“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Vayeshev 5786
22 Kislev 5786/December 11, 2025
HISTORICAL ACCURACY
Years ago, I read about a student who told his history teacher that he was jealous of George Washington. The teacher asked him if he was jealous of all George Washington had accomplished as an enduring leader, remembered for his integrity and as the founding president of the United States. The student replied that it had nothing to do with any of that. He was jealous of George Washington because he didn’t have to sit in a boring American History class, since American history wasn’t “invented” yet.
It’s been said that history is always written from the vantage point of the victor. Whoever wins the wars dictates how the facts and details about the war are to be remembered. Somehow the victor is always the good guy while the loser deserves what came to him.
The Founding Fathers of this country are hailed as courageous visionaries. But if the British had been victorious those men would have all been hung for treason and remembered as traitors to the crown. Benedict Arnold on the other hand, would likely have been remembered as an unyielding loyal hero.
Similarly, if Native Americans would teach American History, it would be very different. For example, Manifest Destiny, the belief that the United States was destined to stretch from sea to shining sea, would be viewed as an evil scheme to uproot and displace the Natives from their familial homes and communities.
My rebbe, Rabbi Berel Wein zt”l, noted that at the end of parshas Vayeshev, after Yosef interpreted the dreams of the Sar Hamashkim, Yosef asked the Sar Hamashkim to remember him before the Pharaoh.
The Torah notes that the Sar Hamashkim did not remember Yosef. But then the Torah adds, the final word of Parshas Vayeshev, vayishkacheihu, he forgot Yosef. He didn’t remember Yosef because he didn’t want to remember him!
Rabbi Wein noted that the Sar Hamashkim is the perfect representation of our society. What’s news today is obsolete tomorrow. The brilliant predictions of the experts are almost always inaccurate. Just try reading last week’s paper. That’s v’lo zachar – the facts and predictions are hardly remembered.
What’s worse, however, is v’yishkachehu, the purposeful distortion of what occurred. In the very recent past, it didn’t take long before the world forgot October 7th. But far worse was, v’yishkachehu, they distorted what occurred; shockingly, the victim was accused of being the perpetrator. That’s the world of the Sar Hamashkim where one purposely forgets, so that he can distort what occurred.
The one notable exception to the rule that history is written from the vantage point of the victor, is Jewish history. Despite the fact that the Jewish people have been repeatedly persecuted and discriminated against, we have endured to tell the story. The collective Jewish mind does not forget.
Rabbi Shlomo Brevda noted that we are the only ones who refer to the Yevanim as wicked. While the world views the Ancient Greeks and Romans as progressives who enlightened the world in mathematics, philosophy, engineering, and drama, the Jewish people remember them as aggressors and implacable enemies.
Perhaps there is no other holiday that suffers as many historical distortions as Chanukah. Everyone molds the Chanukah story in its image, to fit its agenda and narrative.
This is the ensuing legacy of the Yevanim who sought “lihashkicham Torahsecha – to cause us to forget Your Torah.” They weren’t out to cause us to necessarily forget the actual words of Torah. Rather they wished to distort its eternal message of connection with the divine and of living a transcendent life.
Chanukah contains the story of those who were willing to give all to remain faithful to the Torah. It’s about those who felt loyalty to Torah was more valuable than their physical lives.
We celebrate that selfless devotion on Chanukah and commit ourselves to follow their lead to uphold the Torah even when it’s challenging to do so. That’s a history lesson we dare not forget!
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani Staum
STRIVINGHIGHER.COM