[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 187 (Wednesday, November 28, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1564-E1565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          JOSEPH AND CHANUKAH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT TAYLOR

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 28, 2018

  Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to include in the Record a 
statement on behalf of my constituent, Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman. Rabbi 
Zoberman is the Founding Rabbi of Congregation Beth Chaverim in 
Virginia Beach, Virginia. Born in Chu, Kazakhstan (USSR) in 1945, he is 
the son of Polish Holocaust Survivors and spent his early childhood in 
Displaced Persons Camps in Austria and Germany before moving to Haifa, 
Israel in 1949.

       The great and most colorful Joseph saga extends over four 
     Torah portions and thirteen Biblical chapters! How opportune 
     it is as we celebrate the miracle of Chanukah and the reading 
     of Joseph's awesome adventures, that the Jewish experience 
     has often been to find ourselves like Joseph, in the darkness 
     of the pit, without losing faith in the light of redemption 
     yet to emerge. As we kindle this season the Chanukah 
     menorah's sacred lights of eternal hope for a world 
     transformed through Sholom's gifts, we remember the 11 lost 
     shining lights targeted on Shabbat by the venom of the 
     precipitous rise of anti-Semitic darkness (Western 
     civilization's oldest disease) at the historic Tree of Life 
     Synagogue in Pittsburgh. It was the deadliest attack on Jews 
     on American soil. Indeed, an attack on what America, the

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     world's leading democracy, is all about. We should ponder 
     with somber soul-searching: How could an American perpetrate 
     such criminal carnage in sacred space and time? Lady Liberty 
     is shedding tears.
       As a family member of the surviving remnant of European 
     Jewry, the committed atrocity is reminiscent of the 
     Holocaust. How tragically poignant that the Pittsburgh 
     massacre happened only days before observing the 80th 
     anniversary of Kristallnacht (November 9-10, 1938), the 
     Holocaust's precursor, when Synagogues and Jewish businesses 
     were set ablaze throughout Germany, 91 Jews were killed, and 
     30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps. The Holocaust's 
     lessons should be taught on all education levels, even as we 
     continue to trust in the overriding goodness of the American 
     people. However, we should ever strengthen our democratic 
     institutions and not take them for granted!
       In Pittsburgh, two worshippers and four heroic police 
     officers were wounded as well. In the precious honor of all 
     martyred victims, first respondents and our own, let us 
     pledge to spread more loving and enlightening light (the 
     violated synagogue also carries the name, Or L'simcha, namely 
     the delight of celebration) as we affirm that the radiant 
     lights of our fallen fellow Jews will not be driven out. 
     Their undying lights will continue through us and all fellow 
     Americans to turn blemishes into blessings and the evil 
     darkness of all forms of racist hatred into redeeming lights 
     of love. Let us engage in random acts of kindness, as well as 
     reach out to people at large! The four thousand year old 
     inspiring Menorah of Jewish life lit by the Maccabees of all 
     ages will not be extinguished! It was reassuring at the 
     moving gathering vigil organized by the United Jewish 
     Federation of Tidewater at the Sandler Family Campus and 
     Simon Family JCC in Virginia Beach, to have a large assembly 
     with interfaith and community leaders in attendance, 
     including Congressmen Scott Taylor and Bobby Scott.
       Just like Joseph, the dreamer and interpreter of incredible 
     dreams (he should have kept some of them to himself!), the 
     Jewish people have believed that noble as well as disturbing 
     dreams have the potential and power to transform reality. In 
     the way of Joseph, who was not accepted by his own immature 
     and treacherous kin, begrudging his unique spirit and 
     grandiose ideas of a dreamy youngster whose father's 
     favoritism put him at risk, we have felt isolated throughout 
     much of history.
       We have been rejected for insisting on living our own 
     authentic lives as a minority, yet willing to stand up to the 
     majority if necessary. Our faithfulness to the dictates of 
     our faith and conscience has been interpreted as a negative 
     reflection of aloofness rather than one of a proud choice. 
     Joseph, through his mind's genius and heart's compassion, was 
     able to save both his adopted empire of Egypt and his family 
     from small Canaan. In the process, he taught us that borders 
     and feelings need not be obstacles to a constructive response 
     to the urgent demands of life and death issues.
       Joseph managed to transcend his personal insecurities and 
     apprehensions in order to accomplish the larger and lasting 
     goals of putting his substantial talents to the beneficial 
     use of society, rather than dwelling on past hurts and 
     injustices that could have crippled him and others. Thus, he 
     wisely chose the high road allowing him to become a great 
     Egyptian, while earning his status as a great Hebrew brother 
     and leader, whose early self-centered dreams turned into a 
     blessed reality for all concerned through maturity of 
     character wrought by trials and tribulations.
       The ultimate challenge though of this mighty ruler, second 
     only to Pharaoh, as is often the human case, was to conquer 
     and control his own raging passions, which he had already 
     proven with tempting and aggressive Mrs. Potiphar, earning 
     him the Rabbis' honorific appellation ``Hatzadik'' (The 
     saintly one). He was able to repeat it with his brothers at 
     the pinnacle of his brilliant career with so much at stake 
     for himself and for them. What a moving moment of victory it 
     is for all concerned, when Joseph can no longer hold back his 
     tears, and eagerly desires to reveal his true identity to his 
     overwhelmed brothers, not quite realizing that they would 
     never recover from the shock of the encounter and/or from the 
     guilt that would continue to burden them.
       Perhaps Joseph's favorable decision to reach out to them 
     was ultimately prompted by Judah's display of sincere love 
     for Brother Benjamin (Joseph's younger brother and Rachel was 
     their mother) as well as for father Jacob's well-being. 
     Earlier, Joseph learned of his brothers' remorse and fear 
     when being challenged by him, acknowledging their past 
     wrongdoing. Upon reconnecting to his family, he was able to 
     rejoin his roots and was thus ennobled and made whole. Joseph 
     could have abandoned his Hebrew background, protecting his 
     painfully acquired identity and status, but he knew that his 
     remarkable life's success had to carry a humbling message of 
     healing and gratitude.
       Joseph appeals to us in his touching humaneness, which is 
     not lost when he becomes powerful, and his survivor's skills 
     of ascending from the pit to the palace inspire us, realizing 
     that it reflects the historic Jewish challenge to survive and 
     even thrive in a harsh reality. He is the prototype model of 
     the modern Jew, enlightening us about living in two worlds. 
     He was able to perceive God's guiding hand in his tumultuous 
     life, steeled and sensitized by adversity turned into 
     advantage. Joseph and those with the Maccabees' spirit have 
     taught us that to be a Jew is to somehow make a difference, 
     reducing darkness and rejoicing in the light's promise.

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