The Torah starts with a simple, but confusing, statement. The second verse in the parsha states the following: “These are the offspring of Yaakov, Yosef …the sedra continues to talk about the the close relationship and bond between Yaakov and his favorite son, Yosef. The difficulty is obvious. What about the other children - eleven sons and a daughter who are also Yaakov’s offspring? A related sociological / educational question also arises: As a young boy, Yaakov was the victim of a father who favored Eisav, his sibling. Having experienced this painful relationship, how could he follow the same pitfall, causing needless enmity within his family?

The Medresh, as discussed in Rashi, has a beautiful interpretation of this situation - especially concerning the first question. Yaakov saw the listing of his eternal enemy, Eisav’s family, as per the end of last week’s portion. The long list of Eisav’s military chieftain, the “Alufei Eisav,” was truly impressive and also frightening to the peaceful Yaakov who wanted to live peacefully in Eretz Yisrael - especially after years in Exile with its various trials and tribulations. Yet, what faces him? A formidable military enemy, sworn to attack his family at any time an opportunity will arise. He is very concerned and frightened.

So, the Medresh tells of an incident that aims at calming Yaakov’s fears. The Medresh relates that a great caravan of camels is traveling in the desert, loaded with large bundles of flax. The caravan passes a blacksmith’s shop and the blacksmith is very impressed by this large entourage with its tremendous flax cargo. He comments to one of his friends: “How will they ever use up so much flax!” His wise friend points out: “Do you realize that, if one spark from your blacksmith oven reaches that flax, it will go up in flames! The entire cargo of flax can be burned up in minutes!” Likewise, the Medresh explains that G-d chose to calm Yaakov’s fears by pointing out the importance of Yosef and his special talents. Eisav, although appearing powerful in Yaakov’s eyes, is merely like a batch of flax, as far as HaShem’s powers are concerned. As for Yaakov, he is compared to a flame waiting to be lit. What is the necessary source of the ignition of Yaakov’s flames? It is Yosef! Yosef is compared to an initial spark. Just as the blacksmith needed an initial spark to set off his flame and destroy the huge mass of flax, likewise Yosef’s spark will serve to ignite Yaakov’s flame and destroy this huge army - the Alufei Eisav. This is the vision of last week’s haftorah prophecy (Ovadiah 1-18) “V’Hayah Beit Yaakov Aish, U-vait Yosef L’Havah, U-vait Eisav L’kash, V’Dolkoo Vahem Va-Ah-Chaloom” - “The House of Yaakov will be a fire, and the House of Yosef a flame, and the House of Eisav, like straw. They will kindle among them and consume them!”

Thus, we see that Yaakov envisioned the leadership. The spirit of bravery and enthusiasm that Yosef would engender would be the spark to influence and encourage the Jewish people to be able to overcome the forces of evil that tend to plague us throughout the ages. That spark of Yosef has helped to maintain our people throughout the ages; this dedication, mixed with faith in HaShem and in a confidence following in the path of righteousness, has sustained us through crises and peril.

This was the spark of the Maccabees who, when faced with the minions of the Greek forces, adopted the motto “me la-Shem Ai-lie” - those who will fight for G-d’s principles should join us. This is the call to arms in our present battles for survival. Often, our enemies seem formidable. How can we stand up against the hordes of Islamic terrorists who plague us in Israel and, to a certain extent, around the world? How will we, the ancestors of Yaakov Avinu, who was a “Yoshev Ohalim” - a peaceful yeshiva bocher - stand up to the vicious attacks of the modern “Alufei Eisav?” The answer, I believe, lies in our insistence to face these challenges with the spark of Yosef, a superhuman effort to resist these attacks, often by outside forces but unfortunately, also by inside “quislings.” We must go forth with the assurance that our sincere faith, with a purity of spirit, will flame a concerted and widespread force to defeat our enemies and bring about a redemption of our people.

May we merit to see “G-d delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous.” May we see the Divine hand act on our behalf in our present time of need!

Amen.