Seeing the Big Picture!
At Touro Synagogue
December 1, 2018
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On Shabbat, Rabbi Marc Mandel spoke about Hanukkah. He said that in the Talmud, in the middle of the Hanukkah discussion, the sages started to talk about Joseph being thrown into the pit, which was in today’s parsha. Sounds like a case of Talmudus Interruptus! What could Hanukkah have in common with the story of Joseph?
Reuben threw Joseph into pit to prevent their brothers from killing Joseph. The torah not only says that the pit was empty, but also that it had no water in it. Why did the torah add the line about water? Our rabbi’s believed that every word in the torah is important. The challenge is to explain why.
In this case the rabbis said that the pit had snakes and scorpions. That leads to a problem. Why did Reuben throw Joseph in to save his life if the pit was dangerous? The answer, and one member of the congregation guessed it, was that Reuben did not know about the snakes and scorpions. The pit was deep, not everything was visible.
Hanukkah, the festival of light, is about removing the darkness in our world. To share the light, we display the menorah, candles ablaze, so it can be seen from the street! In Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood, the stone houses have niches in the outside walls for the chanukyiot. If Reuben had the right menorah, he might not have used the pit!
Rabbi Mandel said that we, like Reuben, don’t always see the big picture; often our emotions get in the way. He urged us to step back and make sure we see the big picture!
Visitor Joel Plaut, from the five town area of Long Island, had his own version of the big picture. He was attending a bar mitzvah at Young Israel of Woodmere. The shul has expanded over the years, and encompassed several buildings. When he got to the door there was a shul-led security.
He said, “I want to go to services.” and was told, “We have seven services, which one?”
“I want to go the 8:30 service.” “We have two at 8:30. Which one?”
“I want to go to the service with a bar mitzvah.” “They both have bar mitzvahs. Which one?”
Joel was getting a little impatient,“Just show me where they are!” When he got to the services, he realized that he had missed the big picture. He was at the wrong shul. The bar mitzvah was at Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst!
Here’s hoping you see the big picture..in five towns, Lawrence, Cedarhurst, and Newport!
Happy Hanukkah and Shabbat Shalom!
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