Parashat Miketz- Continuing the Struggle of the Chashmonaim
The Rambam writes that during the period of Greek persecution, the majority of Jews abandoned Torah and embraced Hellenist beliefs and practices, to the point where the Torah was almost forgotten from the Jewish people. Matityahu and his sons assembled a small group of Torah scholars who recognized this threat to the existence of Torah, and they waged war against the Greek occupation. Miraculously, this tiny army of physically frail scholars defeated the Greek oppressors and saved the Torah from extinction.
In the Book of Devarim (31:21), we read God's promise that "Lo Tishakach Mi'pi Zar'o" – Torah will never be forgotten from among the Jewish people. As in the time of the Greek persecution, Am Yisrael has on several occasions in its history reached the point where Torah was almost entirely forgotten, but God intervened to ensure its survival and perpetuation. We read in the Book of Melachim that the Babylonian exile occurred in two stages. In the first stage, known as "Galut Yechonya," the Babylonians exiled the "Charash" and "Masger," literally, the "artisans" and the "gatekeepers." The Sages explain these terms as references to Torah scholars, who were driven out of Israel eleven years before the masses were exiled at the time of the First Temple's destruction. Had God allowed the Babylonians to exile the entire Jewish people together, Torah would not have survived. He therefore brought the Torah scholars to Babylonia first, where they spent eleven years establishing Yeshivot, synagogues and a religious infrastructure that was in place by the time the rest of the nation arrived. During these eleven years, the foundations were built for the great academies of Babylonia that produced the Talmud Bavli, the core text of Jewish scholarship. God intervened to ensure the survival and rebirth of Torah study and observance.
Centuries later, as the academies of Babylonia began to decline, four great Rabbis – Rabbenu Chushiel, Rabbenu Moshe, Rabbenu Shemarya, and a fourth, unknown sage – set sail from Babylonia in an effort to raise funds for their Yeshivot. Pirates attacked the Rabbis' ship and held them captive, until a number of Jewish communities around the world gave money to ransom these great scholars. The North African communities ransomed Rabbenu Chushiel, and he settled there and established the great North African Torah centers. His son, Rabbenu Chananel, wrote a famous commentary to the Talmud that is studied every day in all Yeshivot. Rabbenu Shemarya was saved by the Jews of Alexandria, where he settled and built a flourishing Torah community. Rabbenu Moshe was ransomed by the Jews of Cordova, Spain, and his arrival in Cordova sparked the development of Spanish Jewry and helped trigger the Golden Age of Spain. He had a student named Rav Nissim Gaon, who later became the mentor of Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi (the "Rif"). The Rif had a student named Rabbi Yosef Ibn Migash, who was the teacher of the Rambam.
Just as the Torah reached the brink of extinction, the Almighty intervened, bringing pirates who dispatched the four Rabbis to four different regions to build Torah across the world. (Rav Pam Z"L on the festivals.)
Today, unfortunately, the vast majority of Jews have abandoned tradition and Torah study and observance. We, those who are committed to authentic Jewish practice and education, are a small minority; we are the small jug of pure oil that has yet to be defiled by the forces of secularization. God has guaranteed us that Torah will never disappear, that as small a group as we are, we are capable of ensuring the continued survival of our faith and tradition. We therefore bear the responsibility of continuing the struggle of the Chashmonaim, to reaffirm our commitment to intensive Torah study, to ensure that both husbands and wives attend regular Torah classes, and that our children continue their Torah studies even after graduation. If we do our part in rescuing Torah, God will assuredly intervene once again and miraculously grant us success in ensuring the ongoing perpetuation of our sacred traditions.
