This Shabbat is one of the rare occasions we read the Torah portion of Mikeitz when it is not Chanukah. Usually, Shabbat Mikeitz coincides with Chanukah and we read from two Torahs during services. In the first we read Parshat Mikeitz, in the second about Chanukah and the Haftorah - the readings from the Prophets we conclude the Torah service with on Shabbat and festivals - is connected to Chanukah. This year, however, we will only read Mikeitz from one Torah and recite the Haftorah from Chapter 3 in the Book of Kings, an event that will occur once again in 17 years, so let’s talk about it.
After King David’s passing, his twelve-year-old son Solomon assumed the throne. One evening G-d offered him in a dream whatever he wished. Instead of seeking wealth, honor, or longevity the young monarch requested “Give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and bad; for who can judge Your great people?"
G-d was pleased with his request and granted him tremendous wisdom “so that there was none like you before you, nor after you shall any arise like you,” as well as wealth, honor, and longevity. This week’s Haftorah’s opens with the words “And Solomon awoke, and behold it was a dream” and that very morning his divinely granted wisdom was put to the test. Two harlots who lived together had a serious dispute over the ownership of a child. Both had recently given birth to baby boys and that evening when one of them awoke to nurse her baby she was horrified to find him dead. Jealous that her roommate would have a living child, she quietly switched her dead child for the other’s living one and the two women stood before the king each claiming the living baby. After appraising the situation King Solomon called for a sword. “"Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other,” he decreed. One of the women anguishedly cried out “Give her the living child, but don’t kill him!” and the other one said, "Let it be neither mine nor yours, divide it." Pointing to the first woman, King Solomon declared she was the mother of the living child, and all of Israel was awed at their king’s divine wisdom. King Solomon led the Jewish people for forty prosperous and peaceful years, presided over one of the most consequential Jewish High Courts in our history, and authored some of the most profound texts of Jewish wisdom. Yet, the opening act to his divine wisdom involved a person so depraved as to have an infant killed due to petty jealousy. This is because Torah’s wisdom is meant to impact even the lowest and worst elements of society. This is the perfect epilogue for Chanukah. For eight nights we illustrated that creating light was the only effective way to combat darkness, and the need to progressively increase in light. Now that Chanukah is over we must realize the light of Torah can and must illuminate the deepest darkness of depravity and immorality. Instead of trying to understand it, we need to combat it with ever increasing Torah wisdom and behavior, and very soon this epic battle will culminate in the eradication of darkness and the start of an era of true peace and tranquility for all, with the coming of Moshiach.