In Parshat Miketz, Yosef emerges from the dungeons of Egypt.

The pasuk says in B

ereishit 41:14: ‫ רובה ןמ והציריו ףסוי תא ארקיו הערפ חלשיו‬. Pharoah calls for Yosef and they
h’s dreams and Pharoah makes him his right hand man. I would like to share with yo
u the words of inspiration and wisdom that I heard in a shiur by my Rebbe, HaRav
Machlis shlita on this pasuk:
Rav Machlis teaches that the lesson we can learn from Yosef’s ordeal is that suffe
ring is not forever. For twelve years, Yosef was in jail. It’s safe to assume that
he thought that he would never see the light of day and that his suffering woul
d endure forever. The Parsha is called Miketz which means the end because the me
ssage is that there is an end to suffering. It’s written in Iyov 28:3: ‫םש ץק‬
‫ – ךשחל‬Hashem sets a limit to the darkness.
During the time of his incarceration, who could have predicted that Yosef would
shortly become a figure of royalty in Egypt? In the justice system of Mitzrayim,
who could have maintained hope of freedom – never mind becoming an elite member o
f the Egyptian monarchy. The Baal Shem Tov once said that once the light is kind
led, there is no trace that there was any darkness. Looking at Yosef the viceroy
, no one would guess that only a short time before he was sitting in a dungeon.
Those twelve years of his life went from being a nightmare to a stepping stone t
owards greatness.
The Gemara in Pesachim 54 teaches that there are certain ideas which G-d intenti
onally conceals from man – among them is yom hanechama - the day of consolation. M
any mefarshim understand yom hanechama to be relating to yemot haMashiach. Howev
er, Rashi understands the Gemara’s teaching as follows: ‫ ותגאדמ םחנתי םדא לכש‬. Every person
will be a day where all stresses and anxiety will be relieved whether they be me
dical, social, financial, professional or academic.
They say that the darkest time of the night is just before sunrise and that the
most intense pain of childbirth is right before birth. The Sforno comments on ‫ןמ והצריו‬
‫ – רובה‬they rushed Yosef out of jail, that Hashem’s redemption always comes swiftly and in
ays that you would least expect it.
Similarly, the Gemara in Mesechet Sanhedrin 97 teaches that Mashiach comes ‫ – תעדה חסהב‬when
expect.
When things are going poorly, we feel as if things won’t get any better. However,
the message of our Parsha is ‫ – ץקמ‬there is an end, there will be a yom hanechama – things
will get better. The common Israeli expression is: ‫בוט היהי‬.
We light Chanukah candles during the darkest time of the winter to remind us of
this concept of Miketz – that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and there
will be a day of consolation and redemption. Of late, Am Yisrael has been going
through a particularly dark time. The world, including our closest allies, are h
ostile towards us, there is a severe drought and we have just suffered the dries
t November in recorded history, over 40 people died yesterday in the worst ever
fire in Israel, and our brother Gilaad Shalit still remains captive somewhere in
Gaza.
May this be the yom hanechama of all the families that have lost loved ones in w
ar, terror, sickness and fire and for those experiencing any kind of pain or suf
fering. In last week’s Parsha, Yosef was taken captive by Yishmaelim and thrown in
to a dungeon. In Miketz, Yosef is freed and reunited with his family. Our though
ts turn to our soldier who was also taken captive by Yishmaelim. May Hashem in H
is mercy, bring Gilaad home to light Neirot Chanukah at home with his family.
The message of Miketz is also found in the song we sing tonight in Maoz Tzur: ‫שדק עורז ףושח‬
‫ – העושיה‬Hasten the end for salvation. May the end to all suffering and our national yom ha
hama come speedily.
‫!םולש תבשו חמש הכונח‬