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Chanukah
Chanukah
Talmudic tractate Shabbat (Masechet Shabbat) introduces the historical background and the basis for the observance of the eight-day Festival of Chanukah. Seven lines(!) are devoted to the presentation of this information, and a mere seven pages(!) are allocated to a discussion of its laws, within a chapter basically devoted to another subject, within a tractate basically concerned with the topic of Shabbat.
Contrast this with Purim, another holiday that is not mentioned within the Five Books of Moshe. It was added to the Jewish Calendar by our Sages, under the guidance of the "Ruach HaKodesh," the "Divine Spirit." Purim, associated with a period slightly earlier in history, was granted a place in the Biblical canon, with "Megillat Esther," and an entire tractate in the Talmud called, appropriately enough, "Megillah," devoted to an explanation of its background and laws.
This paucity of information about Chanukah contained within the Written Tradition [although there is a semi-Biblical work called "Megillat Chashmonaim,"] and the Oral Tradition (basically, the Talmud), is one of the central mysteries of Chanukah.
Another mystery is why the Talmud seems to play down the great military victory which the vastly outnumbered Jewish People, under the leadership of the Priestly Family, the Hasmoneans ("Chashmonaim" in Hebrew), won over the forces of the Syrian Greeks. The focus instead is placed on what appears, at first glance, to be a relatively minor miracle which occurred during the rededication of the Temple, after its defilement by the Greeks (see below).
A third mystery is what happened to the undeniably great heroes of the story, the Chashmonaim, under the leadership of their patriarch, Matityahu, Kohen Gadol (High Priest), and his five sons: Shimon, Yehuda HaMacabee (who led the undermanned, but valiant Jewish army), Elazar, Yochanan and Yonatan (We do know the fate of Yochanan, who was unfortunately crushed by a military elephant). These great individuals, who dared to rise up in defiance of the Greek Empire and miraculously led them to victory, continued to lead the Jewish People afterwards for a few generations, and then disappeared from the stage of history. Why?
Hopefully, the following sections will shed light on the first two puzzles, and we will return at the end to try to deal with the third.
The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat begins:
"What is Chanukah? The Rabbis have expounded: Beginning with the 25th of Kislev, eight days of Chanukah are observed, during which no eulogies are delivered, nor is fasting permitted. For when the Greeks entered the Sanctuary, they defiled all the holy oils used for the Menorah in the temple, and when the Hasmonean house prevailed and vanquished them, they searched and found only one remaining jar of oil with the Kohen Gadol's seal.
Although it contained only enough oil to burn for one day, a miracle occurred, and the oil burned for eight days. A year later they (the Rabbis) designated these days as Yamim Tovim (holidays) on which praise and thanksgiving were to be said." (Tractate Shabbat 21)
Maimonides, the great 12th century Jewish scholar and codifier, known in Jewish tradition as the Rambam [Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon], clarifies and expands upon the above, as follows:
"During the period of the Second Temple, the Greek kings issued harsh decrees against Israel; they outlawed their religion, forbade them to engage in the study of Torah and their practice of mitzvot, laid hands upon their money and their daughters, entered the Sanctuary and ravaged it, and defiled all that had been ritually pure. They caused Israel great anguish, until the God of our Fathers granted them mercy and delivered them from the hands of their enemies.
The Chashmonai Kohanim Gedolim (Head Priests) prevailed, slew them, and delivered Israel from their hands. They designated a king from among the Kohanim, and the Kingdom of Israel was restored for more than 200 years, till the second Destruction. Israel prevailed against their enemies and vanquished them, on the 25th day of the month of Kislev.
They entered the Sanctuary and found only one jar of ritually pure oil that was sufficient to burn only for one day; but they lit the lights of the Menorah from it for eight days, till they pressed olives and extracted additional pure oil." (Rambam, Hilchot Chanukah,Chapter 3)
The Sages of that generation therefore decreed, that eight days beginning with the 25th of Kislev should be days of rejoicing; Hallel (a collection of Psalms expressing special praise) be recited, and that lights be lit at the entrance of the house, each of the eight nights, so as to publicize the miracle. And these days are called "Chanukah" that is to say, Chanu Kaf-Hay; that is, the Holiday's name, "Chanukah," is spelled chet, nun, vav, kaf, hay. The first three letters spell the Hebrew word "Chanu," which means "They rested;" for the last two letters, we don't look at what they spell, but at their numerical equivalent (NE). The NE of Kaf is 20; the NE of Hay is 5; their sum is 25. Hence, the name means that on the 25th of Kislev they rested from their enemies.
In the above expression of the Talmud: "They made it a Yom Tov for praise and thanksgiving," "praise" refers to the literal recitation of Hallel, and therefore, the complete Hallel (as opposed to the "partial Hallel" recited on other joyous occasions) is recited during Shacharit on all eight days of Chanukah.
The term 'thanksgiving' refers to the recitation of "Al Hanisim" ["For the Miracles"], a prayer of gratitude to G-d for our deliverance which is included in each person's Shemoneh Esreh, a basic prayer said three times a day consisting originally of 18 (now 19) blessings, during all the days of Chanukah, as well as in Birkat Hamazon [Grace after meals].
The Month of Kislev
The name "Kislev" is of Babylonian origin.
In the Tanach (Bible), Kislev is referred to as the ninth month, as it is the ninth month after Nisan. Although most famous for having Chanukah within it, Kislev is also a month with significant Biblical happenings.
The first rainbow, observed after the Flood, was seen in Kislev. "And G-d said: 'This is the sign of the covenant which I set between Me, and yourselves, and between every living being that is with you, unto eternal generations. I have placed my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the Earth.' " "This is the sign of the covenant" - G-d showed Noah the bow and said to Him: "This is the sign of which I spoke" (Bereishit 9).
Rosh Chodesh Kislev, which refers to the transition day or days between months, consists at times of one day, and at times of two. The preceding month of Cheshvan sometimes consists of twenty nine days, and sometimes of thirty days. In the former instance Rosh Chodesh Kislev consists of one day, which is the first of Kislev; in the latter, of two, with the first day of Rosh Chodesh counting also as the 30th day of Cheshvan, and the second day of Rosh Chodesh counting as the first day of Kislev.
From the days of the Hasmoneans, as long as the Beit Din, also known as the Sanhedrin, or Jewish Supreme Court, sanctified the month through the testimony of witnesses, who testified as to when they had seen the New Moon, where in the sky they had seen the New Moon, and exactly what it looked like, messengers of the Beit Din went out to places distant from Yerushalayim, to make known when the new month had been sanctified.
The Beit Din needed to do this only during months in which festivals occurred, so that people knew on which day to observe the festival. Therefore, when the month of Kislev was sanctified, messengers were sent out, so that people living far from Yerushalayim would know when Chanukah was to begin. Chanukah has the status of a festival, although it is Rabbinic in origin, and not directly mentioned in the Torah.
Bayit Sheini Timeline
3338/423 B.C.E. Destruction of First Temple and beginning of Babylonian Exile
3389/372 B.C.E. Babylon falls to Medes and Persians under Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Great of Persia
3391/370 B.C.E. Cyrus reigns, permits Jews to return to Eretz Yisrael
3408/353 B.C.E. Darius the Persian permits Jews to rebuild Temple
3442/319 B.C.E. Beginning of Greek era
3448/313 B.C.E. Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty rules Eretz Yisrael
3562/199 B.C.E. Antiochus III the Great, scion of the Seleucid dynasty and ruler of Syria, wrests Eretz Yisrael from Egypt
3571/190 B.C.E. Rome defeats Antiochus III at Magnesia
3586/175 B.C.E. Antiochus IV reigns
3594/168 B.C.E. Desecration of Temple by Antiochus
3597/165 B.C.E. Conquest of Temple by Hasmoneans; the miracle of Chanukah
3598/163 B.C.E. Antiochus IV dies
3599/162 B.C.E. His son, Antiochus V, besieges Jerusalem
3600/161 B.C.E. Demetrius I (son of Seleucus IV) rules; Alcimus appointed Kohen Gadol; defeat and death of Syrian
general Nikanor (13 Adar)
3601 /160 B.C.E. Yehudah killed in battle; Yonasan elected leader of the Jewish rebellion
3602/159 B.C.E. Alcimus dies
3609/152 B.C.E. Alexander (Balas) I, alleged son of Antiochus IV, contests rule of Demetrius I; both recognize Yonasan
as Kohen Gadol
3610/151 B.C.E. Alexander I rules
3614/147 B.C.E Alexander I deposed (by Ptolemy IV king of Egypt); Demetrius II (son of Demetrius I) rules
3617/144 B.C.E. Tryphon deposes Demetrius II (who escapes), and rules on (approx.) behalf of the infant Antiochus VI
(son of Alexander I)
3619/142 B.C.E. Tryphon tricks Yonasan and kills him; Shimon takes over Kehunah Gedolah, proclaims himself 'Prince
of the Jews'
3619/142 B.C.E. Tryphon kills Antiochus VI and proclaims himself king
3621/140 B.C.E. Sanhedrin and the People proclaim Shimon 'Prince of the Jews' 18 Elul).
3621-3725/140-36 B.C.E. Rule of the Hasmonean dynasty (Shimon, Yochanan Hyrkanos, Yehudah Aristobulus,
Alexander Yannai, Queen Alexandra Hyrkanos and Aristobulus)
3630/131 B.C.E. Yochanan Hyrkanos forms an alliance with Antiochus VII
3632/129 B.C.E. Antiochus VII dies
3698/63 B.C.E. Roman consul Pompei conquers Jerusalem
3725-3828/36 B.C.E.-68 C.E. Rule of Herodian dynasty and Roman governors (Herod, Archelaus, Roman governors,
Agrippa I, Roman governors)
3828/68 C.E. Destruction of Second Temple by Romans (according to some, the year was 3829)
The Lights of Chanukah
The Lights of Chanukah
The Jewish tradition is that on the first night of Chanukah one flame is lit, on the second night two, and so on until the eighth night when eight flames are lit.
Actually, the question of whether to begin the lighting with one flame and proceed, adding one each night, to eight on the final, the eighth, night of Chanukah or do just the opposite, begin with eight and end with one, was a matter of dispute. In fact, it was one of the famous "machlokot," or disagreements, between two of the greatest wise men of Israel, Hillel and Shammai, as recorded in the Talmud, in Masechet Shabbat 21b.
Hillel said that on the first night we light one, on the second, two, and so on, till eight on the eighth night. Shammai held the reverse opinion; namely, on the first night, light eight lights, and proceed, diminishing the number of lights by one each night, to just one light on the final night of Chanukah.
In the democratic spirit of the Talmud, the question was voted upon by the colleagues of Hillel and Shammai, and Hillel's opinion prevailed; thereby establishing our present practice of lighting, from one to eight.
Learn more about the disagreement between Hillel and Shammai.
Other Burning Issues
But what materials can be used as the source of the flame? How are they to be placed in the Menorah? From which side, left or right, is the lighting of the flames begun? Where should the Menorah be placed? Who should do the lighting?
These are but a few of the many issues that are raised each year as the Holiday of Lights, Chanukah, approaches. In the following paragraphs, we will try to give some of the answers, as they have been adopted and accepted by Jews for generations.
Who should do the lighting? EVERYBODY!
As with all Jewish holidays, Chanukah is a festival best shared with family. All members of the family should gather and be present at the kindling of the Chanukah lights. Each member of the family, all generations and all genders, should be encouraged to purchase, prepare and light their own Menorah.
To read about the special role of women, check out "It's a Woman Thing."
A Word from Smokey the Bear
Students and singles who live in dormitories or their own apartments should kindle Menorahs in their own rooms unless otherwise instructed by the security services of their respective institutions.
How do we prepare the lights?
The preferred way to perform the 'mitzvah,' or commandment, of lighting the Chanukah lamps is with pure olive oil and cotton wicks, since their light is pure, and it recalls the light of the Golden Menorah in the Temple which was lit with pure olive oil. All other oils and wicks are also permissible; purity of the light and lack of flickering are the most important characteristics. Candles made of wax or paraffin are also permitted.
Each Menorah should be owned and prepared by the person who will light it, children too . Every evening of the holiday, the proper number of candles, or wicks suspended in oil, preferably olive oil, as was used in the Temple, are prepared and placed in the Menorah from right to left - with today's flame being the last one set up.
The candles or wicks should be placed in a straight row, and even; that is, none being higher or lower than the others, none receding or protruding, and none in a circle. There should also be sufficient space between one flame and the other, so that the flame of one might not be joined to that of the other; and so that the heat of one candle, if candles are used, might not melt the wax of another.
How do we light the flames?
On the first night of Chanukah we light the first flame, and each night after, we add an additional light until the eighth night, when eight lights are lit. The flames are lit from left to right, with today's flame being lit first. By doing this each night, we remember that it is that additional flame that represents the 'growth' of the miracle.
On the first night of Chanukah, three 'brachot' (blessings) are said before the lights are kindled: (example of the lighting using RealAudio. Please Note: One cannot fulfill the Commandment of lighting the Menorah yourself, or of listening to someone else light the Menorah, by listening to the player. Technology has not yet advanced so far that it can generate a virtual human being; Yet).
Also available are Chanukah Candle Lighting in Russian, and Chanukah Candle Lighting in Int'l Sign Language.
'Baruch ata Hashem, Elokenu melech ha'olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu I'hadlik ner shel Chanukah.'
(Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and has commanded us to light the Chanukah lamps.)
'Baruch ata Hashem, Elokenu melech ha'olam, she'asah nisim la'avotenu, bayamim hahem bazeman hazeh.'
(Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has done miracles for our fathers in bygone days, at this time.)
'Baruch ata Hashem, Elokenu melech ha'olam, shehecheyanu, vekiyemanu vehigi'anu lazeman hazeh.'
(Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has given us life, and has sustained us, and has brought us to this time.)
The lights are then kindled.
After the first light is kindled, the one who is doing the kindling recites 'HaNerot HaLalu Anu Madlikin' - 'We Kindle these candles,' as the remaining lights are kindled.
Translation of "Hanerot Halalu:"
"We kindle these lights to commemorate the miracles and the wonders and the acts of salvation and the battles that you fought in behalf of our ancestors long ago, at this time, through your righteous priests. And during all the eight days of Chanukah, these lights are holy! And we have no right to make use of them, but only to behold them, in order to give thanks and to praise Your great Name, for Your miracles, and your wonders and your acts of salvation."
When the lighting is concluded, Chanukah hymns are sung, in accord with the custom of one's community.
"Maoz Tzur," "O Mighty Stronghold," is a six-stanza review of Jewish History which begins and ends with a prayer for our final redemption. It, as well as "Mizmor Shir Chanukat HaBayit L'David," "A Song, with Musical Accompaniment, for the Inauguration of the Temple, by David," whose name basically summarizes in a word, or thirteen words, its essential meaning, are two of the hymns which are very popular. The latter is added to the Prayer Service after Shacharit, as the "Shir shel Yom," the "Daily Psalm" every morning of Chanukah. According to the Sephardic custom, this Psalm is also recited immediately after "Haneirot HaLalu."
Tickets here for the Chanukah Musical Concert!
The three brachot (blessings) shown above should be repeated by every member of the family that is lighting his or her own Menorah.
On the second through eighth nights only the first two 'brachot' are said, omitting the third blessing - 'shehecheyanu.'
However, if someone was prevented by accident from lighting the Chanukah light on the first or subsequent nights, he/she does say 'shehecheyanu' the first time he/she kindles the Chanukah light.
Essence of the "Mitzvah"
The Talmud discusses the question of what is the essence of the Mitzvah; that is, the essential act of the commandment of "Nerot Chanukah," the Lights of Chanukah, the purpose of which is "publicizing the Miracle of Chanukah," - the "kindling" or the "placement?"
What's the difference?
There has to be a practical difference, or else the discussion is meaningless. In this case, a practical difference would be if the lights were kindled in a place in the house with minimal capability of "pirsum ha'nes," publicizing of the Mitzvah, then transferred to the window or near the door to the outside, opposite the Mezuzah, places of maximum "pirsum."
If the essential act is the kindling, since that act was done where the purpose of the Mitzvah could not be achieved, the Mitzvah was not fulfilled properly.
On the other hand, if the essential ingredient in the performance of the Mitzvah is the placement of the light where it can achieve its purpose, then the Mitzvah was done just fine.
The decision in the Talmud is that the kindling is in fact the essential act, and therefore, in our case, the light would have to be extinguished, then transferred to a proper place or, equivalently, moved, then extinguished, and then re-ignited!
The Shamash
It is customary to light one extra light in addition to the required number of lights for the given night. The extra light is called the 'shamash' [the 'assistant,' or 'helper']. The 'shamash' may be used for kindling the Chanukah lights, and one may derive benefit from its light. It is customarily placed on the Menorah, but not in line with the other lights; either above or below or in front or behind, any deviation which makes it obvious that the 'shamash' is not one of the regular lights.
The Chanukah lights themselves may not be used for any purpose other than the contemplation of their beauty and meaning while they burn in fulfillment of the mitzvah.
In order to avoid using even the 'shamash' for a mundane purpose such as reading, Rabbi Kitov recommends having at least one other light present, to provide light for purposes extraneous to the Menorah.
What may be done while the Chanukah lamps are lit?
According to the Maharil, it is a tradition that everybody refrain from work during the first half hour that the flames are lit. For women, who suffered most under the persecution of the Greeks, the prohibition extends during the entire period that the Chanukah lamps are lit; that is, beyond the first half hour, till all the flames are out.
The kind of work to be refrained from includes sewing, laundering and other "melachot," purposeful activities, which are prohibited on "Chol HaMoed," the Intermediate Days of Festivals. Cooking, and melacha which will prevent a financial loss are, according to some authorities, permissible. Thus, to some extent, the period of time while the Chanukah lights are kindled, is viewed in Halacha, as the "Chol HaMoed" of Chanukah.
Where Should the Menorah be Placed?
The placement of the Menorah should be such as to accomplish the greatest possible 'pirsum ha'nes,' publicizing of the miracle. It should therefore be placed in a safe (no fire hazards!) but publicly visible place in order to project the celebration of this great miracle to the outside world. At the time of kindling, the entire household should gather so that 'the miracle might be publicized' inwardly as well; that is, to one's family and one's self.
Technical Stuff, but with a Reason
Ideally, the Chanukah lights are not to be placed at a lower height than three 'tefachim' (handbreadths), about eighteen inches, from the ground, nor at a greater height than ten 'tefachim' above the ground; that is, they should be placed between a height of approximately eighteen inches and about five feet.
If they are placed at a greater height than ten 'tefachim', but less than twenty 'amot' he has still fulfilled his obligation, although not in the ideal manner. One 'amah' is a length somewhere between eighteen inches and two feet; therefore, twenty 'amot' is somewhere between thirty and forty feet. If the lights are raised above twenty 'amot,' he has not fulfilled his obligation.
The reason for these regulations is that only the placement of the Chanukah lights within the prescribed confines could achieve the effect of 'pirsum hanes' (publicizing the miracle); otherwise, they are simply not seen.
In Talmudic times, the Sages prescribed that the Chanukah lights are to be placed at the street entrance to one's home - on the left side of the entrance, so that the 'Mezuzah' attached to the doorpost would be to the right, and the Chanukah lights to the left.
In modern times, when many people live in apartment buildings, the custom has become to place the Menorah at a window facing the street. If one lives in a tall apartment building such that the height of the window is greater than twenty 'amot,' Rabbi Kitov states that in his opinion, it is preferable to light the Menorah near the most heavily used entrance on the left side of the entry.
Nowadays, many Jews in Eretz Yisrael, and increasing numbers of Jews outside of Israel, perform the Mitzvah as it was done in Talmudic times, as described above.
What time do we light the candles?
The Chanukah lights are to be lit immediately upon the appearance of the stars. If one has not however done so, he may still perform the mitzvah through the remainder of the night as long as the members of his household are still awake, or if there is significant traffic in the streets. If he is unable to light the Chanukah lights till an exceedingly late hour, when all are asleep, and 'pirsum hanes' could no longer be accomplished indoors or outdoors, he kindles the lights without a brachah. If the night has passed and he has failed to kindle the lights, he can no longer do so the remainder of the day and can only resume performance of the mitzvah the following night.
Eating or drinking intoxicating liquids is prohibited one half hour before the time for kindling the lights. Once the prescribed time has arrived, even the study of Torah is prohibited till the Chanukah lights are lit. Upon the appearance of the stars, the Ma'ariv Prayer is said, and is followed immediately by the kindling of the lights.
The lights should burn at least half an hour after the stars appear in the sky. At the time of lighting, there should therefore be sufficient oil in the menorah, or the candles should be sufficiently large, to maintain a flame for the prescribed period of time. Those who kindle the lights at sunset are required to pour sufficient oil into the menorah, or use similarly large candles, for burning a minimum of 50 minutes, so that the lights might burn for the prescribed half hour period after the appearance of the stars.
If, at the time of lighting, the lights have insufficient oil for burning half an hour, one may not add oil after the lights have been kindled; rather, he is required to extinguish the lights, to add oil, to recite the brachah and to kindle the lights a second time.
If one has poured oil in excess of the required measure into the menorah, he may extinguish the lights after one half hour of burning, if he wishes to use the remaining oil for the Chanukah lights the following night. If it had been his original intention upon the lighting of the menorah, to derive any other benefit from the remaining oil, he may use that oil for any desired purpose.
If a Chanukah light accidentally goes out in the midst of its prescribed time for burning, it is to be kindled again, but without a brachah. After the fact, however, if one fails to rekindle it, he is nevertheless considered as having fulfilled the obligation of the mitzvah.
As long as the Chanukah lights burn - even after the prescribed half hour - their light may not be used for any personal benefit. Nor may they be moved from place to place. After the prescribed half hour - if one wishes to make use of them - they are first to be extinguished, and then reused.
Special issues regarding Shabbat!!
Erev Shabbat the Chanukah lights are lit first, and subsequently the Shabbat lights. One is required to pour adequate oil into the menorah for burning half an hour after the appearance of the stars, which, by most standards, is an hour and a half after the actual lighting. So, in order to satisfy that length of time, if using candles - the big Shabbat candles should be used instead of the little colored ones. If you light with oil, make sure to have enough to last over an hour and a half.
After Shabbat, at home, 'Havdalah' is first recited over wine and then the Chanukah lights are lit.
The custom of the Sephardim is to light the Chanukah lights first, and then recite 'havdalah' in the synagogue, whereas at home they recite havdalah and then kindle the Chanukah lights.
Levivot and Sufganiyot
(Potato Pancakes and Jelly Donuts)
Since oil, especially olive oil, is the main ingredient in the 'Nes Chanukah,' the Miracle of Chanukah, oil-based foods are favorite recipes on this holiday. 'Levivot,' also known as 'Latkes,' simply potato pancakes, are very popular on Chanukah, as well as 'sufganiyot,' jelly donuts.
The Jewish Festivals, including the Three Major Festivals, Chanukah and Purim, are designed as 'chetzyo le'Hashem ve'chetzyo lachem,' 'half for G-d's pleasure, and half for yours.' If Purim is the Extra Calorie Per Day Champion among the holidays, there is probably a virtual tie between Pesach and Chanukah, both eight- day holidays, for Total Extra Calories.
Dreidel
For many generations, it has been a custom for children and adults to play the game of dreidel on Chanukah. The dreidel is a four-sided top, each side being marked with a letter.
In Israel, where the miracle occurred, the Hebrew letters are 'nun,' 'gimmel,' 'heh,' and 'peh,' where the letters stand for the words 'nes gadol hayah poh,' 'a great miracle happened here.'
Outside of Israel, the letters are the same except that 'shin' replaces 'peh,' and the expression is 'nes gadol hayah sham,' 'a great miracle happened there.'
Each letter is worth a different amount, children get a chance to use their Chanukah 'gelt' (loot), and generally, a lot of fun is had by all.
A theory as to the origin of the game is that it dates from the time of the Roman persecution, when the study of Torah was banned. Groups of Jews would meet, at great danger to themselves, to study Torah, and, at the approach of a Roman Legionnaire, out would come the dreidlach, and the group would pretend that they'd been playing an innocent game.
It’s a Woman Thing
The general rule in Halachah (Jewish Law) is that women are not obligated in time-bound Positive Mitzvot (Commandments); that is, Positive Commandments to be performed at a specific time - for example, Listening to the Shofar or Dwelling in the Sukkah.
However, they are obligated in certain time-bound Positive Mitzvot. These include Lighting the Lights of Chanukah (or answering "Amen" to the brachot (blessings) recited by someone else who is obligated) and the Reading of Megilat Esther on Purim (or listening to the reading of someone else who is obligated, and answering "Amen" to the brachot recited before the Reading of the Megilah).
The reason for the exceptions made, in both cases, is that "they (i.e. women) were also involved in the same miracle (as men)!"
Beginning with Purim, since the historical events on which it is based preceded the Chanukah-related events, women, as well as men, were directly threatened by the genocidal plot of Haman, viceroy to King Achashverosh of Persia, and benefited equally from the miracle which overthrew Haman, and which saved the Jewish People.
On Chanukah, as well, women were threatened by the attack by the Greeks and the Hellenists on the lifestyle of the Jewish People; in some respects, even more than men. One major example of this is that each Jewish bride had to submit to the Greek military governor prior to her wedding. Until, that is, Yehudit, the daughter of Yochanan, fed that individual a large amount of cheese (which, incidentally, is the source of the custom to eat cheese on Chanukah), which made him sleepy, then lots of wine, which made him drunk, then beheaded him. When she carried his head to Yerushalayim on a platter, and his troops saw the horrible spectacle, they panicked and ran.
Therefore, women certainly benefited from the Miracle of the Oil and even contributed, in a direct way, to the Military Victory of the Chashmonaim, which allowed the Jewish People to rededicate the Temple, their spiritual center, and to restore Jewish Life and the purity of Jewish Family Life.
Maoz Tzur - Translation, etc.
Stanza One
O mighty stronghold of my salvation,
to praise You is a delight.
Restore my House of Prayer
and there we will bring a thanksgiving offering.
When You will have prepared the slaughter
for the blaspheming foe,
Then I shall complete with a song of hymn
the dedication of the Altar.
This stanza pleads for the reestablishment of the Temple Worship. It praises G-d as the "stronghold of our salvation," Who has always come to our aid. He will take vengeance on His enemies, and restore the Temple as a House of Prayer for all nations.
Stanza Two
My soul had been sated with troubles,
my strength has been consumed with grief.
They had embittered my life with hardship,
with the calf-like kingdom's bondage.
But with His great power
He brought forth the treasured ones,
Pharaoh's army and all his offspring
Went down like a stone into the deep.
This stanza praises G-d for our liberation from the Egyptian bondage. Maharal explains that Israel's destiny as a nation is not dependent on the general natural, physical, social or economic laws that govern the destinies of the other nations. Israel as a nation is placed directly under G-d's protection. It was this nation that was brought forth from Egypt, in order that they "obey faithfully and keep his covenant."
Stanza Three
To the holy abode of His Word He brought me.
But there, too, I had no rest
And an oppressor came and exiled me.
For I had served aliens,
And had drunk benumbing wine.
Scarcely had I departed
At Babylon's end Zerubabel came.
At the end of seventy years I was saved.
This stanza recalls the period of time when we lived in peace in Eretz Yisrael, when the First Temple, built by Shlomo, was with us. Yet somehow, we fell prey to the blandishments of idol worship, and, for that sin, the Kingdom of Babylon, under the leadership of Nevuchadnezzar, besieged Yerushalayim, and destroyed the Temple. But after a brief (historically speaking) time of seventy years, Babylon fell to the Persians, and under the leadership of Zerubavel (identified with the Prophet Nechemiah) we once again obtained permission to rebuild the Temple.
Stanza Four
To sever the towering cypress
sought the Aggagite, son of Hammedatha,
But it became [a snare and] a stumbling block to him
and his arrogance was stilled.
The head of the Benjaminite You lifted
and the enemy, his name You obliterated
His numerous progeny - his possessions -
on the gallows You hanged.
This stanza recalls the potential disaster, due to our sins, and our miraculous salvation, due to our repentance, from the fiendish plan of Haman, at the time of Purim. Haman wished to destroy Mordechai and, with him, all the Jews, male and female, young and old. But G-d, by a hidden miracle, using apparent coincidence, plus the bravery of Queen Esther, saved the Jews. Haman's plan was overturned, and he, together with his ten sons, were hung on the very same gallows which he'd prepared for Mordechai.
Stanza Five
Greeks gathered against me
then in Hasmonean days.
They breached the walls of my towers
and they defiled all the oils;
And from the one remnant of the flasks
a miracle was wrought for the roses.
Men of insight - eight days
established for song and jubilation
This stanza takes us back to Chanukah and describes the spiritual (not to mention physical) attack of the Greeks, under Antioches IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid monarch of Syria, who was the central foe in the Chanukah story. He advocated an intense campaign of Hellenization; that is, the spreading of Greek culture and ideas, and the Jews in Eretz Yisrael who remained loyal to the Torah, became his main targets.
The Greeks breached the walls of the Temple and defiled all the oils prepared for use in the daily lighting of the Menorah in the Temple. But one cruse of oil was found, and the Miracle of Chanukah was performed in behalf of the "roses," a reference to Shir HaShirim (The Song of Songs), in which the mutual love between G-d and the Jewish People is the main theme. The Chashmonaim also achieved a miraculous victory, with the help of G-d, and they eventually gained independence for Israel for a time.
Stanza Six
Bare Your holy arm
and hasten the End for salvation -
Avenge the vengeance of Your servants' blood
from the wicked nation.
For the triumph is too long delayed for us,
and there is no end to days of evil,
Repel the Red One in the nethermost shadow
and establish for us the seven shepherds.
This stanza asks the Master of the Universe to bare His holy arm and end our longest exile, the exile of Edom, the Red One, and usher in the Epoch of the Mashiach.
Mizmor Shir Chanukat - Translation, etc.
Psalm 30
I will exalt You, HASHEM, for You have raised me up from the depths, and not let my foes rejoice over me. HASHEM, my God, I cried out to You and You healed me. HASHEM, You have raised up my soul from the lower world, You have preserved me lest I descend to the Pit. Sing to HASHEM, His devoted ones, and give thanks to His holy Name. For His anger endures but a moment; but life results from His pleasure; in the evening one lies down weeping, but with dawn -- a cry of joy!
I had said in my serenity, 'I would never falter'. But, HASHEM, it was Your good will alone that supported my greatness with might. Should You but conceal Your face, I would be terrified. To You, HASHEM, I would call and to my Lord I would appeal. What gain is there in my death, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust acknowledge You? Will it tell of Your Truth?
Hear, HASHEM, and favor me; HASHEM, be my helper! You have changed for me my lament into dancing; You undid my sackcloth and girded me with joy. So that my soul might sing to You and not be stilled, HASHEM my God, forever will I thank You.
King David composed this Psalm to be sung when his son, Shlomo, dedicated the Temple. In the Talmud, Masechet Soferim, this Psalm is designated as the Daily Psalm of Chanukah.
Radak explains that the eventual inauguration of the Temple by Shlomo represented David's vindication against the taunts and charges of his enemies. If David were really a doomed sinner, as they claimed, his offspring could not have gained the privilege of realizing David's dream of building the Temple.
The Psalm captures the attitude of gratitude towards the Master of the Universe by concluding "that my soul might sing to You, and not be stilled; Hashem, my G-d, forever will I thank You."
S’more Rituals
In addition to the lighting of the Chanukah lights, there are several other important changes made on Chanukah to the daily ritual. They are:
Recital of the Complete "Hallel" on all the eight days of Chanukah
Recital of "Al Hanisim," "(We thank You) for the Miracles" in each "Shemoneh Esray," the 18-blessing, basic Jewish prayer, and in "Bircat HaMazon," the "Grace After Meals".
Special Chanukah Torah Readings
Who were the Greeks?
"In Bereshit (9:26), the Torah says "The L-rd has given Yephet beauty; let him reside in the Tents of Shem." In Yephet, come together reason and the desire for the Spiritual,...Yephet reaches his peak in the Culture of Yavan, Greece, and till today these two remain, Yisrael and Yavan, representing "Moriah" and humanism. Yephet beautified the world from an aesthetic point of view, while Shem enlightened he world from an ethical-moral perspective.... Yephet prepares the ground for the mission of Shem. First let a person be imbued with the ideas of the beautiful and the good in the Spirit of the Greeks; afterwards, let him proceed to be imbued with that which is still more beautiful and elevated and harmonious - the G-dly."
"...There was a conflict between two perspectives of life, two Cultures, which until today are struggling for dominance in the world ...The Greek nation stood at the pinnacle of Culture of all the descendants of Yephet; the Greeks taught to all the other nations the beautiful, and explained that that which is beautiful is also good. However, at the pinnacle of the Culture of the Children of Shem stood Ever, whose descendants became the Hebrew Nation, which plants its tents according to the Will of Hashem, in order to sanctify His Name; they build the Temple of Justice and Love; the mission of both Cultures is to cover the animalistic nakedness in Man; both were destined to raise Man to the level of the human and the G-dly, and to subdue by proper education the influence of "Cham," the hot-blooded roughneck who desires the animalistic nakedness...all of the history of the world till our day represents the constant struggle regarding the above prophecy ["The L-rd has given beauty..."]."
"Until the appearance of the Greeks, the human Spirit and human feelings developed only under the influence of Necessity and the events of life. Man found no opportunity to develop self-respect; he recognized only Fear as a motivation and a means to overcome his desires, but from his essential nature, Man remained mean-Spirited, cruel, narrow-minded and enslaved."
"The Culture of Greece aroused the desire for logic and enlightenment, a feeling of yearning for great ideas, and the opening of the Spiritual life of a person through the contemplation of harmonious and beautiful essences of things, and by means of the control of his overwhelming desires, so did the Culture of Greece develop the feeling of self-respect within Man. It could arouse trust in oneself, and give a person responsibility for the conduct of his life...in short, the Spirit of Greece freed Man from the chains which bound him, enlightened him with Culture, beautified his Spirit and filled him with the joy of life."
"...Nevertheless, there was in the Culture of Greece only a grain of Truth, which was fit to redeem humanity; it could only prepare and begin his salvation, in the manner of "let him dwell in the tents of Shem." There is no permanence to Greek Culture as long as it does not combine itself with the Spirit of Shem, as long as it arrogantly assumes that it represents the pinnacle of the Spirit of Man and his Culture.
Therefore, the destiny of Greece was condemned to fall, to descend mightily, and turn into a ...Culture of Slavery, and of straying from the correct path... Even personalities who were the most intellectually enlightened in Greece did not know the wisdom of life, according to which one should conduct one’s life, down to the smallest detail...And in daily life, that person’s actions contradicted his theories, he became disgusting in his ways and his whole life was brought down, without any cultural content or value...This Culture knows only of the rights of the individual to guarantee his own freedom; but not of the right to freedom that should be guaranteed all others. These human rights were granted only to a small circle of ‘enlightened’ individuals, who were very arrogant... but they were apathetic, cold, and very cruel with respect to the masses of people..."
"Least of all is this Culture able to provide a foundation for the life of the individual, for family life, or for communal life - life such as would be illuminated by the Light of Truth, elevated because of its Cleanness, organized on principles of Justice, and made complete by Love. There is not in this Culture the capacity to integrate into life all the feelings and thoughts … into one consistent mixture, which would give to daily life refinement of soul and true Beauty. It is possible for the Spirit of Yephet to provide only a bit of this harmony to the human heart, but it can never provide complete satisfaction."
"Only the combined action of all those forces can provide the "line of distinction" between Truth and Falsehood, between Cleanness and Uncleanness, between Justice and Force, between Love of the other and total Individualism…"
"That miracle can be performed only by the G-d of Shem: 'Let him dwell in the tents of Shem,' the 'Spirit of Shem,' which lies within the People of Israel. It (the People of Israel - trans.) had already begun to accomplish its mission on earth. And in that brief moment, when the nations absorbed just one spark, and even though that spark was full of mistakes and forgeries, there was sufficient in it to ignite and to create revolutions in the paths of Spirit and Feeling among the nations…"
"At the time that the Culture of Greece first came into contact with the Presence of Hashem which resides within the "Tents of Shem" in the Land of Yehudah, Jewish Culture per se didn't bother it as much as did the Jewish Code of Law. The hatred of the Greeks was directed primarily against the Ritual Laws of Judaism. The forces of Alexander achieved great victories against the nations of the East; but greater than the battlefield victories was the victory of the Culture of Greece and the Greek Way of Life which the forces of Greece carried with them. The Spirit of Yephet inflames the passions and it was therefore not difficult to find an attentive ear among the defeated nations."
"Yehudah was the only one which reacted with contempt and revulsion to all these abominations (naked athletes in Olympic competition; homosexuality - trans.), which other nations perceived as the pinnacle of wisdom; only the young men of Yehudah were reinforced against the blandishments of the Greeks, and against the new form of Slavery which decorated its chains with flowers…"
"Our Sages recount the atrocities perpetrated by the Greeks in Yehudah…Yet despite them all, one spark of "Yirat HaShem," Fear of G-d, in the heart of the elderly High Priest in Modiin was sufficient to raise up the courage of his sons, and the fiery spirit of this one family was sufficient to ignite "Emunah" Belief in G-d, in the heart of the entire People. It was not Yehudah HaMaccabee, the valiant hero, who defeated Antiochus; rather, it was the "Lamp of Judaism" that defeated the external shine of Greek arrogance…"
"The Spirit of Enlightenment which emanated from Greece, in its pure form, never constituted a danger to the holy ways of Israel, inasmuch as Israel sees it as a contributing cause to the realization of its own destiny; namely, the Enlightenment of Man and his Improvement; then it was always proper to bring into his tent the Truth, and the pure Humanity associated with that Spirit…"
"It was then also that as the feet of the great Greek Conqueror (Alexander - trans.) trod on the soil of Eretz Yisrael, marching at the head of his forces towards Jerusalem, carrying in his heart a special anger against the Land of Yehudah … then came towards him Shimon the Righteous, one of the last members of the Men of the Great Assembly, of which group Mordechai the Righteous was among its founding members; and to the great bewilderment of all his officers and heads of his legions, when he saw Shimon the Righteous, he descended from his chariot, and bowed before him…; he explained to them that the image of this man had always directed him to victory in battle (Yuma 69)."
"Thus it was shown to this Leader of Greece, immediately with his first contact with Israel, that even though he had been sent to bring all the countries of the East under the wings of the Culture of Europe, despite this, there dazzled and illuminated his eyes, even in the near East, on the very shores of the Meditteranean, a Culture that was greater and more elevated than his…"
"Against his will did Yephet bow to Shem, and the great Greek Conqueror was no more than a scout, who captured and prepared the ground for the Spirit of Israel…"
Chanukah in the Torah
A Day Prepared for Inauguration and Greatness
The very day of the 25th of Kislev which received the 'crown of inauguration' during the days of the Hasmoneans had already been prepared for its greatness from the days of Moshe Rabenu - and had been reconfirmed in its special glory during the days of the prophet Hagai. But it was the merit of the Hasmoneans that the redemptive light of the day should be fully revealed in their days. And thus did the Sages say:
'Rabi Chanina said: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev the work of the Mishkan was concluded but it was kept folded till the first of Nisan, as it is written: 'On the day of the first month, on the first of the month, you shall erect the Mishkan of the tent of meeting.'And Israel murmured against Moshe saying: Why was it not erected immediately ? Did some blemish affect it? God, however, intended to merge the rejoicing over the Mishkan into the month in which Itzchak was born (Nisan) ... Kislev therefore missed the inauguration though the work had been concluded therein. God therefore said: It is for me to make restitution. How did God repay Kislev? With the Chanukah of the Hasmoneans' (Yalkut Melachim 184).
When the returnees from the Babylonian Exile began to rebuild the Temple, their work was interrupted for twenty two years because of enemy intrigue and opposition. When their work of rebuilding was resumed, they erected the foundation of the Sanctuary on the 24th day of Kislev. During the following night - the night of the 25th of Kislev - they celebrated the foundation laying.
Allusions To Chanukah in the Torah
In Emor the Torah recounts all the festivals of the year: Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. The account of the festivals is followed by the commandment to maintain an eternal light in the Sanctuary. It has been suggested that the proximity between the two passages - that of the Eternal Light and that of the Festivals - anticipates a future day when the kindling of the Eternal Light would become a yearly Festival - a festival directly following Sukkot, which is listed among the Torah-ordained holidays.
There is a similar allusion to Chanukah in the proximity between the passage on the offerings of the Nesiim (when the altar was dedicated), and the directly following passage on the Menorah. The Ramban writes in his commentary to the Torah (Beha'alotecha) : 'In the Megilat Setarim of Rabenu Nisim, I found the following statement: 'I saw in the Midrash that when the twelve tribes had each brought their offerings to the dedication of the altar, and the tribe of Levi had not been included in the altar offerings, God said to Moshe: Speak to Aharon and tell him that one day there will be another inauguration (Chanukah) with kindling of lights. Through your sons I will perform miracles and bring deliverance for Israel. I will give them another Chanukah to be called by their name: the Chanukah of the Hasmoneans.' For this reason the present passage was placed in proximity to that of the altar dedication.
The Midrash Yelamdenu, as well as in Midrash Raba relate: "God said to Moshe: 'Go and say to Aharon: Have no fear. You are ordained for something greater than this. The altar offerings are only brought while the Sanctuary stands. The lights however will burn forever.. . and all the blessings which I gave you, that you might bestow them upon my children, will never cease.' We know, however, that in the absence of the Temple, and after the cessation of sacrificial offerings, the Menorah is likewise no longer lit. The reference of the Sages is accordingly, to the lamps of the Hasmonean Chanukah whose lighting remains binding even after the destruction of the Temple."
Still other allusions to Chanukah in the Torah:
The twenty-fifth word in the Torah is "ohr" (light).
The twenty-fifth place of encampment in the Journeying of the children of Israel in the wilderness, was Hasmonah.
History and Thought
War between Sanctity and Defilement
The war waged by the Hasmoneans against Greek rule was not similar to a typical revolt of the enslaved against their oppressors. Had it been Israel's aim only to seek freedom, they were able to achieve full national freedom even under Greek dominion. The Greeks made no designs upon their bodily freedom. They desired only to enslave the Jews spiritually. More than this: The Greeks held that they were benefiting the Jews, in imposing upon them, Greek culture and wisdom.
It was their aim to 'liberate' Israel from 'superstition and backwardness.' The other peoples living under Greek domination willingly accepted Greek culture, and saw a great light in it. Among Israel too, there were many whose spirits were captivated by the enchantments of Greece. The Greeks wanted only to shed the spirit of their culture upon Israel, till the people of Israel would place their faith in Man's strength, in his aesthetic sense, and the ultimate reliability of human reason.
The cardinal principles of Jewish faith that God speaks to Man and prescribes specific commandments for him to observe - these were to be nullified and uprooted from the Jewish heart. The people of Israel of that generation with the Hasmonean Kohanim at their head, viewed this 'Torah' of the Greeks as the root of all evil, as the most abominable form of paganism. All idolatry is an abomination, but when Man himself becomes an idol, and all his faculties minister to the idol - he has then created an infinitely worse abomination. When wood and stone are worshipped, they inflict no greater harm or ruin than their worshippers do, because they have no spirit of their own. Whereas, if man is deified, and ultimate faith is placed in the superiority of his good taste and the truth of his reason he is then capable of evil and destructiveness that are without limit.
The Hasmoneans saw this defilement strike root among their people and branch out among them more and more from day to day. Till the Sanctuary itself was defiled. They saw war with the Greeks as a 'war of obligation.' For the people of Israel had been invested with the task of safeguarding purity and sanctity in the world. As it is written: 'And you shall be unto me a kingdom of Kohanim and a holy nation,' 'For all the land is Mine.' These teachings stood in fundamental opposition to the belief which the Greeks sought to impose. The two could not abide together. Sanctity stood arrayed in war against defilement.
The Dominion of Greece
Yefet, the son of Noah, had seven sons, of whom Yavan (Greece) was the fourth. For seventeen hundred years the family of Yavan played an insignificant role in the world, till her star rose, and she became the chief of kingdoms, in the days of Alexander of Macedonia. The earthly hosts are like the hosts of Heaven. Just as God ordained boundaries for the Heavenly hosts - one was given dominion over the day, while another was restricted to the night likewise the hosts of the earth. Their Creator placed each of the nations and kingdoms within its set boundaries. To one He gave beauty, to another strength; to one wealth, to another wisdom, so that each might entrench himself within his own sphere, without needing to enter that of his fellow. Israel alone was ordained to be God's precious treasure among all the nations. All the good and the beautiful that was to be found among all the nations, could be acquired by Israel also. In one respect Israel was to rise above them all in cleaving to God.
Yefet and his sons were given by God, the domain of beauty and wisdom. Their father Noah blessed them thus: 'God, you have given beauty to Yefet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.' 'The beauty of Yefet, within the tents of Shem.' That is to say, it is fitting for the beauty of Yefel to enter the tents of Shem, and to find there its proper fulfillment. After Alexander of Macedonia had lifted Greece to the pinnacle of power, and had conquered nations, one of his successors, King Ptolemy of the Egyptian segment of Alexander's empire, made his capital a center of learning and science. The Sages of Israel were then requested to translate the Torah into Greek, to enable the seekers of Greek wisdom to enter the outer gates of the Torah of Shem. The Jewish Sages relied upon the above interpretation of the blessing to Yefet, to confirm the propriety of their translation.
While Alexander lived, be showed reverence to the Sages of Israel and bowed his head before Shimon the Tzadik. Alexander's Greece, replaced Persia in preeminence. And Yehudah lived under Greek dominion as she had previously done under Persian dominion. As long as Alexander lived, however, he inflicted no harm upon Yehudah, but rather showed her friendship. After Alexander's death, his empire was divided into three parts. One of his generals achieved power in Egypt, one in Greece itself, and a third in Syria.
The Syrian kingdom became known as the Selucidean kingdom after Selecus, who established its royal family. Yehudah fell under the dominion of the Syrian kingdom and from them, the people of Israel suffered ever harsher oppression. The Syrian-Greeks resented the little Judean kingdom in their midst, which maintained its separateness despite its subjugation to them; which rejected all of Greece's culture and wisdom, and stubbornly resisted its spirit. The competition was not one of strength, for physically Yehudah was subjugated to her conquerors. It was a contest only of the spirit. In the contest of strength, the hand of Yafet had prevailed. In the contest of spirit, the hand of Yehudah had prevailed, to the bitter chagrin of the rulers.
After the Torah was translated into Greek, the rulers of Greece first delighted in it, and were even inclined to forgive the pride of those who adhered to the Torah. Later, that Torah became as thorns in the eyes of succeeding Greek rulers, and they resolved to uproot it from the hearts of those who were faithful to it, in order to subjugate them completely in body and spirit. Israel's Torah became a target for enemy arrows, and conflict erupted between mighty, conquering Greece, and weak, subjugated Yehudah.
When Does Beauty Become Ugliness?
The Heavenly hosts and the Earthly hosts both have tasks. But they are not alike with reference to freedom of will. The Heavenly hosts can only perform their assigned tasks. Men, however, are invested with freedom of will, and are capable of altering their tasks for evil to themselves and evil to all the world. When the beauty of Yefet dwells in the tents of Shem, and serves Shem, it is genuine beauty. When the maidservant seeks to replace the mistress; when the beauty of Yefet seeks to subjugate Shem's tents, and to make ,Shem serve her, there is nothing uglier. Strength becomes transformed into brutal tyranny. Wisdom becomes cunning. Truth becomes distortion. Why ? For without tyranny, cunning and distortion, how could the mistress submit to the maidservant? What beauty remains for them?
The rulers of Greece were prepared to consent to major portions of the Torah; to those of its practices which they imagined as capable of being 'poured into Greek utensils.' Three mitzvot alone, however, they wished to annul completely. If these could be annulled, the remaining mitzvot could be transformed into empty Greek ritual; to be forgotten from the heart in the end.
The three are: Shabbat, the consecration of the new month, and the covenant of circumcision. Shabbat recalls to its adherents, and all who see them, that the world has a ruler, through whose word everything was created. Shabbat proclaims: 'Accord honor to your Creator, and let all the Earth bow down to Him.' It must be uprooted, and its memory forgotten. 'We are lords of the earth and all its inhabitants shall bow only unto us,' said the Greeks.
The consecration of the new month recalls to those who consecrate it, and to all who view them, that God's power acts in Time. If the Beit Din sanctifies the new month, it is sanctified; its festivals are sanctified; and they become wellsprings of holiness and exaltation for body and soul. If the Beit Din fails to sanctify the new month, it remains profane. Since it is the basis for the observance of the festivals, the consecration of the month also teaches the Presence of God and the fulfillment of His aims, within History. The consecration of the new month hence teaches both the holiness of time and the holiness of history. It must be uprooted from Israel, and its memory must be erased. 'We ordain festival times: we determine when to rejoice and when to grieve!' said the Greeks.
The covenant of circumcision recalls to those who observe it, and to all who see them, that body and soul - both together - are hewn from one source. All the worlds together are one world - the world of the Creator and all that is found in them serves Him and performs His will. This covenant is to be uprooted from Israel; let it not challenge the Wise Men of Greece who say: There are two worlds - the body rules without restraint in its world, and the soul rules without restraint in its world with nothing standing in between. The body is not subject to the soul, and the soul is not subject to the body.
A world without its Creator, a year without holiness, a body without restraint - is there anything uglier ? Sights of external beauty in the place of the visions of God. Wild spectacles in the place of exaltation and holiness. A conflagration of instincts in the place of sanctifying the body. What value is there in such a life?
Hellinists
At first the Greeks thought that they would attract the people to their teachings with peaceful techniques. 'They therefore won over the weak-minded among the people by giving them power in both the government and the Sanctuary. These were appointed as officials, Kohanim Gedolim, Elders and Judges. Together they formed a sect which came to be called, 'The Hellenists.' The Hellenists sought to spread Greek culture among the people. They incited the people to forsake God's Torah, and to embrace the Greek way of life. as they had done. They arranged evenings of lust and licentious dancing. They erected altars to the Greek idols, to which they brought offerings. All their days were filled with celebrations, enchanting entertainment and inflammatory pleasures. The larger part of the people did not follow them and continued to adhere to the Torah of their fathers. They turned their backs on the traitors, and hated them in their hearts. They wept to their God over their traitorous brothers, and over the people of God who were handed over to enemies without, and to traitors within.
The evil Antiochus saw that the Hellenists were not achieving their aim; and that they were as outcasts in the eyes of the majority of their people. Whereupon he sent his armies, under the leadership of relentless brutal commanders, either to force the Jews into submission or to subject them to slaughter. These armies murdered, slaughtered and plundered. They spread desolation among the people, and afflicted them with all manner of persecution. They put to death tens of thousands of men, women, children and infants, who offered their lives for the Torah. Some of the people surrendered, bowed to the idols, and participated in the abominations. Some fled to the wilderness, or hid in caves. The Hellenists helped the enemy track down those who were in hiding; to torture those who had not fled, and to incite them to wanton transgression. And they handed over the daughters of Israel to the enemy tyrants for defilement. They then came to the courtyard of the Sanctuary and defiled it. They suspended the daily offering. They defiled the oils and the Menorah. They built an altar and offered a pig on it, whose blood they then brought into the Holy of Holies. The people heard and trembled in outrage. It became apparent that there was no escape from open war with sword and spear, against both the enemy and the traitorous brothers.
The Miracle of the Revolution
The first miracle was performed through the daughters of Israel. If a child was born to the wife of one of those who had fled into hiding, the mother would circumcise the child on the eighth day. She would go up upon the wall of Yerushalayim carrying her child. She would hurl herself and her child from the wall to certain death - thereby saying to her husband, and all her brothers who had gone into hiding to escape war: 'If you will not go out to wage war against your enemies, you will have neither children nor wives, and your end will be total annihilation. We will observe what is holy to us, not in hiding, but publicly, before the eyes of all. If you intend to save us, emerge from your caves, and wage war against the enemy till you destroy him. God will be with you Then Matityahu and his five sons arose 'like lions. They gathered about them all who were faithful and valiant. They went out to slay the enemies of God, or to be slain. For many days they battled - the few against the many, the weak against the mighty - but the hand of God sustained them, till they vanquished their enemies, and cleansed the land from Antiochus' armies and their abominations. Then they came to the Temple Court, cleansed the altar, and rebuilt it. They made a new Menorah of wood and lit lamps for eight days. They kindled the lights of Torah, of joy, of faith and trust in God, in the homes of all Israel - in all their habitations, and for all generations.
Measure for Measure
The great salvation performed by God through his chosen Kohanim in behalf of his chosen people opened the eyes of many of those who erred. Many of the peoples saw that God's name was called upon Israel; that He exacted vengeance in their behalf, and repaid their enemies measure for measure. After the Greeks had conquered most of the peoples of the world and became masters over them, they arrogantly thought: We will rise above the clouds, and will subjugate the chosen people. We will remove its crown of glory, and will cast it down to the ground, as we have done with so many other peoples. After the Hasmonean victory over them, their penalty was, to become the lowliest of nations. They intended to cause the Torah to be forgotten from Israel, and to extinguish Israel's light; instead they added yet another Yom Tov of remembrance and testimony that the Torah will never depart from Israel.
An allusion to the matter is found in the saying of our Sages: 'The mezuzah is on the right, the light of the Chanukah is on the left, and the head of the house, whose talit contains tzitzit, is in the middle.' These three are safeguards against forgetfulness. Mezuzah causes us to remember His sovereignty tzitzit is intended to be a remembrance. The Chanukah light is also a remembrance. (The later Sages have said that gazing at the Chanukah lights, causes one to remember the mitzvot, just as gazing upon tzitzit does.)
Thus did our ancient Sages say: 'And there was darkness upon the face of the abyss' - this refers to Greece which darkened the eyes of Israel. For this reason the lights of Chanukah were prescribed. The Sages likewise interpreted the verse: 'And its side was that of a serpent,' as referring to Greece. For the serpent is without gratitude and the Greeks wished to uproot from Israel the sense of subjugation to God's will, and of gratitude to Him. For this reason, the people of Israel prescribed additional thanksgiving over the miracle. The Greeks wanted to uproot the sanctification of the new month from Israel; that is to say, the power of perpetual self-renewal and God gave Israel an additional capacity for self-renewal. The mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh is the first renewal which God gave to Israel, and Chanukah is the final renewal, till the Messiah will come.
The Greeks took pride in their strength and numbers. But they fell by the hand of a people who were few in number, and who were poorly armed. They took pride in their great wisdom, and in their well ordered government. But they were revealed before the eyes of the world as predatory animals. Their disciples from among the Jews, the Hellenists, scoffed at Israel for placing its trust in God, and waiting for His salvation. They said: 'Learn the art of war from the Greeks; do not turn to your Torah and to your prayers. If you will rely on these, you will be trodden under the foot of any people who will attack you.
And then salvation came; through the mighty heroism shown by the weak against those who were renowned for strength. Further, the war did not begin from the strong and the militant among the Jews. It rather began with Kohanim who served in the Sanctuary upon whom no sword could be raised. 'These with chariots, and those with horses, but the Kohanim of the Lord proclaimed the Name of their God. The others kneeled and fell, but the servants of God rose and prevailed.' We learn, thereby, that none are strong before God, or before the people of God. For real strength endures only if it is based on purity. A genuine bond prevails only among the righteous but the bond of the wicked will not last.
Fate of the Chashmonaim
It is a historical fact that the great Chashmonai family disappeared completely from the historical scene within only two hundred years of the first Chanukah. The question arises, "Why was such a great punishment visited upon a family which saved the Jewish People?"
At the end of the Book of Bereishit, in Parshat VaYechi, Yaakov blesses his twelve sons. These blessings have always been seen as having the quality of Prophecy. His blessing to his son Yehudah contains the following, "The scepter shall not depart from Yehudah…," meaning that the King of Israel should always be from the Tribe of Yehudah, and from the House of David.
The following is a quotation from the Biblical commentary of Ramban ("Nachmanides," Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman), a great 13th Century Torah scholar, "This was the reason for the punishment of the Chashmonaim, who reigned during the Second Temple. Though they were righteous servants of G-d, without whom the learning of Torah and the observance of Commandments would have been forgotten in Israel, and despite this, they suffered such great punishment:"
"The four sons of the old Chashmonai, Matityahu, saintly men who ruled one after another, in spite of all their prowess and success, fell by the sword of their enemies…; All the children of the righteous Matityahu the Chashmonai were deposed for this only: they ruled even though they were not of the seed of Yehudah and of the House of David, and thus they completely removed "the scepter" …from Yehudah."
"It is also possible that in addition to the Chashmonaim having sinned for assuming royalty when they were not from the Tribe of Yehudah, they also sinned in ruling on account of their being priests, who have been commanded: 'Guard your priesthood in everything that pertains to the altar, and to within the holy curtain, and thus shall you serve.' "
Church and State
Although the task of the Jew is primarily to integrate holiness into all aspects of his life, nevertheless there is an understanding of the concept of "havdalah," of distinction, between "kodesh," that which is holy, and "chol," that which is temporal. The task of the "Kohen," the Priest, is to serve G-d; the task of the Jewish King is to dedicate himself, as a servant of G-d, to the service of the Jewish People.
Although it was absolutely necessary for the Chashmonaim to lead the revolt against the enemies of the Jewish People, as a "Horaat Shaah," a temporary ruling, they surely knew that "malchut," kingship, is reserved for Beit David, descendants of King David, from whom we hope the "Mashiach," the Messiah, will ultimately emerge. Thus, by refusing to relinquish the position of king, the later Chashmonaim were delaying and even harming Jewish Destiny.
This also helps to explain the reticence of the Talmud, though not the Jewish Prayer Book, on the subject of the military victory of the Chashmonaim. It is not only because Chanukah was mainly the celebration of a spiritual victory, but also because the descendants of those great and brave men and women who rose in behalf of their G-d and in defense of their People and their way of life, and who achieved victory with the help of G-d, went astray so soon thereafter.
The Secret of the Dreidel
The Dreidel
A children's game, played in the firelight of a cold winter night, the Chanukah Menorah silently glowing in the window... The dreidel. Its four sides spinning around the still point in the turning circle; spinning so fast that its sides blur into nothingness... The dreidel. So seemingly insignificant - and yet this little dreidel contains the story of the Jewish People; the history of the whole world...
Our story
starts not with the miracle of Chanukah, but 1,437 years earlier with Jacob's ladder. Jacob had a prophetic dream of angels ascending and descending a ladder that reached from the ground to the heavens. These angels weren't Hollywood extras with fluorescent tubes over their heads - they were, in fact, incorporeal spiritual messengers - the protecting forces of four great kingdoms.
Four kingdoms that would in the future dominate and exile the Jewish People: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.
At first, Yaakov saw the angel of Babylon ascend the ladder 70 steps and then he came down: The Jewish People were in the Babylonian exile for 70 years.
The protecting angel of the Empire of Persia and Media then climbed up the ladder 52 steps before he descended: The Jewish People were in exile in Persia 52 years.
Then the angel of the Empire of Greece climbed 180 rungs - the domination of Greece lasted 180 years.
Finally, the protecting angel of the Roman Empire climbed up the ladder, but he didn't come down. Yaakov feared that this final exile would never end, until Hashem promised Yaakov - If he will rise up like an eagle and make his nest among the stars - even from there I will bring him down.
We are still in that final exile, in the softly asphyxiating embrace of Rome's spiritual heirs....
The Four Kingdoms
BABYLON
In the year 3338 (587/6 BCE), the first of our Holy Temples was razed to the ground by the Babylonian Emperor Nabuchadnezer, and the majority of the Jewish People led into exile by the Assyrian Emperor Sancheriv. Why was it such a tragedy that the Beis Hamikdash (Holy Temple) was destroyed? The Beis Hamikdash represents a unique pipeline between Hashem and Man. When it was destroyed, this flow of spiritual energy was severed. The level of this connection is linked to the word "nefesh" - soul ("When a soul will bring an offering"...Vayikra 2:1). Nefesh begins with the letter Nun, and Nun represents the kingdom of Babylon.
PERSIA
As we know from the story of Esther, Haman was interested in finding the final solution of the Jewish problem - genocide. The exile of Persia and Media represents the threat to the "guf" - the body of the Jewish People, the physical threat of annihilation. Guf begins with Gimmel which stands for the kingdom of Persia and Media.
GREECE
Greece, on the other hand, represents the attack on the Torah itself - the sechel - the wisdom of Israel. The Greeks weren't interested in the physical destruction of the Jewish People; rather they wanted to destroy the spiritual core of Judaism - the Torah - and leave a Hellenized hulk that would conform to the Greek norms of aesthetics - drama and the superficial wisdoms. Sechel begins with the letter Sin - that's the letter of the kingdom of Greece.
ROME
The fourth kingdom, Rome, is a summation of all the other exiles. At the beginning of their domination, the Romans, like the Babylonians, stopped the bringing of offerings in the Temple. Then, they destroyed the second Holy Temple and inflicted unthinkable carnage on the "guf", the body of Jewish People: After the massacre of Betar, they used Jewish blood as fertilizer for seven years.
At first, Rome was the intellectual scion of Greece, but with the conversion of the emperor Constantine to Christianity in 313 CE, the Catholic Church became the spiritual heir of the Roman Empire. After the demise of the influence of the Church, the mantle of Rome was subsequently worn by secularism and materialism - the spiritual incarnation of Rome in our own times.
Rome is all the exiles rolled into one and thus it is represented by the Hebrew word "HaKol," meaning "all". Its first letter is the letter Heh.
WHERE is the point at the center of a circle?
Can you define it? And yet it exists. Just like the letter 'yud' in the Hebrew alphabet - a single dot - from which the whole universe was created - the threshold of existence. The still point in the turning circle - and around that dot turns the whole world. The Jewish People are that little dot - so infinitesimally small, and yet around this dot, the world turns.
WHAT is the opposite to that little dot?
What is the opposite of the central point that occupies no space? Direction - North, South, East and West. Expansion in four directions. Four is the antithesis of the One. Four is the number of the Kingdoms who stand eternally opposed to the Jewish People. Eternally opposed to He who is One. And to His reflection in this world - the Jewish People.
TAKE another look at our dreidel spinning.
What do you see? Four sides. Spinning around a central point that occupies no space. And when those sides spin - they themselves cease to have direction anymore. Now, in the blur of their whirling - they are a circle, a reflection of the still small point at its center.
WHAT is it that is carved on the sides of our dreidel?
Nun, Gimmel, Sin, Heh... On the surface, those letters stand for "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham - A great miracle happened there" - The commemoration of a miraculous victory of a faithful few over the might of the Greek Empire. But on a deeper level, the dreidel is a microcosmic representation of the four kingdoms, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome spinning around the center, the Jewish People.
AND The Hand that spins the dreidel comes from above...
Every empire thinks that it will last forever, but The Hand that spins only spins the dreidel of history for predetermined time and then, each Empire, despite its vainglorious boasting, falters on its axis...and finally crashes.
THE DREIDEL. A children's game,
played in the firelight of a cold winter night, the Chanukah Menorah silently glowing in the window... The dreidel. Its four sides spinning around the still point in the turning circle; spinning so fast that its sides blur into nothingness... The dreidel. So seemingly insignificant - and yet this little dreidel contains the story of the Jewish People; the history of the whole world...
Chanukah with Torah Tidbits
Chanuka Primer (and then some!)
This will be a combination of a halachic review, practical suggestions, useful information, and more. Do not take anything written here as “the last word”; if you have any doubts, check things out with your Rav. We are including it the week before Chanuka to give you time for careful review.
FRIDAY, 24 KISLEV (Nov. 29)
In general, one should prepare his Chanukiya during the afternoon so that there will not be a delay in lighting at the proper time. This is especially so on Friday, Erev Shabbat-Chanuka (we have two of them this year) because things get kind of hectic as Shabbat approaches.
Some have the custom of preparing the Chanukiya in the morning for the evening (this goes for every day, except Shabbat, of course). This not only serves the practical purpose of being ready to light on time without delaying to set up later, but it also commemorates the practice in the Beit HaMikdash called Hatavat HaNeirot, whereby the Kohen (Gadol) tended the Menora and prepared it in the morning for kindling in the late, late afternoon. Since our lighting on Chanuka directly commemorates the lighting of the Menora in the Beit HaMikdash, this suggestion provides a nice "added touch" to the mitzva and symbolism of Chanuka lighting.
In addition to preparing for the first candle of Friday evening, it is a good idea to also prepare for the second candle which will be lit on Motza’ei Shabbat, on Friday. This will allow lighting on Motza”Sh without any unnecessary delay, especially since the Motza”Sh lighting is already delayed until after Shabbat. One can set up two candles in another Chanukiya, or even at the other end of the same Chanukiya he/she will be lighting on Friday. (Don’t worry about the left-right business; it is more important to be ready to light as soon as possible after Shabbat.) Also, have your Motza”Sh Shamash and matches ready nearby.
Something else that one should try to do on the two Fridays Erev Chanuka, is to daven Mincha before candle lighting. This is so because Mincha “belongs” to Friday and candle lighting “belongs” to Shabbat (even though we are lighting when it is still Friday). The lighting of the Menora in the Beit HaMikdash was done after the Tamid sacrifice of the afternoon. All this said, if it means not davening Mincha with a Minyan, it is better to light and then go to shul for Mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat & Maariv. However, one should try to daven at a Mincha Gedola Minyan.
To that end, we will be davening Mincha at the Israel Center on Fridays, November 29th and December 6th at 12:00 noon, in the Wolinetz Family Shul Ohel Shmuel, on the ground floor of the Center. (Men and women are invited.)
We cannot follow the standard weekday timing (sunset or stars-out - see further) on Erev Shabbat, because of the prohibition of kindling and handling fire on Shabbat. So we will have to light early. And this will require longer (or fatter) candles or more oil than usual. Furthermore, the rule is that Chanuka candles are lit before Shabbat candles. Shabbat candle lighting in most places is 18-22 minutes before sunset. This time should not be tampered with. Chanuka candles should be lit a couple of minutes before Shabbat candles (even when different people are lighting). Preferably, they should not be lit a lot before Shabbat candles, but in all cases, never before Plag.
Jerusalem (and Petach Tikva) custom for every Shabbat is to light candles 40 minutes before sunset. There is an acceptable custom to delay Shabbat candles 15 to 20 minutes after the posted time (remember - Jerusalem and Petach Tikva only, or other places where the same practice is observed) so that one's Chanuka candles do not have to be lit so early. This matter should be explained well to the family so that misunderstandings do not arise.
Be very careful not to get anywhere near sunset. Let 4:30pm be a "redline" for lighting candles (Chanuka or Shabbat) - otherwise, one runs the risk of encroaching on Shabbat. If you are late, be absolutely sure the sun is still in the sky - otherwise it is better not to light Chanuka or Shabbat candles.
TACHLIS: Shabbat candle lighting time for Jerusalem on both Erevs Shabbat- Chanuka is 4:00pm. (Because Chanuka is at the beginning of December this year, the sunset times throughout Chanuka week hardly vary.) Either light Chanuka candles right before 4:00pm and then light Shabbat candles, or wait until 4:15-ish, then light Chanuka candles followed by Shabbat candles.
Remember, if you are not in Jerusalem [or...], stick to the posted Shabbat candle lighting time - do not delay it.
In all cases, do not light either sets of candles before PLAG Mincha, 3:35pm (Jerusalem time, slightly padded to protect one from errors), and usable throughout Chanuka this year.
Also - and this is very important - whenever you light Chanuka candles, they must have enough fuel (oil or wax) to last until at least a half-hour after stars-out, that is, at least until 5:30pm (better would be 5:45pm and even later). This applies to Friday night too, which means that the standard (or even the prettier, longer) Chanuka candles will not make it. Recommended are the #16 or #20 Shabbat candles, which will fit most Chanukiyas and will last long enough. For oil users, experience will teach you how much oil you need. If you do not have the experience, it doesn’t hurt to experiment a couple of days before Chanuka so you will be ready.
A practical and nice suggestion is to hold MA’OZ TZUR for the Shabbat table as one of the Z’mirot, rather than say it at candle lighting. Basically, as soon as candles are lit, it’s off to shul.
Many shuls will sing L’CHA DODI to the tune of MA’OZ TZUR on Shabbat Chanuka. And, of course, at the table, if you have any GAN-age children or grandchildren, there is a host of Chanuka songs to add to your usual Friday night repertoire of Z’mirot and other songs. Remember, although Chanuka does not require a SEUDAT MITZVA, any meal with songs, stories, and relevant Divrei Torah (especially, but not only, on Shabbat) becomes a special Chanuka Seuda.
AL HANISIM is added to every Amida and all Birkat HaMazon throughout Chanuka. (There is no reference to Chanuka in “AL HAMICHYA”, i.e. Bracha Mei’ein Shalosh.)
Forgetting AL HANISIM does NOT invalidate either the Amida nor Birkat HaMazon. That means that one does NOT repeat either due to leaving AL HANISIM out. However, if one realizes the omission before the end of the Amida, AL HANISIM can be said right before YIHYU L’RATZON. In Birkat HaMazon, an omitted AL HANISIM becomes a HARACHAMAN, right before HARACHAMAN HU Y’ZAKEINU, as follows...
HARACHAMAN HU YA’ASEH LANU NISIM V’NIFLA’OT KA’ASHER ASAH LA’AVOTEINU BAYAMIM HAHEIM BIZMAN HAZEH. BIMEI MATITYAHU...
SHABBAT, 25 KISLEV (Nov. 30)
Full HALLEL is said on each of the eight days of Chanuka (because there was the manifestation of a miracle on each day).
Two Sifrei Torah are taken out. (When there are two Shabbatot-Chanuka, the first is VAYEISHEV and the second is MIKEITZ.) Parshat HaShavua - Vayeishev - is read from the first, and the Torah reading for the first day of Chanuka is read for the Maftir in the second Torah. The reading starts at the beginning of the 7th perek in Bamidbar (Parshat Naso), with the description of the dedication of the Mishkan, almost a year after the Exodus. The reading begins with the anointing and sanctification of the Mishkan, its furnishings, and vessels, and the gifts of the Leaders of the Tribes to the families of Levi for the transport of the dismantled Mishkan. It continues with the gifts and offerings of Shevet Yehuda on the first day of Dedication, the first day of Chanukat HaMizbei’ach. Some shuls begin the reading of the first day six p’sukim earlier, to include the portion of Birkat Kohanim in the Chanuka reading. The reason (or one of the reasons) is to identify and acknowledge the Chashmona’im as Kohanim.
The Torah reading is followed by the special Chanuka Haftara, which preempts the regular Haftara of Vayeishev. The reading is from Zecharya, and includes his vision of a golden Menora. (More on this in next week’s Sedra Summary.)
MOTZA’EI SHABBAT, eve of 26 KISLEV (Nov. 30)
(Times are for Jerusalem; other places require proper adjustment.) Sunset is 4:40pm. Shabbat is out at 5:16pm. Although 5:16 is considered Stars-Out (Tzeit HaKochavim) as far as Shabbat is concerned, there are earlier times that qualify as Stars-Out for other purposes, such as reciting SH’MA at night. There are different opinions, but let’s use 20 minutes after sunset as an earlier TZEIT. It is recommended (not everyone agrees) that we start davening Maariv at 5:00pm so that we can finish at or shortly after the Shabbat-out time. This will allow lighting Chanuka candles earlier (sooner after Stars-Out) than if we daven Maariv at the usual time for Motza”Sh.
Those who say V’YITEN L’CHA should say it after Chanuka candles are lit.
Okay, it’s Motza’ei Shabbat and Chanuka, we’re home from shul as soon after Shabbat as possible, what now?
Two mitzvot to perform - Havdala and Chanuka candles. By the rule of TADIR (that which is more frequent should be done first), havdala should be said first. And by logic, one should "finish" with Shabbat and then light candles for the next day of Chanuka, which is Sat. night & Sunday. Many authorities hold that on Motza’ei Shabbat, one should say havdala first and then light Chanuka candles. This opinion is followed by the majority of Chanuka-candle-lighting Jews all over the world. The Maharal (among others) is vehement in his insistence that we cannot possibly consider doing something so "weekday-ish" as lighting Chanuka candles, unless we have first said havdala. He rejects any argument to the contrary.
ON THE OTHER HAND... there is a strong argument for lighting Chanuka candles before havdala. First of all, Shabbat is over when it is 5:16pm (some calendars might vary slightly) AND one has said Havdala in davening (ATA CHONANTANU in the Maariv Amida) OR at least said BARUCH HAMAVDIL BEIN KODESH L'CHOL. Havdala is NOT what ends Shabbat - it is what honors the departing Shabbat. Even so, havdala should go first, except for one very important factor: The prime time (according to some opinions, the only time) for Chanuka candles is ticking away. We cannot, of course, light Chanuka candles when it is still Shabbat. But we should maximize the amount of time of the "half-hour after" once we are allowed to light. Havdala will wait; Chanuka candles will not. Therefore, the OTHER opinion is that Chanuka candles go first and then havdala. This procedure comes with the reminder not to use the Chanuka candles for havdala, since one may not benefit from the Chanuka lights, and the bracha in havdala is specifically upon using the light (hence the examining of fingernails, etc.). Chanuka candles first is the opinion of the Vilna Gaon and many others, and is Minhag Yerushalayim. (Remember that not everyone in Yerushalayim follows the practices known as Minhag Yerushalayim.)
This dispute is one of the few in halacha that is resolved in the following manner: "Whichever opinion you follow, you have performed correctly". Either procedure may be followed. Family and community custom should play a deciding role in this issue. Again, a Rav should be consulted, especially if one is considering a change in practice.
Some say that those who light outdoors should follow the custom of lighting before havdala. Those who light indoors can take their pick.
Remember that Shabbat is paramount. In case of doubt as to whether Shabbat is being encroached upon, one should NOT light Chanuka candles. It must be DEFINITELY after Shabbat before lighting. But one should not unnecessarily delay the fulfillment of the mitzva of Chanuka candles.
A note for Rabeinu Tam people: Those who follow the Shabbat-out time of Rabeinu Tam (72 minutes after sunset) and consider it to be the correct halachic time, must keep it even on Motza’ei Shabbat Chanuka, even though it means losing "prime time" for Chanuka candles. Those who keep Rabeinu Tam time as a CHUMRA (a strict measure, but accept the earlier time as halachic), might end Shabbat earlier on Motza’ei Shabbat Chanuka, in order to fulfill the mitzva of Chanuka candles at their better time. It is advised to check this out with a Rav.
In shul, it is the universal practice to light Chanuka candles before saying havdala, this to maximize Pirsumei Nisa in a situation where everyone present will be leaving for home shortly.
At home, people will still be there for the Chanuka candles, so there is no need to light before havdala (according to those who follow this first opinion).
Those who say havdala first can light their Shamash for the Chanuka candles with the havdala candle before extinguishing it, thus dovetailing two mitzvot.
Those who follow the second opinion can light the havdala candle from the Shamash, thereby dovetailing one mitzva into another.
On Motza’ei Shabbat, when we light after Stars-Out, it is sufficient for the candles to burn for half an hour. Still, it is preferable that they last longer. This has to do with the fact that in our time, people are out in the streets later than in times past and Pirsumei Nisa (publicizing the miracle) applies later than the original “half-hour after stars-out”.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evenings, the eves of 27, 28, 29, 30 KISLEV, and 1 TEVET (Dec. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
There are two practices as to when is the ideal time to light Chanuka lights during the week (i.e. except for Friday and Motza'ei Shabbat, when different factors affect the timing, as already discussed). Minhag Yerushalayim (which many, but not everyone follows) is to light with the setting of the sun. As mentioned earlier, this year sunset during Chanuka week hovers at 4:40pm (Jerusalem). People in other locations should check when their local sunset is.
The other opinion [that of "the rest of the world"] is to light when the "light of the sun has left the sky", i.e. Stars-Out a.k.a. Tzeit HaKochavim). Remember that there are different opinions as to when Stars-Out occurs. Except for Motza'ei Shabbat, most people will use an early-ish Stars-Out time, in order to be closer to the Minhag Yerushalayim timing, and because Z'RIZIM MAKDIMIM, people who are enthusiastic about doing mitzvot, do them "right away". 5:00pm will work for this early Stars-Out time this Chanuka (except for Motza"Sh - as above). Those who light with Stars-Out should light right after Maariv, unless they have a fixed time later in the evening for davening. This will result in lighting Chanuka candles a little later than the 5:00pm TZEIT time.
Those who light with sunset should daven Maariv at the appropriate time, after candles.
Candles must burn at least a half hour after stars-out. This was the original time period after dark that people were still around outdoors and defined the PIRSUMEI NISA aspect of the mitzva. Although in our day, people are out later than this time, the halacha only requires the half hour after stars-out. However, it is recommended that one use longer candles or more oil to extend this time [one need not go overboard on this issue, but...], in recognition of the expansion of the current-day Pirsumei Nisa time-frame.
TACHLIS: If one lights at 4:40 or 5:00 or earlier than 4:40 (remember, not before PLAG, 3:35pm) or as late as 5:15, then the candles should burn until at least 5:45pm, preferably somewhat longer.
(Since Rabbeinu Tam's Stars-Out is 5:52 during Chanuka week (this year), one might try to have his Chanuka lights burn at least until 6:25-ish. This is not a requirement, but it does acknowledge the different opinions concerning Stars-Out. Treat this as an off-the-record suggestion, especially in light of the reality that the Pirsumei Nisa time is later into the night than it was in the time of the Gemara.)
If someone lights after 5:15pm (and certainly if it is after 5:52pm), then the candles must last at least a half hour, regardless of what time one lit. (Preferably longer, as already mentioned.)
For those who must light early, the earliest time one may light is PLAG MINCHA. For all of Chanuka, we can use 3:35pm as PLAG. This time is padded slightly to avoid someone’s being off a bit and lighting too early.
Those lighting early should remember that the candles or oil must be able to last until the minimum half-hour after Stars-Out.
Also know that the closer to sunset, the better is the early lighting. 3:30pm is TOO EARLY TO LIGHT - probably BRACHOT L'VATALA (brachot in vain) and no performance of the mitzva. 3:35pm is okay, because it is after PLAG, but 3:40pm is better. 3:45 is better still. Etc. Get the point? The closer to sunset one lights, the better it is for visibility of the candles, and that means the better it is for Pirsumei Nisa.
If, because of one’s work or travel schedule, one has to choose between lighting early or late, or between lighting early or appointing someone to light for you at the proper time, or between lighting late and appointing someone to light for you at the proper time — one should consult a Rav for a p’sak based on how early and how late, and any other relevant factors.
Sometimes a less-than-perfect performance of a mitzva is a fine, acceptable "second best". Sometimes, not. Lighting Chanuka candles early or late is a poor second, at best. Lighting early lacks an element of Pirsumei Nisa because a candle flame is not eye-catching (so to speak) during full daylight. Lighting late is not so good because of the opinions that the time-period for Pirsumei Nisa from the days of the Gemara remains the optimum time (and some say the ONLY time) for the fulfillment of the mitzva.
Although we follow other opinions, and basically allow lighting any time of the night, it is far less than ideal to light late. A "good" excuse makes it okay, but not great. One should consult a Rav especially for recurring situations, such as coming home late from work or school, and the like.
Remember that having someone light for you is a valid alternative to your lighting for yourself, and sometimes it is even the preferred alternative. Ask your Rav.
POINT Brachot (including SHE'HE'CHE'YANU) should be recited BEFORE beginning to light the candles. This complies with the general rule for Brachot of Mitzva, that they be recited immediately before performance of the mitzva, if possible. This means, that even on the eighth night, the candles are not begun to be lit until the brachot are completed.
POINT Opinions differ, but a common practice is to place the first candle (or oil cup) in the right side of the Chanukiya. If one lights at the doorpost, then the first candle should be closest to the doorpost, even if it is the left side of the Chanukiya. From the second night on, the custom (one of the customs) is to "load" the Chanukiya from right to left, but to light it, left to right. At the doorpost, one loads it from the doorpost out, and lights it starting with the candle closest to the doorpost. Loading and lighting direction is not crucial to the performance of the mitzva, but there are reasons for the various practices.
POINT The essential performance of the mitzva of Chanuka Lights is the lighting of a single candle each night, and the custom that we follow of increasing the number of candles each night is considered HIDUR MITZVA (enhancement of the mitzva). One practice that has developed because of this, is to begin reciting HANEIROT HALALU after the first candle is lit, while lighting the others. Alternatively, one can wait until the lighting is done to say HANEIROT HALALU.
POINT One should not just light the Chanuka candles and then go on to business as usual, but rather one should look at the candles for a while, ponder G-d's miracles, spend some time with the family talking about the message of Chanuka and how it relates to our time, play a little dreidel, sing a song or two, have some Chanuka fun.
POINT It is recommended to learn some Torah, share a Dvar Torah, have a family shiur, or something like that, right after candle lighting. The decrees of the Greeks included a ban on Torah learning. Our celebration of Chanuka marks our freedom from Greek oppression, including the ability to learn Torah in public without fear. So let’s do just that!
POINT Notice on the other sheet of this Pull-Out that the word SHEL in the first bracha is in parentheses. There is a dispute as to whether the bracha ends NER SHEL CHANUKA or NER CHANUKA. One should follow his own (or family) minhag, if you have one (and remember it). If not, you might want to ask your Rav which wording you should use. (Those who say NER CHANUKA have a bit of a problem if they sing the brachot, but don’t let that determine your choice of wording.)
Indoor/Outdoor
The original place for lighting and displaying of the Chanukiya was outdoors at the entrance to one's courtyard or home.
Over many generations in exile, where lighting outdoors was often inconvenient to say the least, and sometimes dangerous, the practice evolved to light indoors. In some circumstances, the lighting was to be done at a window, so that the candles would be visible to passersby in the street. In other cases, the Chanuka lights were lit in a conspicuous location for the attention of the members of the household.
Many people who have come to Israel, still light inside, at the window, as they had lit in their countries of origin. Others have gone back to the original practice of lighting outdoors. It seems that this is the preferred method in Yerushalayim.
If you are considering changing any aspect of your Chanuka candle lighting routine, (candle to oil or vice versa, sunset to stars-out or vice versa, indoors to outdoors or vice versa, window to door or vice versa, each family member to one for the family or vice versa, etc.) it is advisable to consult a Rav.
These pages should be considered a review of some – but not all – of the many Chanuka topics. (Others might be included in the body of TT, this week or next.) Often, different opinions were presented, but there were still sides of the different issues that were left out. It has been said often, but we repeat, it is best to consult your Rav to clear up any doubts you might have.
Sunday thru Wednesday, 26-29 KISLEV (Dec.1-4)
Full Hallel. One Sefer Torah. Three people to the “Tribal Leader” of the day (from Naso, Bamidbar 7). Each day’s portion has 6 p’sukim. The first three are read for the Kohen, the next three for the Levi. The third Aliya is a repeat of the whole portion. (Outside of Israel, the third Aliya is the next day’s portion.)
Thursday and Friday, 30 KISLEV and 1 TEVET, a.k.a. Rosh Chodesh Tevet (Dec.5,6)
Two Torahs. Three people are called to the first Torah for the Rosh Chodesh reading. (Same reading as all weekday Rosh Chodesh, except it is divided into three portions, rather than four, which makes repeating a pasuk or two unnecessary.) From the second Torah, we read a fourth Aliya from Naso - the Tribal Leader of the day. Musaf with Al HaNisim for Chanuka.
Friday, 1 TEVET (Dec.6)
See the lengthy presentation of the first Erev Shabbat-Chanuka - pretty much the same, except there is no need to set up candles for Motza’ei Shabbat.
Shabbat, 2 TEVET (Dec.7)
Parshat HaShavua is Mikeitz. It is read from the first of the two Torahs. The Maftir, from the second Torah, is the longest Maftir there is. We read from Naso of the “Tribal Leader” of the eighth day, and we continue with the gifts of the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th days of the dedication of the Mishkan, then the summary of the animals, gold and silver, and spices given over the 12 day period, and we conclude with the first portion of B’HAALOTCHA, the portion of the Menora (more on this, IY”H, in TT 547). The Shabbat meals give us a wonderful opportunity to discuss and sing about G-d’s miracles, then and now.
Shir shel HaYom - Psalm of the Day - for Chanuka
According to MINHAG YERUSHALAYIM (mostly based on minhagim of the GR"A, brought to Eretz Yisrael by students and followers about 200 years ago), there is a special chapter of T’hilim said on each day of Chanuka (Ps.30) which reempts the regular Shir shel HaYom. That is, except for Shabbat. Shabbat’s perek, 92, is said on Shabbat Chanuka, not 30. The chapter for Rosh Chodesh (104) also trumps that of Chanuka, and even that of Shabbat. The following chart covers all possible arrangements of Chanuka in our fixed calendar. For this year, 5763, use the last row.
T'hilim 30 is the introduction to P'sukei D'Zimra (or the bridge between Korbanot and P'sukei D'Zimra) and is said by some not only at the end of Shacharit on Chanuka, but also at the end of Maariv and/or at candle-lighting. (BTW, according to the GR"A, it is not said every day - only on Chanuka.)
Zot Chanukah
The "simple" explanation for this special name for the last day of Chanuka is the Torah reading from the end of Parshat Naso that emphatically announces ZOT CHANUKAT HA-MIZBEI'ACH (when the Torah is summing up the gifts of all the Tribal Leaders.
There is another, deeper meaning to the name. If you want to really know what Chanuka is all about, the answer is THIS, THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHANUKA - the fact that there are 8 days of Chanuka - ZOT CHANUKA, this is what Chanuka means. It means EIGHT. EIGHT is our answer to the Greek challenge. They said nature is perfect. They said it is a mutilation of the body to be circumcised. And they forbid us to fulfill that great mitzva of ours, under pain of death. EIGHT represents the step beyond TEVA, beyond nature. MILA on the 8th day represents our challenge to go beyond how we were created and take charge of the completion of our physical and spiritual form. The Mikdash began to function on its higher spiritual level on the EIGHTH day. The Greeks tried to take that away from us too. Torah was given to us on the day following seven sevens. It is an EIGHTH too. And the Greeks tried to take that from us also. With G-d's help, we prevailed over the Greeks and the triumph is celebrated with an 8 day holiday. This is Chanuka. ZOT CHANUKA.
Hallel
Hallel consists of six Psalms (113-118), which are said as a unit, on joyous occasions, when the praise of G-d is particularly appropriate, immediately following the Shacharit "Shemoneh Esray." These occasions include the following:
The three "major" festivals, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, the term "major" meaning that the festival is mentioned in the "Chamishei Chumshei Torah," the Five Books of Moses
The "minor" festival, Chanukah, the term "minor" meaning that the festival is not mentioned in the Five Books of Moses, and was instituted at a later time in Jewish History, either by the members of the "Anshei K'nesset Hagedolah," the "Men of the Great Assembly," or by great Jewish leaders acting under the influence of the Divine Spirit
Rosh Chodesh (Beginnings of New Months).
These chapters are expressions of joy and faith in G-d, and of gratitude for salvation from our enemies. They were incorporated into the Book of Psalms by King David, and they were singled out for inclusion in Hallel because they contain the following fundamental themes of the faith of Judaism: the Exodus, the Giving of the Torah by G-d at Sinai, the future Resurrection of the Dead, and the Coming of the Mashiach.
On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Hallel is not said at all, because as the Talmud explains in Masechet Arachin 10b, "Is it seemly for the king to be sitting on His Throne of Judgment, with the Books of Life and Death open before Him, and for the people to sing joyful praises to him?"
On the various Festivals, Hallel is said in one of two forms: Full Hallel and Partial Hallel.
Full Hallel, that is, all six Psalms, in their entirety, is recited on all nine days of Sukkot (including the "eighth" and "ninth" days, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah), on Shavuot, on the first two days of Pesach, and on Chanukah.
Partial Hallel, which does not include verses 1-11 of Psalm 115, nor those verses from Psalm 116, is recited on the last six days of Pesach and on Rosh Chodesh. See immediately below for explanation of two day - six day split on Pesach.
Pesach, like Sukkot, has the structure of Main Holiday (two days, one in Israel), followed by Intermediate Days (four days, five in Israel), followed by Main Holiday (again, two days, one in Israel). The last two days of Main Holiday (the Seventh day, in Israel) are specifically related to the Miracle of the Crossing of the Sea of Reeds, in which the entire Egyptian army was drowned. G-d Himself declared a limitation on our expression of His praise at that time, when He said "My creatures are drowning in the sea; it is not a time for the full expression of joy." Because the Intermediate Days should not be more joyous than the Main Holiday, it was decided that only Partial Hallel would be recited on all of the last six days of Pesach.
Only the Partial Hallel is recited on Rosh Chodesh, because it was introduced at a much later time than the other Rabbinic festivals; that is, in Babylonia, in late Talmudic times. Therefore, it originally had the character only of a "minhag," or custom.
No Hallel, neither Full nor Partial, is recited on Purim, despite the fact that there occurred at that time a miraculous salvation, albeit by a "hidden" miracle, aided by the valiant actions of Mordechai and Esther, from a premeditated full-scale attack on the Jewish People, by Haman and his cohorts, for several reasons. Two of those reasons are the following:
The miracle did not occur in the Land of Israel and, for "minor" holidays, only those occurring in Israel merit the recitation of Hallel.
Even after the Miracle of Purim, the Jews remained subjects of the Persian Empire, whereas on Chanukah, as a result of the victory of the Chashmonaim, the Jews regained their independence from Greece, at least for a short while (historically speaking), before they would fall again, this time under the domination of Rome.
Al HaNisim
The structure of this prayer is of two parts. The first part is a general introduction, and is appropriate for both Chanukah and Purim. It reflects the national gratitude of the Jewish People to G-d for performing miracles for us, at key points in our history, enabling us, literally, to survive.
These miracles were both "nisim niglim," "open miracles," as were performed for the Jewish People on the first Chanukah, in the victory of the Chashmonaim over the Greeks and their allies, and "nisim nistarim," "hidden miracles," as performed by G-d for us at the time of the first Purim. The Miracle of Purim was hidden in the sense that G-d's involvement was not apparent (on the surface, anyway), and operated in the background amid the intrigue of the Persian palace, and involved exquisite timing and apparent "coincidence."
The text of this introduction is as follows:
"And (we thank You) for the miracles, and for the salvation, and for the mighty deeds, and for the victories, and for the battles which You performed for our forefathers in those days, at this time."
As a prayer of gratitude, "Al HaNisim" finds its place in the section of the Shemoneh Esray reserved for expressions of gratitude to Hashem, and in a similar position in the Bircat HaMazon, where gratitude is extended beyond immediate physical sustenance, to gratitude in historical terms. In the daily version, Bircat HaMazon thanks Hashem for the inheritance of Eretz Yisrael; on Chanukah and Purim, Hashem is thanked as well for the miracles performed on our behalf on each of those occasions.
Laws of Chanukah
Chanukah begins on the evening of the 25th of Kislev and continues for eight days.
For the entire eight days of Chanukah it is forbidden to fast or to eulogize.
It is permitted to work; however it is customary for women not to work for at least the first half hour of the candles' burning, and some have the custom not to work for the entire time of burning. The types of activities that are forbidden are things like sewing and laundry etc. (Cooking is permitted.)
There is no obligation to have festive meals; however it is customary to celebrate by eating special meals anyway, because of the fact that the dedication of the Temple and Altar took place during Chanukah.
It is customary to sing during the meals songs that thank and praise Hashem. To sing and speak about Torah makes the meal into a seudat mitzvah, a meal of religious significance.
It is customary to eat milk foods because Yehudit, daughter of Yochanan the High Priest, was taken to be defiled by the Greek ruler Holofernes. She fed him cheese (to make him thirsty) and wine (to quench his thirst); and after getting him drunk she killed him. This was one of the events that sparked the Maccabean uprising. Food fried in oil is also eaten to commemorate the miracle of the Menorah. Latkes and donuts are the most common foods.
One should not fast during Chanukah, even on the occasion of a parent's yarhzeit (anniversary of death).
The festivities of Chanukah should be combined with study of Torah. Although many people have a custom to play card games on Chanukah, the Mishna Berurah states that, "He who cares for his soul should not involve himself in card games."
It is obligatory to light candles, and one should even borrow money to fulfill this mitzvah. If a poor person needs money for Chanukah candles the community is obligated to provide for him.
The minimum obligation is that every household should have one candle burning every night. It is customary to be scrupulous regarding this mitzvah: to have one candle on the first night and an additional candle every night (1-8), and for everyone in the house as well.
Any type of oil is acceptable for use in the menorah, however, it is best to use olive oil. The oil should not be made of a forbidden substance, nor should it be something from which it is forbidden to derive benefit.
The menorah should be similar to the Menorah in the Temple and hence most authorities forbid using electric lights or gas lamps.
The light should be clear, and the wicks should not flicker
Wax candles are also acceptable, providing they have a single wick.
All wicks are acceptable, but it is best to use cotton. The same wicks may be used over and over again.
It is correct to have a Menorah of glass or metal if one is lighting with oil, since other substances such as clay become disgusting after one use. If one can afford it, it is correct to buy a beautiful Menorah.
If one is using candles a Menorah is not necessary.
If a number of people are lighting in one household they should make a slight separation between their menorahs so that there is no confusion to the observer as to the number of candles.
Ideally, the Menorah should be placed outside the house to the left of the entrance. Since anti-Semitism was so common throughout Jewish history it became customary among may communities to place the Menorah inside the house, near the entrance or on the table. In many families it is the custom to place the menorah in a window facing the public, especially where many people share one entrance (e.g., apartment building). In Israel it is customary to light outside in a special box that prevents the flames from blowing out.
In most Yeshivot and Seminaries, it is customary for students to place there menorahs in the dining room at windows facing the street or public thoroughfare. (Lighting in the dormitories is usually a fire hazard and should therefore be avoided)
The menorah should be no lower than three tfachim from the floor (approx. 10.5 inches or 27cm) and should be no higher than 20 amot from ground level (35.5 ft or 10.8 m). Ideally, it should be about 10 tfachim high (35 inches or 90 cm).
The Menorah should have all the candle or wicks on the same level, none higher or lower than the others.
It is customary to have an additional candle (the shamash) with which to light the other candles and in order to use it's light. The shamash should be placed in a way that shows that it is not one of the Chanukah candles.
It is forbidden to derive benefit from the light of the Menorah just as it was forbidden to derive benefit from the Menorah in the Temple, and also in order to show that its purpose of the Menorah is for a Mitzvah, not just for illumination.
It is preferable to have the candles in a straight line, and not in a semi-circle, however it is permitted to have them in a semi-circle providing each candle is clearly separated from the others.
It is prohibited to light the shamash from the Chanukah candles.
Left over wicks and oils should be destroyed after Chanukah (except for unused oil left in bottle) since they may not be used for anything else. One should not store the used wicks and oil for the next year, since there is a probability that it will be used for profane purposes by accident.
There are different customs as to the lighting of the Menorah. Some light at sunset. Some light about ten minutes after sunset and some light 1/2 hour after. Some specifically light after the evening service is recited (Maariv). Ideally a person should follow the custom of his father. If this is not known or is inapplicable for any reason, one should follow the custom of the local community.
It is obligatory to put in enough oil, or a long enough candle to burn for at least 1/2 hour after nightfall (i.e. the appearance of three medium size stars).
In exceptional circumstances one may light one and a quarter hours before sunset with a blessing. (However one should be careful to put in more oil or to use longer candles). If possible it is better to appoint an agent to light candles at the correct time, than to light early. .
If one forgot or was not able to light at the correct time, one may light as long as people are still awake in the house in which one is lighting.
One should prepare the wicks and candles etc. before Maariv (if you light after) or well before the time of lighting in order to light the Menorah at the correct time.
I t is best to light in the presence of many people in order to publicise the miracle.
On the first night three brachot, blessings are recited. "Lehadlik ner shel Chanukah", "She asa nissim" and "Shehecheyanu". .
On the other nights only the first two blessings are said.
All the blessings should be recited before actually lighting the candles. First light the Shamash before the blessings to avoid delay. It is forbidden to speak between the recitation of the blessings and the completion of candle lighting.
"Haneirot Halalu" is recited either during or after the lighting of the additional candles.
"Maoz tsur yeshuaty" then sung.
Place first candle on the extreme right of the Menorah. On the second night add a candle on the left. Light the newest candle first and proceed to the right.
There are different customs regarding the placement of the candles, some follow the right and left of the observer from outside, some follow the right and left of the person lighting inside.
Do not remove the Shamash from the wick until the flame catches on most of the wick.
One does not add candles if they forgot to light on any night..
The Menorah should not be moved after is has been lit.
If the Menorah was lit in accordance with the requirements of Jewish law and it was extinguished, one is not obligated to relight it, but one may relight it without reciting a blessing.
If the Menorah was not lit properly in the first place, or was lit in a windy place and blew out then one is obligated to relight if it went out within 1/2 hour after nightfall.
On Friday afternoon, the Chanukah candles should be lit before the Shabbat candle-lighting time (if one accepted Shabbat early, it is forbidden to light Chanukah candles). Mincha should be said before lighting, if possible.
Remember to put in more oil or bigger candles on Friday, so that they burn 1/2 hour after nightfall. Try to light just before the Shabbat candles, (without of course delaying the lighting of the Shabbat candles)
After Shabbat one should first recite Havdalah, then light the Chanukah candles. One may not use the Menorah as the candle for Havdalah.
If one is a guest at someone's house (and staying there), one should give the owner a small amount of money to buy a portion in their candles and one may fulfil the obligation through the owner. Alternatively the guest may light his own Menorah.
If one is eating out then one should light the Menorah at their place of residence.
During morning prayers, Shacharit, one should recite the full Hallel every day.
"Al hanissim" the special paragraph of prayers for Chanukah is added in the silent prayers, Shmoneh Esreh and also in Grace after meals. If one forgot to say this addition, one should not repeat either Shmoneh Esreh or Grace.
It is customary to light a Menorah in the Synagogue every evening. It is placed at the southern wall of the Synagogue, in imitation of the Menorah in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Al HaNissim
The Al Ha-Nissim prayer which is recited during Shmoneh Esrei and Birkas Ha-Mazone on Chanukah is quite lengthy. Unlike the Al Ha-Nissim of Purim, which very briefly relates the basics of the Purim story, the Al Ha-Nissim of Chanukah is very elaborate. After narrating the story of the Chanukah victory, the text seems to wax poetic:
"...You gave the mighty (Syrian-Greeks) into the hands of the weak (Jews), and the many into the hands of the few, and the defiled into the hands of the pure, and the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the malicious into the hands of those who engage in Your Torah. And You made a great and holy name for Yourself in Your universe; and to Your nation, Israel, did You grant a great salvation and liberation, as on this day. And subsequently Your children came to Your holy abode, and they cleared out Your Palace, and they purified Your Temple, and they kindled lights in the courtyards of Your holy place. And they established these eight days of Chanukah in order to give thanks and praise to Your great name."
Why does the text contain the above, flowery addendum to the Chanukah narrative, detailing what the Jews did after the victory ["...Your children came into Your holy abode...and they established these eight days of Chanukah..."]? Why does it make no direct mention of the miracle of the oil which burned for eight days?
Let's begin by contrasting Chanukah and Purim. Purim is a primarily a tale of salvation from physical annihilation. Although the tribulations prior to Haman's downfall and the victories of Purim precipitated teshuvah and a renewed religious commitment on the part of the Jewish community, the central theme of Purim is that of rescue from death at the hands of Amalek [Haman and his cohorts]. This event therefore comprises the text of the Al Ha-Nissim prayer of Purim.
Chanukah is starkly different. There was no threat of death to the Jews. Rather, Torah study and observance of mitzvos were at stake, for the Syrian-Greeks forbade them, and the Beis Ha-Mikdash was defiled. Chanukah celebrates the Jews' spiritual victory.
Therefore, the text of Al Ha-Nissim of Chanukah could not stop at the point of detailing the Hasmonean military triumph. The real victory of Chanukah was that of the spirit, and the narrative of Al Ha-Nissim thus continues to the spiritual significance of the Chanukah story, elaborating on the religious qualities of the victors, the Kiddush Hashem of their success, the redemption of the Beis Ha-Mikdash and the eternal religious significance of the events. The physical triumph was merely a means for spiritual renewal and restoration, and it is this point which is the true focus of Chanukah's Al Ha-Nissim.
Still, why is the miracle of the oil not specifically mentioned?
The answer lies in the thematic motif at the end of Al Ha-Nissim. The conclusion of the text details the physical work involved in reclaiming the Beis Ha-Mikdash and the enactment of Chanukah as a holiday. ["...Your children came to Your holy abode, and they cleared out Your Palace, and they purified Your Temple, and they kindled lights...and they established these eight days..."] The narrative does not focus on the spiritual respite attained on Chanukah; instead, the spiritual work and effort of the victorious Jews are given attention.
Although the miracle of the oil affirmed that the military triumph of Chanukah reflected a deeper spiritual victory [and was a symbol of the presence of the Shechinah in Israel - see Sefer Noraos Ha-Rav], the true religious conquests for which we give thanks by reciting Al Ha-Nissim in the Hoda'ah ["Thanksgiving"] b'rachah of Shmoneh Esrei and Birkas Ha-Mazon are the freedom to engage in Torah and mitzvos and the redemption of the Beis Ha-Mikdash. Please allow me to explain why this is so.
Passive Jewish religiosity was not the enemy of Hellenistic culture. Recognition of Jewish identity and spirituality did not clash with Syrian-Greek ideology, as spiritual virtues and self-image were within the bounds of Hellenistic, man-centered thinking. To claim that humans are endowed with Godliness and that each person has a unique national or spiritual identity was not at odds with Syrian-Greek worship of man, as these qualities accentuate additional aspects of man's greatness.
Chanukah - and Torah as a whole - center on the service and supremacy of God and thereby declare the limitations of man. Hashem endowed man with wondrous physical, mental and spiritual capabilities not for man's own exploitation and self-aggrandizement; on the contrary, man's greatness and creativity exist for his pursuit of God and the establishment of the Divine Presence in man's midst. Thus, pro-active pursuit of holiness is the Jew's mandate, and restricting oneself so as to focus on Hashem is at the crux of the Torah's directives. By the same token, active service of Hashem was the real enemy of Hellenism, as such service displays man's subservience, directing all focus and praise on God. It is precisely the theocentric, God-focused path of Torah life, as embodied in active service of Hashem, which the Syrian-Greek culture could not tolerate. Avodas Hashem as the Master of the Universe negates the Hellenistic concept of man's autonomy and magnificence. The Syrian-Greeks did not attempt to stifle our religious identity; rather, they sought to destroy our theocentric approach as borne out through Torah study, mitzvah performance and the sanctity of the Beis Ha-Mikdash, which is the purest physical manifestation of service to Hashem and is itself a declaration of man's limitations, for entry to its various parts is restricted to certain classes of persons and specific levels of purity. The Beis Ha-Mikdash is the most forceful display of God-centered religion and man's limitations.
Therefore, the conclusion of Chanukah's Al Ha-Nissim exclusively addresses the religious actions of the Jewish victors in reclaiming the Beis Ha-Mikdash and establishing Chanukah for permanent observance, and the passive spiritual message of the miracle of the oil is omitted; for subservience to God, as reflected by active service to Him, and the centrality of Hashem and limitations of man, as manifested by the Beis Ha-Mikdash, clashed with Hellenism and were therefore at stake. The miraculous victory of Chanukah affirmed and restored these values.
It thus follows that "Mi laShem eilay" ["Whoever is committed to God should fight alongside me"] and "Mi chamocha ba-eilim, Hashem" ["Who is like you among the spiritual beings, O God"] were the rallying calls of the Macabis. Their war was to protect the supremacy and ultimate centrality of Hashem's role in Jewish life.
May we strive to embody the characteristics and drive of Mattisyahu and his sons, and may our approach to Torah be guided by the vision which is encapsulated in Al Ha-Nissim. May Hashem enable us to realize our potential in Torah and understand that the highest form of His Avodah is not defined passively by our culture or identity, but by becoming pro-active Torah personalities, depicted as "those who engage in Your Torah".
See the Light
I would like to study with you several talmudic and halachic statements and teachings that deal superficially with Jewish legal details of lighting the Chanukah lights, and attempt to find within these texts the deeper meaning that is relevant to our contemporary celebration of the special Yom Tov of Chanukah.
The Talmud in Tractate Shabbat teaches: "It is a mitzvah to place the Chanukah candles outside the door to one's home, but in times of danger, it is sufficient to place the candles on one's table (inside)." Simply stated, we are instructed as to the proper place for the menorah to rest. However, there is more.
One of the basic fundamentals of Judaism is that Kol Yisrael arevim zeh lazeh. A Jew does not live isolated from the rest of the world, nor can he be concerned merely with his own existence and survival. Jews must reach out and give of themselves to their fellow Jews. We have always been taught to bring our light to those who are still in the dark; to enlighten those who have not as yet had the opportunity and privilege to be on the inside. But in times of danger, when there is a threat from the outside, we should keep the lights on our own table, surrounded securely by children and family who are willing to share in the light of Judaism.
In the days of old, we learn from the Talmud's report, the candles were placed on the outside, whereas today the menorah is placed inside of our homes. Why the change in practice? In previous generations our enemies came from outside. So by kindling the menorah and placing it on the outside, we declared in demonstrative fashion our victory against the outside forces and external interference with our right to exist and survive as a people. Today, on the other hand, the forces of assimilation, intermarriage, ignorance and secularization arrogantly parade inside our very homes and institutions. Against these internal threats we demonstrate our pride as authentic Jews and assert our belief in the perpetuity of the Jewish people by lighting the menorah in our homes around our own tables.
Today's priority is not merely to teach and share with outsiders, but to maintain and reinforce the stability of our greatest source of strength - the Jewish home.
According to Halacha, a Jew who does not have sufficient funds to buy candles for Chanukah or wine to observe the mitzvah of the four cups of wine on Pesach, must go out and beg, "stretch out his hand," or collect charity in order to fulfill these special mitzvot. Why were such stipulations made specifically in regard to these two mitzvah observances? Because with regard to other mitzvot, if one has proper and positive intentions, but is unable to actually observe the mitzvah because of circumstances beyond one's control, the good and positive intentions suffice. In regard to the two mitzvot that call for pirsumei nisa, the need to publicly display and declare Jewish pride and affirm Jewish identity, action alone will do. Proper observance of Chanukah calls for commitment to greater action, to more intensive learning, to more generous giving, to more doing and less preaching.
There is an old custom that after reciting the blessing on the Chanukah candles we also recite the verse of Vihi Noam - "May the pleasant grace of the Lord our God be upon us: and the work of our hands confirm unto us…" Why add these words after the brachot? The celebrations of all other festivals are a result of the miracles and wonders brought about through the grace and mercy of God alone. Chanukah on the other hand, is of course a result of God's kindness, bit it is coupled with the active involvement and bravery of the Hasmoneans. Fighting assimilation, secularization, and ignorance is a struggle that can never be left to God alone. It is a fight that calls for "the work of our hands." When we succeed, as we did on Chanukah, we not only praise God with brachot, but we also extol "the work of our hands."
The Talmud further teaches us that the proper time for the kindling of the Chanukah lights is "when the sun begins to set." It is precisely when the sun sets, and darkness, fear, and trembling set in, that candles need to be lit. When the sun sets, it appears that eternal darkness will envelop us and never again will we enjoy the rays of light. How often in contemporary times do the statistics of assimilation, inter marriage and conversion frighten us. Reports of a decreasing Jewish population depress us and Jewish ignorance overwhelms us. It is precisely because of such awesome and dark realities that more and more candles need to be lit. True, the approach of Beit Shamai, who advised that we begin with a big flame of eight candles so that we may burn through the contemporary scene of decay and Hellenism, may not be practical or advisable. We, however, follow Beit Hillel, and begin with just one, small candle, with one single spark. From the one little spark, we work our way up, slowly and surely, to bigger and stronger lights - mosif veholech.
Among the laws of Chanukah, we also find that, "wicks and oils which may not be used on the Shabbat, may be used for Chanukah." Reb Mendel of Kotzl explains that neshomot (souls) (ner Hashem nishmat adam) - that may not even be awakened or moved by Shabbat, may be motivated by the observance of Chanukah. For even during Hasmonean days, when many Jews were alienated and removed from the mainstream of Judaism, they were, nevertheless, moved to join the struggle for Jewish independence, sovereignty and pride.
One more law regarding the lighting of the Chanukah menorah reveals the true nature of the Chanukah observance. If a Jew is unable to light or participate in the lighting of the menorah, and then merely sees someone else's menorah, he may recite the two blessings recited when kindling the lights: Sh'easa nisim l'avoteinu, (Who did miracles for our forefathers), and Shehecheyanu, (the blessing of gratitude to God for allowing us to live and enjoy this new event, another holiday).
It is easy to understand why one may recite the first blessing upon seeing the Chanukah lights; the flames are our tangible means of publicizing the occurrence of the miracle. But why must one also see the flames in order to recite Shehecheyanu? The fact that another Chanukah is here, and we are alive and well to usher it in, should be sufficient reason to give thanks and recognition to God!
The S'fas Emes explains, however, that merely being alive on the twenty-fifth of Kislev is not enough. One must see the flames and remember and understand what they represent. As Jews we must at least see the Chanukah lights - if physically lighting them is an impossibility - and acknowledge that we are grateful for the triumph of Torah's light over Greece's darkness, for Hasmonean commitment over Hellenistic compromise and for spiritual growth over physical gratification.
Think of how simple and obvious the S'fas Emes' response is. Chanukah is celebrated because of the purification of a small can of oil; the triumph of light over darkness. Never mind that Israel did not yet enjoy full independence or political and military supremacy. Even after independence was attained, our festival remained a commemoration of the miracle of lights, not of political supremacy. Of course, what else should concern the Jewish people if not the light of Torah, mitzvot, commitments, authentic Jewish education, vibrant and dynamic Jewish homes, synagogues and schools?
The root of the word Chanukah in Hebrew (dedication) not only reflects our commemoration of the rededication of the Temple of Old. The word equally emphasizes chinukh (education). Chanukah in modern times can bring the very same enthusiasm and excitement it did for the Hasmoneans in Temple days. Every Jewish family can "repurify" its own sanctuary or home by providing its members a Jewish education. Only children who learn primary Jewish sources, who study Jewish history, tradition and heritage and who appreciate their ancestors and identify with their language and customs, can be expected to be dedicated-even if they merely see the menorah! Jewish education can and should be exciting, contagious and spread like fire.
The Kedushat Levi comments on the Talmud's statement regarding the law of Chanukah, hadlakah osah mitzvah (the actual lighting of the fire is the essence of the mitzvah), namely, the ultimate goal of the mitzvah is to create fire, excitement, enthusiasm and yearning to create light.
A young and zealous Chasid was disturbed by the prevalence of overpowering darkness in the world. Intent on driving out the forces of evil, he sought the advice of his rabbi. At first, the rabbi suggested that he take a broom and try an experiment in a nearby cellar by sweeping together the darkness, which filled the room. The bewildered disciple undertook the curious task, but was unsuccessful. The rabbi then suggested that he take a stick and beat vigorously at the darkness to drive it out. When this too failed, the rabbi said, "My son, one can readily overwhelm the challenge of darkness by simply lighting a candle." The disciple and his fellow Chasidim descended to the cellar, where each kindled a candle. And behold, the darkness vanished!
It is time that we rededicate ourselves to the real purpose of Chanukah. The lights of Chanukah were meant to banish our own darkness. We must emerge from the shadows and illuminate our world. This year, do your share to let the light in.
Chanukah Insights
If you think about Chanuka, new ideas occurr. Chanuka, the Festival of Lights, occurs at the darkest time of the year -- the time when you would least expect it. And this is an important characteristic of Judaism: that light, and holiness, occur where one would least expect them.
Remember the origin of Chanuka: the Greeks were conquering the world, with their ideas as well as their armies, and were bringing a modern, practical, "enlightened" philosophy to the world; and resistance to this came where one would have least expected it: a small group of people, without military power, without weapons, went into the streets against the Greek rule, and were victorious!
There is a story of a man I had the honor of meeting in Jerusalem, Reb Yehuda Holtzman. He was not a Rabbi, not a Dayan, just a humble Jew in Mea Shearim, known as "Yehuda the Blecher", since he made blechs (Shabbat plates). I was friendly with an American who was in the habit of spending Shabbat with him. How he met him, or got into this habit, I never found out. He told me that Reb Yehuda had the custom of making Kiddush on challa every Friday evening. (Making Kiddush on challa is permitted if you have no wine, but it is unusual.) At first he thought that Reb Yehuda might be allergic to wine, but no, on Saturday morning Reb Yehuda would drink wine at Kiddush. He did not ask him about this, until one Friday evening, after some years of this, he saw Reb Yehuda's wife bringing him a bottle of wine, which he then used for Kiddush. My friend could not contain his curiosity any longer, and asked him the reason for this. He answered: "I'll tell you. There's no deep cabalistic reason. It's very simple." And he told him the following story.
Twenty-five years earlier, during the British Mandate, a friend of Reb Yehuda had a serious illness, for which the only known cure would cost five thousand pounds sterling, a fortune in those days. He had absolutely no idea how he would raise the money, and came to Reb Yehuda for advice. Reb Yehuda said to him: "Go ahead and borrow the money, and I'll repay it for you." For he had calculated that if he did without wine at Kiddush on Friday evening for twenty-five years, he would be able, with the money saved, to repay the whole debt. And that is what happened. And on that very Shabbat, the twenty-five years were up, and he could go back to having wine for Kiddush.
Holiness is found in the most unexpected places.
I am involved in fund-raising myself, and I know that the real money comes, not from the big names you find in Fortune magazine, but from quiet, humble people, who have an abiding sense of commitment.
There is a custom, among some people, of turning off the lights when they light the menora at Chanuka. This emphasizes the idea of light coming forth from darkness, and holiness appearing where it is least expected.
Have a lot of joy this Chanuka.
Lasting Lights
Chanukah is a victory celebration. The emphasis is not on the struggle against tyranny, the land liberated, "religious freedom" or the military victory against overwhelming odds; it is the celebration of a spiritual struggle and a spiritual victory. Despite the Hellenization of a significant number of Jews, the Jewish people refused to surrender to the tidal wave of the dominant Greek culture which proclaimed that it alone was civilized, contemporary and relevant.
By stubbornly insisting on maintaining their own religious values and spiritual way of life, and by forcing that way of life on Jews who had rebelled and succumbed to Greek culture, they not only survived - they also revived Jewish life for all time to come.
The Greeks had no desire to destroy the Jewish land or to spill Jewish blood - their purpose was to defile our spirit, to contaminate the sanctity of Jewish life, to impose their culture, philosophy, values and their corrupt pagan religion. As evidence, we see that they did not destroy the Temple or the Menorah, they were satisfied to allow Jewish life to function so long as it conformed to Greek terms, so long as the Jews marched to the Greek tune, and acknowledged Greek "superiority."
Further evidence for this is that unlike the other holidays which are rich with mitzvot and a variety of celebrations, Chanukah has but few modest ones; the kindling of the lights of the Menorah and the saying of Hallel and Al Hanisim. There are no parades, fireworks displays or brass bands.
This unique mode of celebrating Chanukah through the kindling of lights and the retelling of the story of the miraculous one day flask of oil which lasted for eight days raises three interesting questions:
1) Why do we celebrate a great military victory by lighting our Menorot?
A flame is fragile; with one flick of a finger it can be extinguished. Victories, especially military ones, are generally celebrated with great monuments, parades and brass bands.
2) Why did the miracle of Chanukah take place retroactively? That is, why did the miracle of the lights occur after the military victory?
Miracles are needed in the midst of crisis, in the thick of battle. The Sea of Reeds split to let the Jews through when they were being pursued by Pharaoh's army. That is a miracle. Daniel was saved in the lion's den. That is a miracle. But -- why on Chanukah did the Jews need a miracle "after the fact," -- once the battles were over, after they had overcome impossible odds, "the many in the hands of the few," - once the Temple was recaptured and cleansed? Strange, indeed, for G-d to send a miracle when the time for miracles had passed and the time for celebration had arrived.
3) This brings us to the third and final question: What was G-d's message to the Jewish people when He caused oil sufficient for one night to remain lit for eight? No miraculous manifestation of G-d's will is without a message.
The answer to all three: Flame is a physical manifestation of the spiritual. "Ki Ner Elokim Nishmat Adam," "The candle of G-d is the soul of man." As is true concerning the human spirit, a flame can die or soar, it can be extinguished with the flick of the finger or it can light up an entire world if provided with sufficient fuel. The essence of the Jew is his spirit. The miracle of Chanukah describes the ability of a tiny people to maintain a Torah life through thousands of years of exile despite the efforts of every major civilization to destroy or convert us. The miracle of Chanukah commemorates the steadfastness and resilience of the Jewish spirit, the stubbornness of a stiff-necked people in the face of fierce opposition, mockery and persecution.
The miracle of the Menorah occurred retroactively as a sign from Heaven to indicate approval of the mode of battle and struggle adopted by the Maccabees. But in its deeper meaning, the miracle of oil sufficient for one day was a reflection, a mirror image of the underlying miracle of Chanukah -- the resurrection of the will of the Jewish people to resist the efforts of the Greeks and their Jewish/Greek allies to destroy the Torah way of life.
The loyal Jews were in a state of total collapse and despair. The vials of holy Temple oil which the Greeks had defiled represent the tens of thousands of Judean families that had been Hellenized or intimidated into accepting the decrees of the Greeks which forbade the study of Torah and the observance of the Mitzvot. The Jewish people was all but defiled, its spirit depressed, its hope lost. Just as the holy Temple oil was defiled by the Greeks so, too, was the spirit of the Jewish people defiled. No one possessed the will to wage a battle for Hashem and the Torah. For all intents and purposes the Hellenizers were victorious, the Jewish people had succumbed to superior internal and external forces.
Their lights were out.
In the midst of this hopeless, depressed situation there arose a family of priests, Mattityahu and his four sons, who advocated resistance and rebellion. Not only did they battle the Greeks -- they also fought their fellow Jews who had caved in to the pressures of the Greek way of life -- which had conquered the entire civilized world of that time. The Hasmoneans - or the Maccabees, as they came to be known, were the only pure, undefiled flask of oil remaining in the Jewish people.
Before they could successfully unfurl the banner of revolt they had to revive the spirit of the Jewish people. They had to infuse the Jew with the will to do battle, they had to awaken their faith in Hashem for them to want to "battle His battles."
"Ravta et Rivam", "You, G-d then fought their battle," when it became the battle of the Jewish People, when we became prepared to go to war on G-d's behalf.
The war against the Greeks and the ultimate Maccabean victory was the final step in the renaissance of a people. Just as one priest discovered one vial of sacred oil - so, too, one family of priests represented the one residue of sacred undefiled Jewishness. It was that one undefiled family which succeeded in kindling the pure flame of Torah -- which in turn revived the spirit of the entire Jewish people. It is this victory, the victory of the spirit -- of indomitable faith and loyalty -- which we celebrate with the kindling of the Chanukah Menorah. It is the victory of the Maccabees over Jewish depression and despair which G-d acknowledged with the miracle of the flask of oil.
The miracle of Chanukah repeats itself in each generation -- "in those days and at this time." The revival of Torah in our day is no less a miracle, the odds were no less formidable, the faith required of us is no less. Our victory will ultimately end with, "a song of thanks at the dedication of G-d's altar." To achieve this victory we must be prepared to recognize and confront our plight.
The forces of Western civilization which place materialism, leisure, relaxation and technology above spiritual Torah values is Greek philosophy in modem dress. This philosophy which denies the supremacy of Torah and the reality of G-d's will remains our greatest enemy. "Yevanim nikbetsu alay" - "Greeks have overwhelmed me," this challenge describes the plight of the overwhelming majority of Jews today. They are just overwhelmed by the secular life around them. But, if we can repeat the tactics of the Maccabees and apply them to our day, we too, can succeed in replicating the miracle of Chanukah.
Let us not forget that we are competing with the most alluring, enchanting civilization in history. Modern entertainment and technology have no rival. Nonetheless, when Jews experience the warmth and truth of Torah they are attracted despite the competition of a materialistic, popular and successful culture. The uniqueness of the revival of Torah in our day is the product of a special divine blessing, it has been said that "the Prophet Elijah walks among us" -- it is for us to take advantage of this window of opportunity.
Golden Menorah
The Golden Menorah in the Bait HaMikdash represents the wisdom of Torah. The miracle of Chanukah is the miracle of the Jewish victory over the Greeks' attempt to force the Jewish people to abandon and forget the Torah. Despite the fierce effort of the Greeks and their Jewish Hellenist allies to destroy every shred of Jewish loyalty to Torah, the Torah and its wisdom survived.
When the Romans destroyed the Bait HaMikdash in the year 70, the entire elaborate system of worship, sacrifice, music, ceremony and prayer ceased to be in effect. The only two functions of the Bait HaMikdash which survived its destruction were the Blessing of the Kohanim and the Golden Menorah. How did the Golden Menorah survive? From functioning as an instrument for the Tzibur -- the totality of the Jewish People and the Torah of Klal Yisrael -the Menorah was transformed into functioning as an instrument for each individual Jew. Now it would cast the light of Torah in each individual Jewish home.
"How would, you feel," asks Rav Hutner, "were the Golden Menorah of the Bait HaMikdash placed in your home? You would be overwhelmed, you would not know what to do with yourself." This is exactly what happened, and this is the real miracle of Chanukah -- the Chanukah Menorah in each Jewish home is the continuation of the Golden Menorah of the Bait HaMikdash. By lighting the Chanukah Menorah we bring the holiness of the Bait HaMikdash and the eternity and indestructibility of Torah wisdom into our homes. We are able to say of our Chanukah lights that which we were only able to say of the Temple Menorah, "These lights are holy, we have no authority to make use of their light, only to see them."
Why are we not allowed to make use of the Chanukah lights? Because they represent the "or ganuz," the hidden light, that was concealed for the righteous in the world to come. If the Chanukah lights represent the hidden light, why are we allowed to see them at all? Because the light of the Golden Menorah also represented the eternity and indestructibility of Torah. The Menorah brings us the Divine promise that the light of Torah will always overcome the attempts of the world's civilizations to impose their culture on us, no matter how sophisticated or intellectual they may be. The Menorah declares that the Jewish people are an eternal people that will survive the attempt of each major world civilization to destroy us. The ultimate Temple is the Torah purity of our homes and our hearts; it is for this reason that we bring the Menorah into our homes and are permitted to see its light.
The ultimate miracle of Chanukah is not that oil sufficient only for one day burned for eight days. Miracles were common in the Bait HaMikdash; the Bait HaMikdash was a higher realm, where miracles were a daily occurrence. The real miracle of the Menorah is that Israel and Torah survived. The miracle of Chanukah is the transformation of the Tzibur's mitzvah of the Golden Temple Menorah into the personal Menorah lit in each Jewish home. The real Chanukah miracle is the ability of every Jew to bring the light of Torah into his or her home, despite the fact that the Temple was defiled by the Greeks and destroyed by the Romans. The eternal people lives on in the face of exile and persecution, despite the fact that the Temple lies in ruins, because Torah is eternal.
The building of the Temple and the lighting of the Golden Menorah will happen when the majority of the Jewish people light the Menorah in individual homes and hearts. During this time when the light of the Torah is almost extinguished, we need to do precisely what the Maccabees did -- re-light it through our idealism and dedication.
Chanukah - Light or Fire?
Chanukah is treated in the Talmud in a rather puzzling fashion. In response to the question, "What is Chanukah?" the Talmud relates the story of the cruse of undefiled oil found by a priest in the Temple. Why this relatively minor incident, to the exclusion of almost everything else? Would we not expect the Talmud to relate the intolerable Greek oppression, the betrayal by the Jewish Hellenists, the heroic struggle of loyal Jews to observe the Torah under pain of death, or the battles of Mattityahu, Yehudah HaMaccabee and his valiant brothers against an overwhelming foe?
The miracle of how a bit of oil, good for only one day, which lasted for eight, is no doubt unusual, even fascinating and significant. But, does it rate against the battles, the victory and heroism of a people who fought against impossible odds to restore their freedom, Temple and their very right to live as a people?
The question goes deeper. Why are the Sages so concerned with the dedication of the Temple, and not with the heroism of the Maccabees? Why the emphasis on light and oil, as opposed to the land liberated with fire and blood from an oppressing foe? The puzzle is solved when we appreciate that the significance of Chanukah relates in a very special way to the survival of the unique Jewish spirit as exemplified by Torah and Temple. The Sages want us to realize that the battles and the heroism pale in significance when we consider the lessons to be learned from the confrontation of Greece and Judea in the realm of ideals and ideas.
Throughout history, two distinct types of enemies have challenged the Jews. One practiced genocide, seeking to destroy the Jewish body. Examples of this enemy are Pharaoh who decreed the destruction of all male infants, the Amalekites who attacked the Israelites in the desert, or Haman whose decree, like Hitler's was "to kill and destroy all Jews, young and old."
The second enemy is more subtle, but no less dangerous. He seeks not to destroy bodies but the sanctity and uniqueness of the Jewish people by attacking the foundations of ideology and tradition. As stated in the Al Hanisim prayer of Chanukah, "to cause them to forget Thy Torah, and to force them to repudiate Thy Commandments." It is the life and death struggle of Torah truth with secular culture, amoral beauty and profane worldly power.
Chanukah is the prototype of the second type of struggle, and it has a special message for American Jews. While American Jews are safe physically, secular culture has a powerful tendency to assimilate the Jew by watering down the Jewish content and commitment of our lives, by causing the neglect of study and observance and by gradually dissolving the Jews bonds with a unique history and destiny. How is this accomplished? By worshipping things, money, and pleasure instead of striving for direction, purpose, and commitment to eternal ideals which reach beyond the gratification of the physical senses.
Because the essence of Chanukah is the battle of ideas more than the battle of armies, we must have a deeper appreciation of how the situation then parallels ours today.
In the wake of the spectacular conquests of Alexander the Great, the Greeks at the time of the Maccabees established Greek cities and planted Greek culture, art, music, philosophy, and sport in every corner of the known world. In its day, Greek culture held an even more dominant position than American culture occupies in today's world.
Most nations found Greek culture attractive and willingly accepted it, superimposing it onto, and integrating it into their own cultures. Before long, Hellenism became a world culture, dictating standards, goals, and styles to all. Only one people refused with dogged firmness to be "civilized." Puzzled over this people's strange unwillingness to accept that which everyone else found so enchanting, the Greeks, at first, respected the cold shoulder the Judeans gave their civilization. They discerned a unique element in the Jews they had yet to encounter in any other people. One Greek writer called the Jews "a nation of philosophers." He had observed how this strange nation, in groups large and small, was engaged from one end of its small country to the other in its own "national sport," the study of Torah.
To understand the conflict of Jew and Greek, of Torah and Hellenism, turn to the eighth chapter of Genesis where, after the Great Flood, Noah relates a prophecy to his three sons, Shem, Cham, and Yafet. Each son was destined to be the founding father of one of the principal branches of civilization. Shem, the Near Eastern Semite or Jew; Yafet, the European Greek; and Cham, the African or Canaanite. Noah's words were, "G-d will give the Greeks control over the expanse of the earth, particularly over the aesthetic element of civilization, but He (G-d) will dwell in the tents of Shem" . . . i.e., with the Jews.
The Jew and the Greek were the standard bearers of the two spiritual elements which mark the decisive struggle for the mind of man; the two elements which in the history of civilization exerted the major influences in shaping the laws, institutions and ideals of mankind.
The Greek deified physical perfection. His life's concern was external beauty, the beauty of the body and of things. He was concerned with symmetry and harmony, with art, music, sculpture, architecture, song and dance. Greek philosophy and science were concerned with the ideal of the physical structure and perfection of political society. They were concerned only with those things that are in and of this world, limited by time and space. Their idealism was limited to what man could see, touch, hear, and smell. They ignored what man is and can become when he reaches beyond himself and this world, out to G-d.
In the pagan view, the gods were not the source of all that is -- the gods were rooted in this world, bound by its nature and subject to its laws. The concept of a Divine will, sovereign and absolute, which governs all and is the cause of all being, was unknown in paganism. To the pagan mind, there are independent, autonomous forces in the world which limit the Divine. Fate, for example, controls the gods as well as man.
The Greek concept of a deity was based on fantasy, mythology and magic. The Pantheon was a lively community of gods and goddesses who love and hate, fight and make peace; eat, drink and procreate. The ultimate force guiding the world was not an ethical, loving merciful G-d, but "necessity" and "fate," which are blind, subject to dark, unknown magical forces.
Behind the refined well-mannered Greek gentlemen, the Jew saw a world that had no living faith, with state supported pagan temples whose gods no one really believed in.
By the time they encountered the Jews, the Greeks' old pagan worship was all but dead. The gods of Mt. Olympus were not taken much more seriously than Santa Claus. With their passing, the philosophers turned to metaphysical abstractions, impractical dreams about utopian cities and perfect societies. The masses, left without a meaningful faith, turned to cynical skepticism, superstitious cults and fads. They went from one blind extreme to another, on one hand believing nothing, and on the other, accepting the most astonishing nonsense, no matter how absurd. As organized "religion" decayed, magicians, astrologers, amulet writers and charlatans grew in number. Even when organized paganism crumbled, people still thought that the wildest, stupidest ritual act, the strangest ceremony or sacrifice, almost any charm or formula had the power to help control the fickle, unpredictable "gods." The religious desperation in the decaying Greek-Roman world can be seen from how eagerly this world was later to accept Christianity which filled pagan forms with some elements of Jewish content.
On the other hand, despite political instability and subjugation by other nations, the Jew lives in the certainty that life is worthwhile, that it has direction and purpose, that the nation's destiny as well as his own is the special concern of the one all powerful G-d Who created the universe. The Jew's faith is reasonable and logical; it is based on revelation -- a revelation which has stood the test of time, logic and life. This faith presents the Jew with a consistent system of laws and practices which constructively govern every phase of life. The most basic Jewish conviction is that G-d is supreme. There is no realm or power above or beside Him. He is absolutely sovereign. No laws, forces, or powers transcend Him.
Despite its surface glitter, to the thinking, knowing Jew, the Greek world offered nothing but degenerate paganism. It was a grand floating night club filled with music, wine, dancing girls and wild all night orgies. But the engine was shot, the crew tired, the fuel tanks empty, the heatless ship filled with holes and cracks bound to sink at any moment.
While the Greek possessed the polished finesse of the gentleman, he lacked basic values. While he had surface culture, when stripped of the veneer of his fancy front, he was, in essence a barbarian.
To the Jew life was sacred; each human being had worth and dignity. Since each person possessed G-dliness, he was of infinite significance. The Jew opposed all forms of human exploitation. Unlike the pagans, Jewish courts were reluctant to impose capital punishment. They had long found that slavery was economically unprofitable, because of the high standard of living in which the "master" was required to maintain the "slave," by Torah law.
While the Greeks worshipped form, beauty, and the power of the body, they had no reverence for life. The economic basis of Greek society was brutal inhuman slavery, and most of the population of the Greek cities were slaves. Human life was cheap. Man was a thing, to be used and abused at the masters' will.
Unique too was the Jew's concept of humility, dignity, and family. To the Jew, the physical function of sex was good and essential, the foundation of a healthy, stable, and closely knit family. Used correctly, it is the instinct on which family and society is established. Sex was neither an evil to be avoided nor an instrument for sensual bestiality, to be abused or flaunted. It is an essential function, guarded and sanctified by the laws of the Torah and the institutions of marriage and home.
In contrast, the Greek world seesawed from the extremes of complete abstinence from the flesh, which was fed by deep guilt and uneasiness, to widespread sensual excesses, drunken parties, pornographic literature and perverted practices.
While the Jewish man generally lived a normal family life, respected and loved his wife, and considered the family home the basic structure on which to develop a life of purpose, the Greek man needed his wife only to bear and nurture children. He often fled the home to develop social outlets in the company of courtesans.
While most conquered nations succumbed to the allure of Greek music, art, architecture, drama, and philosophy, the Jew saw beyond the cultural veneer and detected the deep fundamental voids and basic lacks in every aspect of Greek life.
Even in his ideal "Utopia," the Greek philosopher Plato assigns the masses to bondage and slavery. Aristotle states that some humans are naturally slaves. Only the Jew developed a sense of identification with the oppressed and lived by laws which protected the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the stranger.
Greek literature and theater glorified violence and sex. The worship of the physical brought about the sensual worship of the body. The result was a life of "drunken orgies," a loss of self-control, and in the final count, of true human freedom and dignity. Enslaved to the body and its desires, the Greek was not his own master. He lived a life of inner pessimism, doubt and "fate." His art and culture served base ends rather than becoming means to higher ends. Greek civilization was dead; it died because it had nowhere to go. It died because aesthetic, physical, and "intellectual" perfection are not sufficient for man. Instead of becoming the master of the world through his concern with the physical, the physical world overpowered him and led to ultimate decay.
The Jews who came into contact with the Greeks through business and government were exposed to the pleasant side of Greek life and were tempted to break loose from the restraining control of the commandments and taste of the excitements and pleasures of their masters. Many Jews copied Greek dress and language, attended their theaters, amusements and sports; and, because the Jew generally carries whatever he does to its logical conclusion, many paid lip service to Greek pagan gods as well. Not that they believed in them, even the Greeks had ceased to believe in them, but because Greek religion was civic in nature, almost every facet of Greek life involved some form of worship.
Gradually, these Jews became Greek "goyim." Since they did not abandon their Jewishness in name, the threat was greater. Hellenized Jews hoped to fill their lives and the life of the Jewish land with Greek content. Instead of betraying their people by abandoning them, they attempted to remake them by "reforming" them. It is essential that we be aware that this voluntary betrayal of Judaism by many priests and upper class Jews preceded the decrees of King Antiochus; without them, Antiochus would never have interfered in the inner life of the Jewish people.
Only when the Greeks saw that many Jews were prepared to betray their way of life, did Antiochus find the courage to prohibit "on pain of death," the study of Torah, the practice of Circumcision, the observance of Shabbat and Divine worship, even to the extent of erecting a statue of Zeus in the Temple and sacrificing pig on the altar.
The true enemies of the Jews were not the Greeks -- but the "reform" Jews who betrayed the Torah, abandoned the Commandments and accepted Greek ways. This was an internal national struggle for the soul of the Jew -- the two sides were the "Torahists" and "Hellenists." Their struggle is similar to the conflict of traditionalists and the various reforming branches of American Judaism who clothe non-Jewish concepts in Jewish dress, who use the terms "Torah," "G-d," and even "Shabbat," but mean something entirely different from the time honored concepts. At the crux of the Chanukah struggle was not the battle with the Greeks, but the ideological civil war with those who hoped to reform the spiritual foundations of Jewish peoplehood.
It was at this point in the struggle that the old High Priest drew his sword, unfurled his flag, and proclaimed the battle which was victorious with the help of G-d, "who gave the many into the hands of the few."
In Rabbi Yehuda Halevi's classic work, "The Kuzari," the medieval Judeo-Spanish Jewish thinker summarized the conflict between the "tents" of the Jews and the "beauty" of the Greeks. Time has not erased the basic differences that delineate western civilization and the classic Jewish view of civilization. The battle rages on. Arrayed on the front lines in this battle are the same people, torn by deeply ingrained Jewishness at one pole, and the attractions of "modern," secular civilization on the other.
Halevi writes in "The Kuzari" that, "the foundation of Greek wisdom is the flower, not the fruit." Flowers in his analogy represent beauty; its fragrance, color, symmetry, form and charm; its appeal to the senses. But the flower does not last, its appeal is limited, it soon dies. Most of all, it is not life giving. Fruit symbolizes the core of the individual, man's struggle for goals and purpose. Fruit provides nourishment, sustains life, and bears the seeds of the future. Fruit does not deceive, its external charms are a true reflection of a tasty, nutritional, meaty inside.
Contemporary culture comes to us in the form of the Greek flower, with its emphasis on externals, aesthetics, leisure, and recreation, form without inner content. America is a nation of spectators, not participants. We speak of people, but are callous to individuals.
Many practice Judaism without religious commandments; a religion stripped of Shabbat, Kashrut, family laws, and sanctity. Many Jews are content with "flowers," but are unconcerned with the fruit. Even in so-called "religious" institutions, there is an emphasis on buildings, size, membership, prestige, and power. There are great budgets, prestigious organizations, magnificent press relations -- Too often, these are little but window dressing. Who searches for the truth, who is immersed in the fruit? Who is concerned for the individual, his needs and character, his growth in Torah? Isn't this the real message of Chanukah? Those who will survive as Jews are those concerned with individuals. The first individual we must be concerned with is one's self, with our own depth, our Torah knowledge, our striving for individual growth.
Chanukah proclaims the faith and certainty that victory is ours, that there is nothing to fear but our own lack of integrity and truth, our own failure to pass on untarnished, the values of our Heritage to our children. The Maccabees were, after all, a conquered people facing the greatest military power on earth. They lacked a government, an army, training, and arms. Yet, they proclaimed the battle. It was won, not because of their faith in arms, but because of their faith in an invisible, but much present G-d. It is the individual who shines forth in the events of Chanukah.
Man was created "alone," so that he can, in the words of the Sages, fearlessly proclaim -- "for me was the world created." One old priest proclaimed the battle, another had faith and lit a single cruse of oil. His concern was light, the light of Torah. With this fight and his faith, tomorrow's oil would surely be found. Here is revealed the miracle of Divine power. Enemies from without and within rage against us. So long as there remains one Jew in whom the spark of faith and courage shines in but one small village, ready to take up the sword and unfurl the flag, there is no need to fear. One pure spark can set the flame afire. Man need only preserve and light it. G-d will guarantee the continuity of its light. "He who comes to purify -- is assisted from above."
"All may forsake the Torah and bow to the gods of the Greeks -- but I will not," declared Matityahu. One loyal house can withstand an entire community. One Abraham, alone, opposed by all, can kindle an entire world. One with G-d is a majority.
No wonder the key to the meaning of Chanukah is found in the cruse of oil. No wonder this incident, almost to the exclusion of others, is highlighted in the brief account in the Talmud.
The commandment of Chanukah is that each household kindle a light. The Sages wisely extended the commandment such that a candle is provided for each person in the house; light and the individual are the essential elements of Chanukah. We begin with one light and add a new light each night. "When it comes to holiness, we increase and do not diminish." He who does not advance, retreats; the tiny flame must be made to glow brighter. Finally, the Chanukah light is placed at the entrance, near the door -- in order to publicize the miracle. The light in one home will be seen by neighbors, and may stimulate them to bring light into their home.
This is the Jewish destiny, -- to be a "light to the nations" -- "or la 'goyim," to be the "spokesman of G-dliness among the nations." The light of Chanukah is small. If each individual Jew keeps his light pure, this small light will grow and radiate over the entire world.
Seeing the Light
There is an unusual law in the observance of Chanukah which is unique among mitzvos. The Shulchan Aruch rules that one who doesn't have the opportunity to kindle Chanukah lights or to have someone lighting on his behalf in his home becomes obligated, upon merely seeing Chanukah lights anywhere, to recite the blessing "She'asah Nissim," "Who performed miracles" (Or ch.676.-3, in accordance with Rashi's interpretation of the text in Shabbos 23a).
Surely this is exceptional. If, due to circumstances beyond one's control, one doesn't eat matzoh on Pesach, or take hold of a lulav on Sukkos, or a hear a shofar on Rosh Hashanah, one is absolved of these obligations. If the mitzvah of Chanukah lights were solely to kindle them, then the inability to do so would similarly terminate the issue. However, such is not the case.
I would like to suggest a possible explanation for this unique practice. It seems to me that beyond the actual kindling of lights, quintessentially Chanukah imposes an obligation upon Jews to see things in a special light, to apprehend reality in a unique manner.
There is actually no such thing as purely autonomous objective reality. No event which takes place in the world presents itself on its own and proclaims "I am a fact." Even in such a mathematically precise field as particle physics, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle has argued that the role of the observer is inseparable from a complete determination of the object.
Certainly in the world of human historical happenings, determining what "really" happened and what are the responsible causes or the expected consequences depends, to a great degree, upon how we see it.
How should a Jew see and evaluate the flow of events? A profound Midrashic teaching (Bereishis Rabbah 43:8) declares that the Jewish People, from its inception, has viewed things in a uniquely Jewish way, and this underlies all of Israel's blessings. The Midrash asks, what is the source of Israel's entitlement to the priestly blessing (Birchas Kohanim) which begins with the words "So (koh) shall you bless the children of Israel"? The Midrash then answers:
"from Avraham, regarding whom it is written, 'So (koh) shall be your seed' (Bereishis 15:5);
"from Yitzchak, for it is written, 'And I and this lad will go yonder (ad koh)' (Bereishis 22:5);
"from Yaakov, for it says, 'So (koh) shall you say to the house of Yaakov"' (Shemos 19:3).
It seems to me that each one of the sources cited and characterized by the term "koh" all relate to a singular way of seeing. When the Creator promised Avraham that he would be blessed with children, the Torah tells us that the Creator "took him outside and said 'Look down upon the heavens and count the stars . . . so (koh) shall you be."' Rashi interprets the phrase "took him outside" to mean that he raised Avraham "above the stars," that is, outside and beyond the usual process of nature and the normal determinants of history as it is played out in the world under the stars.
The promise is that the history of the Jewish people will fundamentally not unfold by the natural laws of politics, economics, military, and social forces which generally determine the fate of nations. Israel is to be guided by a supernatural course, by a Divinely miraculous providence, on the basis of which it will survive, thrive, and prevail. Jewish destiny will depend on Jews' relation to Torah law and prophecy over and above natural law. It is this Divine presence in history which Avraham and his future descendants are bidden to see.
In a similar vein, when Avraham was on his way with Yitzchak to the Akeidah on Mount Moriah, the Torah relates: "on the third day Avraharn lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off and Avraham said to his young men, 'abide here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder."' The Midrash elaborates: "What did he see (which told him that this was the place)? He saw a cloud enveloping the mountain." That is, he perceived it as the cloud of God's glory. The Midrash proceeds to say that Avraham then turned to Yitzchak: " 'Yitzchak, my son, do you see what I see?'
'Yes,' he replied.
He then said to his two servants, 'Do you see what I see?'
'No', they answered.
'Since you do not see it, abide here with the donkey' "(who also doesn't see anything out of the ordinary).
Thus, Yitzchak, like Avraham, sees what others do not see, namely, the magnificent presence of God in the world of human events, leading through many Akeidahs to the ultimate glory, to the Redemption and the Beis Hamikdash on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.
In like manner, when Israel was assembled at Mount Sinai, the Almighty addressed Moshe, "So (koh) shall you say to the house of Yaakov, and tell the children of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself." What the children of Yaakov saw was unique in history. They saw the Creator lifting them miraculously out of the usual categories of history, out from under the oppression of the Egyptians who by all the predictable laws of history should have crushed the Israelites by their superior powers. But Israel sees things very differently. This extraordinary vision is the source for all their blessings ["koh s'vorachu es Bnei Yisrael"].
This singular way of seeing lies at the heart of the observance of Chanukah. It is perhaps no sheer coincidence that Chanukah is celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev (chaf hey = koh) and, as Rishonim (Avudraham, Ran, Tur et al) have pointed out, the word Chanukah itself is a combination of the words chanu/chaf hey, literally, "they rested on chaf hey, the twenty-fifth day."
The Al Hanissim recitation of Chanukah presents in stark contrast the vision of the imperial Greek culture and the Jewish world view: "When the iniquitous power of Greece rose up against Your people Israel to make them forgetful of your Torah." By all the laws of human nature and history, the strong and the many overpower the weak and the few. But the Jews at that time, the progeny of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, perceived things from a different vantage point. They saw beneath the surface of events; they saw the Almighty in his "Abundant Mercy rise up for them in the time of their trouble," and that His Presence, unseen by the Greeks, brought about the delivering of "the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few."
This Jewish way of seeing is thus formalized in the halachah of Chanukah that one recites the brachah, "She'asah Nissim" - "Who performs miracles" - upon just seeing the lights of Chanukah.
Our adversaries, however, perceive things in a totally different light. This, I believe, is expressed in the terms used in Al Hanissim to describe the confrontation with our enemies: "Zeidim b'yad oskei Sorasecha: the insolent were delivered into the hands of those who occupy themselves with Your Torah." Surely that phrase is based on a verse in Tehillim (119:51), "Zeidim helitzuni ad m'od . . . : The insolent (zeidim) have greatly scoffed at me . . . " Zeidim are thus described as those who scoff or mock (helitzuni).
We may say that a leitz is one who refuses to see any of the deeper meaning or purpose in things beyond the surface. The nation of Amalek is characterized by our sages as "leitz." Unlike other nations that stood in awe of Israel, Amalek attacked Israel after its Exodus from Egypt, demonstrating its unwillingness to be impressed by the events of the Exodus, by refusing to see God's miraculous hand in Jewish history and by attempting to influence them to that way of shallow seeing.
However, those who are oskei Sorasecha, who "occupy themselves with Your Torah" see from their vantage point "above the stars," and "on eagles' wings" what the scoffers will never see.
In the confused and clouded times in which we live today, it is often difficult to see the Divine Presence glimmering in the darkness of history, guiding us to Redemption, to Jerusalem rebuilt, to the climactic Chanukah/dedication of the final and glorious Beis Hamikdash. Those, however, who occupy themselves with the Torah and can see things by the light of Torah, will ultimately merit the realization of the prophecy (Yeshayahu 52:8), "They shall see, eye to eye, the Lord returning to Zion."
Jewish Candles: The Power of Discernment
Candles highlight the performance of four important religious observances. The Mishnah in Pesachim instructs that "on the night of the fourteenth of Nisan we search for chometz by the light of a candle." Chometz signifies not merely the physical process of fermentation leading to seor, but also the fermentation of deeds, of our inner beings. We therefore carefully search and look for any failings and shortcomings in all areas of life - kot makom shemachni, sin bo chometz - in any area of our life where we may have brought in leaven, in chorin and sedakin, in all cracks and crevices of our existence. Thus, we may only fulfill this Halachic requirement through the use of a ner - a candle with a single wick, rather than a multiwick avukah - torch, which would prevent us from reaching into the depths of our minds and hearts, and thereby overlook failures and shortcomings not superficially apparent or obvious.
The lighting of Sabbath candies formally ushers in the Sabbath in the home. A minimum of two candles are lit, symbolically representing the two forms of the fourth commandment: zachor -"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," in Shemot, and shamor "Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy," in Devarim. The candles should be lit on the table where the Shabbat meal is eaten, and should be large enough to burn during the meal and well into nightfall, because ultimately the reason for the lighting of Sabbath candles is to create an atmosphere, a cohesive family unit. The Talmud defines the need for Sabbath candies as shalom bayit. The holiness of the Sabbath day is meant to create a peaceful, wholesome, tranquil, and happy Jewish home. It is any wonder, then, that Jewish housewives, who were given the special privilege of lighting the Sabbath candles, offer a moving and emotional prayer prior to the hadlakat ha'nerot in which they ask God to instill shechinatecha beinenu, "His peaceful and bountiful providence among us"?
To be a genuine and creative Jew, however, requires more than a searching soul or even a peaceful home. Judaism calls for openness and honest identification. It calls for a pride in one's Jewishness, even to the point of pirsumei nisa. Judaism is incomplete when it simply revolves around institutions, organizations, temples, or Federations. Judaism requires proud individual Jews willing to be known and counted as Jewish public relations agents. Thus, the Halachic requirement to light Chanukah candles, so that we may "glorify Your name for Your miracles, salvation, and wondrous acts"; not merely in historical and passive terms, but bayamim liahem bazman hazeh-in a personal, present, and proud sense-"Who wrought miracles for our forefathers in former days, at this season."
For Judaism to be maintained "at this season" bazman hazeh, it must relate to a living Jew, to a Jew willing to observe and look at candles directly and closely, and try to comprehend their relevant meaning. The law is that if one kindled the Chanukah menorah above twenty amah lo asah kelum-above twenty amot he accomplished nothing-because it is not obvious. What is not obvious? Certainly, the very same candles are lit, on time, according to all Halachic stipulations, what then is the psul? Perhaps the disqualification is based on the unwillingness to relate the mitzvah to a living Jew-to a gavra. Judaism cannot be camouflaged or hidden. Mitzvot cannot be placed beyond the reach of a living person, beyond human sight. The Jew unwilling to declare his allegiance to Halacha; his obedience to Shabbat, his concern for Kashruth, his commitment to intensive Jewish education, his faith in God and trust in His nation-such a Jew has done nothing. His Judaism is impractical, institutional, lacks pride, and misses the essence of pir-sumei nisa. Such Jews eventually assimilate. Such Judaism relates to ideas at best, but never to living people.
The Rambam, in elaborating on the uniqueness of lighting Chanukah candles, writes: "One must be extremely careful in fulfilling the mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles, for it is a particularly special and adored mitzvah." The Magid Mishnah, in citing the 'Mlmudic source for Rambam's emphatic statement, quotes the Talmud in Shabbat: "Rav Huna said that one who persists in lighting Chanukah candles is assured of children who will become talmidei chachomim." In verifying the actual source in the Talmud, we find Rav Huna's statement as reading: "One who is careful with the candle," which Rashi interprets as being careful about the mitzvah of lighting both Shabbat and Chanukah candles; which would then result in the light of Torah.
It would be appropriate to conclude, then, that authentic, proper, and genuine Judaism requires first a wholesome Jewish home - Ner Shabbat. Judaism can't and won't be maintained without a tranquil, unified, family-oriented shalom bayit that is created and maintained uniquely through the Shabbat. When a Jewish home is created, it can only be sustained through pirsumei nisa - through an open, public, proud, and pronounced Jewish identification ready to be shared personally and individually. Therefore, says Rav Huna, the guarantee for children maintaining and sustaining Yiddishkeit is not institutional Judaism, but rather Ner Shabbat and Ner Chanukah. Why? Because Ner Hashem nishmat adam - God's candle is the soul. Individual Jews, children and adults related to personally and directly, they have souls, their light is God's world; not buildings, not organizations, not even schools. They possess no neshama. They have no lights.
One critical question yet remains: How does a Jew learn to distinguish and observe the inner meaning, the hidden mysteries, the mystique of Jewish candles? The secret is inherent in the one remaining candle - the Havdalah candle. To understand the light of Judaism, one needs to be reminded that our Sages instituted for the Havdalah to be recited in Shmoneh Esreh adjacent to the blessing and request for wisdom - daat. We ask of God, the Source of all knowledge, to grant us knowledge, understanding, and discernment, for without wisdom how can we distinguish, how can we be mavdil, between holy and profane, between light and darkness, between Israel and all other nations, and between Shabbat and weekdays?
Without the bright light, not of one wick but of the great big torch of the Havdalah candle, composed of many wicks, how can we understand that indeed we possess human shortcomings requiring bedikat chometz? How can we be cognizant of Shabbat's beauty and peace? How can we be expected to demonstrate Chanukah's pride and pirsumei nisa? (Im ein daat havdalah minain?)
If we possess no wisdom and knowledge, how can we possibly differentiate between good and evil, light and darkness, sacred and profane? If we possess no Jewish wisdom and knowledge, how can we differentiate between Jew and non-Jew? Halachic and non-Halachic Jew? Chometz and matzah? Shabbat and chol? If we possess no basic education and wisdom, how can we observe and differentiate? How can we light any candles and enlighten our own existence?
A famous Viennese surgeon once told his students that a doctor needed two gifts: freedom from nausea and the power of observation and differentiation. He then dipped his fingers into a bitterly nauseating fluid and licked it off, requesting them to do the same. They did it immediately without flinching. With a grin, the master surgeon said, "You have passed the first test well, but not the second, for none of you noticed or observed that I dipped my first finger in but licked the second."
Hillel and Shammai - Two Opinions
The "machloket," or disagreement, between Hillel and Shammai and their respective Academies, Bait Hillel and Bait Shammai, in the matter of the lighting of the Chanukah Menorah, turns on a fundamental question regarding commandments, the performance of which varies with time.
According to Shammai, one begins with the "days remaining;" that is, with the "maximum potential" of the commandment. According to Hillel, one begins with the "days completed;" that is, with the "realized potential" of the commandment. Thus, on the first night, before the kindling, there remain eight days, a potential of eight lights, so, according to Shammai and his Academy, the correct number of lights is eight. According to Hillel and his Academy, before the kindling, we say that tonight will be the first night of realized potential for this commandment, so we light one.
And so on till the last night, where, according to Shammai, there is only one night remaining, so we light just one light, whereas according to Hillel, this will be the eighth night of realized potential, so we light the full complement of eight.
Each viewpoint has either a model from the Bible or a strong logical argument to buttress their opinion.
Bait Shammai has the model of the offering of bulls during the Festival of Succot, which begins with thirteen on the first day and, decrementing by one each day, finishes with seven on the seventh day (for a total of seventy, corresponding to the "seventy nations of the world," for whose benefit the offering is made.). And decrements yet again to just one bull, on the "eighth day" of Succot, Shmini Atzeret, which corresponds to the singular People of Israel.
Bait Hillel has on its side the general rule followed in many areas of the Torah, that "Ma'alin Ba'Kodesh ve'ayn Moridin," One increases in matters of holiness, and does not diminish.
As mentioned in the "Basics" Section, the matter of the dispute was voted upon, in the democratic spirit of the Talmud, and the Halachah (the practice to be followed in the actual case) was decided in accordance with Bait Hillel; namely, to begin with one and conclude with eight lights on Chanukah.
Also as mentioned in the "Basics" Section, Hillel and Shammai were frequent disputants, differing on fundamental questions of Jewish Law. It is about disputes such as these, where both parties are striving for the "sake of heaven," that Pirkei Avot (a Tractate of the Mishnah, dealing with basic ideas of Judaism) says that both sides of the argument will live forever, because "Elu V'Elu Divrei Elokim Chayim," "Both the one and the other side of the argument are the words of the Living G-d."
How can this be? Does this complementarity suggest that there are two standards of truth?
The answer seems to be along these lines: The Talmud says that even though in most cases, the Halachah is decided in accordance with the view of Hillel, in reality, Shammai's analyses were sharper and deeper. So why then was the Halachah decided in favor of Hillel?
This is because Hillel's viewpoint is appropriate for the Pre-Messianic Era, the period, basically, of Exile and Persecution, when people are distracted from the ultimate realities of life, which are indeed in accord with the thought of Bait Shammai. The Messianic Era will be a time of actualized potential for humanity, a time of "U'Maleah Ha'Aretz Deah es Hashem Ka'Mayim la'Yam Me'chasim," "Knowledge of the L-rd will fill the world, as water covers the bed of the sea."
And paradoxically, it is then, at the time when mankind reaches the point which Bait Hillel had advocated all along was the correct way to view a Commandment, that the Halachah will revert to the opinion of Bait Shammai. For humanity then will be on a higher level, and be able to apprehend reality as Shammai did.
Some Talmudic Insights
The basic mitzvah of Chanukah is to celebrate "the miracle that happened then," by lighting the chanukia for eight days. Interestingly enough, though, there is a dispute in the Talmud between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel whether to increase the number of candles each day from one to eight, or to start with eight and remove a candle each day for eight days. Although the definitive Halacha rules according to Beis Hillel, who argues that we add a candle each day, it is worthwhile to look at the dispute between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel for the many insights into Chanukah that it brings to light.
Beis Shammai's rationale for going downward relates to the parim, the bulls, offered as sacrifices on Succos in the Temple, which were offered in descending order from 13 to 7 on each of the 7 days of Succos totaling 70 bulls in all, corresponding to the 70 Nations of the world. There are two dimensions to the parim. One dimension is that we have a concern for the material and spiritual well being of the entire world. (The Talmud tells us that the 70 Nations of the world are in a perpetual state of decline). When we offer sacrifices, we unlock an energy which brings blessings from heaven for the entire world. (If the Babylonians and the Romans who each destroyed the Temples in their own time, had understood what was being achieved for them with the sacrifices, they would have come with guards to protect the Temple rather than come to destroy it). Therefore, this is an expression of concern for the entire world, because, without the energy created by our sacrifices, the world is in a state of decline. The second dimension of the parim sacrifices is to infuse a special nationalistic energy into the Jewish People to remember that they are an elite corps chosen by G-d to be a light unto the Nations, so as to inspire them, and to strengthen their resistance to the negative corrupting pagan influences of the 70 Nations, expressed in the declining pattern of the sacrifices. Thus, lighting the chanukia in descending order would symbolize the decreasing effect that entropy has on the world and the decreasing influence that the 70 Nations have on the Jews.
Unfortunately, the 70 Nations of the world did not understand the nature of the sacrifices in the Temple. As such, the Jewish People have suffered countless pogroms throughout the ages and the destruction of two Holy Temples. Although the Greeks did not actually destroy our Temple, they contaminated it. Chanukah celebrates the return of holiness to the Temple after the contamination of the Greeks. Hence, Beis Hillel argues that since holiness was returned to the Temple, and since we move upward in matters of kedusha, (holiness), then we should light in ascending order to illustrate this increase in kedusha.
Chanukah took place in Israel during the Hellenistic oppression called golus Yavan. This third exile lasted 180 years, and was dubbed the exile of darkness because the Greeks made every effort to make Jews see and understand the world in a way which was alien to the Torah. Darkness, because nothing is as dark as the enslavement of the human mind. The golus Yavan is always referred to as darkness because it took away the light of Torah.
Darkness is the absence of light. Things that are negative we call darkness. They are opposite of good Evil is darkness. But you can combat Evil in the world. You can attack it by fighting whatever is wrong in the world; or, you can create such a tremendous light where you are that the darkness just fades away. Chanukah expresses the victory of light over darkness. But the question lies in what strategy is most successful: to burn away and destroy Evil; or, to create a greater light so that the darkness just vanishes?
Look closely at the nature of a flame. It has two very distinct properties: it can burn, and it can illuminate. In combating Evil in the world, do we destroy it, do we burn it, or do we illuminate Torah creating a greater light in the world to dissipate the darkness? This is the nature of the machlokes, (dispute), between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel. Both methods are valid, but what is supposed to be the main thrust of a Jew, what is to be learned from what happened in Chanukah?
Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel are both agreed on the purpose of kindling the chanukia - It is to rekindle in ourselves the light of the triumph over darkness. And they both agree that the number of candles should be different each night to signify that each day of the miracle is unique. But its uniqueness can be expressed either by adding or subtracting a candle each day. Beis Shammai learns that when we fight the negative corrupting aspects of the prevalent pagan world-culture either through sacrifices, (or prayer when we have no Temple) we are steadily wiping out their influence on us, which is reflected in the decreasing pattern of the parim sacrifices on Succos. Thus, we should light the chanukia in the same way: starting with eight and reducing the number of candles each night. In this way, the burning quality of the flame symbolizes the diminishing effect that the negative forces of the world have on us, the destruction of Greek paganism, and ultimately the destruction of Evil in the Universe.
On the other hand, Beis Hillel sees the battle against immorality in the world, not as a confrontation, but rather, as an important reason to raise ourselves spiritually, to become the embodiment of morality in the world by living according to Torah principles. This way, the entire world would see us and want to imitate us. So, says Beis Hillel, the more successful method of wiping out darkness, is by increasing the illumination of Torah everywhere, not by burning away Evil, but rather, by increasing our light as a Torah Nation. For this reason we increase the number of candles each night to remind ourselves of our responsibility, as Jews, to steadily increase the light of Torah knowledge and understanding in the world; banishing the darkness of Evil by becoming a light unto the Nations.
When Moshiach comes, all the Nations of the world are going to realize that whatever they did in the world succeeding in enriching themselves, building a world military-power, making scientific discoveries, becoming an economic-power, whatever they are going to see that the point of it all had to do with what impact it would have on the Jews. We're supposed to be "A Light Unto The Nations." That's our own particular G-d given role in the world. That's what light is all about. When we perform as light, when we do something about bringing the light of Torah into the world, that's when there is light! And when there isn't, when we aren't learning Torah or performing mitzvos, when we assimilate, G-d sends us the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the crusaders and the pogromists, Enlightenment and Emancipation, and the Western World, and all the other threats that happened throughout history. They are sent to stimulate us, to wake us up, and to arouse us back to our original purpose.
If we are going to forget our purpose, and if we are going to try to become the 71st Nation of the world, then G-d will stop us. He won't tolerate that. We can't be a 71st Nation because then the entire world will surely sink into the morass of immorality and corruption. There has to be at least one Nation that is pulling everybody up and not copping out of its responsibility. And if we don't do this, then somebody is going to come around and remind us that we're Jews and that we have this responsibility. Why do you think that all the attempts of Jews to become the 71st Nation - to assimilate - have failed? And don't think that they haven't tried hard enough Jews have tried, oh have Jews tried in our time perhaps harder than any other time there has been an attempt of Jews to disguise or to forget their Jewishness and to just blend in to the melting pot, to just blend in with the rest of the world. You know why it has failed? It has failed for one very simple reason: "you can change your Moses, but you can't change your noses." Meaning, you can say all the protestations you want about what you believe, and you can try to dress like them, eat their food, sing their songs, speak their language, and do everything like them, but there is always going to be somebody who will recognize some feature of your Jewishness, and he is going to be the one who reminds you. That is his purpose. G-d sends them to shake us back into a realization of what we're all about and that we can never be part of those 70 Nations because we have a unique role to play in the world.
In the end of days our Sages tell us that there is going to be a world trial, like a post Nuremberg trial, except that there is going to be only one judge: The One Judge; G-d. And G-d will ask the 70 Nations: "what did you do to promote Torah in this world?" And the Talmud says that all the Nations will come forward with their new understanding of world history, and they will try to take credit for having enabled Jews to learn Torah by providing them with such necessities as marketplaces, roads, bridges, and bathhouses. But G-d will reject their claim telling them: "Although your achievements did actually benefit the people of the Torah, it was only because My Divine Plan of World History put you in a position to do so; but, in fact, your motivations were purely selfish ones: either for economic exploitation or physical gratification." In a broader sense, throughout history, the persecution of Jews, although motivated by primitive anti-Semitism, has also been part of The Divine Plan for reminding Jews of their special mission in this world.
Hence when we are lighting our Chanukia this year, we should have in mind that, in our encounter with "darkness", we don't want to use the flame to burn and destroy the world, rather, we want to use it to illuminate the whole world with Torah. We want to light the way for all the Nations so that they can prosper materially and spiritually. The prescription for overcoming "darkness" in our time, is the same as it was in the time of the Hellenistic oppression: by increasing our light. If we increase our learning, and if we increase our holiness, then we will truly be "A Light Unto The Nations."
Happy Chanukah!
The Role of Alcohol in Simchat Purim
Expressing deep concern about “the very painful and serious problem” of substance abuse – particularly regarding alcohol– in the observant Jewish community, Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union, has warned that the approaching joyous holiday of Purim should not be used as an excuse for drunkenness and reiterated the “zero tolerance" policy on alcohol at Purim events sponsored by NCSY.
Purim is a day which is “especially vulnerable to alcohol abuse,” said Rabbi Weinreb, adding that the OU is launching an educational campaign at this time “to bring this problem to the awareness of our community.”
This campaign includes the video clip featured above, in which Rabbi Weinreb discusses drinking on Purim, and educational material from "Wine & Spirit,” published by the OU’s Pardes Project, which provides plentiful documentation from classic Jewish sources of the dangers of alcohol abuse. In the words of Rabbi Alexander Ziskind of Grodno, quoted by Rabbi Weinreb, we may become “a bit warm, a bit fragrant,” but becoming drunk is absolutely forbidden.
Rabbi Weinreb emphasized that it should go without saying that this permission to drink a minimum amount of alcohol on Purim applies only to adults and under no circumstances should alcohol be given to minors.
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