5-Bullet Friday: Parshas Miketz

~ Torah Parallels ~

5-Bullet Friday

This week is Parshas Miketz and Rosh Chodesh and Shabbos Chanuka! (#threesifreitorah #longestbentching) Check out this week's d'var torah here.

Here is this week's 5-Bullet Friday:

• Question I'm pondering (on the parsha): Was there logic to the argument? The passuk (44:8) records that after Yosef accused the brothers of stealing his magic goblet, the brothers responded that if they were even willing to return the money that was given back to them “accidentally” when they could have gotten away with it, then certainly they would not actively steal something from Yosef. Rashi comments that this is actually one of ten kal v'chomeir's found in the Torah. What exactly is the kal v'chomeir though? There seems to be an obvious pircha to the kal v’chomeir: Perhaps a magic goblet is something that would be worth taking since it seemingly gave Yosef power to know things about the shevatim that perhaps they would not want him to know. For example, we know that despite Yaakov avinu and his family not stealing anything from Lavan's house, Rachel stole his teraphim because she knew that Lavan would be able to use them to see where they ran to if she left them there (according to one explanation in Rashi there). So, what is the kal v'chomeir here?

• Question I'm pondering (on Chanukah): Miracles during this time. The second b’racha we make when lighting the menorah each night is “she’asah nissim la’avoseinu, ba’yamim ha’heim ba’zman ha’zeh”. (...Who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.) The other time we recite this b’racha is on Purim when we recite the megillah. Certainly this b’racha is relevant much more often. Why wasn’t this b’racha koveya (established) at least also by the shalosh regalim for the miracles we experienced during Pesach, Succos, and Shavuos?

• Concept I am considering: Shechina in our midst: The miracle of the western lamp. The gemara in Menachos 86b (see also Shabbos 22b) quotes Rava as saying that the there was a miracle that occurred every day with the menorah in the Beis Ha’mikdash. The kohen would put the same amount of oil into each of the lamps of the menorah, and yet the ner ma’aravi would outlast the others not just last the night, but in fact the kohen would kindle the other lamps from the ner ma’aravi the next evening.

• Hashkafic idea I'm reflecting on: The cultural trojan horse. In the tefillah of Al Hanissim that we recite in shemoneh esreh and in bentching over Chanukah, we say that the Greeks rose up and tried to cause the Jews to make them forget the Torah and to compel them to stray from the mitzvos (chukim). One interpretation of this could certainly be that these two items (forgetting the Torah and compelling to stray from the mitzvos) are really one and that the Greeks tried to force us to not to mitzvos and to do aveiros to cause us to stray from our religion. However, the wording of “making the Jews forget the Torah” is peculiar; after all, how does one cause one to forget something? Perhaps the explanation is that the Greeks introduced culture and philosophy - their trojan horse which looked like a gift but was really full of distractions to Torah ideologies. The best way to cause someone to forget about something is by having them them think of something else. This is what the Greeks tried to do. They tried to 1. Distract the Jews and introduce Hellenistic cultures, philosophies, and beliefs in order to cause us to forget the Torah as well as 2. Make specific decrees against the Jews forcing aveiros (eating pig, having relations with Greek officers, etc) as well as decrees preventing mitzvos (Rosh Chodesh, Shabbos, bris millah). We all are in battle with the yetzer harrah’s that plague the k’lal as well as those that we struggle with personally. The only way we could conquer them is to isolate the distractions that encourage us to forget the Torah and fall into the traps of the trojan horses of our times. Think about it: What are some things that distract you and by extension cause you to accidentally (or purposely) forget the Torah? What steps could you take to recognize and isolate the trojan horse and be on offense to keep the Torah?

• Middah on my mind: Achrayus (responsibility). There are many applications of achrayos; this week specifically the idea of a yachid’s (individual) achrayus to the tzibbur is on my mind. On Chanukah we read from the Torah daily from parshas Nasso dealing with the karbanos of the nesi’im as it relates to the chanukas ha’mishkan. The portion begins we read on the first day of Chanukah begins with the nesi’im wanting to contribute toward the chanukas ha’mishkan. Rashi asks: why did the nesi’im wait until now to decide they should contribute? Rashi explains that at the time of the construction of the mishkan they said, “We’ll let the tzibbur contribute whatever they will contribute, and whatever they leave incomplete we will complete.” Once they saw that everything was taken care of, they said “What is left for us to do?” They ended up bringing the avnei shoham and the precious stones for the Eiphod and Choshen. There is no doubt that the nesi’im had the best of intentions with their willingness to cover the cost of everything not taken care of by the tzibbur - no matter how expensive, and luckily the story has a happy ending. However, if there would be a second chanukas ha’mishkan, the nesi’im would not wait until after the contributions are complete to offer the remainder. There is an achrayus that members of a tzibbur have to a tzibbur and and that requires simultaneous contributions; it is not worth the risk of excluding oneself from the tzibbur. The recent outbreaks of measles (both in the frum communities, and others) highlighted this idea of members of the tzibbur not contributing to the tzibbur. If ~95% of a population gets the preventative vaccine then an epidemic cannot break out, and the remaining 5% could be reserved for those who are in need to rely on the tzibbur to survive. When that “reserve” is used by others with the mentality of “I’ll let everyone else contribute to the tzibbur, but will hold back for now”, it is a form of removing oneself from the tzibbur. It is inappropriate misuse of tzibbur infrastructure like taking tzedaka when it could be going to the legitimate poor people who really rely on it for survival. The idea of being part of a tzibbur and contributing towards a tzibbur is one that is absolutely necessary before doing a chanukas ha’mikdash.

• Part of Tefillah I'm concentrating on: Mi kamocha ba’eilim Hashem. The roshei teivos (first hebrew letter of these words) famously spell ‘Macabi’. This was the mantra of the Maccabim during the time of Chanukah who knew and understood that probabilities of winning battle are not dependent on anything other than Hashem. Numbers and weaponry mean nothing to Hashem, Who controls the world. It is this belief which powered the Maccabim and allowed them to merit winning the battle. These words, which we recite multiple times daily - notably right before shacharis and maariv shemoneh esrei’s, refer back to that which B’nei Yisroel said in Az Yashir after experiencing the tremendous miracle of kriyas yam suf. During that experience, it was clear as day that Hashem is all-powerful and is the sole and ultimate ruler of the world; and that is something which we repeat daily to remind ourselves before davening shemoneh esreh that indeed it is Hashem who is in control of the whole world at every single moment. There is no one else to daven to or rely on other than Hashem - the same Hashem that performed all the miracles in Mitzrayim and on the Yam Suf, the same Hashem that performed all the miracles of Chanukah, and the same Hashem that performs all the miracles that we benefit from on a daily, and ongoing, basis. 

What's on your mind? 

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

P.S:

• Completely random thought I'm thinking about: Delayed Gratification. This topic is a favorite of mine, so be prepared to see it often. Would you rather $500 today or $510 in a month? What about $500 in a year or $510 in a year and a month? Most of you probably answered the $500 today in the first scenario, and in the second scenario, more of you probably opted with the $510 in a year and a month. In both cases, the net wait time between the $500 and the $510 is one month; however the big difference between the two scenarios is that one is talking about now and one is talking about in the future. The main difference between the present and the future is emotion. In the present we become conflicted between logic and emotion. We have wants that we feel right now; in the future, we do not yet have the strong emotional aspect pulling on us so it is easier to line up to data points and decide which is “clearly better” Challenge: The next time you hear that voice inside you screaming “I want it now!”, challenge it back and say, “Yes, but not now - tomorrow.” Getting in the habit of delaying gratification stems from first recognizing when it is a challenge. Delaying desires is healthy as it then allows for a fighting chance to view the options logically and make a more thoughtful decision.

Have comments or thoughts on this week's bullets? Have other random thoughts on your mind? Send an email to torahparallels@gmail.com. Thank you!