Mrs. Sharon Fixler
Assistant Principal, Ulpanat Orot
The Yad Vashem website famously contains the verification of this remarkable picture. According to Yad Vashem, “On Hanukkah 1932, just one month before Hitler came to power, Rachel Posner, wife of Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, took this photo of the family Hanukkah menorah from the window ledge of the family home looking out onto the building across the road decorated with Nazi flags.
On the back of the photograph, Rachel Posner wrote in German (translated here):
Chanukah 5692 (1932).
‘Death to Judah,’ so the flag says.
‘Judah will live forever,’ so the light answers.”
To me, this picture beautifully captures an important element of the mitzvah that we take into account when lighting the Chanukah menorah, that of Pirsumei Nisa, which is Aramaic for ‘publicization of the miracle’. Pirsumei Nisa is a concept discussed in great detail in the Gemara. In particular, there is lots of discussion on where the chanukiah would be most visible to people walking by. Rabbanim also argued over whether Pirsumei Nisa is relevant only to Jewish people, or if it applies to us publicizing the miracle of Chanukah to non-Jews, too.
The language in the Gemara states that the candles must burn until the tarmudai are no longer in the marketplace. Rashi explains that the tarmudai were non-Jewish wood merchants who sold firewood to customers in the marketplace until it was dark. From this explanation we learn that one fulfills his obligation to publicize the miracle even if the only people who will see the lights are non-Jews.
Rav Soloveitchik concurs with this approach, stating in his sefer Days of Deliverance that: “We do not have to announce to the gentile world that the Jew fights for his physical survival. A Jew is like any other person; he has an instinct for physical survival … However, Hanukkah was a fight for spiritual survival.”
As we know from the Chanukah story, the Greeks did not seek the physical destruction of our nation, rather they sought to destroy our spirituality. For this reason, Pirsumei Nisa on Chanukah is fulfilled even if only non-Jews are the ones witnessing the flames burning, for the burning flames symbolize the endurance of our spirituality.
Considering this approach, the poignant picture of a menorah standing proudly across from a Nazi flag in Germany, circa 1932, is especially meaningful.
Miraculously, the owners of this famous Menorah, Rabbi Posner, Rachel and their three children miraculously escaped Germany for Israel in 1933. While the menorah belongs to Yad Vashem for 51 weeks of the year, Rabbi Posner’s descendants are permitted to take the chanukiah back each year for the eight days of Chanukah.
During Chanukah each year, the Posners’ great-grandson, Akiva Baruch Mansbach, named for his great-grandfather, lights their family menorah in Beit Shemesh and reflects on the significance of his act of lighting, as continuing a long tradition of fulfilling the mitzvah of Pirsumei Nisa. A number of years ago, Mansbach was interviewed about his tradition of lighting his family menorah. He astutely noted that “whether it’s the Greeks on Hanukkah or the Nazis in Germany, they want the same thing — to destroy the nation of Israel… The menorah symbolizes the strength and continuity of our nation, the idea that it is strong and will conquer all its enemies.”
This statement especially rings true in our times, while Israel continues to fight in Gaza and Jews around the world grapple with rising anti-Semitism.
May we merit to internalize this message of the strength and resiliency of the Jewish people, as we publicize the miracle of Chanukah from our homes this year.
Chaim Remer
Grade 12 Student, Yeshivat Or Chaim
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, is a very intriguing holiday: a commemoration of two miracles which aren’t mentioned in Tanach that, although they happened long ago, continue to have strong relevance throughout every generation that has passed. So, what is the meaning of Chanukah? And how does it relate to us today?
The miraculous victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks represents the best of the Jewish nation. In a battle of the few against the many, the few prevailed. The Jews, without a strong army, without military training, simply believed in their cause to regain the rights to serve Hashem. Because of their cause, they knew that Hashem would help them win. As King David wrote: “They call on chariots, they call on horses, but we call on the name of the Lord our G-d” (Psalms 20:8). This verse shows the mindset that the Jews had thousands of years ago, but it is still the same mindset we have today. In the war against terror that we are currently fighting in the Middle East, we are relying on Hashem. We are doing our part physically, of course, but we are calling upon the name of Hashem to deliver justice and to rid evil from the Middle East.
Our belief and trust in Hashem is what has kept us going throughout thousands of years. As Mark Twain wrote, all empires have come and went, but it is the Jews who have remained steady. This is what Chanukah is all about. Chanukah is a holiday where we celebrate the eternal Jewish nation—that no matter what has happened, our faith in Hashem never wavers, and His faith in us never falters. May Hashem continue to help us be a light in these dark times. Chag Sameach.
