Dec 23/06 — Parashat Miketz

Commentary by Chazzan Aníbal Mass

The sanctity of human beings is the most important concept in Judaism. God has created each person following “the mold” of the first man; however no person is the same as the other. For this reason the Talmud teaches that each person is forced to say: “the world has been created for me” (Sanhedrin 37a), emphasizing that nobody should be seen as a dependent of anybody else.

When observing the development of society in our day, where “globalization” and “marketing” are supreme, we see that sometimes we are victims of our society. We are forced to give up our individuality in favour of the “common good”, and for this reason we sometimes end up feeling insignificant. It is taught and demanded that we play our part with the “efficiency” and “success” that often forces us to give up our own individuality and lifestyle to be “somebody” for society.

Judaism is a faith simultaneously committed to the celebration of community and individuality, where our perception is a community of individuals in constant interaction. This perseverance and attitude perhaps can help us to understand why we, Jews, have been a threat to each tyrant and demagogue throughout history. We, always a minority everywhere (except in the State of Israel), have been—and unfortunately, we continue being—the object of xenophobia and intolerance because we don’t play the game of following the many societies which demand uniformity and the negation of individuality.

Our Parashah tells us the story of Joseph, a brilliant administrator in moments of crisis, who is able to save Egypt from the tragedy of starvation, while at the same time being a committed Jew. Although he is immersed in the Egyptian world and, according to the Torah he even “looked Egyptian”, he never forgets his roots and he is never contaminated with the dark Egyptian culture. He doesn’t need to be more Egyptian than the Egyptians to be accepted. He has no problems with telling the Pharaoh that he is not god, as that society demands in order to be "somebody".

Chanukah generally takes place in a coincident way with the story of the dreams of the Pharaoh and Joseph. Chanukah is the celebration where the miracle of the oil is openly acclaimed: a small and unique vessel not affected by external influences, free to be itself, has brought light to millions through the centuries.

In one of the darkest hours of the Jewish experience, when there is danger of assimilation and loss of connection with our Jewish roots, the small light of Chanukah emerges to tell us that, as Joseph, a single individual with faith and determination to keep his or her own identity can illuminate, produce changes, and bring hope and miracles to our world.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.