Dear Friends,
If you look closely at the picture above you might be wondering what it is and why is it being included as an opening message within our annual Sparks of Light Chanukah series?
The picture comes from a note that three BAS students left for the staff of the Fern Resort following our schoolwide shabbaton. These three students saw an opportunity to express appreciation all the while making an incredible Kiddush Hashem. This note was left there without the intention of ever been seen or discovered by a member of the faculty of BAS who happened to see it when inspecting the rooms and that teacher was so impressed, the teacher took a picture of the note.
Needless to say, I was incredibly impressed by the special midot exemplified by these students and their presence of mind to thank the hard-working staff who contributed in so many ways to our wonderfully successful shabbatonim.
Where did these students gain these special values and what does this picture have to do with Chanukah?
As we know, lighting Chanukah candles is an obligation on the bayit – “ner ish u’veito.” An individual cannot fulfill his or her obligation anywhere other than at home. This even means that halachically, if one is travelling and someone else within their family is lighting the menorah at their home, he/she doesn’t actually have to light his own menorah. The Rambam even writes (Hilchot Chanukah 4:1) that every house must light the candles, referring specifically to the house and not even the individual. Rabbi Elan Mazer, National Director of Mizrachi Canada, pointed out in the most recent edition of HaMizrachi, that the reason we publicize the miracle from our own home and not from a more public place is because the Greeks specifically set out to destroy the Jewish family and thus the miracle should be centered and focused within the Jewish home.
As many of you know, I spent a few days in Israel this past week. I went to participate in the beginnings of our eventual Hachnasat Sefer Torah in memory of our beloved teacher and rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Goldberg z”l. Dana and Ilan Rubinstein hosted a motzei shabbat alumni in Israel event where over 60 alumni and friends joined us in sharing hespedim and words of comfort about Rabbi Goldberg z”l along with celebrating the eventual completion of this new Sefer Torah in his memory.
As part of this trip, I joined a friend on a visit to a small community of Shomronim (Samaritans) in the Shilo region. If you have never heard of the Shomronim, I would encourage you to Google them to gain some fascinating background on this interesting group of people and to thereby understand the accuracy of my message. Once there, we spoke to the brother of their Kohen Gadol and among many other questions I asked him: how many members of your community go off your derecho and fail to continue your traditions? He looked bewildered at my question and I repeated myself to which he responded: “none!” I was astonished and asked – how is that possible? I even emphasized that their children participate and are students in regular Israeli or Arab irreligious day schools and surely they are influenced by their classmates, gain a skepticism or cynicism towards your laws. How could all of your children continue on your path?
He answered me that it has nothing to do with their schools and nothing to do with the outside world. He told me that their family units are so tight and so strong that every child stays within their fold. He explained to me that these children are shown how small their community is and they are taught to value what their community has to offer and it is ingrained within them from the youngest ages and reinforced ubiquitously that if they do not take the mantel of leadership and continue with their parents traditions, their community will die out. He emphasized that every home is built with the single and only goal of ensuring that their children keep and continue the traditions of their parents because otherwise they know they will cease to exist.
Please don’t think I am criticizing our own community and I of course recognize that on so many levels, the comparison isn’t a fair one at all. I obviously also understand that there are many incredible homes and families for which our children choose a different path through no fault of our parents or their families. So much is mazel and beyond our control. If there were a perfect system or playbook we would of course all follow it.
However, this does emphasize for us and teach us that over and above one’s shul, one’s school or even one’s friends, the impact of one’s family and the home on religious engagement, attachment and growth cannot be overstated.
These three students didn’t learn these wonderful midot and values at BAS. Hopefully mitzvoth bein adam lechaveiro were reinforced and supported at BAS, but this exemplary act of chessed and kindness was taught at home. Chanukah is the holiday of the house in which while the pirsumei nisa is primarily for the outside world, it is also for the bnei bayit. The menorah is a chiyuv and obligation on the bayit because every home must recognize the great nissim that HKBH performed for the Jewish people and every family must collectively thank Hashem.
This year in a slight departure from our annual tradition of sending out 8 divrei torah representing 8 sparks of light, we have decided to send out divrei torah from our students. Each day we will send out two sparks of light – one from an Ulpana student (or group of students) and one from an Or Chaim student. Please consider reading these over dinner and please discuss these with your families. Hopefully, you will find them meaningful and inspiring.
Chanukah sameach to all,
Rabbi Seth Grauer
Rosh Yeshiva & Head of School
