A Sermon on Parshat Miketz and Hanukah

Parshat Miketz is always read on Hanukah.The fact that this parsha is always read on Hanukah can not be a coincidence and must have some significance but it seems odd. The story of Miketz and the Message of Hanukah seem to be directly in opposition to each other. In Miketz we read how Yosef comes to Egypt as a slave and becomes the the vice-ruler of Pharoh. His insights on Pharoha's dream allows him to explain to Pharoah not only what will happen but more importantly what must be done to prevent massive starvation in Egypt. Yosef does not rebel against Egyptian civilization, he empowers it indeed he saves it. He ingratiates himself with the elite i.e. the priests and marries into the caste. He obviously uses them in the administration he set up as they are the literate caste. He is careful not to turn them into enemies and exempts them during the severe famine from the need to pay for their food. Yosef is the ultimate Golus Jew , who is an integral part of the establishment, he is the first one but certainly not the last such Jew.
The Rabbis teach the message of Hanukah as rejection of the values and practices of Greek Hellenistic civilization. The Hashmonaim are not impressed by the dominant civilization of their day. They rebel against the Hellenstic rulers and fight against Hellenistic Jews. The fact that Geek civilization was more advanced culturally and technologically than that of the Jewish civilization of the day did not impress the original Hashmonaim . It did of course influence the later Hasomonaim rulers. This brings us back to my original question, what is the connection between Parshat Miketz and Hanukah? The Hashmoanim rebelled against the dominant civilization of their day, Yosef did not he saved it. Perhaps the message is that they balance each other. We Jews learn from Hanukah that we must maintain our identity and remain loyal to the commandments of the Torah, however we can not be ethno-centric. We can and must learn from the achievements of the societies around us. Like Yosef we must address universal problems and work to find solutions. We need to be cautious because Yosefs efforts for Egypt were forgotten by those he saved but The Torah does not criticize what he did. Once again we learn that life is not simple and rarely are their simplistic solutions to complicated issues. We need to find the right balance and hope and pray that with G-d's help we will.

Was the treatment of Hagar just

This weeks sermon is on the Parsha of Lech Lacha which has the the fascinating story of the triangle Abraham Sarah and Hagar.


Sarah is Abrahams partner. She like Abraham is involved in the campaign to spread the message that there is only one G _d. She is also a very beautiful woman. When Abraham is forced to leave Cannan for Egypt he suddenly realizes that Sarah is a very beautiful woman. Rashi struggles to understand this sudden realization , and after offering a number of explanations says the simple pshat is the fact that the beauty of Sarah is now a problem. Sarah like many beautiful women of her day and indeed today as well is no longer a subject she is an object thing an instrument who can be given away in exchange for gifts. Sarah was saved from her fate of being another plaything or sexual object in the Harem of Pharoah only by the active intervention of G-D.

It is ironic that the incident with Pharoah caused Hagar to be a maid servant of Sarah. Rashi writes that Hagar was the daughter of Pharoah, who said is better to be servant of such a person than a Lady of some one else. One would have thought that Sarah after undergoing the trauma of being an object a tool, would have shown more empathy with Hagar. Sarah treated Hagar as an object a tool to fulfill Sarah's needs .Sarah could not have a baby, the solution Hagar would have a baby, who would be from the seed of Abraham but the baby would the child of Sarah , an ancient form of surrogate Motherhood. It did not work out as Sarah planned. There is a famous saying in Yiddish Der Mensch Tracht and G-t Lacht. Sarah did not take into consideration how Hagar would react, how she would react and how Abraham would react.The Torah states that Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham as a "wife" She was not to be a Pilegesh but a co-wife.When Hagar became pregnent she refused to be subservient to Sarah. She was right she was no longer a maid servant she was the wife of Abraham. Sarah was angered by the attitude of Hagar and she asked Abraham to punish her. Abraham who wanted to keep peace with Sarah agrees to return her to Sarah, who then mistreats Hagar and opresses her. The Ramban is very critical of the way Abraham and Sarah treat Hagar and says because of their mistreatment the seed of Abraham will be oppressed by the Egyptians in the same manner as Hagar the Egyptian was treated. The Radak writes that the behavior of Sarah was not moral or  proper. Abraham had allowed her to do as she wished with Hagar, she should have passed the chance to put Hagar in her place,and even if she had the right to act as she did it is not he way pious people act to do all they can to people who they control. She should have been forgiving and not tortued Hagar.
What is truely amazing is that Hagar remains loyal to Abraham , in spite of the way she is treated with Abrahams consent. After the death of Sarah Abraham remarries Keturah. Rashi insists that Keturah is Hagar who is called Keturah because she did not have  a relationship with another man.
The moral of the story is we must never treat people as objects or as tools,regardless who they are or what their status is in society.