Shabbos Miketz-Chanukah 5778

Shabbos Miketz-Chanukah 5778 Rabbi Hal Miller Then Yehudah said to Yisrael his father ... "I will personally guarantee him; of my own

hand you can demand him. If I do not bring him back to you and stand him before you,

then I will have sinned to you for all time." [Bereishis 43:8-9] In Pirkei Avos [2:1] we read, "Consider three things and you will not come into the grip of

sin: Know what is above you--a watchful Eye, an attentive Ear, and all your deeds are

recorded in a Book." Sfas Emes tells us that the Eye perceives our innermost thoughts,

and the Ear listens to our speech, but it is primarily our deeds that are inscribed in His

Book. We are responsible for directing our thoughts appropriately, and are certainly

responsible for our speech, but we are called to account to the greatest degree for what

we actually do. It is hardest to control thought, easier to control speech, but there is no

excuse for not controlling our own actions. Thus, there is a scale of accountability. Reuven tells Yaakov in our parsha [42:37], "You may slay my two sons if I fail to bring him

back to you." We can assume that Reuven's sons were extremely important to him, and

this offer came from deep within his heart, showing his sincerity. In his thoughts, Reuven

had intended to save Yosef from the pit. His speech reflects his good intentions regarding Binyamin. However, when it comes to actual action, he passes accountability on to others

(his sons), rather than accepting it himself. By contrast, last week Yehudah accepted upon himself the responsibility with regard to

Tamar. Here he does so concerning Binyamin, and again at the end of the parsha when

he offers himself and all the brothers as slaves to Yosef over the incident of the "stolen"

cup. His offers are not in the person of others, but regarding his own future. When the Syrian-Greeks destroyed the Temple and persecuted the Jews of Jerusalem,

all leadership in opposition ended. Despite political and military leadership not being the

job of the priests, since no others stepped forward, it was Mattisyahu and his sons, the

kohanim, who formed a resistance movement. This family created a small army, called

upon G-d, and overthrew the greatest power of the day, introducing us to one of the two

biggest post-Torah-era holidays on the calendar, Chanukah. It may not have been their

job, but somebody had to step up. It may not have seemed likely that the one jar of oil would last, but somebody had to step forward and try. Nechama Leibowitz translates the last words of our pasuk as "let me bear the blame

forever", which gets us around the connotations of the wording of "sinned", above. Rav

Hirsch tells us that Yehudah did not speak until he saw that Yaakov was past the

emotional issues, and had realized the necessity of immediate action. Before that time, nothing could be said that would convince Yaakov, as Reuven found out. But once

Yaakov was ready, it took Yehudah's initiative to accept upon himself the responsibility

in order to get the expedition under way. It took Yehudah's acceptance of accountability

"forever" to convince Yaakov that the time was right to send his sons back to Egypt. We as a people are supposed to lead. When something needs to be done, even if that

task isn't our responsibility, if no others are going to accomplish it, we need to step

forward. It isn't for us to rely on others to cover for us. It isn't for us to commit others. Whether it requires a prayer (thought), a helpful or consoling ear (speech), or our money

and time (action), it falls to Jews to remember our role as leaders in G-d's world.