09 Dec WINKS FROM ABOVE

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.