Vayeshev

Back in the 70’s I was interviewing for a teaching job at a nearby synagogue. The rabbi of the shul at the time was the only one who would perform intermarriages in our community, and so one of the interview questions had to do with how I would explain Christmas to my young Jewish students. Having grown up as the only Jewish kid in my elementary and junior high schools, I was used to the “December Dilemma.” So my answer to the interview question was uncomplicated: Most of us have been invited to the birthday parties of our friends. We are excited to help them celebrate their special day. We bring them a gift. We may even get a small gift to take home. But we know that it’s not OUR birthday. We have our own that will come soon enough.

Over the years my friends and family have had discussions about which is harder – Chanukah coinciding with Christmas as it does this year, or Chanukah long gone by the time Santa arrives, as it did one year when we lit the first candle during Thanksgiving weekend. Do we decorate our homes with Chanukah decorations that resemble those of our Christian neighbors, or do we stand totally separate and only take out the chanukiyah (the Chanukah menorah) to abide with the Shulchan Aruch (the Code of Jewish Law) that dictates that we are to put the chanukiyah in a place where it can be seen by those passing by?  Is Chanukah late this year, or is it early? Actually, it’s right on time, starting on the 25th of Kislev.

Whether to blend in with our neighbors or to stand apart is a common theme at this time of the secular year. Assimilation is not a new idea to Judaism. It goes all the way back to one of the stars in this week’s parasha, Vayeshev. Joseph, son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac, and grandson of Abraham, is the 11th of Jacob’s sons. We know from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber (OK and from the Torah) that Joseph was Jacob’s favorite, having been born in Jacob’s old age. The brothers do not take kindly to the favoritism, having heard his dreams that tell of his rise to importance. They conspire to kill, and then eventually to sell him, to a group of Ishmaelites, who take him to Egypt. Once in Egypt, Joseph is promoted to high status by Potiphar, who could see that Adonai was with him, and whatever Joseph did Adonai made to prosper in his hand.

According to Finchley Reform Synagogue’s Rabbi Mark Goldsmith, Joseph was the first Diaspora Jew, reaching full adulthood in Egypt. As we will see later in the Torah, Joseph was unrecognizable to his brothers, perhaps because he had become as one of the Egyptians. To a great extent Joseph did assimilate into Egyptian culture after the point that we leave off his story this week. In next week’s Torah portion when the Pharoah promotes him from prisoner to second only to the King, he takes the Egyptian name Zaphnat Pa’aneach. No longer is he Yosef Ben Yaakov, which you could translate into English as Joseph Jacobson – Zaphnat Pa’aneach certainly sounds more Egyptian!

It is no coincidence that the story of Joseph usually falls around the beginning of Chanukah. Chanukah’s story, from the book of Maccabees, takes us to a period in history when the Jews were being assimilated into Hellinistic culture, wearing Greek clothes, absorbing Greek culture. The revolt, necessitating the rededication of the Temple, elevated our identity as Jews in a non-Jewish world, much like our ancestor Joseph, who despite living in a foreign culture, did not lose his Jewish soul.

I recently had a conversation with my six-year old granddaughter, who is the product of an interfaith marriage. I picked her up from her religious school class and asked what had transpired that morning in her first grade class. She informed me that they had a discussion about what to say to their non-Jewish friends about Chanukah. She informed me that she doesn’t have a problem with Christmas since she has family that celebrates both holidays. But she also was quick to assure me that she knows she is Jewish. She is one of very few Jewish children in her elementary school. But she is one of many children who gather weekly to celebrate their Judaism at her synagogue. Her parents light Shabbat candles on Friday nights, and they sing the Sh’ma to her before bedtime. When she gets in the car with me, she loves listening to the Jewish CD’s I have, and she loves to talk about theology. Even at her young age, she knows who she is, and has no ambivalence about living in her own personal Egypt.

This Sunday we will welcome Chanukah, the Festival of Rededication. The American Jewish World Service suggests adopting a Jewish value for each night. While Chanukah is not traditionally a Jewish holiday of giving gifts, these values can certainly enhance our ability to bring light to the world:

1.    Tikkun olam – social justice and repairing the world. Jewish worship means little if it doesn’t lead to action. So let’s pray with our feet.

2.    Tzedakah – righteousness, not just charity. Tzedakah is considered mandatory under Jewish law. We’re supposed to give it whether we feel like it or not.

3.    Chesed – lovingkindness. It’s often about showing up for people when they are suffering. When others are at their most vulnerable, we are told to show up for them and do what we can to bring love into their midst.

4.    The Infinite Worth of Each Human Life – Very simply, the Talmud says that one who destroys a life is considered to have destroyed the entire world. One who saves a life has saved the entire world.

5.    Equality – Because we are all created b’tzelem elohim (in the image of God), we are all part of the same human family, and none of us is more or less important than anyone else.

6.    Uniqueness – According to Jewish tradition, God created each of us to be entirely unique. There has never been anyone else like us and there never will be, and we each have a unique contribution to make to the world.

7.    Being thoughtful about the words we speak – The Book of Proverbs warns, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” As Pirkei Avot, the Sayings of our Fathers teaches, “Do much and say little.”

8.    Caring for the stranger – Joseph was a stranger in his own family. He was discarded, having to recreate his life in a new land. And yet, he used his roots to live by the values that would allow him to reunite and rededicate his life to goodness.

May the holiday of Chanukah, known as Chag Urim, (the festival of light) be filled with light, the light of hope, the light of knowledge, and the light of peace … so that we can be proud of who we are and be that Light unto the nations of the world.

Shabbat shalom & Chag sameach.