Fire, Flames and Flax
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
What an unusual segue from the end of the preceding parsha, Vayetzei, to the beginning of this parsha, Vayeshev. Parshat Vayetzei concludes by listing the descendants of Eisav and all their chieftains. Parshat Vayeshev begins by seeming to list the progeny of Yaakov, but lists only Yosef. What is the connection between Yosef and Eisav, and why is Yosef the only child of Yaakov mentioned here when Yaakov was the father of twelve tribes?
To begin to understand these relationships more clearly, Rashi cites a medrash based on the prophecy of Ovadyah: “And the house of Yaakov shall be a fire, and the house of Yosef a flame, and the house of Eisav for flax...” The medrash speaks of a flax merchant with a full load of flax approaching a town. The blacksmith in town notices the straw merchant and wonders where the merchant will store all that straw. A clever fellow answers him, “One spark can go forth from your bellows and burn it all up.” How does this response answer the blacksmith’s question? Perhaps it does, for if the flax is stored in or near the blacksmith’s home, one ember would destroy not only the flax, but also the blacksmith’s home. The fellow was responding to the blacksmith’s fear and hinting to keep the flax far away from the home. If the blacksmith will keep up his work, the owner of the flax will also fear his own loss, and he will keep his distance. Yosef represents this spark, that will ultimately consume Esav. We need to understand why it is specifically Yosef that has this particular ability. [Another Midrash, notes that it is specifically the children of Rachel imenu, and that connection, too has to be examined.] Further, since this parsha is always read on or right before Chanukah, we will also examine its connection to Chanukah.
If we are to understand the metaphor, we must first understand the difference between Yaakov and Eisav, and then discover how Yosef fits in so beautifully. Perhaps we can see the contrast between Yaakov and Eisav most glaringly when they meet again after many years of separation. Eisav refuses Yaakov’s conciliatory gifts, saying, “I have much.” Yaakov’s response is, “I have all/everything,” writes Rabbi Tatz. Herein lies the difference in the philosophy of each. Eisav values the physical and material. In this scenario, you may have much, but there is always room for more and, like straw, there is no intrinsic value, except in quantity. Yaakov, on the other hand, values the spiritual. Within him is the spark of the Jewish soul, the constant connection to God that contains everything he needs and has the power to consume all that is physical.
In this sense, Yosef continues the true legacy of his father Yaakov. Yosef had full control over all his physical desires and could withstand the lure of the yetzer horo even in the actual moment of extreme temptation, writes Rabbi Goldstein in Shaarei Chaim. Only with his own passion for Hashem could he overcome the physical passion aroused by the wife of Potiphar. Rabbi Schorr in Halekach Vehalebuv continues the discussion of Yosef’s strength. While Mrs. Potiphar clutched at his garment, Yosef was able to leave that garment, representing his physicality, and run outside to avoid sinning. The extra burning of the flame within him enabled him to flee the enticements of Mrs. Potiphar. As another medrash based on the verse in Tehillim tells us why the Red Sea split so Bnei Yisroel could pass through safely. The Sea saw the coffin of Yosef Hatzadik being carried to the water. If Yosef could overcome his human nature and flee, reasoned the waters, I too can overcome my natural tendency to flow together and split apart. Perhaps that’s why, continues Shaarei Chayim we practice the opinion of Beit Hillel and light our Chanukah menorah adding to the candles and the flame each night. After all, the name Yosef means adding to. And we know that one small flame can eliminate a world of evil. As Rabbi Wolbe z”l adds, the small flask of oil the Maccabbees found symbolized their self - sacrifice for Hashem and the mitzvoth, Similarly, we too must rededicate ourselves to the performance of mitzvoth and service to Hashem, thereby helping to bring the final redemption.
Yaakov was told not to worry about the nations of Eisav for they will stay away for fear of being destroyed themselves, as the flax merchant fears approaching the blacksmith’s fire. Unfortunately, today the nations are not afraid because, although we still have the fire of Torah, we lack the passionate flame of Yosef. We practice the mitzvoth apathetically and by rote. If we are to keep the forces of Eisav away, we must fan the flames of our Yiddishkeit passion and fervor. When we are passionate about our own heritage, the lure of other cultures will not entice us.
Yosef is the symbol of our ability to withstand the lure of other cultures, especially the lure of immorality. This is the very foundation/yesod of our covenant with Hakodosh Boruch Hu, a covenant sealed in the organ that represents the foundation and continuation of mankind, explains Rabbi Sternbach in Taam Vodaath. When we are circumspect in our adherence to morality, as was Yosef Hatzadik, we have the power over the forces of Eisav.
Let us study Rabbi Schorr’s analysis of our first medrash and how it relates to Chanukah. As long as the blacksmith keeps focused on his work, on his fire, on the fire in his own hands, and doesn’t keep looking over his shoulder, the flax merchant will stay away for fear of his own destruction. Yosef represents the blacksmith with the fire and the flax merchant represents Yavan/Greece, the villainous nation in the Chanukah story. We can now examine some telling numerical equivalents. YOSeF, MeLeCh YaVaN, and ANTIoChuS (the Greek king) each adds add up to 156. Yosef in his passion for spirituality is the foil to Yavan and to Antiochus. Greek culture considered physical beauty the greatest ideal and believed that the world functioned solely through the laws of nature. This philosophy was the diametric opposite of the Jewish belief in the spiritual and in a single, supreme God that ruled the world. When the Greeks decreed that Jews “write on the horns of an ox that they have no share in the God of the Jews,” they were alluding to the spirituality of Yosef whom Yaakov Avinu compared to an ox.
Yosef represents going above and beyond nature, what he did independently by going outside and fleeing Mrs. Potiphar. In contrast, Hashem took Avraham Avinu outside to show him how his descendants would resemble the stars/Koh yihiyeh zaracha, and be directly under His supervision rather than subject to the rules of nature. The difference between the two was that at the time of Avraham’s vision, Avraham had not yet been circumcised and therefore needed Hashem’s intervention. Yosef, on the other hand, had been circumcised at eight days old and was already connected to the Source and capable of circumventing nature.
Yosef’s entire life represented the intervention of God in the natural order of his life, writes the Sifsei Chaim. From the jealousy of his brothers, to the unexplained meeting with the stranger who pointed him to the unplanned place his brothers had gone, to being brought down to Egypt in a caravan carrying fragrant spices rather than the usual foul - smelling things, Yosef always recognized Hashem’s presence and felt His love. Even when he got out of the dungeon because he had the ability to interpret dreams, he took no credit, but told Pharaoh that it all comes from Hashem. Yosef maintained his holiness and connection to Hashem in every circumstance in which he found himself. He saw Hashem’s hidden hand in everything, and he is the antithesis of Amalek who credits everything to coincidence and sees Hashem’s hand in nothing.
This element of the supra natural is also the basis of our celebration of Chanukah. The name of Greece/YaVaN begins with such an exalted letter of wisdom (Y-Yud) that it doesn’t even touch bottom. But the Greek culture not only brought that wisdom down to earth (V) and further degraded it so that it went even below the dirt (N). We put the holiness of our Tzadik, Yosef, in front ofYaVON and create TziYON, the symbol of that which goes above nature.
Yosef embodies the flame, the candle of God which is the soul within each of us adds Rabbi Schorr. This is a further connection to Chanukah, the only holiday mandated for eight days (not just outside Israel), for eight represents the supra natural, the supra natural victory of the Maccabbees over the Greeks, and the supra natural miracle of the oil lasting for eight days. If the Maccabbees fanned the flame of connection to Hashem and went above and beyond the natural calling to dedicate themselves to His service, Hashem rewarded them with also going beyond nature with the Chanukah miracles.
We have to learn from Yosef, writes Rabbi Friedlander z”l. We have to recognize Hashem’s hand even in the hidden ways of the world. We should begin our day with verbalizing that recognition, at least with a recitation of blessings as we set about our “normal routine”.
Yosef’s constant reference to Hashem can easily be traced back to Yaakov. Hashem’s name was always on the lips of Yaakov, even when he surreptitiously accepted the blessings meant for Eisav. For us, writes Rabbi Reiss in Meirosh Tzurim, it is also not enough just to be aware of God’s presence intellectually, as important as that is, but to go a step beyond and verbalize that consciousness. That way we will always feel we are standing before Him and we will refrain from sinning. When we forget His presence, we falter and sin. Yaakov Avinu was on such a high spiritual level that even when he was asleep, he sensed Hashem standing over him. Our Sages instituted so many brachot into our daily lives to maintain our connection and awareness of Hakodosh Boruch Hu constantly, on multiple occasions throughout the day.
The Greeks understood this, and therefore decreed that anyone who mentioned Hashem’s name would be stabbed with the sword. The Maccabbees immediately rebelled against this decree, and made sure to put Hashem’s name on every document (until they feared they were created Sheimos, documents that should not be destroyed,) writes Halekach Vehalebuv. (For similar reasons, it is preferable to write BS”D rather than B”H at the top of our written pages.)
At the time of the Judges, when Bnei Yisroel had become corrupt and often forgot Hashem. Boaz and his Torah Court instituted that Jews greet each other with the name of God to remind them that they are always in God’s presence. The Megillah records that this is how he greeted his field hands and how they returned the greeting when he went out to the field and first met Ruth.
It is not only from his father Yaakov, but also from his mother Rochel that Yosef became the antithesis to Eisav, writes Rabbi Mattisyahu Salomon in Matnas Chaim. Yosef responds with love even when his brothers want to kill him. This family love he inherited from Rochel who, with tremendous self - sacrifice, shared the special signs with her sister Leah so that Leah would not be embarrassed as she wed Yaakov. In contrast, Eisav wanted to kill his brother from the moment Yaakov received their father’s blessing, albeit Eisav had already sold it to Yaakov.
It was also from Rochel Imenu that he and his full brother Binyamin inherited the power of restraining their speech and remaining silent. While the Torah records that Yosef brought evil reports about his brothers to their father, The Megale Amukot clarifies Rashi, that Yosef did not go around gleefully tattling, but rather considered each word he said, whether it was permitted or not to bring it to Yaakov’s attention, and he refrained from saying anything that would be simply loshon horo.
Chanukah is also about rectifying the body and elevating it, continues Rabbi Schorr. As Shimon, the son of R’ Gamliel says in Pirkei Avos, “I have found nothing better for oneself/one’s body than silence.” Each of the twelve months parallels one of the twelve tribes which is then represented by a particular stone on the High Priest’s breastplate. The month of Chanukah, Kislev, is the month which parallels Binyamin whose stone is yeshpeh/jasper. But yeshpeh translates to “he has a mouth,” (and knows when and how to use it appropriately). Binyamin knew about the sale of Yosef but kept silent. Binyamin’s descendent, Esther, kept silent about her lineage while she was queen of Ahashuerosh, enabling her to be the vehicle for the salvation of her people.
But there is also a time not to be silent, most especially during Chanukah, when we should use our voices lehodot ulehallel/to thank and praise Hashem not only for overt miracles, but also for all He does for us. Like Rochel, Yosef and Binyamin, we must know when to be silent and when to use our mouths for good.
With profound insight into human nature and the current social atmosphere, Rabbi Immanuel Bernstein quotes the Sochachaver Rebbe, who writes that the ability to remain silent is a hallmark of authenticity and confidence in one’s self worth. We live in an age where people feel that everything must be told, where appearance on social media rather than truth gives authenticity. We are subjugated to a world of falsehood, of appearances, to the world in which Eisav and subterfuge dominate. One feels compelled to share information, true or otherwise, for only through the eyes of others can he achieve self -worth. Our performance of mitzvoth has authenticity and meaning even if no one knows about it. It is through looking inward, to the flame Hashem implanted in our souls, recognizing our own worth and our connection to our Creator that we will repel Eisav and IY”H achieve both personal and national redemption.