An image you can't forget

This week I saw one of the most gut wrenching and inspiring things I can ever remember.
A video surfaced showing six Israeli hostages “celebrating” Chanukah while being held in Hamas tunnels. The footage was taken in 2023. Their faces are pale and their bodies are visibly malnourished. One of them, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, is seen with his arm severed a couple of inches after his elbow.
With nothing but scraps, they created a makeshift menorah by turning cups upside down. They recited the blessings and sang Chanukah songs. Wearing stained clothing, some barefoot, they embraced one another.
As I watched, I tried to imagine the pain, the fear, the darkness, and the suffering they were experiencing. And yet, in that place, they chose light. They chose faith. They chose joy.
Everything in life must teach us something, and everything happens for a reason. The timing of this video is not a coincidence, because this week’s Torah portion tells the story of another Jew confined deep underground. Joseph is thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and eventually imprisoned in an Egyptian dungeon.
While in prison, Joseph encounters two inmates, Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and chief baker. The Torah describes a very strange moment. One morning, Joseph notices that they look distressed and he asks them, “Why do you look so miserable today?” 
For anyone reading the verses, it is quite obvious why they were miserable. Not long before, they were serving the king in the splendor of the royal palace. Now they were imprisoned alongside a Hebrew slave, a humiliating fall from power. Of course they were miserable!
And there is more. Joseph himself is a slave, falsely imprisoned, far from home, with every reason to despair. And despite all of that, he notices the pain of others. 
The Rebbe explained this is because Joseph believed that every human being, created in the image of G-d, has a spark of dignity and hope, even in the darkest place. So when he sees someone in distress, even though his own life is far from perfect, he steps forward to help.
And it was that simple act of empathy and concern for the life of others that became the catalyst that changed everything in Joseph’s own life. It led to Joseph interpreting their dreams, which ultimately led to his freedom and his rise to become viceroy of Egypt.
Those hostages, like Joseph, remind us that while one can physically be imprisoned, the soul cannot be extinguished. Even underground, even broken, even surrounded by evil and suffering, the flame still burns and there is hope for good. On Sunday evening we begin lighting the menorah. It is lit once it is dark, outside, to remind us that even the smallest light can dispel the greatest darkness. When you light your menorah this year, take a moment to thank G-d for the blessings in your life and for the light that continues to shine.