The Light of Joseph

In this week's Torah Portion, Vayeshev, we are first introduced to the great Joseph: "Yakov settled in the land of his father. These are the descendants of Yakov: Yosef was 17 years old." It's not by coincidence that every year the Torah portions about Yosef fall during the holiday of Chanukah (begins this Tuesday Night). Every holiday is associated with a forefather; Avraham with Passover, Isaac with Shavuot and Yakov with Sukkot. But who best exemplified the light of Chanukah?

     At the beginning of the Torah's account of creation, G-d fashions a special light and hides it, calling it "good" - tov. Tov in hebrew is numerically equivalent to 17, the age of Yosef in this week's Torah portion. If that wasn't enough numerical connection for you, on Chanukah we light a total of 36 candles, and Yosef's mother Rachel died at the age of 36. Leah's Hebrew name equals 36, and Yosef's father Yakov was away from his home for 36 years. 

     In the book of Ovadiah (1:18), we read: "The house of Yakov will be fire, the house of Yosef a flame, and the house of Esau straw, and they will ignite them and devour them." Esau represents spiritual numbness, the darkness of exile full of assimilation and spiritual insensitivity. Yosef represents the light of the Jewish soul, able to illuminate this darkness with his flame of goodness and holiness like the menorah of Chanukah at night, even amidst the temptations and loneliness he experienced in Egypt.
   
     As we watch the candles flicker on these upcoming 8 nights, let us meditate on their strength and power. A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness. We light only one additional candle each day. We learn from this that our inner character growth can be slow and incremental, as long as it's real. Then it will last.

Happy Chanukah!

-Rabbi Daniel Bortz