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How does satisfaction differ from abundance? Rashi (רש"י)'s interpretation of Pharaoh's dream reveals that "yefos mar'eh" means the cows looked kindly at each other—defining satisfaction as the ability to be happy for another's success. This challenges Western civilization's competitive ethos, which the Greeks brought and Chanukah (חנוכה) commemorates our victory over.
Rabbi Zweig begins by noting that Chanukah (חנוכה) celebrates the Jewish people's victory over Greek civilization and the Hellenistic values that infiltrated Jewish life, including the rise of the Sadducees who questioned rabbinic authority. Since Shabbos (שבת) Chanukah always falls on Parshas Mikeitz, he explores what element in the parsha reflects this victory over Greek values, particularly a value so deeply embedded in American culture that we fail to recognize it as fundamentally anti-Torah (תורה). The shiur focuses on Rashi (רש"י)'s commentary on Bereishis 41:2, where the Torah describes Pharaoh's dream of seven cows emerging from the Nile. The standard translation renders "yefos mar'eh" as "beautiful in appearance," meaning the cows themselves looked beautiful. However, Rashi offers a radically different interpretation: the phrase refers not to how the cows looked, but to how they looked at each other—they gazed kindly at one another, without begrudging each other's grazing. Rashi explains this is a sign for "yemei sova" (days of plenty), when people are not miserly toward one another.
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Why doesn't Chanukah appear in the Mishna? The shiur develops a fundamental yesod: Chanukah represents the victory of Gemara—the human ability to use godly intellect (ner Hashem nishmas adam) to develop Torah SheBaal Peh. The Menorah symbolizes the soul's illumination through this koach, while the Mizbeach represents the body's recreation—together forming the complete tikkun of man.
Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
Bereishis 41:2-29 (Parshas Mikeitz)
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