Who knew when randomly selecting a parsha at Retreat that I hit the jackpot? This week has it all –stories we all know well. In Parshat Miketz, Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams and then meets his brothers for the first time since they sold him into slavery. The haftorah, is the story of King Solomon having to determine who the actual mother is between two women claiming a baby is theirs (this is when he tells them to split the baby in half – literally). On top of that, it’s Hanukkah!  So many stories to choose from, so let’s go.

In Parshat Miketz, God intervenes and Joseph is freed after 12 years in prison. Pharaoh learns that Joseph has the ability to interpret dreams and summons him from the dungeon. Pharaoh dreams that seven dead corn stalks overcome seven strong stalks and seven sick cows eat seven healthy cows. Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream as a warning that seven years plenty will be followed by seven years of famine. As we know, Pharaoh rewards Joseph’s interpretation with his freedom and appoints him to a position responsible for saving food during those seven years.

When the famine arrives, Joseph opens the storage houses. People from across Egypt come to buy food.  Among them are Joseph’s brothers who had previously sold him into slavery. While Joseph remembers them, they do not remember him. Joseph accuses his brothers of being spies but allows them to prove their innocence by retrieving their youngest brother, and Jacob’s favorite son, Benjamin, while holding one of the brothers until their return. They return with Benjamin. But before they leave, Joseph hides a silver goblet in Benjamin’s bag. As Benjamin prepares to leave, Joseph accuses him of theft and it is then when he reveals who he is to his brothers.

My guess is this is a parsha many of us know well – if not from Hebrew school, then from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” No matter how many times I read the story, I’m always struck by the enormity of what Joseph’s brothers do to him out of spite and jealousy as well as Joseph’s reaction when he sees them and the courage he has to reveal who he is, regardless of his position. God’s intervention is significant in freeing Joseph and creating a situation that brings him back together with his brothers.

I look at my own life and can find parallels. There are countless situations every day – some which could certainly be described as an intervention from God – where I’m faced with personal choices on how to respond. The answers are not always obvious or easy, but the choice is always mine. Just like Joseph and his brothers, I get to enjoy the riches – and the spoils – of those choices.

For the next few days and nights we will continue to celebrate Hanukkah and the miracles of God’s intervention – and most importantly those which we have the ability to help create. The miracle that Alan Gross is home. The miracle that we are able to feed and house hundreds of thousands of people every day through the federation system. The miracle of modern day transportation that brought more than two-dozen chevre to Chicago last weekend for our Young Leadership Division’s Big Event Fundraiser. And for me, the miracle that my six-week old, Eytan, and three-year old, Gali, are both sleeping on me as I attempt to type these last few sentences.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Hanukkah. May we all continue to create miracles for ourselves and others today and forever.

David