The Miracle of Faith
Gila Grauer (Grade 9)
Everyone knows that we celebrate eight days of Chanukah to symbolize the miracle of the oil, and how it burned for eight days when it only should have burned for one. One of the most famous questions associated with this is, why eight? The first day that the oil burned was not really a miracle, only the next seven days were. In reality, we should celebrate for seven days, not eight!
Rabbi Sacks zt”l gives a really meaningful answer. He says that on days two to eight we are celebrating the miracle of the oil, and how it lasted for eight days. On the other hand, on the first night of Chanukah, we are celebrating the fact that we were able to find even one small jug of pure oil in the first place. There was no reason to assume that anything had survived the desecration from the Greeks, and yet the Chashmonaim still searched for it. They searched and searched, because they had faith that even after the absolute worst tragedy, something would survive and live on. In effect therefore, the miracle for the first night was that they had faith to keep looking knowing they would find some pure oil.
We, the Jewish People, have never given up, we always stay strong, and we refuse to ever accept defeat. In the beautiful words of Rabbi Sacks:
“From the days of Moshe and the bush that burned and was not consumed, to the days of the Maccabees and the single cruse of oil, Judaism has been humanity’s ner tamid, the everlasting light that no power on earth can extinguish.”
Our responsibility is no different today. Irrespective of what challenges we are faced with, we have to look at the Chanukah menorah and have faith that Hashem will help us, we will persevere, and everything will be okay.
Chanukah sameach!
Hiding in Plain Sight
Mrs. Shira Lipner (Director of Judaic Studies)
Before the world was created, there was only darkness, deep, black, unfathomable. Fortunately, on the very first day of Creation, Hashem brought light into the world – ויהי אור! Unfortunately, that first light didn’t last long. In fact, it lasted only 36 hours, until Adam HaRishon sinned, at which point it was hidden away and will only be able to be accessed fully in the World to Come.
Where was it hidden, you might ask? We are taught that it was hidden in the Torah (כי נר מצוה ותורה אור), and can be drawn out little by little when we learn Torah and internalize it.
However, there is a way to access some of that hidden light, the אור הגנוז, in a different way today… on Chanukah.
Chazal compare the ancient Greek empire to “darkness”, since they “darkened” the eyes of the Jewish people with their oppressive decrees. But when the miracle of the oil in the menorah happened, that darkness was lifted with a supernatural light, revealing a tiny bit of that אור הגנוז. Our flames today call up that same אור הגנוז, giving us access into a world of light.
Guess how many candles we light over the eight days of Chanukah (excluding the shamash)? 36. Coincidence? I think not.
The Bnei Yissachar teaches that it is also not coincidental that the month in which we access the light is called Kislev: Kis, from the word kisui (cover) and lev, which is the gematria of… 36. The month in which the light was covered up, darkened, is now the month in which we can once again bring some of that hidden light into our lives.
This Chanukah, when you light the candles, take a few moments to really look into the flames, recognize their holiness, and find the hidden light of Torah that can banish the darkness from our own lives and light up the world.
A Time to Remember, A Time to Contemplate
Noah Berger (Grade 10)
We all know that the halacha is to add another candle each night of Chanukah. However, this was not always the case and was the focal point of a serious debate. In Shabbat 21b, there is a dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai regarding whether to increase the number of candles each evening from one to eight or to instead start with eight and day by day remove one, with ultimately one candle remaining. Beit Hillel rules that we should add one candle each day (from 1 to 8), however, Beit Shammai rules that one should remove one candle each day (8 to 1). The halacha is as follows today as noted in the Shulchan Aruch:
“How many lights should one kindle? On the first night, he kindles one [light]. From then on, he continues to add one each night, until on the last night they are eight.”
Even though the halacha has already been decided in accordance with Beit Hillel, it is prudent to understand the rationale behind Beit Shammai’s opinion and some lessons we can take from it today. Beit Shammai was focusing on the yamim hanichnasim (the entering days of the holiday), demonstrating that on the first day of Chanukah you have eight days of miracles to come, starting the chag on a high note with eight candles. Beit Shammai’s approach is very future focused and sheds light on the potential of how much the Jewish people can accomplish and the miracles that can occur. However, as the days of Chanukah go by, the ecstatic feeling of celebration begins to fade, less miracles are occurring, and we come to the realization that the Jewish people do not always live up to their potential. This serves as the reason why Beit Shammai says we should dwindle the number of candles we light day by day. So as the holiday comes to a close, the light of the Menorah begins to fade.
I believe that this can serve as a lesson not only for our wonderful BAS community, but for all the Jews around the world. Our Jewish community is at a critical crisis point. According to a Pew Research poll, results showed that 81% of American Jews do not attend religious services at least once a week and only 37% have an absolute belief in Hashem. As well, in the past 20 months there has been a considerable decline in Jews attending shul as a result of the pandemic. We should use the lesson from Beit Shammai that the Jewish people have so much potential and defy the unfortunate reality that we do not live up to our expectations.
As we return to normalcy, Baruch Hashem, and enter Chanukah, while we will light our Chanukah candles according to Beit Hillel, we should take the lessons from Beit Shammai to challenge ourselves against the ever-dwindling candles in the world, through learning more and increasing our connection with Hashem and mitzvot. We are the strongest nation on earth, and we have defied expectations before, I am confident we can do it again and live up to our full potential.
Wishing everyone a Chag Sameach and a wonderful candle lighting.
The Festival of Salty Cheese
Mr. Jonathan Parker, Assistant Principal
We are all familiar with the basic components of the Chanukah story. Although entirely outside the canon of Tanakh, the essential narrative is one of the few triumphing over the many, the faithful overcoming the Hellenistic aggressors. This story is so fundamentally Jewish that the priestly protagonist’s name is a modified version of יְהוּדִי.
And that is why we eat dairy on Chanukah. Right?
The connection between Chanukah and dairy relates to the story of Judith, who was a rich, beautiful widow who lived in the town of Bethulia. The army of Assyrian King Nebuchadnezzar, led by Holofernes, puts Bethulia under siege. The citizens decide it is time to surrender, but Judith does not give up. Fearless, Judith sneaks out of town and into the enemy camp, where she tells Holofernes the town is about to surrender. Enchanted by her beauty, Holofernes sits down with Judith to a meal including salty cheese. The cheese makes Holofernes so thirsty he drinks enough wine to pass out. Judith then cuts his head off with his own sword, wraps it in her bag and runs. When the Assyrian army discovers the body of their headless leader, they flee in panic.
See? Few faithful over many Hellenists! Dairy!
The story of Judith and the practice of eating dairy on חנוכה is no niche minhag, either. It is codified in the Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 670):
“שיש לאכול גבינה בחנוכה לפי שהנס נעשה בחלב שהאכילה יהודית את האויב”
The story has been most famously adapted by the Italian painter Caravaggio, as well as an Old English Anglo-Saxon epic poem.
When we think about the miracles of Chanukah, we tend to think of עַל הַנִסִּים and the Chanukiah. It has been well-documented that a fundamental tension of Chanukah is the nature of the miracle. Was it a nationalistic military victory – רַבִּים בְּיַד מְעַטִּים – or was it all about the שֶׁמֶן טָהוֹר בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ? The story of Judith seems to make clear that it is very much the former:
The very brave warriors
turned back upon their retreat, within the carnage,
the reeking corpses. There was room for the native-dwellers
to take from the most hated, their olden-foes
unliving, gory trophies, lovely ornaments,
shields and broad swords, shining helmets,
valued treasures. The wardens of their homeland
had gloriously conquered their foes,
the ancient enemy, on that place of the people,
put them to rest with swords. They rested in their swath,
those who in life had been the most hateful
of living men.
While the blood and gore of this rendition is probably due to it being written by a Viking, the tendency toward military might, and away from religious and spiritual growth, is very clear.
However, the Ben Ish Chai brings us back to the minhag of milk on Chanukah with an incredible use of ראשי תבות: He writes in Parashat Vayeshev that the word חלב stands for the three mitzvot which the Greeks sought to undermine: The ח stands for the first letter in חודש, for the Greeks tried to abolish ראש חודש. The ל stands for the third letter in מילה, for they tried to suppress circumcision. The ב stands for the second letter of שבת which they also attempted to destroy. Seen this way, we also come to understand a bit about the hidden nature of the miracles of the holiday, in addition to reaffirming the spiritual element of the roots of Chanukah.
So, whether your focus during the holiday is nationalistic or spiritual, in addition to your oily treats celebrating the Maccabees, grab some cheese, ice cream, and blintzes and recall the important contributions of Judith to our national and religious destiny.
So whether your focus during the holiday is nationalistic or spiritual, in addition to your oily treats celebrating the Maccabees, grab some cheese, ice cream, and blintzes and recall the important contributions of Judith to our national and religious destiny.
