T ORAH P ORTION
Light Can Overcome the Darkest Night
BY RABBI ABE FRIEDMAN
Parshat Miketz
ONE OF THE most-cherished
ritual items in our house is
a hanukkiyyah that my wife’s
parents bought for us in Israel.

What sets this hanukkiyyah
apart from all of our others
is its design, which will be
familiar to anyone who has
been in Israel for Chanukah:
Th e candleholders sit inside a
glass-walled box that allows
you to light the hanukkiyyah
outdoors without worrying
that the wind will blow out the
candles. Even though each member
of our family lights their own
candles, lighting the “outside
menorah” is the highlight
every night: Everyone gathers
on the front stoop, sometimes
in PJs, sometimes bundled in
coats and scarves against the
snow, as we sing the blessings
together. Th e miracle of the oil —
that a single jar of sacred oil
could light the menorah in the
Temple for eight days, until new
oil could be produced in purity
and brought to Jerusalem — is
one of Judaism’s best-known
stories. But what are we really
celebrating when we remember
this miracle?
We oft en look to this story
for reassurance that, even in
times of darkness and diffi -
culty, all is never lost. Th e
timing of our celebration
reinforces this reading of the
story. We celebrate Chanukah
as we approach the winter
solstice, as the nights grow
longer. Th e nighttime also gets
darker as Chanukah begins:
Th is is the only holiday we
celebrate during the second
half of the lunar month, as the
moon’s light wanes each night
toward the darkness of Rosh
Hodesh. Here, the Chanukah
candles tell us, in the darkest
nights, we can still fi nd light.

All is never lost.

Th e Haft arah for Chanukah,
the prophetic selection read
on Shabbat morning, off ers
a diff erent window onto the
meaning of this holiday. Th e
prophet Zekhariah lived in
ambiguous times: the waning
days of the Babylonian exile,
the dawn of the Second Temple
and the Jewish people’s return
to our homeland in Israel. Th e
facts on the ground could look
very diff erent, depending on
one’s perspective.

In our Haft arah, Zekhariah
sees a vision of Joshua, the
still-exiled High Priest, as a
broken man wearing soiled
clothes and standing in
judgment before the heavenly
court. God intercedes directly,
chastising the accusing angel
and ordering that Joshua be
given new, pure garments
and restored to his post
in the Temple. In Joshua’s
defense, God refers to him
with the unique phrase, “a
brand plucked from the fi re”
(Zekhariah 3:2).

As a young boy Joshua
witnessed the
Temple’s complete destruction; grew up
in exile, suff ering unspeak-
able horrors; and now, in his
elder years, will preside over
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Dec. 3
Dec. 10
the Temple’s restoration.

Zekhariah’s overall vision is
one of hope and renewal — but
as the 19th-century commen-
tator Malbim points out, the
use of “brand,” is telling.

Brands are those pieces
of wood that you fi nd in the
midway point of a bonfi re: Th ey
have an untouched wooden
core, but the outside of the
log is deeply charred, cracked
and ashen. Joshua has lived
through exile to see redemp-
tion — and he is also indelibly
marked by the experience.

When I light our “outside
menorah” and watch the
fl ames fl icker and bend and
struggle in the wind, it never
seems certain that the light
will catch against the darkness.

Sometimes, in fact, it doesn’t
— now and again the wind will
blow out a candle or two before
I can close the door, and I need
to try again.

We can’t take for granted
that our light will overcome
the darkness. Each of us is,
in our own way, a brand
plucked from the fi re. Life
4:18 p.m.

4:18 p.m.

has marked us, charred our
outsides, left us smoldering.

Like the candles, we waver in
diffi cult times. Sometimes our
light goes out, and we need
someone to rekindle our fl ame.

We move between being a
fragile glimmer of heat in the
cold night air and a clear light
beckoning in the darkness.

Chanukah reminds us
that our defeats are not abject
failures — and it also teaches
us that our victories are
rarely, if ever, total. We fi nd
life’s richness in the balance
between. ●
Rabbi Abe Friedman is the senior
rabbi at Temple Beth Zion – Beth
Israel. The Board of Rabbis of
Greater Philadelphia is proud to
provide diverse perspectives on
Torah commentary for the Jewish
Exponent. The opinions expressed
in this column are the author’s own
and do not refl ect the view of the
Board of Rabbis.

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