By Marco Del Monte
Parashat Miketz almost always falls during the days of Chanukah. I believe that the connection between the figure of Joseph and the Festival of Lights lies in the profound concept of Identity, expressed through the Hebrew root of the word Ivri ע ב ר י (Hebrew).
However, I would like to express this concept by trying to go beyond the religious label and approach it as a universal message of the Torah, as a genuine existential stance starting from the simple yet manifold meanings of the very root ע ב ר. Let us begin by saying that the Ivri is the one who stands "on the other side". The term Ivri appears for the first time with Avraham, who is defined as "Avraham HaIvri". The Midrash explains that the whole world stood on one side and Avraham stood on the other. Yosef will also be called this. The root עבר means "to pass beyond", "to cross over". Psychologically, the Ivri is the one who does not allow themselves to be defined by the surrounding context. Avraham, called the lonely man (Echad Haya), was surrounded by idolaters—those who believed in the immobility of a statue produced by man. Avraham in Ur, Yosef in Egypt, or the Maccabees against Hellenisation all represent the status of Ivri: that is, the one who keeps their essence intact even when the masses push towards assimilation. While the Ivri represents transcendent movement, its psychological opposite is the Reghel (foot/habit). Our Sages teach that the lights of Chanukah must burn "until the movement of the foot ceases from the marketplace" (ad shetichle reghel min hashuk). Reghel shares its root with Herghel (habit). It is fixity, automaticity, the "it has always been done this way". The Ivri breaks Herghel. It is the intuition that shatters immobility. If Reghel is the conformity of the masses, the Ivri is the solitude of critical thought. Chanukah celebrates precisely this: the victory of quality (specific identity) over quantity (the anonymous mass).
By analysing the root ע ב ר , we discover a map for the development of the Self, the semantics of growth.
ע ב ר is read as Avar (Past) but also as Over (To pass beyond/cross over). Jewish identity is anchored in the Avar (past), but is not a prisoner of it. Being an Ivri means knowing how to "pass beyond". It is the ability to project oneself into the future without losing one's roots. The identity of the Ivri is founded on a vital paradox: the ability to move forward without ever severing the bond with one's origin. ע ב ר as Ubar (Foetus) and Ibbur (Fertilisation/intercalary month). The Ivri is the one who is perpetually "generative". Despite trials, Yosef "bears fruit" in moments of suffering. Personal growth requires every phase of life to be an Ibbur, a new gestation of an idea or a higher version of oneself. ע ב ר is also read as an antithetical term meaning both "Transgression" and "Forgiveness": Averah vs. Vayavor. The root עבר indicates both sin (Averah – stepping over the boundary) and Divine forgiveness. In rabbinic language, the one who forgives is described as "Ma'avir al midotav" (the one who passes over their own reactions or who steps beyond, in a positive sense, their character traits). The Ivri is the one who transforms guilt into repair. This is the message of Chanukah: to transform darkness into its opposite, the materiality represented by the wick into spiritual light. The Greek challenge of Chanukah was precisely the erasure of differences in the name of a universal reason that denied the particular. Being an Ivri today means refusing to use the brain as a "mass" and beginning to use it as an "individual". It means understanding that although we are bound to the Avar (past), our mission is to be Over (to go beyond), constantly remaining Ubar (in a state of growth and conception of new realities). Avraham, Yosef, the Maccabees, and even the moon of Rosh Chodesh—which knows how to rise again even in the moment of deepest darkness—teach us to remain ourselves within the world, but not against the world, and every day to learn to go, in a positive sense, always beyond the limits of ourselves.
Have a good journey!
Shabbat Shalom Hodesh Tov and Chanukah Sameach
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.