Parashat Miketz - Hanukkah 5773 - English

By Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky
B´nei Israel Congregation. San José, Costa Rica

The “Human Miracle” of Hanukkah

At the beginning of our parashah, Paró (the Pharoah of Egypt) dreams two famous dreams: seven fat cows eat seven skinny cows and seven thin tassels of wheat eat seven robust tassels. None of the Egyptian sages is able to interpret the Pharaoh’s dream, but our hero, Joseph, who at that moment was in prison, was in fact able to do so. Not only is he able to explain to Pharaoh the meaning of his disturbing dream, but even without being consulted on the matter, he presents him with a master plan to efficiently administrate the Egyptian Empire, in the face of the menacing future it was up against. The Pharoah recognizes the supreme wisdom of Joseph (even though Joseph himself attributes it to God) and names him as his right hand and administrator over the entire kingdom. 

In this passage, we admire Joseph’s knowledge, his faith and his majestic ability to express himself, but we also fully recognize his enormous ability to take advantage of the only opportunity in his life to be next to the Pharaoh. He could have been satisfied with interpreting the dream, and possibly he would have found favor in Pharaoh’s eyes for his correct interpretation. But nevertheless he dares to move ahead to an eventual consultation, which perhaps never would have taken place, and he presents himself not only as a wise interpreter, but also as a leader and a statesman. Only a man of great courage could have reacted in this way, someone who not only was waiting for an opportunity, but rather someone who was prepared to obtain it through wisdom and intuition.

A similar attitude to Joseph’s can be seen in the heroes of another story that we tell this week: I’m referring to the Maccabees and the story of Hanukkah. But before I make the comparison, allow me to ask you an interesting question concerning the holiday that we are celebrating.

As we all know, during Hanukkah, we remember “the miracle of the oil”, when the Maccabees came triumphantly to the Temple of Jerusalem and began to re-inaugurate it, and they found that there was only a small flask of the special oil used as fuel to keep the menorah lit, the candelabra with seven branches that was in the temple. They lit it anyway, and miraculously this oil lasted for eight days, enough time so that the precious oil could be made again. This story served as a base so that later on the sages established that during eight days we celebrate Hanukkah (literally meaning ‘inauguration’), lighting an eight-branched candelabra.

Well then, if you stop to think about it, the first day that the Menorah was lit when the Maccabees re-inaugurated the temple was what everyone was waiting for to happen. Therefore, the first day, it cannot be considered a miracle that the fire was lit. If you think of it that way, the miracle of Hanukkah lasted just seven days, and not eight. So, the interesting question to which I referred earlier is, “Why do we celebrate Hanukkah for eight days, if the miracle lasted only for seven?

One interesting answer is offered by Professor and Rabbi David Hartman (in the book, “A Different Light”, by Noam Zion and Barbara Spectre, Dvora Publishing, 2000). He says that on the first day, a miracle also occurred, which was the miracle of human courage, which dares to undertake important works in spite of not knowing if they will be successful.

The temple was impure, and before inaugurating it, the Maccabees had to make sure that everything was pure again. Many must have thought at that time of uncertainty, “Why light the lamp if we know that it’s going to go out before all the works of purification have been concluded? Why not wait until there is enough oil for a long period of time, while the work is being finished?” Nevertheless, a group of brave and visionary people insisted that the temple’s menorah had to be lit right away; that was their golden opportunity. That’s why it is that, according to Hartman, we celebrate Hanukkah for eight days: on the first day, we remember the miracle of courage and human determination, while on the other seven days, we commemorate the divine miracle.

Sometimes, because we wait until conditions are ideal, we lose our best opportunities. For wanting everything to be calculated and predictable, we squander the opportunities that life gives us. An excellent example of contrary attitude is provided by the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel, in May of 1948. Back in those days, many people thought it was too early to declare independence, that they should wait until they had a stronger army, that they should wait until the world more firmly recognized Israel, that they should wait until world Jewry became more Zionist oriented, etc. However, a brave minority of the Jewish people dared to proclaim the rebirth of the State of Israel, a proud moment for all the Jews of the world. It’s for a very good reason that those now historic Zionist leaders are often referred to as the “modern Maccabees”. 

The miracle of Hanukkah is not just about the candles that burned for longer than expected, but it’s also about the human spirit, that seeks a better future, even when it may not be so easily obtainable. That was also the attitude of the Hebrew Joseph, poor and unjustly deprived of his freedom, but with intelligence, astuteness and courage, he went all out and seized the great opportunity that was presented to him…almost miraculously. 

The festival of Hanukkah encourages us to keep working and taking on new projects, with strength and valor, even though others may think that we will not succeed. Let’s keep moving forward!