Parashat Mikeitz (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah): 8,825 Miles

 Leilui Neshamot (for the elevation of the souls) of Harav Eli Shlanger zl, Harav Yaakov Levitan zl and the other members of our extended Australian Jewish and Gentile Community murdered at the ‘Chanukah by the Sea’ event

Approximately 8,825 miles (as the crow flies) lie between Rafah and Bondi Beach.

Last week, the IDF released footage of the ‘Beautiful Six’ Israelis; Eden, Hersh, Ori, Almog, Alex and Carmel lighting a makeshift chanukiah inside a section of the Gaza tunnels that they had just been moved into. Two years ago, a couple of months after they had been forcibly taken into Gaza, they lit and sang the traditional Chanukah songs and under duress, spoke to the camera (https://tinyurl.com/yc5enkvv).

Eight months later, on 9^th August 2024, they were brutally murdered.

Our ‘six’ courageously introduced light into a tunnel below Rafah which lies about 4 miles off the Gaza coast.

8,825 miles away, it is estimated that over 1000 people, both Jewish and non-Jewish, gathered to celebrate the first night of Chanukah near a playground in Archer Park which lies a mere 260 metres north of Bondi Beach.

Sunday night, 14^th December was a week away from the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere.  At a pleasant 21° Celsius, it was the perfect time to meet up with friends and socialise in that time-honoured manner so well practiced in Jewish circles.  They had come to celebrate Chabad’s annual ‘Chanukah by the Sea’ event which would culminate in lighting of the first candle on the giant chanukiah.

The Times described the scene:

An animal petting zoo for children was filling up.  Hot chips and ice cream were on sale and preparations were underway for a light show later in the evening.

“Come celebrate the light of Chanukkah together with your community,” the event’s light blue and yellow banners read.  “Bring your friends, bring the family.  Let’s fill Bondi with joy and light!”

No-one expected to hear gunfire, at 6.47pm local time, a little over an hour before sunset at 8.01pm, leading to the deaths of 15 individuals (at the time of writing) including two rabbis, an 87 year old Shoah survivor, a 10-year-old little girl whose family escaped from Ukraine believing that they would be safer in Australia,  an elderly couple who died after the husband engaged with one of the shooters, and a retired police officer.  Numerous people remain injured in hospital with one in a critical condition.

A father and his son brutally introduced darkness into the calm, sun-drenched environs of Archer Park, just under 8 miles away from the house in which my maternal grandfather, Philip Sydney Vecht (he was named after the city) was born.

Both events taking place respectively just before and during Chanukah, our Festival of Light.  One of what should have been the most joyous periods in our calendar.

I have three questions to pose:

1.    How could the ‘six’ even countenance celebrating Chanukah in the hell that was Gaza?

2.    How can we countenance celebrating Chanukah in the shadow cast by Sunday night’s massacre?

3.    Why did our family attend a local event run by Chabad hours after the guns fell silent?

The Talmud (Makkot 24b) famously relates the story of a trip that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Akiva undertook following the destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash.

Upon reaching Mount Scopus, they tore their clothes as is the tradition when seeing the sight of the Temple’s ruins.  When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the site that had been the Kodesh Hakodashim, the Holy of Holies.  Three of the four started weeping and were surprised to see the fourth, Rabbi Akiva laughing.

They asked him why he was laughing and he replied in the time-honoured Jewish fashion with another question, “Why are you weeping?”  They said to him, “This is the place concerning which it is written, ‘And the non-priest who approaches shall die.’ (Numbers 1:51), and now foxes walk in it; and shall we not weep?”

Rabbi Akiva said to them, “That is why I am laughing, as it is written, when God revealed the future to the prophet Isaiah, ‘And I will take to Me faithful witnesses to attest: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.’

Now what is the connection between Uriah and Zechariah?  Uriah was [in the time of] the First Temple, and Zechariah was [in the time of] the Second Temple!  But the Torah makes Zachariah's prophecy dependent upon Uriah's prophecy.  With Uriah, it is written, 'Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be ploughed as a field; [Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the Temple Mount like the high places of a forest].'  With Zachariah it is written, 'Old men and women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem.'

As long as Uriah's prophecy had not been fulfilled, I feared that Zechariah's prophecy may not be fulfilled either.  But now that Uriah's prophecy has been fulfilled, it is certain that Zechariah's prophecy will be fulfilled."

With these words they replied to him, "Akiva, you have consoled us!  Akiva, you have consoled us!" (https://tinyurl.com/4ymhn6yu)

To this day, we are living through the repercussions of Chorban Bayit Sheni – the destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash.  As a result of what happened, we were cast into an exile that has not yet terminated.  Yes, we are blessed to witness the establishment of Medinat Yisrael which we refer to as reshit tz’michat ge’ulatainu, which is roughly translated as the ‘beginning of the flourishing of our redemption’ but can any of us say that we feel truly safe as Jews in the world of 2025?

I don’t think that the majority of us would react in a Rabbi Akiva like manner when visiting the Gaza envelope (or indeed Gaza itself) or Bondi Beach post Sunday evening.  What is there to laugh about?  Crying, that’s easy, but laughing...not so much.

Which is why Rabbi Akiva’s outlook and response to the foxes on the Har Habayit/Temple Mount remains a template that we should aspire to achieve when faced with the harsh realities that are inflicted upon us, day after day, month after month, particularly within the last two years.

What can we do to find that ‘inner laughter’?

Let’s start by answering my three questions:

1.    How could the ‘six’ even countenance celebrating Chanukah in the hell that was Gaza?

Because despite everything that was going on, they refused to let the darkness that had enveloped them and the captivity that they were forced to endure define them.  We know that Jews had celebrated Chanukah in similar conditions (including pre-war Nazi Germany) and Hersh even referred to the famous 1931 photograph of the chanukiah reflecting, “There’s that picture of the Chanukiah with a [Nazi flag] above it.”  Just as we witnessed the defeat of the Nazis, so we shall prevail over those who wish to destroy us in this generation.

Lesson One: We will never let those who wish to silence us, define us.

2.    How can we countenance celebrating Chanukah in the shadow cast by Sunday night’s massacre?

I watched the news on Monday morning, and Sky reported that the crowd which showed up for the second night at Bondi Beach was even larger than that of the previous evening.  They were singing the words passed to us by Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav – Kol Ha’olom kulo gesher tzar me’od.  As translated by the Chief Rabbi who was being interviewed in the studio – ‘all the world is a very narrow bridge, but the main thing is not to be afraid.’

We know that this world is a narrow bridge and that the father and son used such a bridge to murder our brothers and sisters, but we are not frightened.

Lesson Two: We will show our enemies and the world at large that we will never be cowed by those who wish to harm us.

3.    Why did our family attend a local event run by Chabad hours after the guns fell silent?

We went because we wanted, in our own way, to do the same thing.  Our Chabad Rabbi announced that following the massacre, another 200 people had registered that morning to join the proceedings in a local park.  We gathered as individuals, couples, young families and elderly folk to make our message clear to the world.

In the winter darkness which was a world away from the summer sunshine of Bondi and the squalid conditions beneath the sand of Gaza, we stood proudly alongside our fellow Jews throughout the world.

Lesson Three: We never let them define us.

We thanked the brave Muslim man who risked his life to protect our people whilst gazing lovingly at the first Chanukah lights of the festival.

2,244 miles from Gaza.

10,563 miles from Archer Park.

We laughed and yes, we also shed tears, appreciating and blessing the light that penetrated the darkness.  Remembering the fallen and injured in Archer Park and Gaza.

May those who are injured be fully healed and may the memories of those who fell be a blessing to Am Yisrael.

Shavuah Tov, Chodesh Tov and Chanukah Sameach.

Parashat Veyeishev: Dreams - A Freudian and Maimonidean Perspective

 Dedicated to the memory of Harav Eli Shlanger zl and the other members of our extended Australian Jewish Community murdered on Bondi Beach, Australia.

Let’s start off with a short quiz.

1)    Name five popular songs from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s that include the word ‘Dream’ or ‘Dreams’ in their title:

In chronological order:

1)    All I Have to Do is Dream (the Everly Brothers)

2)    Dream Baby (Roy Orbison)

3)    Dream a Little Dream of Me (The Mamas and Papas)

4)    Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)

5)    I Have a Dream (ABBA)

Bonus a) Do you know in which years these were hits?

1)    1958

2)    1962

3)    1968

4)    1977

5)    1979 

Bonus b) Which of the songs topped the British chart?  (Hint: it was only one of the above)

All I Have to Do is Dream.

2)    2) Sefer Bereishit/Genesis describes the dreams encountered by five individuals.  Who are they?

1)    Jacob

2)    Joseph

3)    The Butler

4)    The Baker

5)    Pharaoh

It is something that we all do and, according to scientists, this even includes mammals, reptiles and birds who, referencing the few scientific studies that have been carried out in this area, dream about their daily activities, such as running and interacting with other animals.  (https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20140425-what-do-animals-dream-about)

The Oxford dictionary defines Oneirology as:

‘The scientific study of dreams, a term that emerged in the 1810s from Greek roots (oneiron, 'dream' + logia, 'study of'), focusing on the processes, neurophysiology and functions of dreaming, rather than solely on symbolic interpretation, though the broader study often includes interpretation too.

The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund (aka Sigismund Shlomo) Freud, in his book                          ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ (1899), argued that dreams are the “royal road to the unconscious.”  They reveal hidden desires, fears and conflicts.  For Freud, dreams were not divine messages but human ones, namely expressions of what lies beneath the surface of consciousness.

He explains that dreams are disguised fulfilments of repressed, unconscious wishes, censored and symbolized by the psyche.  Distinguishing between manifest content (what is remembered) and latent content (hidden meaning), using free association to uncover repressed desires.  (‘Sigmund Freud Dream Theory’ book reviewed by Saul McLeod Phd, https://www.simplypsychology.org/sigmund-freud-dream-theory.html)

Whereas one of our greatest philosophers, the Rambam/Maimonides, took a different approach.

In Moreh Nevuchim, Guide for the Perplexed, Part II, Chapter 42, he discusses dreams in the context of being a medium of prophecy blending psychology and theology (except for Moshe Rabbeinu who Gd communicated with as ‘one person speaks to his friend’, Shemot 33.11).

He described prophecy as ‘occurring in dreams or visions, where normal senses cease and spiritual facilities are heightened.  In other words, dreams serve as channels of divine communication, structured and ordered, not random imagination’ (Rabbi Jack Abromowitz, ’23. Dreams and Visions, https://outorah.org/p/22475)

These two Jewish thinkers came to very different conclusions as to the function of dreams.

Are dreams a way in which we find insights into our unconscious desires and heal ourselves or are they a method by which Gd communicates with us on a higher plane?  Could they be both?

Our Parasha begins with a vivid description of Joseph’s dreams.

We have sheaves of wheat and celestial bodies prostrating themselves before Joseph which on the face of it, seems bizarre.  Freud might have posited that being one of the youngest of Jacob’s children, Joseph had an unconscious wish to be recognized by his older brothers and even their father.  He sees this as indicative of a tension within the family (which granted the circumstances that we’ve hitherto read about in the Torah, would not be surprising).

The Rambam in tandem with other commentators, views his dreams as not being simply adolescent fantasies but visions of a future that would eventually materialise.  Joseph did rise above his brothers and their father and yes, they eventually bowed to him, as we will read about in the next few weeks.

Yet, although both approaches may seem to be diametrically opposed, the gap between them is not that wide.

Rabbi Sacks ztl often taught that Judaism exists within a tension that is present between Freud’s psychology of the self and the Rambam’s theology of prophecy (which is a fascinating topic in itself that goes beyond the scope of this Drasha).  Where Freud discusses the idea that dreams reveal our inner conflicts, the Rambam sees these same visions as being Gd’s call to us.

Applying this to our story of Joseph, we can see elements of both thinkers’ approaches.

According to Freud, Joseph’s dreams both expose his family’s fractures and (as the Rambam teaches) also indicate a way in which Gd will help him overcome them through the prophetic visions that he is experiencing.

Synthesising these two views one can conclude that, according to Rabbi Sacks, dreams are the point at which the human and divine meet,  where our deepest desires intersect with the Gd’s purposes or as he wrote, “Where what we want to do meets what needs to be done, that is where God wants us to be.”  (https://www.youtube.com/watchv=u7g5WVpA4IY#:~:text=Finding%20Purpose%20%2D%20YouTube,God%20wants%20you%20to%20be.%22)

Tonight we will, Gd willing, light the first Chanukah candle.  I believe that in these days of darkness, both metaphorical and physical, there can be no more fitting example of these ideas than in the context of our Festival of Lights.

It began as an ‘impossible dream’ by the Maccabees to take on the colossal Seleucid (Syrian Greek) Empire.  The goal being to re-establish Jewish religious sovereignty over the Land of Israel and liberate the Beit Hamikdash from Hellenistic control.  Freud might have viewed the revolt as an expression initiated by conscious and/or subconscious feelings of repression felt by Mattityahu the Hasmonean and his five sons (along with some others in the Jewish population).  The result being the manifestation of these dreams which stemmed from a refusal to let their identity be extinguished.

The Rambam takes a rationalist approach viewing the rebellion as a fulfilment of a prophetic vision emanating from the belief that even in exile, Gd’s presence had endured.  The result being the coruscating light emanating from the Menorah, filled to the brim with a supply of oil that should have only lasted for one day.

Both men’s understanding of dreams coalesces into the outcome that we will celebrate throughout the world over the next week, in the same manner that we have done for over two millennia.

Both Parashat Vayeishev and Chanukah together remind us that the world in which we live can be changed by dreams.  As Herzl wrote, “If you will it, it is no dream,” and it took five decades until it was realised with the establishment of the State of Israel.

Joseph’s nocturnal visions, borne from his psyche (using Freud’s theories), eventually led to events that he could not have envisioned without Divine assistance (referencing the Rambam).  Similarly, as was witnessed in the case of the Maccabees and their stunning victory against their overlords where the subconscious led to the miraculous.

In these trying times, we should remember that whatever may be taken from us, our dreams will never belong to anyone else.  May they bring us to a future that is brighter, so much brighter than the present we are living through.

Shavuah Tov and Chanukah Sameach.