parshat Miketz

Last week we saw that all of the patriarchs were seriously involved in conversion and thus in welcoming people into the fold. We mentioned that we should look to help three categories of people who live in Israel but could find themselves excluded from the Jewish community. 1) Proving the Jewishness of born Jewish who, due to the horrors that befell the Jewish people in previous generations, cannot prove it. 2) Providing valid conversions for the children of Jewish fathers. 3) Dealing with those without Jewish blood who still were able to enter Israel under the Law of Return. This week we will focus on group #1.

Hundreds of years before Bnei Yisrael received the Torah on Mt. Sinai, including the laws of Shemitta, the story of Yosef and Paroh’s dream, which is told in Parashat Miketz (which is always read on Chanuka), occurred. We will try to find the connection between all of these matters.

Yosef’s personal saga and journey through life is actually the “roadmap” for the entire history of our exile and our redemption!