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£Goshen and the Secret Goshen and the Secret Goshen and the Secret experience and love of life as vibrant, dynamic, and full of energy.
Paradoxically, only in Egyptian exile did Jacob “come to life,” and,
££
of the Dreidelof the Dreidelof the Dreidel furthermore, only in Egypt – as the last verse of Vayigash relates –
did the children of Israel multiply greatly and metamorphose from a
family into a nation.

A further hint to the connection between redemption, longing, and Indeed, the last seventeen years of Jacob’s life in Egypt were
Goshen is found in a variant form of the word “Goshen” – “Goshnah.” in a sense his most rewarding in that he no longer faced constant
Twice in the portion of Vayigash the word Goshen has the letter heh challenges and he merited seeing what he had worked for all these
added on to it. This construct means going “to Goshen.” The four years, the foundations of a united nation of Israel, come into being.
letters of Goshnah – gimel, shin, nun, and heh – are the exact letters Many commentators point out that seventeen, the number of years
found on the four sides of the dreidel, the four-sided spinning top Jacob lived in Egypt, is the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew
used on Chanukah. As with all Jewish customs the dreidel has many word meaning “good” (tov), symbolizing the essential goodness that
deeper meanings. It is not merely a toy used for childish games. surrounded Jacob during this last stage of his life.

The four Hebrew letters comprising the word “Goshnah” and In light of the above explanation, perhaps this jarring juxtaposition
inscribed on the dreidel add up to the sum of 358, the same as that is trying to teach an important message. Jacob foresaw that most
of the two archetypal rivals symbolizing good and evil, Mashiach of Jewish history would take place in exile, so he wished to create
and the Nachash (see “Transformations” above). What do Goshnah a paradigm that would infuse his descendants with the strength to
and the dreidel have to do with this epic battle? Egypt the site of turn the Diaspora into a place of dynamic growth and development.
the Jewish people’s first exile and Chanukah the quintessential Jacob and the children of Israel’s abilities to “live” in Egypt pave the
battle fought against oppression within the Jewish homeland form a way for Jewish survival and even success during all future exiles.
template for all the nation’s struggles. However, we must not forget that this blessing that Jacob and,

As in every struggle, the battle took place on two planes, the in a sense, Joseph as well, implanted within the Jewish psyche can
physical and the spiritual. The physical enemy had to be defeated be a double-edged sword. Far too often, when exile has become too
and the hearts and minds of the Jews had to be won. In Goshen, comfortable and Jews have attained too much power and success,
the nation of Israel first learned to grow and even thrive in exile, one or both of the following two scenarios have taken place: Jews
surrounded by foreign cultures and religions. In Goshen the seeds of have begun to assimilate into the host culture; the non-Jews have
physical redemption were sown when God took us out of Egypt and become jealous of the Jews’ success. This has led to a host of negative
slew the Egyptians. On Chanukah, the last of the holidays enacted outcomes, including voluntary or forced assimilation and sometimes
by the Sages, the Maccabees fought on the battlefield to defeat the even mass murder or genocide.
Greeks, and everywhere else to win back the hearts and minds of the Delving further into the notion of Vayechi as a closed portion,
Jews, many of whom were enamored with Greek culture.
we must note a mystical sod interpretation as well. In the bigger
For a nation that has endured over two thousand years of exile picture of existential reality, every person lives in a “closed portion”
and returned home, Chanukah has a profound message. The lights – a pure, eternal soul comes to dwell in a temporal, relatively frail
of freedom and the inner fortitude of the Jewish soul have lit the body located in a material world fraught with trials and challenges.
way through the darkest of times. The promise of redemption and This juxtaposition between the supernal and the earthly, in fact,
the eventual return to Israel gave hope and meaning to generations is symbolized by Jacob and the Jewish people going down to the

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