Miketz — At the End
Hebrew: מִקֵּץ | Book: Bereishit (Genesis)
Summary
Pharaoh’s dreams; Joseph’s interpretation and rise to power; the famine; Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt.
Chabad Chassidic Teachings
Miketz: The End of Darkness
The word miketz means “at the end” — specifically “at the end of two years.” Chabad reads this as the paradigm of geulah: redemption comes precisely at the “end” — when darkness and concealment seem complete. The moment of darkest galut is the moment of geulah’s birth.
Joseph’s emergence from prison to the height of power in a single day is the classic model of sudden, complete transformation — “in a blink of an eye” (kiheref ayin) the world can change.
Joseph’s Dreams and the Power of Pnimiyut
Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams — to perceive the inner spiritual reality beneath surface appearances — is the prototype of the Chassidic master’s ability to perceive pnimiyut (inner truth) beneath the exterior of the world.
Hanukkah: The Inner Light in Darkness
Parshat Miketz almost always falls on Hanukkah. The connection: both celebrate the power of the hidden light — Joseph’s hidden greatness revealed, and the Temple menorah’s light overcoming the darkness of Greek cultural domination. The Hanukkah lights placed at the doorway represent the ohr makif — the encompassing Divine light that illuminates even the outside world.
Key Concepts
Sources Cited
Bereishit 41:1; Zohar I:193a