Parashat Vayeshev: Preparing for the Light of Chanukah
- Rebetzein Chavi
- Jan 11
- 2 min read
We are approaching a very special Shabbos. It is a Shabbos of hachana—of preparation. Our Sages teach us that the word hachana has the same numerical value as lev (heart), not brain or logic. This means that when we prepare ourselves for Chanukah, it is not only a logical or material preparation. It is an emotional preparation.
All the events recorded in Parashat Vayeshev can be closely connected to the Greek domination and to the story that preceded the miracle of Chanukah. When we read about the story of Yosef and all the challenges he faced in Mitzrayim, there is so much for us to internalize.
May these words be l’ilui nishmat Rav Shlomo ben Reb Yitzchak.
Yosef and the Preparation for Exile
Chazal teach us that Yaakov felt he was not sufficiently prepared spiritually, so he returned for another fourteen years to the yeshiva of Shem and Ever, not only to study Torah, but mainly to understand how to survive in a hostile and corrupt environment.
Although Yaakov taught all the Torah he had learned to all his sons, the specific lessons of how to survive exile he taught only to Yosef. Through prophetic insight, he understood that Yosef would somehow be the one to prepare the exile.
Yosef is called Yosef HaTzaddik, and Chazal say he is yesod olam, the foundation of the world. Whatever happened to him, he accepted everything with total emunah, even in the darkest times.
Emunah in Darkness
In the morning tefillah we say Emet veyatziv. But at night, when it is dark and events cannot be understood logically, we say Emet ve’emunah. That is the time to trust Hashem completely. That was Yosef’s greatness.
He held on to one firm belief: Hashem does only what is good for him.
Greece: Beauty Without Holiness
Tohu vavohu, v’choshech al p’nei tehom. Chazal teach that choshech refers to Greece.
Beauty will be given to Yefet, but it must dwell in the tents of Shem. Beauty alone, if pursued for its own sake, becomes destructive. Isha na’ah, dirah na’ah, keilim na’im — marchivin da’ato shel adam. Beauty can broaden our mind, but if used as an end in itself, it becomes destructive.
The Greeks lived for beauty—art, philosophy, science—but beauty without holiness leads nowhere. That was their darkness.
Yosef as the Answer to Greek Darkness
Yosef is yesod olam. Shem Shamayim shagur b’fiv. Everything he did and said was rooted in Hashem.
Chanukah: Light Through Emunah
Ki ner mitzvah v’Torah or. Chanukah comes from chinuch. To inaugurate, we must educate ourselves.
Yosef went down—into the pit, into Egypt, into prison. This is yeridah l’shem aliyah.
The Chashmonaim went to war with emunah. Wherever they went, they cried out Shema Yisrael.
We light the Chanukah candles at the petach. Hashem says: open your hearts just a little, and I will open for you like the entrance of a palace.
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