Month: December 2022

Parshat Vayigash (ויגש – and he drew near), Genesis 44:18–47:27.

Genesis 47:12
וַיְכַלְכֵּל יוֹסֵף אֶת-אָבִיוְאֶת-אֶחָיו, וְאֵת כָּל-בֵּית אָבִיו-לֶחֶם, לְפִי הַטָּף
Joseph feeds his father, his brothers and all his father’s house,
giving food according to the needs of each family.

The synagogue was built in 1875. At that time, Vesoul was the seat of the consistory of eastern France. It was decommissioned in 1945, then became the property of Restos du Cœur¹ years later. It was the subject of a registration as a historical monument in 1984.

The Jewish community of Vesoul, between the 13th and 14th centuries, was the largest in the county of Burgundy. In 1324, the Countess of Burgundy expelled the Jews from the city and confiscated their property. Around 1808, the community was reconstituted, then strengthened in 1870 by the arrival of Alsatian Jews. During the Second World War, the community disappeared².

In 1914, Raymond Samuel, known under the pseudonym of Raymond Aubrac³, son of Jewish merchants, was born not far from this synagogue.

¹ Charitable association created by Michel Colucci, dit Coluche (1944-1986) in 1985.
² Raymond Aubrac’s parents, Albert and Hélène Samuel and his brother Paul, as well as 104 other people are arrested as Jews, sent to Drancy, then murdered in Auschwitz.
³ Raymond Aubrac (1914-2012), married in 1939 to Lucie Bernard (1912-2007), both members of the Liberation resistance movement.

For the reading of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh of Chanukkah, we take out 3 Sefrei-Torah:
1^st sefer, reading of the current Shabbat parsha, in 2022, Miketz (מקץ – at the end of), Genesis 41.1 to 44.17
2^nd sefer, reading of the passage from Rosh Chodesh, Numbers 28.1 to 28.15
3^rd sefer, reading for Chanukkah, from the passage of the inauguration of the Mishkan, Numbers 6.22 to 8.4
The reading of the haftarah is done in Zechariah 2.14 to 4.7.

When two mitzvot present themselves to us, which one to choose?
It is a fundamental principle of halakha¹: whenever two mitzvos occur together, the one that is practiced most often has priority over the other.
Exceptionally this principle is not applied for Chanukkah, because the message of Chanukkah must reach the greatest number.

Zechariah 4.2
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי, מָה אַתָּה רֹאֶה; ויאמר (וָאֹמַר) רָאִיתִי וְהִנֵּה מְנוֹרַת זָהָב כֻּלָּο
וְשִׁבְעָה נֵרֹתֶיהָ עָלֶיהָ–שִׁבְעָה וְשִׁבְעָה מוּצָקוֹת, לַנֵּרוֹת אֲשֶׁר עַל-רֹאשָׁהּ
And he said to me: “What do you see?” I answered: “I see a candlestick all in gold its vessel on its top, its seven lamps lined up and seven conduits for the lamps which crown the top.

The center is built in the shape of a seven-branched synagogue candelabrum (menorah). It consists of seven marble towers, the highest of which is 20 stories (77 m.) tall. The construction has total floor area of about 50,000 sq.m. There are a synagogue, museums, office premises, shopping spaces, publishing house, art galleries, kosher restaurants and cafes, conference halls, banquet halls, a luxury hotel, youth hostel, classrooms, tourist information center, visa center of Israel. General project design was made by architect Alexander Sorin.

¹ Berachot 51b, tadir velo tadir = תדיר ולא תדיר = often and not often.

Parshat Vayechev (וישב – And he settled down), Genesis 37:1-40:23
Yossef won the favor of Potifar, his master, but also aroused the lust of women. Yossef refuses the advances of Potifar’s wife who, out of spite, accuses him of rape. Yossef is thrown in prison.

Genesis 39:20
וַיְהִי-שָׁם, בְּבֵית הַסֹּהַר
and he remained there, in the prison.

The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia was built in 1829. The Gothic Revival style penitentiary is built in the shape of a star¹. The imposing medieval-style wall that surrounds it is intended to intimidate the new occupant.
In 1924, a synagogue was built there. It will be used without interruption until the closing of the penitentiary in 1971. The penitentiary is abandoned and the premises are deteriorating.
In 1994, after its restoration, the penitentiary was opened to the public as a National Historic Landmark. The synagogue has been restored as it was in 1959, with its dark wooden pews surrounding the room, a beautiful archway, a reader’s table, a plaster Star of David and an eternal flame. The workshops adjoining the synagogue have been converted into a memorial on Jewish life at the penitentiary, The William Portner Memorial Exhibit on Jewish Life at Eastern State Penitentiary.

¹ In 1929, Al Capone was imprisoned there for illegal possession of a weapon. This first stay in a prison is in fact a shelter. He had his cell located in the center of the star fitted out in a luxurious way (carpeting, tapestries, paintings and antique furniture). He was released after ten months in prison.

Parshat Vayishlach (וישלח – And he sent), Genesis 32:4–36:43.
In this parsha, it is written that Ya’akov buys a piece of land in Shechem (Genesis 33,19), at the very place where G‑d promised Avram (Avraham) that the land of Canaan would be given to his descendants (Genesis 12.6-7). Shechem is also the burial place of Yosef HaTsadiq (Yehochu’a 24.32), as well as one of the 6 cities of refuge (Yehochu’a 21.21, see also Chronicles I 6.52). In 930 ^BCE, when the Kingdom of Israel separated into two states (the Kingdom of Samaria¹ and the Kingdom of Judah), Shechem became the capital of the Kingdom of Samaria (Chronicles II 11,1 et seq.).

The centuries-old attempts to erase the Jewish history² of this city have been so successful that many people today have never heard the name Shechem (שְׁכֶם). They only know that of Nablus, a name derived from Flavia Neopolis (Greek: Flavia Νέο πόλης – Flavia New City). In 72, the Roman emperor Vespasien, gave this name³ to Chkhem, to destroy the Jewish identity⁴ of the city.

¹ Also called Northern Kingdom or Kingdom of Israel.
² Located in zone A, the city is forbidden to Jews.
³ Dedication for his wife Flavia Domitilla who died in 69.
⁴ Just like the Roman emperor Hadrian, gave the name of Palaestina to the region to punish the Jews for their revolt of 132-135. Or as UNESCO is trying to do by denying the Jewish identity of certain places in the land of Israel.

Genesis 33.19
וַיִּקֶן אֶת-חֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה, אֲשֶׁר נָטָה-שָׁם אָהֳלוֹ, מִיַּד בְּנֵי -חֲמוֹר, אֲבִי שְׁכֶם–בְּמֵאָה, קְשִׂיטָה.
He acquired the portion of land where he pitched his tent,
from the hand of the children of Hamor, father of Chkhem percent kesita.

Genesis 12, verses 6 and 7
ויעבֹר אברם בארץ עד מקום שכם עד אלון מורה והכנעני אז בארץ
וירא יי אל-אברם ויאמר לזרעך אתן את-הארץ הזאת ויבן שם מזבח ליי הנראה אל
Avram advanced into the country as far as the territory of Chkhem, as far as Elon Morhé;
the Canaanite then inhabited that country.
The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I make this land for your descendants.
He built there an altar to G‑d who had appeared to him.

Yehochu’a 24:32
וְאֶת-עַצְמוֹת יוֹסֵף אֲשֶׁר-הֶעֱלוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְריִם
קָבְרוּ בִשְׁכֶם בְּחֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר קָנָה יַעֲקֹב מֵאֵת בְּנֵי-חֲמוֹר אֲבִי-שְׁכֶם
בְּמֵאָה קְשִׂיטָה; וַיִּהְיוּ לִבְנֵי-יוֹסֵף, לְנַחֲלָה
As for the bones of Yossef, which the children of Israel had carried away from Egypt, they were buried at Chchem, in the piece of land which Ya’akov had acquired, for a hundred kecita, from the sons of Hamor, father of Chchem, and which became the property of Yossef’s children.

Yehochu’a 21:21
כא וַיִּתְּנוּ לָהֶם אֶת-עִיר מִקְלַט הָרֹצֵחַ, אֶת-שְׁכֶם וְאֶת-מִגְרָשֶׁהָ–בְּהַר אֶפְרָיִם; וְאֶת-גֶּזֶר, וְאֶת-מִגְרָשֶׁהָ.
They were given the city of refuge for the murderer, Chkhem with its suburbs,
in Mount Ephraim; Ghezer, with its suburbs;