Chanukah Chizuk by Rabbi Sam Shor

Al nice to see faces nice to see names it's not faces um of course we are in the midst of the incredible y OFA the Y Miracles I thought we might take a look at the primary text about kanah this morning that we're all familiar with since we're you know yay big and um and actually we're going to if we take a close look at this text we're going to see that there are many many questions and um and challenges to be found as we dissect this text together of course the primary text the primary source the entire story of khaka is a tud footnote khaka does not Merit its own M does not Merit its own tractate in the mishna and that's a discussion for a whole another time in terms of the reason though we might touch on maybe a hint to that reason in our discussion this morning but the entire reference to khaka that we have what we call the sug khaka the relevant the relevant discussions of khaka all appear in the second chapter of the track dat Shabbat where we discuss the appropriate materials that may be used to light our Shabbat candles and then we get a the side discussion a long tangent that that carries out through three page full Pages three full folios of talmud discussing Kaneka do the same laws apply to the materials that are allowed to be used like the khah candles and then we get into the discussion our sages in the midst of that discussion realize well we're talking about kanaka candles we haven't even talked about what kanaka is and that's where we're going to pick up right now my khaka our sages as what is the as rabis taught they're beginning with a 25th day of klave begin the days of Begins the days of khaka that time and it was established that these are days that we do not offer a uy and we do not fast so what does that tell us about these days these are days of sim of Joy okay and why because when the Greeks came came into the temple they rendered impure all the oil that was in the in the temple and when the sons of the high priest the konian up Rose up against the mighty Greek Empire and they were victorious they searched high and low and they could only find one little jar of oil that had the Insignia of the co okay okay it was only enough oil in this little jar to last one day and a miracle occurred and that little jar of oil lasted for eight days that's the story that the Tama tells us that's the story that we're all familiar with and since we're you know since we're toddlers the story basic story of Kaneka but I just want to I just want to go through this story again slowly and we also the many questions to be asked first of all the the were the high priests so you think about this whole imagery okay you think about the whole imagery of the victory of this of this Victory against the Greeks the the religious leaders okay the Yeshiva Bak if you will they lead an uprising against the mighty Greek Empire the greatest superpower in the world at that time and they're Victorious and time I think about this story I think about the the book The Chosen okay by by by Ken Pok or the movie better yet even the movie that chosen by K PUK everyone's here has probably heard of the book If you haven't read the book you probably seen the movie and the opening scene in the movie is you see these more modern looking Jewish kids from Brooklyn dressed in their in their blue jeans and their convers Allstar sneakers and they're getting ready to go play to go play a baseball game and they're and they're throwing the ball around the diamond and who are their opponents that show up the opponents that show up are these Kasa boys from Williamsburg and Thea boys are dressed in their long black coats and they're and they're not wearing sneakers they're wearing regular dress shoes and the opening scene is that these boys play the more modern looking kids and they beat the pants off them they're completely Victorious and I always think of that imagery when I think of the Kash the are taking on the most sophisticated superpower of the world at the time they're taking on the mighty Greek Empire and who are they they're the religious leaders they're these Yeshiva B and they are victorious and yet that doesn't seem to be what's what's what's emphasized here in aramar what's emphasized is what that they search high and low for this little jar of oil let me ask you a question that was in by that jar of oil that tells us has the Insignia of the high priest so who are the kashim the kashim are the sons are the family of the high priest so if there was oil to be found that had the Insignia of the high priest wouldn't they wouldn't it be obvious to them where it was hidden they were have to search high and low what does it mean that they had to search high and low to find the oil that had the Insignia of their father the high priest doesn't make any sense they should have known where it was if they indeed are the are the family of the high priest and I'll take it a step further nowhere in the anals of Hala is there any depiction at least I've been through which deals associated with with the I've been through it a few times I don't recall ever seeing anything that says that the the Shem that was used on the M or in the or in the Min was sealed in jars with a little OU Insignia from the high priest it doesn't nowhere in the an of is that R except for here so what does it mean that they search look they only find one little jar Royal that had the little OU the little bat Insignia of the high priest and I'm going to ask another question just practical there's a priest of what's called Tuma okay that in an environment of Tuma that if the seore needs something in Tuma any oil any oil could have been could have been used to to Kindle that light because we want to restore whatever semblance of kadha we can back to the Bas of mikdash I'll take a step further if we know the laws of tumara we know that the minute that seal would have been broken right here's a bottle you open up that seal in an environment of that's that's tame what happens to all the sh that would be in that bottle it would become rendered impure as well so what is the significance of this story what really happened what is the miracle of the Shem and all about okay we're going to come back to that question in a moment I actually want to suggest that there's actually an alternative version of the story that appears in another Rabin text early Rabbi text and that's the version of the story that appears in the in the pcta you take a look this is this text here let's learn the pcta together the wrot the KH okay and the P ask why do we light candles on khaka okay it recalls the time when the the sons of the co okay were victorious okay when they rebelled against the the when they were victorious they overcame the Greek Empire okay that you have the the Conquering of the sons of Zion over the the sons of yav of Greece what happened they went into and what they find there they nothing here in the paa about find searching for one little jar of oil and finding that Miracle Oil rather what they search for and what they find doesn't say search what they find there they found eight iron Spears and they bow them together they wrote and they lit within them they lit within them candles okay so in the version of the story that appears in the PCI the version we just learned together something incredible there's no mention of the Miracle Oil rather and that an oil that should lasted for one day lasted eight days and that's why we light our candles for eight days but rather what happened they came into the B of mikdash which had been defiled and they find the weapons of Destruction The Spoils of War okay weapons that were used for destructive purposes for harmful purposes and they transform those iron bar those iron shim those iron Spears okay Forks Spears okay that were used for destructive purposes and they transform them into a makeshift manura and this make because they found eight Spears instead of seven they don't make a makeshift manura that resembles the seven candle candle candleabra that was in the Bas of mes originally they make an eight candle candal labra using those eight iron Spears and because of that to recall that makeshift manura when they rededicated the B of mikdash where they took The Spoils of War where they transformed weapons used for destructive purposes into something sacred into something holy because we're eight of them that's why we light eight candles on now it's very in very interesting very fascinating if we think about what we're experiencing this Kaneka we're in the midst of a war we're in the midst of a war of Darkness against evil once again of shedding lights o o to overcome an incredible darkness that exists all around us andem when we Traverse first this war okay the the the challenge for all of us and the message of Kaneka particularly this Kaneka is when this war is please God behind us soon what are we going to do with this experience what are we going to do to transform The Spoils of War into something sacred that fills the world with light we're gonna come back to idea in a moment of Kook zat in a beautiful teaching he he reverts back to the more familiar story the story in the gamar that we learned that we asked so many questions about the story of The Miracle Oil that Cruiser oil and R cook says the following beautiful words listen to his words within every single Jew there is a little bit of of cenic um identity okay every single one of us has a little bit of aspect of of being a priest of being a Cohen within us okay because collectively the Jewish people say because collectively the Jewish people are called a nation of priests and a holy people now listen to his words ruk the inner Holiness okay the inner desire for the Holiness of life and the wisdom of Torah that is hidden tucked away safely within the heart of every single Jew within the heart of every single one of us is something that we refer to as what the P says he says that's the listen this words that's the jar of oil the small small jar of O oil the inner the inner hidden Realm of the Jew of the the P that's hidden deep within every single one of us it's an within all of our hearts that seal with the Insignia of the ultimate meaning who okay that is that's the hidden jar of oil cook said the message of our is an A okay and those us that have learned a together before in the past real will remember that these ritic Legends need not be taken solely as historical fact as absolutes but rather they're encrypted within the gar the anals the Canon of the talud in order to teach us moral Eternal relevant lessons and R cook says that this story of the Kash searching high and low for a little jar of oil that's sealed with the Insignia of the COO is such an example of n that need not be taken literally but rather says with cook is meant to teach us that within every single one of our hearts there's a there's a p there's a spark of divinity and it's that spark of divinity that sealed with the Insignia of the ultimate K of the re himself it's that spark of divinity that the Greeks and no one could ever render impure every single one of us has within us an innate presence a spark of divinity and that can never never ever be rendered impure or be removed from the world says building on this theme that within every single one of us is an aspect of K an aspect of the priesthood Rab mosha wolson in his [Music] beautiful RAB wolson says the following words he says when every single Jew no matter where they are in the world no matter who they are when they light their candles on Kaneka we it's as if we are what a one of theim lighting the candles in the B mikdash the and this is alluded to in the word the very name of the Y says rosha Wilson okay because it's made of the letters and the same letters that make up the word Kain it says for eight days okay because throughout the entire eight days of every single member of the Jewish people becomes a proverbial Cohen we're bringing light into the world in the same way that theim brought light into the world in the B of mikash and that's really what this Y is all about it's to remind us of what's in the world what's in the world is there's no bikash and mikdash was the central point where all the nations of the world were reminded of the Splendor of God of the light of God and during these eight days of we become the proverbial we bring that we restore a spark of that same light back to this world of Darkness says Rabbi mosha Wilson I want to close with one last idea we'll take a little bit more time to read this idea together this is a teaching that comes from the ohal Yakov the ohal Yakov was a great kasic Master an unsung hero if you will of the religious Zionist world he was lovingly referred to as the adori he is the re ofat he RAB yaku Freeman he came on Ali in 1938 and he lives the last 19 years of his life in downtown Tel Aviv okay number 18 B Street in in downtown Tel Aviv if you go to 18 B Street today because my wife and I went last year you can see basically the doorframe of his old B midash Still Remains um but during those 19 years the last 19 years of his life he lives through some of the most um challenging times in Jewish history you have the the years of the shaah which he narrowly escapes from Poland it makes Aliah just ahead of the Nazi Onslaught you have the the fight literally in the battlefield as well as diplomatically to establish the state of Israel during those years and you have the early formative years and difficult years of the state of Israel you know the state of Israel today is a is a superpower it's a fourth most fourth strongest military in the world it's a leader in technology across the world but in those days people who made Aliah many they were living in in 10 villages in many communities and the rebi lives through this difficult experience and what's fascinating is that in many of his teachings he gives you a cont a little bit of contextual awareness of what's happening on the ground in ER Israel during this time and he always speaks very very positively about the efforts to build up the Medina and to support the Medina and I wanted to share a beautiful teaching from Kaneka of 1950 that the rebi shared in Tel Aviv in 1950 and it's actually a story his son writes us about what happens when people came to visit the rebi okay the rebi in addition to his residence in Tel Aviv he also at the time benra was first being built he also maintained a residence in B and I guess he went to B for some of the days of and so this is the teaching he says interestingly enough wish one another That's The Greening that we usually give one another an Kipper right and some have the practice to use that greeting also Ona because Inaba we say that any any decree that has not been finalized on y Kipper is finalized on the believe that no that is actually the gar of the and they have the practice of witching one another and he says we see this in a source for this in many of the works of the quot specifically the he says and also the students of okay they also they also write about this idea okay and he says and he says they what that until the days of KH it's as if what we're still Ina meaning thear the gar is still within our hands to to influence we have the capacity to to wish one another and to pray that we should be inscribed for a good year okay the isn't finished yet is really the end of all right now listen to the Reb's words okay this is [Music] 1950 and when we wish each other a gar to now meaning on this khaka 1950 just a year and a half after after the establishment of the we have a double kavana in mind a double intent when we wish one another not only are we wishing one another AAR like we like we would oner and on and on but in this there's a dual there's a dual intense okay we don't only want to be inscribed now for ourselves to a good year but what is the Dual intent now listen to the parenthetic note he says the REI sun says that Jews came from to seek his to seek his advice in terms of how we should understand as religious Jews the establishment of the state of Israel and what should our attitude be towards the establishment of state of Israel what did he answer these Jews that came to visit him it's the beginning of our Redemption the rabbi said and that's how we have to view the establishment of the state of Israel now after the parenthetic not he says if it's true that we've already mared to see the beginning of our Redemption with the establishment of the state of Israel okay sorry skip the line but that's only as it comes to a physical Redemption we've seen the beginning of the physical Redemption of the Jewish people and we want the completion of that of that in of that sealing we want to be sealed completely that the spiritual Redemption should come speedily and in our days he [Music] and that is the coming the complete Redemption the coming of mashia and wishing one other with this intent okay not just in ter that we personally should be inscribed but that we should see mashia this has this is connected directly to KH as well says the RAB as we read in the writings of the Great Master one of the Prime disciples ofs that every single when we light our candles it's a revelation of the Hidden light the light of mssiah when we write light our candles we are bringing a little bit more of that light a little bit more of that mashiah energy into the world we are contributing to changing the world of Darkness to experiencing at that moment the light of mashiach and please God please God as we emerge from this unique Hanukah okay in the midst of a like none of us have seen in our lifetimes may we be Z to transform the spoil of this war the darkness to take the weapons that we conquering and find a way to remove the weapons and the imagery of Destruction and just like the Kash replace that imagery with the imagery of light they would be to experience and welcome after all