(2002/5763)

Parshat Miketz begins with the words “And it came to pass at the end of two years.” The Chachamim say the word “And there was” means pain. Here it refers to Yaakov’s pain. Yaakov is pained over the loss of his son Yosef, over Yosef’s subsequent anguish during his imprisonment in Egypt, and over the anguish of Yosef’s brother, seeing Yaakov’s grief.  However the end of the Parsha hints that there will be a happy ending for Yaakov’s family. This can be seen when Yosef, now the viceroy of Egypt, gives his brothers a very big feast as well as many gifts. Yosef then tells his brothers at the end of the Parsha, “Alu Lishalom El Avichem” “Go up in peace to your father,” hinting to what is going to happen in the future.

During the miracle of Chanukah we commemorate a similar series of event.  First, the Jews are subjected to harsh laws by oppressors who hope that the Jews will forget their Torah. However, at the end, the Chashmonaim became victorious over their enemies and gave birth once again to Am Yisrael.

An additional link between Chanukah and Parshat Miketz can be found in Paroh’s dreams.  In his first dream, Paroh saw bad looking cows eating seven good looking cows.  In the second dream he saw seven good ears of dreams getting swallowed up by seven thin ears of grains.  Similarly, in the days of Matityahu the Chashmonaim and his sons, Bnai Yisrael although a weaker nation, were able to overcome the much stronger nation of Greece, because of Hashem’s intervention.