December 3, 2010- Miketz

So last night, we cut Yehuda's hair. He went from a gorgeous little (just) 3 year old with flowing blond locks and the sweetest disposition to a boy. A real boy! In mere seconds he seemed to be transposed into the proverbial 'wildchild' with cunning and mischief as his modus operandus. Granted, it could have been the sugar overload and hours of adoring attention (the haircut was a very public event - snips for everyone), but something very powerful was indeed unleashed. At 3, a Jewish child takes 'form' and is introduced to Torah and Mitzvot. He takes physical form (that's the haircut) and spiritual form as well - we begin the alefbeis, he gets his first pair of tzitzis, peis, and of course the yarmulke. A Jewish life begins stage 2 at 3: deeply rooted in Torah, and that's the celebration.

The Greeks came to "make us forget God's Torah". That was their objective, and all their decrees were mere strategies. How do you cause someone to forget. Take the wind out of their sails in that very area. Don't underestimate the Greeks, they were quite intelligent. They knew the only way to neutralize the Jews was to cut them off from their source - to separate them from their beginnings; not only were we to disconnect from our national inception at Mount Sinai, but every additional expression of newness was to be eradicated. They specifically prohibited Rosh Chodesh (the New Month festival) where time is sanctified and the month (chodesh) begins anew (chadash), Bris Milah, Shabbos (the beginning of every week where our breathe is drawn and our lungs rejuvenated), the Tamid offering (the daily start of Divine service), and of course Torah learning, the most blatant connection to the Sinai experience where God spoke and every word of subsequent Torah learning is merely a continuation of that very dialogue. The Greeks even went so far as to abduct every betrothed (and yet unwed) Jewish maiden lest her "beginning" be pure. This was not a decree of licentiousness, but rather a dagger in the heart of the most Jewish institution. Every beginning was soured, soiled, spoiled and utterly annihilated.

If you cut us off from Sinai, if you take away the phoenix-like power of rejuvenation that permeates the entire Jewish experience, then we are truly a nation under siege.

This Shabbos is the Shabbos of Hanukah, and the coming week brings Rosh Chodesh, the first of the month of Teves. There is no greater moment in the calendar that screams victory from the rooftops than this. We stand atop the ashes of every nation that's sought our destruction and continue to bring light into the world where our enemies have left nothing but darkness as their memory. But a victory dance in and of itself is useless unless we live precisely in the manner which aroused their hatred. We connect. We connect the dots, the seconds of 3,500 years of Jewish history to an unshakable commitment to its future. And we commit to renew again and again the Divine seed of our existence through every portal the world offers - time and space, thought and deed.

Take a moment to reflect. And another to connect. And one more, if you can spare it, to begin again.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Lynn