1. What do we light today? On Friday, we first light the Chanuka candles (three candles plus the shamash) and then the Shabbat candles, all before sunset, of course. Both the time after lighting Shabbat candles and after lighting Chanuka candles is considered a time for prayers and requests, and this year there is so much to pray for.
2. During the eight days of Chanuka, we add the "Al HaNissim" prayer to Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals) and to the Amidah prayer (the central prayer of morning, afternoon, and evening services). We also recite Hallel every morning (festive thanksgiving psalms from the Book of Psalms). About 2,000 years later, we are joyful and thankful for the victory, the miracles, and the light, and we ask for more.
3. Not just on Chanuka, but also in this week's Torah portion, Parashat Miketz in the Book of Genesis, light begins to shine - Yosef is in prison in Egypt, in a dark and difficult situation. He is suddenly released, interprets Pharaoh's dreams, and becomes a senior official in the Egyptian palace, who will later save his brothers from famine. The direction of history is changing for the better.
4. Yosef’s brothers come to Egypt to get food during a famine. The human instinct is to be angry. Yosef sees them and naturally, he could have shouted "I am Yosef, what did you do to me?" But Yosef restrains himself. He constructs a test where the brothers will prove that they have changed and repented since throwing him in the pit. This is how he will bring unity and brotherhood back to the family after the crisis.
5. Our commentators find a connection between the parasha and Chanuka - dealing with foreign culture, both with Egypt and Greece. The challenge is maintaining Jewish spiritual independence and pride in our identity, both against powerful empires and against "enlightened" and "progressive" cultures that sweep the world. The Greeks in the Chanuka story didn't want to kill us. They didn't mind us living, they just didn't want us living as Jews. The story was about decrees against Jewish identity and tradition. Yosef illuminated this light in Egypt, the Chashmonaim illuminated it in Chanuka, and we strive to continue.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanuka.
Weekly Shiur in Hebrew:
