Ari Goldwag - Vayeshev - Yosef and Chanukah

You're listening to the weekly para podcast with Ari Goldwag recorded with Hashem's never ending assistance in Shamish Israel 5777 2016. This week's para is parasv and our para we have the story of Yoseph and his brothers. how the brothers sell him as a result of their jealousy, which is as a result of the fact that Yakov made him to be more special and the fact that he had these dreams which spoke of his greatness, which spoke of his leadership qualities which would indeed be seen to be true many years later, but which had not yet taken root, which had not yet come to fruition. And as the story develops and as the Torah describes us the the series of events, we see that Yoseph at Sadic, Joseph is led through a very difficult, a very challenging situation, many different situations and he finds himself after many years and after many difficulties, many different challenges, 10 years of them, he finds himself in jail. And although things go well in a certain sense, he sees that Hashem is with him. Nevertheless, he's there. He's in jail. He's in a place where it doesn't seem like there's any hope. And the Torah describes the fact that these two servants of parro, two servants of Pharaoh, his Sarah Mashkim and his Sarahim, his baker and his winebearer. So they came there and they were incarcerated as well for sins that they committed. And the Torah describes their dreams and how Yoseph interprets their dreams. And the Torah also tells us that Yseph asks the one who's going to have a good result as a result of those dreams. The one who's going to be led out of there, the Saramashkim, the winebearer, please remember me. Please don't forget about me. Please tell Pharaoh, I was unjustly incarcerated. Please take me out of here. He puts his faith in a human being. And our sages tell us that there was a mistake there that Yoseph made by placing his faith in a human being. He ended up being in jail another 2 years. Now before I share with you a most amazing maj that talks about this point exactly why was it that Yoseph had to go through all these challenges had to go through all these difficulties and why was it that at the moment when it seemed like there was going to be a salvation he saw that something amazing happened placed these two people in front of him so that he could interpret their dreams clearly was divine providence that these people were placed there in front of him so that perhaps he'd be able to get out and indeed in next week's para we see that he does get out but he comes to really the end he comes to the end. We'll see exactly what is the idea behind it. But he comes to this place of yush. He comes to a place where it seems like all hope is lost. As it were, it seems like Hashem has forsaken him. So we need to understand this idea. We need to understand what's going on here. And I'm going to share this beautiful message with you shortly. But before we do, it's important to understand we always read these paras. We read the story of Yosephadic always in conjunction with our celebration of Kaneka. Kaneka is that time where the Jewish people during the second temple period had come to a great low. They had come to a spiritual low. There were many helenists, those who took on the ways of the Greeks. And there were only a very few core people who held on to the traditions of the Jewish people who held on to the Tyra. That was the Makabim. It was the Mcabes. It was the Matisio, the high priest and his sons. And an amazing miracle occurred as we all know. And they were able to defeat the mighty Greek army. There were only a few of them, but they were able to defeat the many. They were the righteous. And the righteous were able to defeat the wicked. But the question that arises and we need to understand and I believe it's very much connected to this point in the para is why is it that we always read the para of Yoseph during Kaneka? Why is Kaneka what's the connection between Kaneka between the miracle of Kaneka between the time period of Kaneka that connects so much to the story of Yose that we always read it then also a few other interesting questions about Kaneka Kaneka is a unique day it's unique of all of the of the of all of the different holidays the different things that we celebrate on the Jewish calendar most of them happen in the middle of the month pes is in the middle of the month sukus is in the middle of the month pur is in the middle of the month but it's called Kanuka because it was on KF the last two letters of Kaneka denote the fact that the miracle occurred the first day of the miracle was on the 25th day of the month at the end of the month so it's unique that Kaneka is something that we celebrate at the end of the month going into the next month into the following month it's 8 days from the end of kislave to the beginning of tes and the question is why why is it that we celebrate it then why is it that indeed the miracle occurred then what was Hashem's message to us in making this miracle occur at the end of the month and into the beginning of the following month. And it's also significant that this miracle occurred in the celebration of the miracle is something that happened in the winter months. Pes is a celebration of the spring. It's a celebration of renewals, a celebration of the Jewish people coming out of Egypt. Sukus is also it's in the it's in the autumn. It's in a time which is a nicer time. Why is it that this miracle that this celebration is something that occurred and that we celebrate in the winter? Another interesting question which I was discussing with my daughter whose bat mitzvah is coming up this coming week. So we were talking about she's born in Kaneka. We're talking about the migilla of Antiochus. It's called the description of the events of Kaneka referred to as the migillus antio which is the scroll of antio. Antiocus was the king. He was the evil king of the of the Greeks who fought against the Jewish people who sent his generals to try to destroy the Jewish people. And the Makabim were successful. They were able to succeed in their struggle against Antious. But why is it that the migilla the description of these events of Kaneka? Why is it referred to as Megillis Antious? Why is it its title is after the antagonist of the story? Why isn't it entitled after the protagonist? Why isn't it called Mcgillis Matisio? He was the high priest. He was the one who fought against the Greeks. His children were fought against the Greeks. So why is it not named after him? Now before we answer all these questions about Kanek, I'd like to bring you back to our para. I'd like to ask one more question before I I read the medish, which is a beautiful medish, very deep medish. The last question is that you know when we read the story when we read the description of events of Ysephic we always stop at this point at the end of the parases we stop at this point where it seems like all is lost it seems like hope is gone for Ysephic he's going to be in the jail for another two years he's asked for help he's asked the Saramashkim the wine bearer to remember him and the Torah tells us that the wine bearer just completely forgets about him doesn't remember him doesn't remember anything about Yoseph He completely slips from his mind. And it's interesting that we stop here in the story. It's interesting to note why did Kazal when they were setting up the paras why did they place the stop right here. So I'd like to share with you the medish and I think through this mish we understand the answer to this question and we start to understand the answer to the other questions that we've asked as well. The medish tells us this is the very final piece of medish on our para. The verse says that the wine bearer did not remember Yoseph. if he completely forgot about him. Very interesting. Every day he would do things to try to remind himself. He would say, "Oh, when I do this particular action, I want to remember Yoseph." He tried to make like a subliminal connection for himself and then I'm going to remember him and I'm going to remind myself and I'm going to mention him to parro. An angel would come and cause him to forget. He would do something so that he would lose that connection. Because he would tie like a a little red ribbon for himself around his finger, a red string, an angel would come and untie that that little reminder for himself. Meaning he tried to remember the angels came and wouldn't let him. God said to him, "You have forgotten him." But I God will never forget Joseph. That's what it means when it says that the mashkim did not remember. Now listen to the second half of the mag. It's an amazing piece. Another explanation. He forgot you. The wine bearer forgot you, Yseph. But I will never forget you. And you're not the only one that it seemed like would be forgotten. Who is waiting for Abraham and Sarah? They were old. Who is waiting for them to have a child? Who is waiting for Jacob that he passed with only a stick, with only a staff over the Jordan River? And it was so long. It took so much time, but eventually he became rich and he had many beautiful children and he began the Jewish people. Who was the one who was waiting for that to happen? It wasn't something that happened right away. Who waited for Joseph? He had to go through all of these challenges, all of these difficulties before he would become the king. Who was waiting? Hashem says, "I was waiting." But that's not it. Who waited for for Moses? Moses was thrown as a baby into the Nile River. It seemed like he would die. Who waited and waited eventually for him to become what he became? Israel who waited for Ruth. Ruth was a pro. She became a Jewish woman. She converted to Judaism and she became the forebearer of the mal of the kingship of the Jewish people. Who is waiting for King David or his progeny? The one who's going to come from King David. Messiah himself the Messiah. Who is waiting? all these generations. Who waited for to come out of jail? Who waited for to come out of the fire they had been thrown in? Who was waiting the days of Hmon that Hashem should save them for the Jewish people to be saved? It was an amazing miracle, but it took time. who is waiting for the exiles of the Jewish people who have spent so many years outside of the land of Israel for them to come back for them to be a name to have a beautiful name to be a praise for them to accomplish amazing things who is the one that's waiting for the house of David which is a reference to the Bdash that has fallen who is waiting to to stand it up again it's God himself David the verse says inapter 9:1 on that day I will raise up the house of David the of David amazing thing the entire world will be joined they will join together as the verse says infania 3:9 then I will turn over all the nations to one clear language to one clear speech they will all call out on the name of God. They will all serve him as one. Amazing thing the magic is telling us that Hashem has so much patience that God waits. That God waits. That there's a Yeshua, there's a salvation, there's an ultimate redemption, there's an ultimate unification that's going to take place in all of these different examples. Amazing miracles happen, but they only come because we've waited. Amazing thing. Do you know why he gets to have this salvation? Do you know why he gets to become the king over Egypt and and eventually over the Jewish people? The longest reigning king over the Jewish people. Why? It's because he waited. It's because he went through these challenges and waited. He had to wait. Hashem is someone who waits. Someone who waits. That's how he's describing himself here in this mush. Hashem is describing himself as someone who waits. Do you know why Aram and Sarah, Abraham and Sarah, why do they have the miracle of being able to have a child in their old age? It's because they waited. And what's the mile? What's the advantage of waiting? So the explains what happened in each of these cases. In each of these cases, an amazing thing goes on. And that is that in order for a person to have this kind of miracle, explains. In order for something amazing to occur, there has to be yush. There has to be a giving up. There has to be a lack of dependence on anything in the physical world. As long as Abraham and Sarah thought that there was a possibility that they could have a child, they didn't have full dependence on Hashem. But when they completely gave up on ever having a child, that's when says, "I want you to see that it's me. I want you to see that it's me and that I can perform miracles." As long as Yoseph had dependence on a human being, as long as he thought that that person is going to help him, is going to save him, Hashem was not yet ready to bring in the amazing miracle and and cause his salvation. The moment that Yoseph had no longer, he saw he didn't have any hope. He saw it's been 2 years. This guy's forgotten him. There's no chance. That's when the miracle can occur. That's when it can happen. It's very interesting as you look at the maj. very much talking about miraculous things, but not just miraculous things, but things that bring about gula, the steps on the path to the redemption of the Jewish people. Whether we're talking about Yoseph, whether we're talking about Russ, who was the great grandmother of of the Messiah, Messiah, whether we're talking about King David himself, we're talking about Mosher Raben, Moses, who was indeed a redeemer of the Jewish people. All of these things have to do with Guula, have to do with an amazing redemption that's going to occur at some point in the future. But the way that it occurs is by waiting. It doesn't come if we demand it. It doesn't come because I want it now. And it doesn't come if I try to force God's hand as it were. I try to force it to occur. It comes when there's yush. It comes when it seems like there's no hope at all. That's when it comes. You know, you look at the story of Kaneka and Kaneka. The story occurs at a time for the Jewish people when hope seemed lost. There was almost nobody in the entire Jewish people who was interested in the Tyra, who was interested in true observance of Yiddish of Judaism. It seemed like all was lost. There were only a handful of people, the Kashm themselves, the high priest and his children, those were the only ones who were really connected to the Messiah, to the traditions. And it seemed like all was lost. And it was in the winter time. And it was in the it was in a time during the second B mikdish during the second temple where it was the darkest time. It was really the darkest time. The Yavan and the Greeks, their culture had permeated the Jewish people. They even were bringing pigs. That's the the description the description of the of in in migillantus. It speaks about the fact that they brought pigs into the temple which is the antithesis of what's what represents the the Jewish people service of God. It seemed that all was lost. It seemed that the light was gone. And even the very fact that when they came back to rededicate the temple, it seemed like it would be impossible to find that flask of oil, it seemed like there was no oil, that pure special oil, which represented the Torah, which represented the relationship with Hashem, which represented all that's good. It seemed like there it was gone. It seemed like there was no hope, no chance. And that's where the miracle occurred. That's where Hashem said, "You've given up. You think that all hope is lost. You think that only a few people there's no way that they can conquer a a great army. there's no chance. That's the place in that moment in that space where it seems like all hope is lost. That's where Hashem comes in and says, "Here I am." If you've given up, if you've stopped depending on yourself, that's where I'm going to come in and that's where the miracle is going to be. That's where the gula, the redemption is going to take place. It's right here that the para stops. When when we're reading it, we stop at the moment where it seems like all is lost for Yoseph. He has no chance. And then at that moment we start to begin to see the gula, the redemption that's going to take place. And that's also true in the story of Kaneka. And it's not a coincidence that Kaneka occurs at the end of the month. It's at the darkest time of the month when the moon has become smaller and smaller and smaller. And it seems that the moon is never going to be bright again. And the moon of course always represents the Jewish people. The first commandment that the Jewish people received was the obligation to look at the moon to to base our calendar around the moon because the moon reflects the light of the sun and the Jewish people reflect the light of who bring God's light into the world. So when that moon gets smaller and smaller, it seems like that light is not reflecting. We're not doing our job. We're not able to reflect God's light into the world as well. And yet that's the place where it seems like we can't do it. The light is getting smaller. The light is almost out. Hold on a little bit longer. Yes, it seems like there's a seems like there's no hope. That's where Hashem comes in and shows you, no, don't give up. Don't quite give up. Just completely depend on me. Completely depend on me. And you're going to see that the 8 days of Kaneka. They start at the end of the month when the moon is getting smaller, but they continue until the moon begins to get bigger again. There is always hope. Even in the darkness, even in the darkest time, there's always hope. And even more than that, because of the darkness, because of the y, because of the time where it seems like it's not going to happen, that's where Hashem says, "Don't quite give up yet. This is where it's going to happen. Have patience. It's in my time." Hashem says, "Who waited? Who waited? Who kept waiting? Who's waited all of these years? It's been thousands of years. Shem promised there's going to be a gula and he will always keep his promise. Who's waited so long? Keep waiting. When a person waits and has that patience, moves into that mindset of a who had that patience, was able to see the good in all the situations. When we enter into that place, that's who the makabim were. Their name represents that very facte who is like you. They weren't just hammers. They weren't just these people who came and and they were so strong and so mighty. They were able to overcome the Greeks. No, they knew that there was no chance. That's why they fought because they had internalized the fact that there was no chance. that the only way was with Hashem. That's why Hashem came in and helped them. I want to bless you and please bless me back. Hashem should help us to recognize that no matter what's going on, no matter how far it seems, no matter how it much it seems that the Yeshua, the salvation is just not happening should help us to hold on. Just like the Makabim, just like the Makabes, the just like Yoseadic, they held on. Hashem should help us to hold on and to realize that the challenges themselves are the very thing that brings about our salvation. Hashem should help us to to have the patience just like Hashem has waited so many thousands of years to bring those revelations to bring about that unity. Just like Hashem waited for Yoseph, Hashem waited for YaKob. Hashem waited for Arab and Sarah, for Moshe, for all these different great people. Hashem should help us to have the patience and to recognize that we also can wait and wait to see the gul the redemption that Hashem has in store for each and every one of us in our personal lives and also for all of the Jewish people and all the world at large. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful Shabas and a Kaneka, a Kaneka filled with light. This podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.argoldwag.com or search on iTunes Ari Goldwag. [Music]