Tag: holidays

Chanukah 5785

In honour of the 2nd yahrzeit of my dear father-in-law, Avraham Katzman, z”l
(Avraham Moshe ben Shlomo Zev HaKohen, z”l)
25 Kislev – 1st day of Chanukah

As the darkness of night sets in, it is precisely then that we light our Chanukah candles and then that the light of Chanukah holds its most profound power.

Our joy remains understandably dimmed with our hearts still heavy with the knowledge that over 100 hostages still need to come home.  And our strength and resilience continues to grow as we continue to stand strong, against all odds, while the world seeks to extinguish us.

The holiday of Chanukah has had a curious evolution.  Chazal didn’t seem to make too big of a deal about Chanukah celebrations – some dairy food and enhanced meals to celebrate the inauguration of a newly built altar in the Temple in Jerusalem, but no direction full out celebrations.

Rabbi Tzvi Elimelekh Shapira of Dinov, the great 19th century chassidic master, known as the Bnei Yissaschar, adds to this mystery asking why is Chanukah mentioned only sparingly in the gemara and only once in passing and as an aside in the Zohar HaKadosh, while there are fully dedicated masechtot for Purim and the other holidays?

He answers (Bnei Yissaschar Kislev 2:21) that in the times of Chazal, they wanted to intentionally conceal and hide the idea of Chanukah because it was only meant to be revealed in our generation, the generation of the first phase of the End of Days called ‘Ikveta d’Mashicha’.  And so Chanukah was somewhat more ‘low key’ in previous generations.  

He explains further that that hidden light of Chanukah draws its light from the light of the future, the light of ultimate redemption, which is yet to be fully revealed.  And so as we get closer to redemption, the light of Chanukah begins to shine brighter.  

This is the reason why Chunukah was not made into a “big deal” in previous generations.  Today though, with the extravagance of Chanukah celebrations, proliferation of public menorah lightings, mass availability of Chanukah essentials, sefarim and merchandise, wide assortments of decadent gourmet sufganiyot and more, the light of Chanukah has never shone brighter.

The root of the word Chanukah is chinuch, which means initiation, inauguration, re-dedication – the power of beginning.  Chanukah is a time of our initiation, inauguration and re-dedication to living with the light of redemption that will arrive, B’H, soon in our days.  

Chanukah is not only about remembering past miracles, but to show gratitude for the miracles of our day –  בימים ההם בזמן הזה – and connecting to the brightest of futures, which is now more immanent that ever. 

As we bask in this light and strengthen this unwavering hope, let us pray for the safe return of the hostages, for the safe return of all our brave soldiers in good health, and the illumination of the entire world with Godliness, kindness and peace.

Chanukah Sameach!!

Dedication to Education

Rabbi Sacks shares a story about his father, an immigrant to Britain who had to leave school at a young age to help support his family. Walking home with his father from synagogue as a child he would question his father about Judaism. His father would give the same answer every time: “I never had a Jewish education, so I cannot answer your questions. But, one day you will have the education that I never had and when that will happen, you will teach me the answers to those questions.”

Sefer Malachi (3:23–24) tells us of the task of Eliyahu HaNavi, the herald of the ultimate redemption: “He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents.”

Rabbi Moshe Alshich asks how we act in order to succeed in educating our children. He said: “It is what you love that your children will learn to love.” It is the way your life reflects your loves, those are the things that our children will absorb and eventually make their own.” Rabbi Sacks commented: “It is by reflecting our love for Jewish life and practice that our children will choose to commit to become engaged and enthusiastic Jews.”

Chanukah, is related to the word chanuch, meaning re-dedication, referring to the re-dedication of the Temple by the Maccabees. Chanukah is also related to the word chinuch, meaning education. On Chanukah we don’t celebrate the re-dedication of the Temple, a physical building, rather we celebrate the living embodiments of Judaism, namely our children.

As Rabbi Sacks said in Radical Then, Radical Now: “Moses realised that a people achieves immortality not by building temples or mausoleums, but by engraving their values on the hearts of their children, and they on theirs, and so on until the end of time.”

Chanukah Sameach

Fragments of Light – Chanukah insights from and inspired by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l.