parashat miketz – channuka !

It is a true work to fully bring awareness of g-ds presence into our lives at all times. In my struggles I sometimes am not able to see how hashem is hiding inside and seek solutions within physicality. Now I have to ask myself.. where do I draw the line between involving myself and others in fixing (which often leads to falsely attributing the success to myself) and giving my problem over to hashem, taking myself out of the situation?

We can’t rely on miracles we have to to our part in this physical world ! We have to create vessels for blessing, through physical work, but we can not forget that it is not the involvement in materiality which sustains us and gives us what we need. It is always hashem. He enclothes and reveals himself through physically but it is us who first have to put in our effort to create a space for hashem to penetrate into, just as we can not drink water (which is fully provided by nature, Hashem) if we don’t first create a glass or bottle to pour in into. It is very dangerous to get lost in the illusion that we hold the power to heal (doctors) or win wars (army and weapons) – the truth that we need to remind ourselves of is that we are merely creating channels for success as opposed to being the cause and source for the success. 

Now Yosefs story comes to teach us that this state of separation we just described can be harmful: after being sold to slavery in Egypt, he sits in prison and is joined by paraohs wine steward and baker. When they got to return to paraoh, Yosef requests for them to ask the ruler to free him from this unjust imprisonment. What is the outcome of this? Two more years in prison as a punishment for relying on flesh and blood for his salvation. we can see how he used this time to reflect and how when he got out after this time to interpret paraohs dream, he does not cease to mention hashem and that his interpretation and future blessings will all come from the one source, g-d.

We need to find the delicate balance between bitachon (trust in and relying on hashem) and hishtadlut (personal effort) to flow in life and be in unity with the divine workings of the world we can not escape. 

 A few days ago, Channuka started. It is a time of remembering the miracles hashem performed and recognizing that he still is performing them!. We see it through Yosef, how the seemingly impossible – going from being imprisoned, a salve, to a mighty king , or the maccabeans, a small group fighting a much larger army of the Greeks, prevailing in victory. While usually, we are not allowed to rely on miracles, we see that for these 8 days carry a very special energy and potential we do not have access to the rest of the year. Hello guys hashem does crazy crazy things if he wants to, things that go beyond our imagination. Take this time to internalize that the Torah is not a story of the past but a present reality. Hannukah is an auspicious time, an open window for our prayers for miracles to be heard. In order for our wishes to come true, we really really need to believe in hashems power to perform them ! And pray. Open yourself up to hashem. 

May we all see revealed miracles in our lives and succeed in having soulful and special prayer that connects us on a level so high we have not experienced before. I wish you all an amazing chanuka filled with light and joy. Shabbat shalom <3