In Parshat Vayeshev we read about Yosef's struggle with Potifar's wife. She saw through astrology that her line would be perpetuated through Yosef, so, in addition to his stunning beauty, she desired him as a means of fulfilling her destiny. What was it that Yosef actually saw that gave him the resolve to defy her? If it was a miraculous intervention, writes Rabbi D. Hofstedter, then how can we indict any sinner who did not have this? If Yosef was a
tzadik
, how can we explain that seeing his father's image kept him on the righteous path?
That Yosef saw his father's image was not miraculous, writes the
Birkas Mordechai
. Yosef had already prepared himself to receive this support. He looked into the "window of his soul" and saw therein the values and image of his father. The struggle starts within ourselves. The
yetzer hara
does his best to trip us up, and we have to do our part to defeat him, adds the
Torat Chesed
. Yosef had withstood the temptation for a full year. Now, he needed help and his Father's image appeared to assist him. This is an intervention each of us can access and ask for in our own struggles, writes Rabbi Hofstedter. It is the spiritual bond one maintains with one's spiritual mentors that guides us through our most challenging moments, our asking ourselves what our mentor would do in a similar situation that paves the way for a proper decision. In fact, Mrs. Potifar had the rarity of a mirror near her bed, similar to a polished pane of glass. Yosef saw his own reflection there, writes the
Torat Chesed
. He saw his striking resemblance to his father, and was prompted to ask himself what his father would do. That gave him the strength to run away from the situation.
By bonding with our spiritual mentor, we create a bridge to Hashem Himself and strengthen our fear of heaven, teaches Rabbi Gifter. Yaakov was Yosef's Rebbe and recalling that bond at a critical moment helped him cross that bridge. This spiritual bond is one we should all maintain when we leave the confines of yeshivah or seminary, admonishes Rabbi Y. Goldvicht. Rabbi Grossbard notes that the connection was not intellectual but rather emotional. The fear of heaven and the lessons he learned by observing his father, rather than what he said, helped him overcome this challenge.
Rabbi Wachtfogel expains that Yakov maintained this emotional connection to his son, and at this most desperate moment, it was this unseen energy that supported Yosef . That's why, when Yosef later reveals himself to his brothers, writes the
Netivot Shalom
, he didn't ask, "Is our father alive," but simply stated, "My father is still alive." I have maintained with him, a relationship that has kept me righteous during all the years of our separation.
The Greeks sought to spiritually destroy the Jews through assimilation. Symbolically, we can compare the Jews to oil which will not mix with other liquids. Therefore the Greeks chose to contaminate and destroy all the oil in the Sanctuary just as they wanted to intermingle the Jewish culture with their own. But Hashem helped the
Chashmonaim
retain the purity of Jewish sanctity with pure oil just as Yosef retained his separateness from other cultures.
The Greeks enacted that Jews were to write on the horns of an ox that they had no place in the God of Israel. Since Yosef is compared to an ox, he is the counterforce to Greek assimilation. In fact, our tradition states that the Torah Yaakov taught Yosef was how to remain a Jew in the diaspora. Yosef saw his father's image, his father's teachings, through a window, representing the separation that must always remain between Jew and gentile, albeit they can still interact without crossing that line.
The Belzer Rebbe explains that the window symbolizes the opening of prayer that Yaakov had established, a gate to beseech Hashem's help when it is difficult to continue. Just as Yosef looked to the window for inspiration, we light our Chanukah candles at the window to access this same energy. The
Sichot Hitchazkut
tells us that Chanukah is the time we can ask Hashem to give us special help in overcoming our spiritual challenges. As we gaze at the sacred lights let us merit to hold on to its eternal strength.
