Shabbos Parashas Miketz-Chanukah - 5776
Shabbos Parashas Miketz-Chanukah - 5776
Rabbi Hal Miller
It happened at the end of two years to the day, Pharaoh was dreaming.
[Bereishis 41:1]
Why does our verse say "two years to the day", or as it is also translated, "two
years of days"? Rashbam says our verse means "two full years". It's not the kind
of phrase one would ordinarily use. What is the Torah telling us?
Our parsha is named for the word just before, mikeitz. Onkelos says this means
"at the end", and Rashi cites and explains this. Rav Hirsch tells us that mikeitz is
related to gozeiz, to cut off or separate. It means there is a separation between a
"before" and an "after" period. In the case of Yosef, our verse marks the division
between his imprisonment and his freedom. There are many explanations why
Yosef had to be imprisoned for precisely two years, including a punishment for
Yosef having asked twice for the cup-bearer's assistance, but what caused the
split here between periods?
The Chanukah story includes the miracle of one day's oil burning for eight days. If
so, then there are seven miraculous days here, not eight, as it would be expected to
burn for one of the days anyway. Nachshoni tells us that according to Taz, we light
candles for eight days instead of seven because the oil of the first day caused the
miracle to take place. Had it not been for that first bit of oil, there would not have been
anything upon which the miracle could take place. This tells us that, without man
taking some type of action, no miracle will occur.
In the Chanukah story, the before-period was the Assyrian-Greek control of the Temple,
and the after-period was the Chashmonaim period of returned Temple service. In order
for that change to occur, it took the Maccabees stepping up and taking military action.
It took the Maccabees lighting the oil while trying to figure out what they would do next.
In our parsha, the before-period was Yosef's imprisonment, and the after-period was
Yosef's position as viceroy of Egypt. In order for that change to occur, it took Yosef
stepping up and taking action, asking the Pharaoh's cup-bearer to remember him.
Perhaps there would have been a better way for Yosef to take action, we do not know.
Perhaps his requests were, in fact, tied to his increased sentence, but in the end, the
reason he gained release and such an exalted position was because he took some
action toward his own future.
It is not Jewish understanding that we should sit idly by and leave everything to
Hashem to do for us. Judaism requires "believe as if everything will be done by G-d,
but act as if everything depends on you."