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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