Skip to main content

Thought for the Day: Mai Chanuka!

Imagine the passion as Antiochus's messengers come marching into cities across Eretz Yisrael with his new decrees.  The tension is already high.  First decree: "Jews are forbidden to circumcise their sons!"  The crowds roars, "Bris mila?!  The sign sealed into our flesh of the covenant between the Creator and his beloved nation?  We will never capitulate!"  Second decree: "Jews are forbidden to observe the Sabbath!"  The crowds is livid, "Our nation testimony that HaShem created the world?  The beautiful and precious gift from our beloved Creator?  We will give our lives rather than violate the Holy Sabbath!"  The crowd is getting uglier by the moment and even the messenger, who is surrounded by the king's own guard, is getting nervous.  Final decree: "Jews are forbidden to observer Rosh Chodesh!"  The crowd's mood changes from angry mob to... "Ummm.... What?"

The gemara (T.B. Shabbos 21a) asks, "mai chanuka?"  Rashi explains that the gemara is clarifying precisely for the commenoration of what miracle was Chanuka established.  Conclusion: for the miracle of a single flask (one day's worth) of tahor oil lasting for eight days.  Now let's think about this.  If the Greeks didn't want us to light the menorah, why didn't they just dump out all the oil?  Instead, the commanding officer charges his soldiers:
Έχεις τις διαταγές, οι άντρες σου! Κουνήστε κάθε φιάλη του πετρελαίου, αλλά μην χυθεί μια σταγόνα!
For those of you don't understand Greek (sigh...), that's, "You have your orders, men!  Wiggle every flask of oil, but don't spill a drop!"  Seems odd, no?  Not when you understand the goal of the Greeks.  They had a single desire: to destroy k'dushas Yisrael.  Jews want to practice Judaism?  No problem, as long as it's Reform Judaism.  Avoda in the Beis HaMikdash is not a problem, as long as it is inclusive; Jew and Gentile alike.  Learning Torah is no problem; they just wanted to teach Torah along with Aristotle in the universities, Plato along with gemara in the yeshivos.

What about those three decrees?  Bris Mila separates Klal Yisrael as the am s'gula (treasure nation), Shabbos testifies that HaShem created the world and therefore the world has a purpose above nature.  Rosh Chodesh?  That puts Klal Yisrael in charge of time itself; that makes nature a vehicle for k'dushas Yisrael instead just a place where we all live.  Those three mitzvos testify that every moment has meaning and purpose; every event is part of a plan.  Klal Yisrael stands apart, executing that plan.

Our job is to be a light to the nations; their job is to extinguish that light.  The miracle of oil -- pure, unadulterated oil -- testifies that they cannot succeed.  Mai Chanuka!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for the Day: Pizza, Uncrustables, and Stuff -- What Bracha?

Many years ago (in fact, more than two decades ago), I called R' Fuerst from my desk at work as I sat down to lunch.  I had a piece of (quite delicious) homemade pizza for lunch.  I nearly always eat at my desk as I am working (or writing TftD...), so my lunch at work cannot in any way be considered as sitting down to a formal meal; aka קביעת סעודה.  That being the case, I wasn't sure whether to wash, say ha'motzi, and bentch; or was the pizza downgraded to a m'zonos.  He told if it was a snack, then it's m'zonos; if a meal the ha'motzi.  Which what I have always done since then.  I recently found out how/why that works. The Shulchan Aruch, 168:17 discusses פשטיד''א, which is describes as a baked dough with meat or fish or cheese.  In other words: pizza.  Note: while the dough doesn't not need to be baked together with the meat/fish/cheese, it is  required that they dough was baked with the intention of making this concoction. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: What Category of Muktzeh are Our Candles?

As discussed in a recent TftD , a p'sak halacha quite surprising to many, that one may -- even לכתחילה -- decorate a birthday cake with (unlit, obviously) birthday candles on Shabbos. That p'sak is predicated on another p'sak halacha; namely, that our candles are muktzeh because they are a כלי שמלאכתו לאיסור and not  מוקצה מחמת גופו/intrinsically set aside from any use on Shabbos. They point there was that using the candle as a decoration qualifies as a need that allows one to utilize a כלי שמלאכתו לאיסור. Today we will discuss the issue of concluding that our candles are , in fact, a כלי שמלאכתו לאיסור and not מוקצה מחמת גופו. Along the way we'll also (again) how important it is to have personal relationship with your rav/posek, the importance of precision in vocabulary, and how to interpret the Mishna Brura.  Buckle up. After reviewing siman 308 and the Mishna Brura there, I concluded that it should be permissible to use birthday candles to decorate a cake on Sha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: Why Halacha Has "b'di'avad"

There was this Jew who knew every "b'di'avad" (aka, "Biddy Eved", the old spinster librarian) in the book.  When ever he was called on something, his reply was invariably, "biddy eved, it's fine".  When he finally left this world and was welcomed to Olam Haba, he was shown to a little, damp closet with a bare 40W bulb hanging from the ceiling.  He couldn't believe his eyes and said in astonishment, "This is Olam Haba!?!"  "Yes, Reb Biddy Eved,  for you this is Olam Haba." b'di'avad gets used like that; f you don't feel like doing something the best way, do it the next (or less) best way.  But Chazal tell us that "kol ha'omer HaShem vatran, m'vater al chayav" -- anyone who thinks HaShem gives partial credit is fooling himself to death (free translation.  Ok, really, really free translation; but its still true).  HaShem created us and this entire reality for one and only one purpose: for use...
Post a Comment
Read more