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It’s winter, but I want you to consider the toasted marshmallow. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say it was hard, dry, black and bitter. But you’ve been around the campfire once or twice and you know that it’s actually soft and gooey, white and sweet! That’s not the only thing in the world that can fool you. The world is called “olam” for a reason; it comes from the same root as “l’ha’alim – to hide.” The world is a tricky place and it’s easy to mistake one thing for something else.

This is a recurring theme in this week’s parsha, in which there are many mistakes made based on perception. Yosef and his brothers failed to see the other party’s true nature: Yosef mistook some of his brothers’ actions for severe sins, while they thought he was trying to undermine their standing in the eyes of their father and usurp their birthrights. Yehuda did not understand Tamar’s greatness or importance until the truth was forced before his eyes and – in odd correspondence – Potiphar’s wife misunderstands her own prophetic vision of her connection to Yosef. And then there is the baker who misunderstood the portent of his dream and was sure he was in for good fortune. So much going on below the surface, only to be revealed by wiser men at later times…

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This is also an important theme of Chanukah. The little jug of oil and the little nation that could. But there is an even deeper connection.

In the second bracha we make over the Chanukah candles and in the opening of the Al Hanisim we say, “Bayamim hahem b’zman hazeh.” We thank and praise Hashem for the miracles and wars that occurred “in those days at this time.”  In what way is this true? Are we at war with the Greeks in 5775?  The Greeks are historical relics, relegated to books and museums. They “fathered Western civilization” and created the blueprint for modern culture, art, math and science, but what remains of them?  Modern Greece is merely a collection of small islands with some ruins to testify to long-gone glory.  How are they relevant to us now? Why is our victory over them an ongoing “b’zman hazeh” miracle?

Let’s explore the origins of the Greek Nation. The father of the Greeks was Yeffes ben Noach. The Chumash tells us that Shem and Yeffes found their father, Noach, uncovered and covered him. The pasuk (Bereishis 9:23) says Vayikach –and he took – in singular instead of vayikchu – in plural. Why?  Rashi cites a Gemara in Sanhedrin (70a) where it says that the Torah credits Shem for taking the blanket since he did it with zrizus. Shem was rewarded with the mitzvah of tzitzis, while Yeffes will merit to be buried after the war of Gog and Magog. Shem receives an eternal, spiritual reward for all generations, yet Yeffes’ reward is a physical one-shot deal.  How could two people perform an action together and yet receive entirely different rewards?

Rav Gedalia Schorr explains that it’s all about motive. Yeffes helped physically clothe his father, motivated by concern for his father’s outward appearance, his physical indecency; it’s embarrassing to be naked.  Shem, on the other hand, was driven to act from a spiritual source. He understood that man is created in the image of Hashem and worried for that honor. Thus, their rewards mirrored their outlooks, measure for measure. Shem received the mitzvah of tzitzis, adding a spiritual dimension to our attire. Yeffes received a reward of physical human decency, he merited burial.

This core difference in approach between Shem and Yeffes is clearly seen in the blessing Noach gave after he recovered: Yaft Elokim l’yeffes v’yishkon b’ohalei Shem. Yeffes is blessed with beauty but its place is in the tents of Shem.

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Rabbi Baruch Bodenheim is Associate Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Passaic Torah Institute, Passaic, NJ.