The Weekly Dvar Torah
Volume I Issue #31
The End of Darkness
Mikeitz
Adapted from the wisdom of Rav Meir Simcha HaCohen of Dvinsk from the Meshech Chochmoh and Rav Tzadok HaCohen from Pri Tzadik and other works.
By Rav Yitzchak Schwartz Rosh Yeshiva Orchos Chaim Jerusalem
yschwartz@orchos.org.
This publication, Zichron Yehoshua, is in memory of Yehoshua Yakov ben Moshe-Jeffrey Nussbaum through a generous grant from Dr. Eric Nussbaum and family.
This issue is dedicated by Yoel Robinson, his wife and family in commemoration, thanks and praise to Hashem for the miracle of saving them from a horrible car accident that they survived last year. May Hashem protect them and bless them with all the blessings of the Torah.
The story of Yosef's remarkable redemption from the Egyptian prison always coincides with the Chanuka festival. This is not a coincidence: there are deep thematic parallels between Yosef's life and the miracle of Chanuka.
At the end of last week's Torah portion, we learned that Yosef was wrongly accused of having an affair with the wife of Potifar, a powerful minister in the Egyptian government. This week's portion opens with the words "Mikeitz shnataim yamim – At the end of two years…" This verse introduces the chain of events — Pharaoh's dreams and his need for their interpretation — that lead to Yosef's miraculous release from the darkness of the Egyptian dungeon.
A superficial reading of the verse would lead us to believe that Yosef was incarcerated for only two years. However, our Sages of blessed memory, by calculating Yosef's age when he descended to Egypt, determined that in reality, Yosef had already spent ten years in confinement prior to the two year period described in this week's Torah portion. The Torah thus divides the period of Yosef's incarceration into two periods: the first ten years, only inferred, and the final two years, explicitly mentioned. What is the significance of dividing Yosef's period of imprisonment into two distinct stages?
Rav Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin cites a medrash that sheds light on this question. The Medrash Raba opens its elucidation of this week's portion with a quote from the book of Job (28:3): "[Hashem] puts an end to darkness and knows the end of all things; the stone of darkness and the shadow of death." Using a common form of Biblical exegesis citing linguistic similarities to reveal hidden teachings, the medrash draws a parallel between the word "end" that appears in this week’s Torah portion and the identical word as it appears in the verse from Job.
The medrash explains that darkness is a metaphor for the force of evil in the world, the yeitzer hara. As long as there is evil in the world, there will be darkness and death in the world. The yeitzer hara – the force of evil — is likened to a dark stone that casts a shadow of death upon the world. Ultimately, though, Hashem will put an end to the darkness in which the world dwells. The medrash applies this teaching to that which Yosef experienced in this week's portion: Hashem pre-determined how many years Yosef would have to spend in the darkness of prison, and when the time came for it to end — at exactly the preordained moment — Pharaoh dreamed, ultimately bringing an end to the years of darkness that Yosef spent in the dungeon.
The Source of the Darkness
Wherever the number 10 appears in Scripture, it alludes to the completion of a process. In the case of Yosef, the first period of his imprisonment was ten years. Our Sages teach that the [first] ten years that Yosef spent in prison were a measure-for-measure punishment for slandering his ten brothers. During those ten years in the darkness of prison, Yosef completed the process of teshuva necessary not only to atone for his sins, but to completely rebuild and perfect his character and soul.
At the end of this ten year period, Yosef had succeeded in completely extricating himself from the grip of the yeitzer hara, the evil inclination. He was on the threshold of freedom: freedom from persuasion by the darker aspects of human character that can influence ordinary people. But he was not yet completely free. He would still have to remain in the darkness of the dungeon for two additional years. During these two years, Yosef understood that he had not yet finished the job, that he had more work to do. But what more could he do after ten years of exacting, painstaking teshuva?
During those final two years of imprisonment, Yosef worked on eliminating the root cause of evil. Evil has its source in the Tree of Knowledge and the sin of Adam. Based on the teachings of the medrash and Kabbalah, Rav Tzadok explains that indulging in the forbidden fruit of Eden created the fundamental mindset that causes man to sin: the desire for personal pleasure. Desire for pleasure, in and of itself, is not evil, but it forms the prerequisite mind-set for evil.
During Yosef's first ten years in prison, he occupied himself with eradicating the manifestations of this basic drive for pleasure. In the last two years, he dedicated himself to uprooting the base drive itself. Once he had accomplished this — once the darkness was removed from within — Yosef could be freed from the darkness of prison. He had achieved the highest level of perfection that a human being can reach and therefore his period of darkness had to come to an end: "And it came to pass at the end of two years; and Pharaoh dreamed…" The time to dispel the darkness had arrived.
Rav Tzadok teaches that Yosef's spiritual journey should be a road map for all of us. Our task in life is to free ourselves from the drive for selfish pleasure, and in so doing, eliminate the shadow of darkness that it casts on our lives. Citing the Zohar, Rav Tzadok emphasizes that there is only one way to succeed in this enormous challenge: through the study of Torah.
Torah: Eliminating the Darkness
This is exactly why the Greeks wanted to eliminate Torah study: they understood that through diligent Torah study the Jews would be able to remain free of the dominion of Greek culture and societal norms.
Our Sages teach that the first allusion to the Greek empire in the Torah is at the very beginning of Creation (Bereishis 1:2): "And the earth was filled with void and chaos and darkness was upon the depths…" The word "darkness" intimates the Greek empire. The cloud of darkness cast by Greek values and hedonism was dispelled by the zealous Kohanim who stood up to defend the privilege and duty to live lives of sanctity. They battled to reclaim that which celebrates the nobility of our sacred souls.
In the “Al HaNissim†Chanuka supplement to the silent amida prayer and in the birkat hamazon, Grace after Meals, we recall that the Greeks wanted us “to forget the statutes of Torahâ€. The word forget in Hebrew, shachach, is comprised of the exact same letters as the Hebrew word choshech, darkness. The candles of Chanuka proclaim that the light of Torah continues to burn bright, and that through it all, we know that darkness will ultimately come to an end.
By Rav Yitzchak Schwartz Rosh Yeshiva Orchos Chaim Jerusalem
yschwartz@orchos.org.
This publication, Zichron Yehoshua, is in memory of Yehoshua Yakov ben Moshe-Jeffrey Nussbaum through a generous grant from Dr. Eric Nussbaum and family.
This issue is dedicated by Yoel Robinson, his wife and family in commemoration, thanks and praise to Hashem for the miracle of saving them from a horrible car accident that they survived last year. May Hashem protect them and bless them with all the blessings of the Torah.
The story of Yosef's remarkable redemption from the Egyptian prison always coincides with the Chanuka festival. This is not a coincidence: there are deep thematic parallels between Yosef's life and the miracle of Chanuka.
At the end of last week's Torah portion, we learned that Yosef was wrongly accused of having an affair with the wife of Potifar, a powerful minister in the Egyptian government. This week's portion opens with the words "Mikeitz shnataim yamim – At the end of two years…" This verse introduces the chain of events — Pharaoh's dreams and his need for their interpretation — that lead to Yosef's miraculous release from the darkness of the Egyptian dungeon.
A superficial reading of the verse would lead us to believe that Yosef was incarcerated for only two years. However, our Sages of blessed memory, by calculating Yosef's age when he descended to Egypt, determined that in reality, Yosef had already spent ten years in confinement prior to the two year period described in this week's Torah portion. The Torah thus divides the period of Yosef's incarceration into two periods: the first ten years, only inferred, and the final two years, explicitly mentioned. What is the significance of dividing Yosef's period of imprisonment into two distinct stages?
Rav Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin cites a medrash that sheds light on this question. The Medrash Raba opens its elucidation of this week's portion with a quote from the book of Job (28:3): "[Hashem] puts an end to darkness and knows the end of all things; the stone of darkness and the shadow of death." Using a common form of Biblical exegesis citing linguistic similarities to reveal hidden teachings, the medrash draws a parallel between the word "end" that appears in this week’s Torah portion and the identical word as it appears in the verse from Job.
The medrash explains that darkness is a metaphor for the force of evil in the world, the yeitzer hara. As long as there is evil in the world, there will be darkness and death in the world. The yeitzer hara – the force of evil — is likened to a dark stone that casts a shadow of death upon the world. Ultimately, though, Hashem will put an end to the darkness in which the world dwells. The medrash applies this teaching to that which Yosef experienced in this week's portion: Hashem pre-determined how many years Yosef would have to spend in the darkness of prison, and when the time came for it to end — at exactly the preordained moment — Pharaoh dreamed, ultimately bringing an end to the years of darkness that Yosef spent in the dungeon.
The Source of the Darkness
Wherever the number 10 appears in Scripture, it alludes to the completion of a process. In the case of Yosef, the first period of his imprisonment was ten years. Our Sages teach that the [first] ten years that Yosef spent in prison were a measure-for-measure punishment for slandering his ten brothers. During those ten years in the darkness of prison, Yosef completed the process of teshuva necessary not only to atone for his sins, but to completely rebuild and perfect his character and soul.
At the end of this ten year period, Yosef had succeeded in completely extricating himself from the grip of the yeitzer hara, the evil inclination. He was on the threshold of freedom: freedom from persuasion by the darker aspects of human character that can influence ordinary people. But he was not yet completely free. He would still have to remain in the darkness of the dungeon for two additional years. During these two years, Yosef understood that he had not yet finished the job, that he had more work to do. But what more could he do after ten years of exacting, painstaking teshuva?
During those final two years of imprisonment, Yosef worked on eliminating the root cause of evil. Evil has its source in the Tree of Knowledge and the sin of Adam. Based on the teachings of the medrash and Kabbalah, Rav Tzadok explains that indulging in the forbidden fruit of Eden created the fundamental mindset that causes man to sin: the desire for personal pleasure. Desire for pleasure, in and of itself, is not evil, but it forms the prerequisite mind-set for evil.
During Yosef's first ten years in prison, he occupied himself with eradicating the manifestations of this basic drive for pleasure. In the last two years, he dedicated himself to uprooting the base drive itself. Once he had accomplished this — once the darkness was removed from within — Yosef could be freed from the darkness of prison. He had achieved the highest level of perfection that a human being can reach and therefore his period of darkness had to come to an end: "And it came to pass at the end of two years; and Pharaoh dreamed…" The time to dispel the darkness had arrived.
Rav Tzadok teaches that Yosef's spiritual journey should be a road map for all of us. Our task in life is to free ourselves from the drive for selfish pleasure, and in so doing, eliminate the shadow of darkness that it casts on our lives. Citing the Zohar, Rav Tzadok emphasizes that there is only one way to succeed in this enormous challenge: through the study of Torah.
Torah: Eliminating the Darkness
This is exactly why the Greeks wanted to eliminate Torah study: they understood that through diligent Torah study the Jews would be able to remain free of the dominion of Greek culture and societal norms.
Our Sages teach that the first allusion to the Greek empire in the Torah is at the very beginning of Creation (Bereishis 1:2): "And the earth was filled with void and chaos and darkness was upon the depths…" The word "darkness" intimates the Greek empire. The cloud of darkness cast by Greek values and hedonism was dispelled by the zealous Kohanim who stood up to defend the privilege and duty to live lives of sanctity. They battled to reclaim that which celebrates the nobility of our sacred souls.
In the “Al HaNissim†Chanuka supplement to the silent amida prayer and in the birkat hamazon, Grace after Meals, we recall that the Greeks wanted us “to forget the statutes of Torahâ€. The word forget in Hebrew, shachach, is comprised of the exact same letters as the Hebrew word choshech, darkness. The candles of Chanuka proclaim that the light of Torah continues to burn bright, and that through it all, we know that darkness will ultimately come to an end.