Shabbos Parashas Vayeishev-Chanukah 5778

Shabbos Parashas Vayeishev-Chanukah 5778 Rabbi Hal Miller Yaakov settled in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

[Bereishis 37:1] This week's parsha is, for all intents and purposes, the conclusion of the story of Yaakov,

and the beginning of the story of Yosef. The very next pasuk after ours is the transition.

The rest of the parsha discusses the activities of the brothers, then in particular, Yosef's entry into Egypt. Before we leave Yaakov, though, I thought it worth noting a connection to Chanukah right

here just before the beginning of the holiday. On our pasuk, Ramban explains that the Torah has just given us (last week) the story

about Esau's family claims to inheritance, with a step by step mapping of who took what

land and settled on it. Now we see that Yaakov did not take land, but instead he settled as

a stranger, as did his father and grandfather, in the land he was to eventually inherit. They

chose to stay in Eretz Yisrael, even though at this point it still belonged to the Canaanites,

because this is where G-d's Presence could be found. Rav Hirsch cites five "dedications" (the translation of the word "chanukah"): the Mishkan

of Moshe, the Temple of Shlomo, the Second Temple, the re-dedication by the

Chashmonaim, and the Final Chanukah of the Third Temple. Looking at these as a timeline, we see an interesting pattern: 1st Chanukah - Mishkan ~1500 BCE 2nd Chanukah - 1st Temple ~950 BCE 3rd Chanukah - 2nd Temple ~516 BCE 4th Chanukah - Chashmonaim ~150 BCE (our holiday) Final Chanukah - 3rd Temple Note that there are approximately 500 years per interval, for the first through the fourth.

Those four occurred while the nation of Israel was in the Land, or in the Presence of the

Shechinah (while in the desert.) The time gap between the fourth and the final

Chanukahs (which is today), between the Destruction of the Second Temple and the

upcoming building of the Third, consists of some 2000 years, during which Israel did not

live in the Land nor merit to be in the Presence. We are now at the end of the fourth

iteration of a 500 year interval since the fourth Chanukah, and are now in possession of

the Land of Yisroel. Although, thus far the time has not been right for the dedication of the

Third Temple, we are living in the Land, as sojourners, in the same way that our forefathers did in each generation of that period. We may know that it belongs to us, but we also know

that the strength of our adversaries exceeds our own, and it is only through the strength of

G-d that we are able to maintain our position there as we await His redemption. Rav Hirsch says, "Israel is the one nation that knows not only the historic Chanukah but a

constantly renewed Chanukah, a re-consecration celebrated over and over again, each

time with greater inspiration and more intense devotion to the goal that was set for Israel

from the beginning at a sevenfold height...Israel began its Chanukah by kindling the lights of

its homes from the light of the Temple, but the new, ultimate Chanukah will be attained when

the light tended in Israel's homes will triumph so that they may ignite the light of the Temple to become a true, everlasting ner tamid (Eternal Light)." Let us put forth the effort to make all of Israel worthy of lighting that light soon.