Middle of the Road: R’ Yehuda Oppenheimer

They say that “seeing is believing.” In our age of technical wonders and artificial intelligence, we know that this is not to be trusted with any “photographs” or “video” that we see, as they can be easily altered, and it is close to impossible to know when they are “fake.” However, when it comes to natural things we see with our own eyes, we still take it true that “seeing is believing.” Moreover, the notion suggests that one cannot truly comprehend an event or phenomenon until and unless you see it for yourself. That might be true about many things, but at least for two events this past week, I beg to differ.

The haftarah we read this past Shabbos, Parshas MiKeitz, is rarely read. The last was two years ago, but not for 20 years before that, and it won’t be read again for another 17 years. Nevertheless, it is one of the most well-known stories in Tanach, about the two women who came to Shlomo to decide who the mother of the live baby was. He famously decreed, “Bring a sword and split the baby in two!” causing the real mother to beg him to spare the life of the child. The other said, “Well enough, neither you nor I will have a son.” Disregarding the well-known aside regarding the two mothers-in-law, this was held up as an example of Shlomo’s great wisdom, which the whole nation marveled at.

I don’t have any original thoughts to share in this essay. It is not a Torah thought, or a social commentary or a rant. It is just a thought that may help others in the prayers we are all saying.

I have read many divrei Torah published over the last two months, in which – again and again – it was noted that the parshiyos ha’shavua stories in B’reishis were particularly and poignantly applicable to our current struggle against the accursed Hamas. Whether it was the destruction of the world in the Flood, Avraham and the Five Kings, the story of Yishmael, the struggle against Eisav, and so on. Now we’ve arrived at the last part of Sefer B’reishis, the thrilling drama of Yosef and his brothers. Is some aspect of this story particularly important for us this year?

The haftarah we read this past Shabbos, Parshas MiKeitz, is rarely read. The last was two years ago, but not for 20 years before that, and it won’t be read again for another 17 years. Nevertheless, it is one of the most well-known stories in Tanach, about the two women who came to Shlomo to decide who the mother of the live baby was. He famously decreed, “Bring a sword and split the baby in two!” causing the real mother to beg him to spare the life of the child. The other said, “Well enough, neither you nor I will have a son.” Disregarding the well-known aside regarding the two mothers-in-law, this was held up as an example of Shlomo’s great wisdom, which the whole nation marveled at.

We have arrived at Chanukah, believe it or not. The last two months have been other-worldly. It is hard to believe that the Yamim Nora’im was two months ago – it feels like years to me, almost another lifetime – prior to Simchas Torah. But arrived we have, and it is vital to take strength and lessons from Chanukah to help us gain from this incredible time we are going through.