Yosef, the Dreidel, and the Sufganiyah |
Hidden Light: Miketz, Yosef, the Dreidel, the Sufganiyah, and Faith from Within the Darkness
One of the familiar and long-established customs of Chanukah is the spinning of the dreidel. As long as the dreidel is turning, everything is blurred. The letters cannot be read, and the outcome remains unknown. Only when the dreidel comes to rest does its message become clear: “A great miracle happened here.”
The dreidel offers a quiet but powerful lesson. While events are still unfolding, we do not always understand what is happening. Life can feel confusing, unsettling, and at times deeply troubling. Yet when the motion stops and the picture settles, we are often able to see in retrospect that nothing was random. Everything was guided, with precision, by the hand of G-d.
This idea lies at the heart of Parashat Miketz. Pharaoh’s dreams disturbed him not merely because of their content, but because they overturned the natural order: weak cows consuming strong ones, thin ears of grain swallowing full ones. Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that the phrase “Vayikatz Paro” does not describe an ordinary awakening, but one of alarm. Pharaoh sensed that the world had been turned upside down — that weakness prevailing over........