Opinion

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.

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.

Increasingly, I am a man without a country – or rather, a hashkafic home.

I have been thinking about this topic for a very long time. I discussed it in several articles in the past, but despaired of making a dent and gave up writing about it. Nevertheless, recent events have once again shown the crying need for people to speak out and reclaim the spiritual mooring that has been taken from us. We, the middle-of-the-road men and women who grew up in ordinary yeshivah-oriented homes and yeshivos, have been shunted aside and now struggle to find a hashkafic home.

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 world has changed since Simchas Torah, when subhuman monsters murdered, raped, and beheaded our brothers and sisters and took so many unfortunates into captivity. In Israel, for the most part (see below), there is a tremendous unity of purpose and brotherhood to fight together for our national future. Unlike what was going on before October 7, when left and right, religious and secular, were at each other’s throats, there are now countless examples of Jews of all types coming together, appreciating each other, finding common ground as Jews, and hoping together for Hashem’s help. Many are hopeful that the necessary conditions are occurring that will hopefully lead to our final redemption, speedily in our days.