What Can We Learn from the Chanukah Candles?
Ruth Paling (Grade 9)
The candle represents the mitzvot while the Torah represents the light – “נר מצוה ותורה אור, a mitzvah is a candle and Torah is light” (Proverbs 6:23). When giving to charity or inviting guests into your home, light spreads throughout the world with your chesed and mitzvot. In addition, adding a Chanukah candle every night teaches that in Torah and mitzvot, one should never be content with what one did yesterday. Each minute of the day, we must strive to increase or improve our Divine service and grow in holiness and faith, progressing and illuminating the world more each day.
We all know that the menorah commemorates the Menorah during the time of the Beit HaMikdash; however, we notice some differences. For example, in the Beit HaMikdash, we lit the menorah inside in the afternoon. However, presently we light the menorah during the night by the entrance, facing the street.
Lighting the menorah facing the street teaches that a Jew must not only light up the inside of his home but illuminate the “outside,” whether it be his business or social environment. Furthermore, when times are difficult spiritually, when it is “dark” outside, and the Jews are in exile, it is not sufficient to light one candle and maintain it. Gradually, you must increase the light one day at a time.
Consistent efforts to spread the light of the Torah and mitzvot will dispel the darkness of exile and illuminate the world. Everyone should navigate this world with the mindset that you are the candle, and it is your job to spread that light from one location to another.
Chag Sameach!
Rabbi Yosef Kurtz, Mashgiach Ruchani
On both Chanukah and Purim, we recite the tefillah of Al Hanisim. These tefillot are very similar, but there is a telling difference in the way that they end. On Purim, we end off by talking about how Haman was hung on a tree. On Chanukah, we end off the tefillah by essentially declaring that because of the miracles of the day, we have an obligation להודות ולהלל לשמך הגדול, to thank and to praise Your great name.
Rav Hutner asks the question of why is it that these tefillot are so similar yet end off in such drastically different ways. Also, we are aware that on nearly every holiday, we say Hallel, but what is this concept of הודאה, thanks, that we are required on Chanukah to give to Hashem? Rav Hutner answers by discussing the key differences between these two holidays. On Purim, Haman wanted to kill the Jewish people physically, but on Chanukah, the יוונים wished to strip the Jewish People of what made them unique; the Torah and mitzvot.
The word הודאה can be understood in two different ways: to give thanks and to acknowledge. In reality, these concepts are one and the same. On Chanukah, we are obligated to acknowledge the fact that we got more than we deserved or needed and, therefore, must say thank you to Hashem. Hashem could have simply saved the Jewish People, but we also received the miracle of the oil. If the Jews won the war, this would have been enough to give thanks to Hashem and say Hallel. By giving us the oil that lasted eight days, we also have to give הודאה, an acknowledgement that this was above and beyond anything we needed or deserved.
The origin of the word הודאה comes from Parshat Vayetzei when Leah has her fourth child and says, “הפעם אודה את ה׳, this time I can thank Hashem.” Why did Leah only thank Hashem after her fourth child? Was she not grateful after her first three? Leah did the math and knew that there were supposed to be 12 שבטים. Yaakov had four wives, and therefore everyone should have been allotted three children each. When Leah’s fourth son was born, she not only needed to thank Hashem, but she wanted to acknowledge that now she had more than her share.
Chanukah is the holiday when we consider our lives and all the gifts that Hashem has given us. We praise Hashem for sustaining us through our trials and tribulations for so many years, but we also acknowledge all the incredible gifts that we have that go above and beyond the bare minimum. There is so much to be grateful for, and on Chanukah, we can hopefully come to truly appreciate this.
Dreidel: A Game of Chance?
Avinoam Friedman, Grade 9
Every Chanukah, Jews around the world come together to celebrate the holiday in many different ways. Today, I will be talking about one specifically: Dreidel. It’s a game we all know and love, right? I mean, what screams chesed and Torah more than watching the excitement drain from your family’s eyes after you get the fourth gimmel in a row?
But really, what is the significance of this game? Sure, most people say it’s because our ancestors would play it to hide that they were learning Torah, and they would probably be right, But are you really satisfied with that answer? Maybe you are, but I wasn’t, and anyone who’s learned any Gemara or read any Tanach commentaries knows that it’s rarely that simple.
When you look at the essence of a dreidel, you will find that it is chance, randomness, luck or any other synonym you could find. When you spin a dreidel, you are hoping that you get lucky and land on a Gimmel or Hay, and hoping you don’t land on a Shin or Nun. If you take a step back, you will see that this is how most people live their lives. Hoping they get lucky with everything they do, and when they don’t, they will chalk it up to luck not being on their side.
But we know that there is no such thing as luck. We know that Hashem controls everything that happens around us. So how could we possibly think anything is based on luck or chance? Hashem has order and control and is always looking out for us, while luck is random, chaotic and couldn’t care less about who or what it affects. Essentially they are polar opposites.
Returning to the Chanukah story, this is represented in how dreidels were used. The Jews would sit in a cave learning Torah, the word of Hashem, but when the Greeks came to check on them, they started playing with dreidels, the essence of randomness, the opposite of Torah and the opposite of Hashem. Only then would the Greeks leave them be because even then, they knew that dreidels were Hashem’s antithesis.
So maybe this Chanukah, when you are playing Dreidel with your family, you’ll remember that there is much more to it than a silly holiday game.
