Community Blog

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Urim Sameach. This week's Torah portion is Parashat Miketz, in which we hear about Pharaoh's dreams that Joseph correctly interprets as portending 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine. Both Pharaoh and Joseph jump into action and are willing to engage in cross-cultural collaboration for the sake of the good for the whole region. By contrast, the Chanukah story is rife with tyrants vying for control of the region and over people's personal choices as to how they worship and engage in cultural traditions. 

We know that the Seleucids and King Antiochus are the bad guys, desecrating the Temple and forrbidding Torah study. But often overlooked is the fact that the fight in the Chanukah story was as much a civil war against other Jews as it was an uprising against an oppressive empire. It’s quite possible that the Maccabees today would be those who declare secular, assimilated, or even any non-Orthodox Jews as un-Jewish, that they would see us here tonight as they saw their Hellenized contemporaries. After the war, the Seleucid empire granted the Hasmoneans (the priestly family of the Maccabees) the right to rule over the Jewish population in some matters, but total independence was not granted. The Hasmoneans accepted the Greek title of “King”, despite the ancient prohibitions on mixing the priesthood with the monarchy. They accepted the loosened yoke of the empire, as long as they were allowed to reign as priests and domestic rulers. One could argue that the religious freedom was the most important value over complete political indepence, but when compared, for example, to the traditional view of Korach as a hypocritical usurper, the power dynamics of the Hasmoneans doesn’t sit well with me as a Reform Jew. 

I don’t say any of this to diminish the importance of religious freedom or the excitement of the Chanukah holiday. I think there are lots of important messages in the Chanukah story: the value of sticking to one’s values in the face of hostility, the hope of a small ragtag group of warriors to overthrow a mighty and oppressive empire, the fight against totalitarianism and forced assimilation, the miracle of bringing light into darkness, keeping ourselves warm through the cold winter months, a reason to celebrate with family and friends and eat fried foods. But in contrast to the behaviors of Pharaoh and Joseph in this week’s parasha, the classic “good vs. evil” set up of the Chanukah story falls apart. So much more nuance is possible, as is cross-cultural collaboration for common goals, building bridges even with those we don’t always agree with or may at some points in history see as our ideological enemies. 

Midrash Tanchuma comments on this week’s parasha: “Every affliction to befall man has a set time to end, as it is written [in Job 28:3], ‘An end He set to darkness, and every limit He investigates’. This is said regarding Joseph, who had been ten years in prison [when he asked the chief butler to intercede for him], but G‑d investigated and saw that it was necessary for him to be imprisoned for another two years.” We see throughout the Tanakh, and our own history, that good times and times of affliction come through cycles. There are waves of progress, triumphs, freedoms, and peace. And there are waves of reactionary regression, oppressions, and violence. After the Pharaoh of today’s parasha shows such willingness to elevate a Hebrew above all others and use their combined powers of prophecy to feed the entire region, another Pharaoh rises with grave xenophobic policies. After the Seleucids fall, Jews enjoy a time of religious freedom, followed by intense in-fighting which opens them up to the oppressions of Rome. Jews in America have enjoyed unprecedented relative equality and freedom for the last 200 years, and are now facing an uptick in antisemitic hate-crimes that have scarcely been seen in a generation. And while things may get worse before they get better, they will get better. The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. And so must we. 

May we find inroads for cross-cultural collaboration. May we strive toward the greater good for all. May we light up darkness and warm up the cold hearts of tyrants. May we bend toward justice. Amen, Shabbat Shalom, and Chag Sameach.