Apparently, Ishmaelites were quite common in the ancient world. Descendants of Abraham and Hagar’s son Ishmael from a few chapter’s back in Genesis, they are at this point in the story a fearsome nation that lives not too far from the family of Abraham’s other son Isaac. Remembering back to Ishmael’s journey, you might remember we left him in quite an awkward situation – banished from his home, alone with his mother in the wilderness, just struggling to survive. Now a generation later, his grandchildren have their chance to exact their revenge. “Listen to Pharaoh,” was the basic law of survival in Ancient Egypt. As his chief butler and chief baker knew all too well, one wrong move could mean imprisonment or death. There is a reason why Pharaoh’s council of wise men and magicians were unable to “solve” his very solvable dream – saying nothing was better for them than saying the wrong thing. As a consequence, Pharaoh rarely got good advice. It took a Hebrew slave of little consequence, to finally tell him how the truth.
Listening to dissenting opinions is part of what it means to live in a healthy, robust society. It is also very Jewish. For thousands of years, our sages have kept a running record of not only the winners, but also the losers of different arguments. One of the most famous of those occurs over the lighting of the menorah on Hanukkah – with Hillel advocating for a gradual increase in candles and Shamai arguing for the opposite. In the Talmud, tractate Shabbat 21b, the rabbis not only present both sides, they also attempt to get at the reasoning behind each of the ritual practices. Neither rabbi’s opinion is unreasonable, Hillel’s is just the one who gets adopted by the majority.
Until recently, I thought the majority meant everyone. But our religious school teacher, Mike Raab, dispelled that notion when I learned his grandfather has been a follower of Shamai, starting with eight candles and going to one. As Mike shared with me, the first night is the most exciting and should have the most candles, by the last night we are already tired and ready to say goodbye to the holiday. Let me suggest a third way, instead of taking either Hillel or Shamai’s opinion, do both. And in doing so, encourage one another to recognize and honor the other side. If that were the lesson of Hanukkah, we would all be better for it.
Happy Hanukkah and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex
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Miketz – Torah Portion – מקץ | Hebcal Jewish Calendar
Parashat Miketz (Genesis 41:1 – 44:17). Read on 28 December 2019 in the Diaspora. Torah reading, Haftarah, links to audio and commentary.
Last Updated on 02/03/2020 by Marc Slonim