Rabbi Eddie Shostak
Menahel, Yeshivat Or Chaim
The Talmud rules that the ideal way of fulfilling the mitzvah of Chanukah lights is by lighting them at the entrance to the house, so that they are clearly visible to passers-by. (Shabbat 21b, SA OC 671:5)
Where else do we see a halachic event taking place next to a door? Regarding a Hebrew slave, after six years of work, he is supposed to go free. If he chooses to remain enslaved, the owner is told to pierce the slave’s ear against a doorpost.
Why the ear? Rashi (Shemot 21:6), quoting a midrash, says: “That ear which heard on Mount Sinai what I said, ‘For unto Me the children Israel are servants’ (Vayikra 25:55) and yet its owner went and procured for himself another master — let it be pierced!”
And why by the door? A door is a symbol of freedom. The door says we are free to leave our boundaries.
Chanukah symbolizes that freedom. On Chanukah we chose the light of freedom, whereas the Greeks brought darkness.
What is this light?
At the beginning of time there shone a light called the “Or HaGanuz” whose radiance beamed from one end of the world to the other. God hid that light away after 36 hours, but there are times, places, and mediums that have the ability to make this special light accessible.
One example is the Beit Hamikdash; this is why the Gemara refers to the Beit Hamikdash as “the light of the world” (Bava Batra 4a). The Greeks aimed to defile it.
The Bnei Yisaschar explains that the 36 masechtot of Gemara hint to the fact that Torah can reveal that hidden light that shone for 36 hours. The Greeks had toiled to insure we would forget Torah.
And every Jew has “the light” within them. This is hinted in the Gemara (Niddah 30b) that relates that a baby in the womb has a candle lit above its head, “and it gazes from one end of the world to the other.” This is the same expression that is used for Or HaGanuz! The Greeks aimed to eliminate the holiness of the Jew.
The Rokeach explains that the 36 lights that we light on Chanukah correspond to those same 36 hours.
May we all merit to utilize this time to overcome the darkness of Greek ideologies that still plague us today, and may we use these lights of freedom to serve our one true Master, illuminating our world from one end to the other.
Mrs. Emma Taylor
Assistant Principal, Ulpanat Orot
I’d like to touch again on one of the most famous questions related to Chanukah—why is it celebrated for eight days rather than seven? The first day was not miraculous; it is usual for oil to burn, and so Day 1 should therefore not be considered as part of the story of the miracle.
Rabbi Lord Sacks explains that the miracle of Day 1 was not that the oil burned, but that the Jewish people even looked for the oil in the first place. The miracle was the faith of the Jewish people. When they stared at a ransacked Beit Hamikdash, they could have assumed that nothing of any significance could be found. Yet the Jewish people still held on to the belief that, even in the deepest pits of despair, a small jar of holiness, connection, and light could shine through.
The Greeks, unlike many of our other enemies of the past who took offense at the Jewish people’s right to exist, desired to rid the world of Judaism as a concept and a value system. The Greek way of life placed Man at the centre of the universe, while Judaism places Hashem as the be all and end all. This key difference caused a clash of cultures that the Greeks wanted to reset. Through the banning of Torah, Brit Milah, Rosh Chodesh and Shabbat—mitzvot that in their nature sanctify every aspect of our lives—the Greeks tried to erode our value system. The continued strength and faith of the Jewish people against this backdrop is remarkable and is celebrated through the act of lighting our Menorahs on day number one.
This is a pivotal message for us this year as we face a dark world. May it give us chizuk to have enough strength to begin the search for the oil amidst the crevices of despair. Chanukah Sameach.
Eitan Yunger
Grade 11 Student, Yeshivat Or Chaim
Every day of Chanukah, the Torah reading is the Chanukat HaMizbeach, the inauguration of the Holy Altar in Bamidbar Perek 7, which concludes the construction of the Mishkan. The reason for reading this specific section of the Torah is its parallels to the rededication of the Second Beit Hamikdash in the times of the Chashmonaim. On Chanukah, the holiday commemorating when Hashem allowed us to continue offering Korbanot, we recall the joyous time when Hashem gave us the enormous privilege of having these Korbanot in the first place, Chanukat HaMizbeach. As seen in the song Maoz Tzur, one of the elements of Chanukah is “אָז אֶגְמוֹר בְּשִׁיר מִזְמוֹר חֲנֻכַּת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ. – I will complete it with a psalm of the Inauguration of the Altar.” Because of this, many Jews have the tradition of saying Tehillim 30 every day of Chanukah, a chapter of thanks to Hashem for the Inauguration Beit Hamikdash.
Clearly, Chanukat HaMizbeach and Chanukah are extremely related and similar. And I believe that Chanukat HaMizbeach has a lot of valuable lessons for us in today’s world, one of them being the concept of “going the extra mile.”
At the beginning of Torah reading, it says “וַיְהִ֡י בְּיוֹם֩ כַּלּ֨וֹת מֹשֶׁ֜ה לְהָקִ֣ים אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּ֗ן—On the day that Moses finished setting up the Mishkan.” Rashi was very bothered by this pasuk for two reasons: Firstly, why was it that Moshe was mentioned as the one who completed the Mishkan, instead of Betzalel and Ohliahav, who were the ones who built it? Second, the pasuk says that “on the day Moshe completed assembling the Mishkan,” and not “on the day Moshe assembled the Mishkan.” Rashi answers these two questions by saying that although Moshe wasn’t the one who built the Mishkan, he is credited for completing it, because of his “מסירות נפש- wholehearted devotion” to the project, even though it wasn’t his job. The reason why it says that Moshe completed assembling the Mishkan, was because for seven days Moshe built and then disassembled the Mishkan every day, checking that he did it correctly. Only on the eighth day, was he finally sure that he did it right, he allowed the inauguration to commence.
Ultimately, we learn from Moshe the lesson of the Chanukat HaMizbeach: that we must all go the extra mile. Whether that be in school, work or any other situation, it is important to emulate Moshe Rabbeinu and invest ourselves fully in our work.
Chag Sameach.
