Parashas Miketz and Channuka

Parasha Miketz starts off explaining Pharoh's dream. "He was standing on the river when seven cows emerged from it - nice, fat looking ones, grazing in the reed grass. Suddenly, seven other cows emerged after them, looking scrawny and bad. These skinny cows ate up the healthy, fat looking cows..." The second dream he had was of "seven skinny stalks swallowing seven bulky stalks..." These dreams got Pharoh worried, wondering what they meant. He called everyone he could to interpret his dreams, but listened to no one. The butler remembered Yosef interpreting his dream accurately two years back, while in prison, and told Pharoh.

Pharoh summoned him, and Yosef interpreted his dreams. Not only did Yosef interpret it, but he also advised Pharoh what to do, and how to do it.

Rav Schwab asks, what was so bad about these dreams that prompted Pharoh to call the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men? Did he suspect that it was going to have an effect on the future? Rav Schwab answers, this is the way Pharoh thought: a) The majority always wins over the minority, and b) The stronger one always defeats the weaker ones. When he saw the opposite in his dreams, he was flabbergasted. He didn't think such a thing could possibly happen. It got him thinking, "Can it be that someone is trying to rebel against me? A minority, who will win?" Therefore, he searched for an interpretation to his dream. [1]

We see the concept of minority beating majority and weak winning over strong in many places. We say several times a day (during the days of Chanuka), "You (Hashem) have given the strong ones, into the hands of the weak ones...", "The majorities into the hands of the minorities, etc..." The Greeks tried destroying the Jewish religion. They prevented us from praying to Hashem, performing circumcisions, keeping Shabbos, family purity, and the list goes on. The Maccabees (the five sons of Mattisyahu; the Cohen Gadol) exerted maximum efforts to defeat the Greeks, and Hashem took care of the rest.

There is another example in this week's parasha where the "lower" overtakes the "higher." It says that Pharoh had seventy-one steps to his throne. Based on how many languages one knew, he could ascend that many steps. When Pharoh tested Yosef in different languages, Yosef was able to ascend all the way to the top step. He actually knew one more language than Pharoh did, Hebrew. Pharoh made Yosef swear not to tell anybody that he knew more languages, otherwise the people of Egypt would dismiss Pharoh as ruler. [2] Hashem had sent an angel to teach Yosef all those languages, so that Pharoh could make him part of the "high authority," since an Egyptian king or second-in-command must master all seventy languages. [3]

It's amazing how quickly Hashem can extricate a person from his dilemma, changing his whole life in a matter of seconds. A lesson which can be learned from Parashas Miketz and the story of Chanuka; When a situation seems hopeless, don't give up. Continue to have faith in Hashem, for He has infinite ways of changing a situation. Yosef went from owning nothing and living in prison, to having everything; with the ability to also provide for his family in their time of need. Yosef didn't give up on Hashem's ability to help him. He knew that the same way Hashem put him there, He could also take him out. So too by the Maccabees, they didn't lose faith in Hashem. They still davened and fulfilled mitzvos in private. They did not rationalize to excuse themselves from keeping mitzvos.

Kavei El Hashem, Chazak Viya'ametz Li'becha - Have hope in Hashem, He shall strengthen your heart.

Thanks for reading,

Nisso

[1] Me'ayin Beis Sho'aiva

[2] Midrash HaGadol 41:39

[3] Midrash HaGadol 40:1