Parashat Mikeitz 5767/2006
EJD
The weekly reading for the week of 2 Tevet, 5767 - December 23, 2006 Parashah: Mikeitz Genesis 41:1 to 44:34; The regular Haftarah of 1 Kings 3:13 to 4:1 is replaced by Shabbat Chanukah II Haftarah: 1 Kings 7:40-50; Maftir: Numbers 7:54 to 8:4; Mei Kituvim: Proverbs 12:1-28; Brit Chadashah: Romans 11:1-24
Chanukah Day 8 Happy Chanukah!
Parashah Lite Edition (Focuses on one verse or idea anywhere in the readings.)
The Bagel: Refined and pure.
"the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary" (1 Kings 7:49).
As Chanukah draws to a close and the rehearsing of the Maccabean story comes to an end, it is good to remember the purity of the holy Menorah in the First Temple that Solomon constructed. Those Menorahs were made with the finest gold. The process is elaborate. The gold is heated until it melts and then the impurities rise to the surface. The metal smith then skims the surface to capture the impurities and remove them. Pure gold is accomplished by seven melt downs and skimmings. When G-d puts the heat on, the fire of trials, we may be tempted to think that G-d has abandoned us. But what He is doing is bringing the impurities of our own lives to the surface, so He can skim them off and dispose of them. Let G-d's fire do its refining and purifying work.
Cream Cheese: G-d doesn't recycle us, He refines us.
Unless noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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