In this week’s Torah portion, Pharaoh dreams of seven healthy cows and seven sick cows…and so on…and so forth. Come to find out, our boy Joseph can interpret his dreams. This gives Joey a rise to power and even more family drama than he had before.
But the real lesson in this week’s Torah portion is that G-d can (and does) talk to non-Jews. But Pharaoh didn’t know what his dreams meant. It took Joseph’s interpretative skills to put two and two (or in this case, seven, seven, seven and seven) together to mean anything.
G-d, it seems, is Universal: talking to everyone, actively involved in humanity’s shared life on Earth. But the Jewish people have a special place, taking the visions that G-d puts into humanity, and interpreting them, guiding them, and bringing them to life.
So on this cold (for us) Hanukkah night, let the warmth of the menorah and G-d’s splendor shine on you and the world.