the Jewish people.
As we light one last time we must remember that it is Yosef and the Jewish people that have kept hope alive, and hope that kept the Jewish people alive. In the words of Rabbi Sacks zt”l
“We are the voice of hope in the conversation of humankind”
That message can survive the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and survive any threat from the outside. As long as Jewish hope burns bright within our children, within ourselves, hope will never be lost.
Shabbat Shalom