Divrei Chanukah
Al HaNissim
Part of the special prayers of Chanukah include Al Hanissim, an eloquent expression of gratitude to Hashem for His miracles and salvations. To Jews, saying “thank you” is not to be a perfunctory act; it is an expression of the triumph of the neshamah over the body, according to HaRav Shlomo Brevda, shlita. Every phrase, every word, is another opportunity to express our appreciation. Therefore, a step-by-step review of Al Hanissim (based upon that of Rav Brevda, from his sefer L’hodos Ul’hallel), is in order at this time of year.
In the days of Mattisyahu, the son of Yochanan Kohen Gadol, the Chashmonai, and his sons. If Al Hanissim is to thank Hashem, then why are we starting with the people who were Hashem’s agents in the miracles? The Midrash tells us that those who refuse to appreciate another person’s benefits will ultimately deny those of Hashem. Pharaoh began with acting as if he did not know Yoseph, who had saved Mitzrayim from starvation, and ended up arrogantly declaring, “Who is Hashem that I should listen to Him?” Because we recognize other people’s kindnesses to us more readily that those of Hashem, a career of gratitude should start with thanking other people.
When the evil Greek kingdom rose up against Your people Israel. Unlike Nebuchadnezzar and Haman, who sought to kill and destroy, the Greeks portrayed themselves as benevolent, magnanimous conquerors. “Of course, we are not barbarians,” they claimed, “Let the Jewish Temple stay up – we’ll just put our idols in it! Let the Jewish people live – they’ll just adopt our customs!” In the summer of ‘04, the nations of the world sent their athletes to Athens for the Olympic Games. No doubt, the Greek hosts put on a massive display of the myriad Greek contributions to world civilization -- drama, democracy, etc. While the world oohed and aahed at the panoply of pomp and pageantry, we know the truth – the Greek world was choshech – darkness; filthy, evil darkness.
Their wickedness is easy to see, if one wants to look. Anyone who has stomached reading Greek mythology can see that the Greek deities raped, plundered, and pillaged at will. Their ardent worshippers considered these vicious characters to be their heroes and role models. Horrible rituals took place in the Greek temples, according to HaRav Avigdor Miller zt”l.
The Greek ideal of physical fitness was also a thin façade, says Rav Miller. The Greek word “gym” means “naked,” as used in a “gymnosperm,” an uncovered seed. Thus, we see that when the Greeks went to their aptly-named gymnasium, they had more than a workout in mind.
This vile civilization embodied ingratitude as a virtue – the opposite of the am Hashem. Compare their kibbud av v’aim. When a Spartan became too old to be physically useful, his own children carried him out to the woods in the winter. They cruelly left him there, to die of exposure.
To make them forget Your Torah, The cunning Greeks realized that Torah is chayeiynu v’orech yameiynu, the source of our strength. Therefore, they forbade it, weakening us like fish out of water.
And compel them to stray from the statutes of Your Will. Why not “from Your mitzvos?” The Gra (on Mishlei 19:20) says that two things can repel a person from doing something: when his mind tells him to do the opposite, and what hurts his body. The decadent Greeks tried to force us from both: the statutes of the Torah, which have no understandable rationale; and from Your will, when we compel our bodies to do ratzon Hashem, be it uncomfortable. The Greeks hoped to corral us along a path of least resistance, by injecting their “logic” into our Torah, dropping any mitzvoh which didn’t jibe with their opinions and comfort level, and finally convincing us to drop everything, chas v’shalom. Only Hashem could save us.
And You, in Your Great Mercy. We had no case, no zchusim, in shamayim. The miracles of Chanukah were Divine acts of utter rachmanus.
You stood up for them in the time of their distress. Says the Mabi”t in Bais Elokim: we had done nothing before the Greek shmad to prepare for such a nisayon. Therefore, at our time of distress, many Jews were lost. (See Succah 56b.) Still, in spite of our many sins, Hashem intervened and saved us.
You took up their grievance, judged their claim, and avenged their wrong. Says the Gra (on Yeshaya 81), judgment has three components: the grievance, when the claimants state their cases; the judgment itself; and the avenging punishment upon the guilty. At the time of the Greek shmad, there was a din against us in shamayim. We would have lost the case, if not for Hashem’s mercy, when He overrode all three factors and had us triumph.
You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few. Every year, we are bombarded by Chanukah paraphernalia, featuring images of Greeks fighting well-armed Jews with rippling muscles. It looks like a fair fight, but it is a historical lie. Who were the Maccabees? Says Rashi on the Gemara in Sotah (33a), they were pirchei kahuna -- youths. Their weapons? They had none; Kohanim are not supposed to fight. Starved in caves, they came out, waving garden tools at the Greek army, the mightiest military machine in the world. The miracle was mind-boggling; the Greeks saw this pitiful ragtag band – and fled in panic!
HaRav Yechatzkel Levenstein zt”l, the mashgiach of Mir and Ponevezh, said that the verse (Hoshea 14:10) “The ways of Hashem are straight: the righteous will walk in them, and sinners stumble over them” applies to Chanukah. He saw it in the secular Israeli emphasis upon sports at this time of year. We see it today; every few years, young misguided Jews world-wide celebrate a cheap imitation of the Olympic games. They go 180 degrees opposite of the Maccabees’ ideals, acting in all ways Greek. And what is this silly debacle called? The Maccabiah Games, after those who fought against the Greek way?!? It should be called “The Misyavniah Games”!
The impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton into the hands of the diligent students of your Torah. Said Rav Levenstein, because the victory over the Greeks was supernatural, individual warriors’ accomplishments depended upon their levels of spirituality. Therefore, an impure Greek fell at the hands of a pure Jew, but a wicked one needed a righteous Jew, and an evilly wanton one required a true talmid chacham. We saw yad Hashem, even on a one-to-one level.
For Yourself, You made a great and holy name. When Hashem did chesed for the Maccabees, His name became greater in the world; and when He punished the Greeks, His name became holier. Thus, the miracles of Chanukah led to our being able to relate to Him on even higher levels than before. And in what way do we relate?
In Your world. Through the miracles, we saw more clearly that this world is Yours, and You, Hashem, guide and control it.
And for Your people Israel, You worked a great victory and salvation as this very day. The victory was so effective, it became permanent; if we don’t allow the Greeks and their ways to infect us, they can never threaten us again.
Thereafter, Your children came to the Holy of Holies. Even though the Jewish people’s weak avodah had caused the Greek decrees and the loss of control over the Bais Hamikdash; when they risked their lives to do Hashem’s will, they immediately became “banim” once again and were granted the zchus of return to the Temple service. (See Bava Basra 10a)
They cleansed Your Temple, purified the site of Your Holiness. Mentioning their diligent toil is also praising Hashem, for even though the Maccabees were exhausted from the battles, Hashem gave them the strength to energetically renovate the Bais HaMikdash.
And kindled lights in the Courtyard of Your Sanctuary. Hashem hid that one flask from the Greeks for many months, then guided the Maccabees right to it, so the miracle of eight days could happen.
And they established
these eight days of Chanukah to express thanks and praise to Your great Name.
We witnessed kindnesses to the righteous and revenge upon the evildoers.
However, as the Nefesh HaChaim says in his introduction, we can only experience
and praise Hashem’s great Name, i.e. how He relates to us. His essence, however,
is and always will be, beyond us.
Miracles and Great Miracles
The Rambam (Hilchos
Chanukah 4:12) writes: “The mitzvah of the lights of Chanukah is very beloved.”
Asks HaRav Shimshon Dovid Pincus zt”l, aren’t all mitzvos beloved? Don’t we also
cherish mezuzos, tzitzis, and tefillin?
He also asks: Chazal fixed the bracha, “Who made miracles,” upon the miracle of one days’ supply of oil lasting eight days. After all, the four letters of the dreydel spell out that Chanukah features a Nes Gadol, a Great Miracle. However, our history is replete with far greater miracles than a lamp’s extended life! What about the ten Makkos, the krias yam suf, or ma’amad Har Sinai?
Furthermore, the Mishnah in Avos (5:5) tells us that the Bais HaMikdash itself featured ten miracles which occurred every day for centuries. What’s more, the Gemara in Shabbos (22b) testifies that the Menorah itself already had this miracle! Every evening, a kohen cleaned the Menorah, added equal amounts of oil to every cup, and lit. The next morning, all the lights had gone out, except for the western light, from which he would light the others. That evening, the kohen would find that western light still burning! That light stated lit for centuries, starting with Moshe and Aharon, and continuing throughout the Mishkan and the Bayis Rishon. It was revived at Ezra’s time, and kept going through the time of Shimon HaTzaddik. Yet seven extra days of light is called “a great miracle,” and nearly an eon of the same phenomenon is not?!?
Rather, says Rav Pincus, we need to reevaluate our set notions of the essence of Chanukah. First, he says, Judaism carries a unique concept: the direct relationship between the A-mighty and flesh-and-blood people. We remind ourselves of this relationship in the first brocha of every Shmoneh Esreh, when we praise Hashem as being the “G-d of Avraham, G-d of Yitzchok,” and G-d of Yaakov.” Why are our Avos mentioned at the beginning of our prayer to the Creator? In Avodas Hatefillah (20), HaRav Meir Birnbaum shlita brings the Michtav M’Eliyahu (3:79), who explains that we are to remind ourselves that in spite of His Greatness, Hashem actually relates directly, even creates covenants, with human beings – a concept far beyond the understanding of the nations.
Even more amazing than this is the nature of Heshem’s relationship to us, which we declare in the brocha immediately before Krias Shma: “A great love” or “An eternal love” which He has for us. What is the nature of this love? Not as it “logically” should be, as a one-sided situation, but actually as a relationship between equals, as symbolized by the kruvim on the aron kakodesh, which were of equal size.
This concept has incredible ramifications. The Gemara in Shabbos (63a) tells us an amazing idea that we take for granted: “Even if Hashem decrees a gizeira, a tzaddik can annul it.” When the Chofetz Chaim would tell childless couples that they would be answered within a year – it happened, over and over again! How could the Chofetz Chaim make such promises? Hashem is the All-Powerful One! It must be that we enjoy an equal partnership with the A-mighty Himself!
However, there is a higher level still. Rav Pincus brings a mashal. A rich man and a poor woman become engaged to marry. Before the chasunah, they discuss where to live as husband and wife. The chossun, of course, wants the kallah to move into his palatial mansion, with all the comforts of life. The kallah, however, worries that all that opulence will go to her head. She insists that the chossun move into her simple downtown apartment. Who will prevail? It depends; if the chossun loves the kallah intensely enough, he will leave his upscale life and move in with her.
The nimshal spells out the difference between Chanukah and other holidays. A common factor among Shabbos, Pesach, Shavuos, and Succos is that in every one, Hashem raises us up to His Heights of closeness. On Chanukah, when we were utterly on the run from the Greek cultural invasion, with many Jews going lost, the loyal few dug in their heels and were privileged to participate in a miraculous war and to see the Menorah burn eight days. Those two miracles, however, were not the Nes Gadol. The Great Miracle came from when Hashem, through His great Love, lowered Himself, so to speak, into the darkness which enveloped us. Unlike yetzias Mitzrayim, when Hashem took us out “so you should know that I am Hashem in the midst of the land,” i.e. to show the world His strength; to the Chashmonaim, He showed His infinite Love for us by lowering Himself into our midst. The eight days of light were not a great miracle unto themselves; they are an expression of a whole new dimension of our relationship with Hashem – the real Great Miracle.
How can we understand the individual events of Chanukah from this perspective? Rav Pincus brings the posuk from Shir HaShirim (1:2): “He [Hashem] kisses me [Yisroel] with the kisses of His mouth.” Rashi there explains Yisroel’s desire for a mouth-to-mouth kiss: “I want that He should act with me as a groom to a bride,” A mouth-to-mouth kiss is unique, for it is always returned.
On Chanukah, we experienced such a kiss from Hashem Unlike the Three Regalim, where He brought us up to Him; here, He came down to us and gave us miracles – His kiss. And where was our kiss in return? Once they had driven out the Greeks, the Maccabees didn’t set up a provisional government. Their first move was to purify the Temple and reestablish their service to Hashem.
Today, Hashem has kissed us once again. Yeshivos, shuls, mikvaos, and other mosdos have sprouted and shot up all around us. Every physical amenity of Yiddishkeit is easily available.
What is the kiss that Hashem wishes us to return? “And afterwards, Your children returned to the House Of Your Holiness”: Hashem wants us to look at our own homes. “Cleaned out Your Temple”: What modern-day Greek paraphernalia has managed to sneak into our homes? “Purified Your Mikdash”: Is our speech – in subject and manner -- appropriate for a Torah home?
Whenever someone asked Rav Pincus, “Can I bring ____ (something inappropriate) into my home?” he would answer, “Have you ever seen someone with that item while in a shul?” A home is just as holy as a shul; what should not go into one, should not go into the other!
Yet another way to return
Hashem’s kiss is expressed by HaRav Avigdor Miller zt”l. He considered it a
meritorious practice to say out loud, “I love You, Hashem.” The effect is
enhanced if one first thinks about Hashem’s kiss, i.e. a chesed that Hashem has
done for him. Try it!
Coping
HaRav Avigdor Miller zt”l
explains that the division of the Jewish people into Maccabees-versus-Misyavnin
at the time of the Greek domain is not so simple. Actually, there were three
groups.
First were the Misyavnin, who had become so infected by Hellenization that they took upon themselves to slander their fellow Jews to the Greeks, who had been more interested in consolidating and keeping order in their newly-conquered empire than in forcing culture down their vassals’ throats. At the other extreme were the Maccabees, who risked their lives and revolted. The vast body of Jews, however, adapted a coping strategy. “Of course we want to keep Shabbos, Milah, and Rosh Chodesh,” they reasoned, “but it’s tough now, so we’ll do what we can. Maybe things will get better.” They disagreed with both other groups: the Misyavnin, for abandoning Torah; and the Maccabees, for stirring up trouble with the Greeks.
Hashem brought the Maccabees to victory, the Misyavnin disappeared or morphed into Tzaddukim and their ilk, and the middle group followed the Maccabees.
Ma'aseh avos siman l’banim. In Jewish history, patterns repeat. The 20th century has witnessed the same phenomenon, in both the USSR and the USA. There, the Yevsekyes (Jewish Communists) shuttered thousands of shuls and chederim and threw rabbis into Siberia. A few giborim secretly kept everything. The majority of Soviet Jews, however, kept what they could, but toed the party line. The result? Stalin wiped out the Yevsekyes, those modern-day Maccabees came out even stronger, and the children of the middle group went lost. In America, those early reformers who organized Yom Kippur balls have disappeared; the zealots, such as Reb Yaakov Yosef Herman zt”l, have thrived, and we try to save the descendants of those Jews who compromised with their Yiddishkeit. In other words, in times of spiritual danger, Hashem brings those who fiercely cling to Him to ultimate victory, He destroys those traitors to Him, and those who try to cope can go either way, depending upon other circumstances.
What is the source for this concept? The Rambam (Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 5:3) spells out the halacha: In a time when enemies threaten our spiritual lives in any way, we are obligated to sacrifice our physical lives. No coping, no compromise. From where do we see this power from within ourselves? The mishnah in Avos (5:23) states: “Yehudah be Teimah says, “Be as bold as a leopard” and face any enemy with confidence, for you are doing Hashem’s Will.
Today, says Rav Miller, we can still attain this greatness, even from within a malchus shel chesed. If we sit down at our “groaning-board” Shabbos tables and sincerely think, “Even if I had none of these creature comforts, even if informers were planted outside the window, I would not give an inch,” we are true heirs to the legacy of the Maccabees.
Mesiras Nefesh
Every Jewish holiday
possesses an overriding theme, a shefa or flow from Above which we can utilize
in our lives. For Pesach, it is freedom, for Rosh Hashanah, it is judgment. What
can we gain from Chanukah?
To HaRav Shimshon Dovid Pincus zt”l, Chanukah brings us a unique opportunity to work on our mesiras nefesh. He brings the Midrash Tanchumah which states, “Why was the parsha of Aharon’s lighting the menorah juxtaposed to that of the presents of the nesiim at the dedication (chanukas) of the altar? When Aharon saw the nesiim’s presents, he felt pained that he could not join them. Hashem told him, “Yours is greater than theirs, for you will light and take care of the lights of the menorah.” The Ramban on Chumash there states that this midrash is hinting to the rededication of the Bais HaMikdash and its menorah at the time of the Chashmonaim.
What bothered Aharon, and what was Hashem’s answer? Rav Pincus notes that at the dedication of the altar, Hashem showed such ahavah to His children that He allowed special one-time rules of avodah to take place. He therefore accepted the nesiim’s offerings, even though they all contained free-will spices and chatas-offerings -- korbanos that normally are not permitted. Therefore, Aharon’s pain came from seeing, and not participating in, such displays of Hashem’s love to His people
Hashem answered Aharon with the mitzvoh of lighting Chanukah candles, which Aharon’s Chashmonain descendants initiated. Chazal tell us that Chanukah and other Rabbinical mitzvos are especially beloved to Hashem. (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:2) for they are generated by us as expressions of our love and loyalty to Hashem.
Why would Hashem take such pride in mitzvos derabbanan? Rav Pincus brings a mashal: A father was gathering branches for schach for his succah. As he loaded his wagon, his four-year-old son asked, “Totty, can I help?” “Of course, son!” said the father happily. The father proudly watched his son drop a few insignificant twigs into the wagon.
Likewise, when we take an initiative, no matter how small, in our relationship with Hashem, Our Father, it gives Him tremendous nachas. (What is the definition of nachas? According to HaRav Yisroel Reisman shlit”a, we experience nachas when we see our children, on their own initiative, following in our paths.)
Furthermore, accompanying and defining any act of initiative in avodah is the mesiras nefesh of the one undertaking it. Middah-k’neged-middah, when we act with mesiras nefesh to Hashem, He acts with mesiras nefesh to us. Matisyahu and his sons, a few kohanim untrained for war, faced the mightiest military machine on earth. Their incredible acts of self-sacrifice helped bring a supernatural victory from Above.
What level of mesiras nefesh can a Jew attain? A Russian immigrant told Rav Pincus that during Stalin’s y”s purge of Jewish doctors in the USSR fifty years ago, when he declared them to be “enemies of the state,” a certain Jewish doctor fled from his home and hid. For two years, his wife and children heard nothing from him. They were utterly alone; fearing the wrath of the KGB, all their friends and neighbors ignored and abandoned them.
Purim (another Rabbinic holiday) came, and the mother told her children, “It is a mitzvah to send mishloach manos, but we have no one to accept ours. Let’s send it instead to Hashem.”
“But Ima,” asked a child, “Mishloach manos requires two foods, and we have only one – cake. Wait – I have an idea! Abba always said, ‘Serve Hashem with simchah,’ but we have no simchah today, so if we soak this cake with our tears, perhaps it will have two brochos – mezonos and shehakol.”
Everyone sadly agreed. As they were preparing their unique mishloach manos to Hashem, someone knocked on the door. They opened it – and there was their father, safe!
As the mother joyfully ran to him, she exclaimed, “We sent our mishloach manos to Hashem, and He sent one in return!”
According to Rav Pincus, our wealth and relative security have ironically created a special challenge today. When Torah and mitzvos are so plentiful and available, the battlefield of our initiative has moved inside of us; we must find ways to infuse mesiras nefesh into our avodah. The measure of success is not so clear; a mitzvoh done with mesiras nefesh may still superficially resemble a mitzvoh done without it. In this sense, says HaRav Avigdor Miller zt”l, we should not think that our deeds, done in a land of plenty, are any less valuable that those of our impoverished ancestors. In fact, the opposite may be true; if we can somehow cut through the wads of gashmius that gum up our spirituality, our mitzvos may be the most precious of all time.
A Freilichen Chanukah!