By: Chaya Sora Jungreis-Gertzulin

In this week’s parsha, Vayeishev, we learn of the tragic episode of Yosef being sold by his brothers to a caravan of Yishmaeilim. “… a caravan of Yishmaeilim were coming from Gilad, and their camels were carrying spices, balsam and lotus, to take down to Egypt.” (Bereishis 37:25)

Rashi quotes from a Midrash that it was customary for Arab traders to carry petroleum and tar, foul smelling items. But HaShem, wanting to spare the righteous Yosef, sent a caravan with goods that had pleasant fragrances, as not to distress him.

Not to distress Yosef?! Yosef was only seventeen when his brothers sold him. He was being taken to Egypt, known for its immoral and decadent ways. It was a place impossible to escape from. Did it really make a difference if the cargo being transported had a good or bad odor? If a person is being kidnapped, and forced into a car, does it matter what the interior of the car smells like?

Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz zt”l explains that having sweet smelling spices was a sign from HaShem to Yosef. You are not alone. You are not forgotten. I am going down to Egypt with you. As HaShem later tells Yaakov, “I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again,” (Bereishis 46:4)

A powerful thought as we approach Chanukah. Chanukah takes place during the darkest time of the year. When the days are short – the nights long. For the Jewish people living under Greek rule, it was both a physical and spiritual darkness. They lived under the tyrannical rule of Antiochus, who wanted to break their spirit, their neshama. He enacted edicts that would sever their connection to Torah and mitzvos. The Greeks defiled the Beis HaMikdash, and brought pig sacrifices on its altar. They placed a statute of Zeus there, transforming the makom kadosh into a place of idol worship. To the Jewish nation, all looked dark and bleak.

Miraculously, they defeated the Greeks, the few against the many, the weak against the mighty. They then turned to the Beis HaMikdash, wanting to bring it back to its glory. We all know how they searched and finally found a single pach shemen, one pure vial of oil, with the seal of the Kohein Gadol still intact. To light the menorah. To bring spiritual light to their darkness. A wink from Above. It was HaShem saying I am with you, the light will never be extinguished.

As we light the menorah, we say the timeless words bayamim haheim, bazman hazeh, in those days, in this time. Throughout the generations, we have received winks from Above, little signs, messages that HaShem is with us. Signs that we are not alone, never abandoned.

In those days. Just as Yosef felt HaShem’s presence, even when sold, and the Jewish people living under Greek rule felt HaShem’s presence amidst their oppression, so too – bazman hazeh, in our time – the hostages speak of their winks from Above. Stories of faith and hope in times of pain and suffering. Stories of how they experienced hashgacha pratis, HaShem’s personal involvement in their lives, and felt His presence even in the darkest of dark, in the deep tunnels of Gaza.

Yosef Chaim Ohana was held captive for 738 days. At one point, he was together with several other hostages. The terrorists gave them an old radio, thinking they would only be able to receive Arab stations, and the call of the Muezzin. But leave it to the Israelis. They found some wires, and formed an antenna of sorts, giving them access to Galei Tzahal, the IDF station.

One day, while tuning in, Yosef Chaim hears his father’s voice. His father was being interviewed. He was asked if he has a message for his son, Yosef Chaim. He responds, “Yosef Chaim, be strong, know that HaShem is watching over you. All of Am Yisroel is praying for you. Very soon, you will be home.”

To Yosef Chaim, it was a shot of hope, faith and strength. His personal wink from Above. Yosef Chaim later said, “The chance that my father would happen to speak on the station we managed to pick up, the exact time we were listening, was one-in-a-million. It was the ray of light that helped us endure that terrible ordeal.

Agam Berger was a hostage for 482 days. While in captivity, she felt the need to turn to HaShem, and courageously asked for a siddur. Her captors responded with a mean laugh. But Agam refused to give up. She prayed to HaShem, that somehow, someway, she would receive a siddur. Shortly after, the terrorists found a siddur in Khan Younis, probably left behind by a soldier. They gave it to Agam, saying “Your G-d must really love you.”

To Agam, it was no coincidence. It was a wink from Above.

Or Levy was a captive for 491 days. He shared that at first, he was held in an apartment, locked in a room all alone. He would talk to a crack in the ceiling. He was then transferred to a tunnel. Darkness, except for a small LED light. There, he would speak to the light. And then, he was moved to yet another tunnel. A tunnel of total darkness. Not a crack, not a light, only blackness. In that tunnel, he began to speak to HaShem. When things got very bad, when he felt that he couldn’t take it anymore, he asked HaShem to send him a sign. And He did. A quarter of a stale pita. A cup of tea. Or said, that to most of us, it seems like nothing. But to him, sitting in darkness, it meant everything. It was his wink from Above.

Omer Shem Tov, was a captive for 505 days. While not observant, Omer turned to HaShem in captivity. He longed for a Shabbat dinner. Incredibly, the terrorists gave him a half-filled bottle of grape juice. He counted the days. Every Friday night, he covered his head with toilet paper (for lack of anything else), and recited Kiddush. Omer related his personal miracle, that like the oil of the menorah that kept on burning and burning, his grape juice lasted and lasted – for five full months.

To Omer, it was a sign of HaShem’s presence. A Divine wink.

In Tehillim, Dovid HaMelech writes, “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock, giving me a place to stand.” (Tehillim 40:2) Dovid HaMelech poignantly writes about his own travails. At the same time, he speaks to all of us. While I think of Yosef in the slimy pit, and the hostages in the dark tunnels, there are times in life when we all feel that we are “in the pit”. But Dovid tells us, don’t despair, don’t give up, for HaShem lifts us and gives us a place to stand.

In life, we all receive our winks from Above. Some bigger than others. Some obvious, some hidden. But they are there. HaShem is with us. As we stand before the menorah, take in the spiritual lights, our beacons of hope in times of darkness.

Wishing all my readers

Shabbat Shalom and a lichtige Chanukah!

Chaya Sora

Chaya Sora can reached at [email protected]

This article was written L’zecher Nishmas / In Memory Of HaRav Meshulem ben HaRav Osher Anshil HaLevi, zt”l and Rebbetzin Esther bas HaRav Avraham HaLevi, zt”l