NOVEMBER 25 • 2021 | 41

SPIRIT

The Vacuum
H

ave you ever known
that feeling of gloomy
emptiness? A sense that
there is nothing good in your
life and, therefore, everything is
terrible?
In this week’s Torah portion,
we read the tragic story of
Yosef sold into slavery by his
brothers. Before selling him to
passing merchants, the brothers
had thrown him into a pit at
the side of the road. Regarding
this pit, the verse says, “The pit
was empty; there was no water
in it.”
The Talmud asks, “Since it
says: ‘The pit was empty,’ do
I not know that there was no
water in it? For what purpose
did the Torah write, ‘there was
no water in it’? [To inform us

that] there was no water in
it, but there were snakes and
scorpions in it.” When the pit
is void of water, it is
inevitable that danger-
ous creatures fill in that
vacuum.
The same is true in
our lives. The Torah is
not just a book of histo-
ry or stories. Each inci-
dent we read, and all its
details, provide a clear
and powerful message
in our daily lives. This
verse and the Talmud’s
interpretation teach us
a life-altering lesson.
When our lives lack the life-giv-
ing “water,” when we allow
ourselves to be empty of Torah,
godliness and spirituality, then

we can be certain that this void
will be filled with “snakes and
scorpions.” Negativity will cer-
tainly seep in and present
a clear and present danger
to living a good and ful-
filling life. On the other
hand, if we seek to drive
away the pain and nega-
tivity we face, the answer
is to find within ourselves
a source of light and the
darkness will vanish.
Jewish philosophers
explain that darkness does
not really exist; it is simply
the lack of light that gives
the perception of dark.
Therefore, as the Lubavitcher
Rebbe often taught, one small
candle has the power to dispel
great darkness.

On Sunday night, we will
begin the celebration of
Chanukah by kindling the first
candle of the menorah. In addi-
tion to the menorahs we light
in our homes, we also light the
menorah publicly to spread the
light of Chanukah beyond the
reach of our homes.
When we look out to the
world or into our souls and
find that it is dark, we must
recognize that what we face is
a void, one that we can fill with
positivity. Our job is to increase
light.
May we all have an illu-
minated Shabbat and happy
Chanukah!

Rabbi Benny Greenwald is the director

of the Daniel B. Sobel Friendship House.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi Benny
Greenwald

Parshat

Vayeshev:

Genesis 37:1-

40:23; Amos

2:6-3:8.

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