Chanukah Day #4: Why the Shabbos Candles Trump the Chanukah Candles

[Music] there's a fascinating law when it comes to hanukkah you know the minimal requirement of hanukkah is to light one candle per night our custom is to add a flame each night but the minimal halacha is each night of the eight nights one candle here is the dilemma raised in the talmud the second chapter of track day shabbos what if you have a poor jew it's friday afternoon soon the sun is going to set over the horizon and a new shabbos will enter the world and a new night of hanukkah will enter the world and this jew only has one candle what should he or she use this candle for to kindle the chanukah menorah or to kindle the shabbos flames which one if he has two candles or she has two candles great you use one for chanukah one for shabbas but what if you only have one you could use it to light the chanukah candles the times of the talmud they used to light the chanukah candles outside of the home or by the window and you make the blessing lahadli or you can use the scandal for shabbos you put it on the shabbos table or the dining room table and you make a very different blessing so the way maimonides quotes this law at the conclusion of the laws of chanukah the shabbos candle takes precedence over the hanukkah candle you light the shabbos candle not the chanukah candle why it seems counterintuitive why do we like chanukah candles to celebrate a spectacular historic victory if not for the khash manoyam revolting against the syrian greeks in the year 164 before the common era recapturing and liberating jerusalem creating autonomy in the holy temple giving the jewish people the ability to cleanse the temple and rededicate it and re-light the candelabra and get rid of the oppression of the greeks if that would have not happened there would be no trace of judaism or of the jewish people we are here today because of what happened as a result of the khashoggi declaring war for three years against the syrian greeks why do we light shabbos candles the reason is because jews had to have a meal friday night before the days of thomas edison there was no electricity burning in the homes to have a meal in darkness is very not pleasant it's not geshmaq a few years ago i was in the catskills and there was a blackout right before shabbos so during the meal i turned to my children and i said for the first time we can all appreciate why the sages gave us the mitzvah of kindling shabbos candles before sunset to friday look what our meal would have looked like without the shabbos candles it's just not delightful or pleasant to eat gefilte fish and chicken soup and to communicate and to sing songs and to argue and to have conversations and to have a beautiful shabbos meal when it's dark in the home it's beautiful and significant but how can you compare the value of the shabbos candles to the significance and the symbolism of the chanukah candles so the talmud and the rambam maimonides give us the answer in three words [Music] because the function of the shabbos candles is to foster peace and harmony in the home you see the sages understood that the true front lines of the battle for the future of our world happens not in the battlefield it happens in our kitchens in our bedrooms in our dining rooms you see the function of the menorah is to light up the outside world they used to put the menorah outside of the home or by the window to spread the light to sumenissa to spread the light in the outer world to illuminate the world the function of the shabbos candles is to create pleasant ex pleasant experience between a husband and a wife between parents and children between siblings very often in life we make a mistake some of us are heroes for the world in the marketplace in the outside world we are heroes we're noble we're powerful we're potent that's where the action happens and we neglect our own relationships in our homes come the sages and teach us when you have a choice between hanukkah candles and shabbos candles shabbos candles must shrug the hanukkah candles never allow your success your productivity your involvement in the outer world to compromise your focus on your relationship with your spouse with your husband with your wife your relationship with your children the relationship with the siblings between themselves what happens inside the home is critical it's vital that's where the future of the jewish people and the future of the world is crafted and molded happy hanukkah [Music] this class is brought to you by the yeshiva.net please help us continue the classes make even a small contribution at www.theyshiva.net donate