Community Magazine December 2009

The Vision That Saved Yosef In Parashat Vayeshev – the portion which is nearly always read on or just before Hanukah – the Torah relates the famous story of Yosef’s experiences as a servant in the home of Potifar, an Egyptian nobleman (Beresheet 39). Potifar’s wife set her eyes upon Yosef, and attempted to seduce him. The Midrash tells that she even changed her clothing twice each day as part of her seductive efforts. Yosef was a teenager at the time, away from his family, and the only Jew in all of Egypt. Despite the temptation, and despite living within the immoral culture and society of ancient Egypt, Yosef refused. He remained faithful to the values he learned at home and heroically resisted the advances of his master’s wife. How did Yosef do it? In a pleasure-seeking society that championed unrestrained indulgence and shunned self-discipline, how did Yosef, a young teenage boy, withstand such a test? The Midrash relates that after many fruitless attempts at luring Yosef, Potifar’s wife finally came close to succeeding. On a day when nobody else was home, she again approached Yosef, and this time he contemplated to consent. Suddenly, the Midrash tells, he beheld an image of his saintly father, our patriarch Yaakov. Seeing his father’s image jolted young Yosef and reinforced his moral conviction. At that moment, as the Torah tells, he fled from Potifar’s home. What exactly does it mean that Yosef beheld Yaakov’s image? Yaakov was far away in Israel. How did he appear to his son? And why did this vision prevent Yosef from succumbing to the wiles of Potifar’s wife? The High Priest in the Graveyard The answer emerges from a different comment in the Midrash concerning Yaakov’s image. The Sages teach that Yaakov’s image is engraved beneath Gd’s Heavenly Throne. The angels who ascended and descended the ladder that extended from Yaakov’s head to the heavens (Beresheet 28:12) were comparing the image on Gd’s throne with Yaakov’s face. They saw Yaakov and were amazed to discover that he is the person whose image appears on the throne. Thus, when Yosef saw Yaakov’s image in Potifar’s home, what he actually saw was Gd, the divine presence. Yosef went as far as he could in resisting temptation and avoiding sin. As he reached the end of his capabilities, Gd came to rescue Him. The Almighty Himself came to Egypt to save Yosef from Potifar’s wife’s trap. Upon further reflection, the notion of Gd revealing his presence in Egypt at this time is most remarkable – akin to a kohen gadol (high priest) appearing in a graveyard. A kohen , who is required to maintain RABBI ELI MANSOUR Dedicated inmemory of Mr. Irving Semah     R osh Hashanah and Yom Kippur by now seem like a distant memory, but among some Hassidic sects, the High Holiday season is still upon us. Can Hanukah – the holiday many simplistically see as a festival of jelly donuts and dreidels – really be a time of repentance and spiritual growth? The story of Hanukah is widely known to have occurred some two millennia ago, during the time of the Second Temple. But in fact, the roots of the holiday are even more ancient, extending back many centuries earlier to the time of the patriarchs. These earliest origins of Hanukah, provide a deeper insight into the fundamental nature of this holiday – and the spiritual experience for which it is intended. The HIGH HOLIDAYS… ...in DECEMBER?