Hope Against Despair-the Miracle of Chanukah: Chizuk for Iron Sword by Rabbi Jeff Bienenfeld

hey good afternoon early evening everyone uh I'd like to um uh discuss again something from the last par and see if we can relate it to Kaneka which as you know the first candle we light uh yes AEM is this is this Thursday evening um there uh there was a r I'm not sure if you're he's not one of the more popular rim of the of the 20th century uh harim Ben Z uh sat not related to the former Chief Ravi uh uh who um was a fourth generation Israeli uh received smik from R cook uh when he was 18 years old here uh eventually immigrated to the United States to Chicago and um was responsible other than being a anyone who's here from Chicago uh being the Russ Yeshiva at skoki but also o established the adrown uh the adrown school and other uh educational institutions is quite an impressive person um and he he passed away about um about 30 years ago um lived into his 90s he published a number of books uh and um he there was a two volume work that he published on the paraa which um I fortunately was able to purchase many many years ago and his comments on the paraa are not only creative but very very relevant and and as you'll see in a minute his uh one of his comments on last week's para actually I at least in my opinion certainly speaks to us and speaks to the situation in which we're in which is of course a difficult situation for everyone especially for most of us I imagine who have somebody relative or a friend who is presently serving in sah and defending us uh we wish them they should be and and mided Mida punish the uh the wicked Hamas on uh in last week's para we read that after yakov's uh famous uh battle with the angel with the strange mysterious man who tell us was Soso shv the the angel of ASV so he leaves limping and then we're told by that the morning after the uh the match took place in the evening Hees the son Rose for him so Rashi makes a comment and Rashi connects this to uh another time the the sun uh was connected to yob and that is when he left be so Rashi says he he slept in that place that was where he had the famous dream of the latter and in order for him to sleep in that place so Rashi says based on a medish tanuma that the sun set early so the day was shortened so in order for I guess astronomically speaking for things to balance out so now after his battle with the now the day the day began earlier the day began earlier the sun rose earlier in order to make up for the time the daylight that was lost um some uh some 20 some 20 years ago so there is this connection between the sun setting and the sun rising fine there is a gimar inul which references the same Med but in the cont text of a story and the story goes something like this RAB Akiva uh finds himself uh with his Rabin Gamel and with RAB Yoshua two of his contemporaries the great Tano after the destruction of the second temple and they're in a market to buy an animal to slaughter to provide food for the wedding Feast for Rin gamel's son riman Ben Gam and at that while they're in this Marketplace picking an animal you know that whose meat would be used for the wedding celebration rabi Akiva poses a question to them well out of the blue RAB AKA says it says and the sun rose for him is after his battle with the angel so rabika says the sun only Rose for him doesn't the sun rise for the entire world so uh the gar comments and I'm reading uh what thear says in to teach [Music] us the same son the same son that set for him 20 years earlier was now the same son that Rose for him and that's the simple interpretation so comes along the this is this the name of the book The Two volume work in the par that Rabbi menel B Sly that bahim benon Zach's published he says what's going on here I mean what's this story about is it just to be taken at face value is there something more here and he makes this incredible suggestion which is is so which sort of you know uh seems like it's probably the right interpretation he says rabaka and his colleagues will living in the wake of the destruction of the second temple Bay sheni was catastrophic were still living in the shadow of bayen the Third Temple has not been built the number of Jews that were uh that that died in the war against Rome and then later on in the Baka Rebellion probably numbered into you know close to a million if not more many were sold as slaves many be many were forced to become Gladiators it it was it was a very after the after the destruction second temple the mood in Israel was a mood of despair of depression um people had basically given up hope how do we know this because the garas at the end of the third per in tells us this a remarkable discussion where kazal felt that basically the Jewish people had come to an end and they said we're going to forbid anyone getting married and anyone having children they had a thought to enact a gazer a decree forbidding anyone to get married anyone to have children that's that was the mood that was the mood it was a mood of total and utter despair of yush of course they never implemented it okay but the fact that they even thought of doing it gives us a window into the mood of the people in the wake of the destruction of the second temple they thought it was over Judaism was over the Jewish people were over that's it let let us simply die out and that's it that was the mood into that into that dark and black atmosphere arose the great Optimist rabi Akiva now we know that rabi AKA was The Optimist the great Tana of Hope and Faith and how do we know this because the Garra tells us at the end of makos the very famous story that rabi AKA was walking looking at the ruins of the second temple along with his colleagues rabi tar and RAB Yoshua razar and others and he saw that they were crying and he was laughing so they asked him why are you laughing he said why are you crying why are we crying the T the temple is the temple area is desolate there's been a there's been a terrible destruction why shouldn't we cry he said well why are you laughing so he said I'm laughing because there were prophecies about what what happened and now that the prophecy of Destruction took place and I see that was meant literally there was also the prophecy that there would ultimately be Redemption and if the first prophecy came true then the second prophecy also is going to come true and the says that the his colleague saidu you consoled us RAB Raba had now it didn't the Gula did not happen in his lifetime RAB the G says inas was tortured to death and the Bara Rebellion did not succeed but that didn't stop rabi Akiva for believing that they would ultimately be a Gula now so here we have rabi Akiva so now here's where Rabbi Zach comes in and has a completely different read on that story that took place in that marketplace where they were buying food for the wedding of Rabin gamel's son he said RAB AKA noticed that RAB Gamel was the why was he depressed RAB gamil was probably thinking why are we having a wedding a wedding for my son Rome is still you know with its power with its viciousness trying to stamp out any any remnant of Jewish life says why should we have a wedding why should we celebr how can we celebrate it's impossible Raba noticed the despondency and the pessimism of his friends and RAB AA then asked the question he said isn't it interesting that the Torah says he asked him a question he says did the sun only rise for Yakov didn't it rise for the whole world and then he answers he said to teach us that the son that set for Yakov Rose for yakob and then he says to his colleagues and get in the words of rabis Zachs sometimes in our history we experience the Setting Sun everything looks bleak everything looks black and dark without any hope without any future and people understandably May simply want to give up you know and they cannot sustain their faith and they feel weak rabie AKA said if that's true we've experienced many a setting of the sun many a dark period of persecution but the same Sun that sets is the same same Sun that will rise we don't know when but there will be a the sun of the same Sun that sets is that same Sun that's going to rise there will be like was fako with the rising of the Sun the med says yakob was healed of his limp he comes to sh sho shaso in other words this the rising of the sun brought back Yakov into his Vigor physically spiritually religiously so rabaka said we need to have the wedding and with the wedding we are protesting against the end of the Jewish people we will continue on this was the optimism the indomitable faith of Arabi Akiva the courageous the courageous faith of rabi Akiva he wouldn't give up so this is this is the comment of Rabbi of Rabbi Zachs I thought when I came AC I thought it was absolutely incredible because it speaks so much to uh you know speak so much to all of us who who find ourselves in what appears to be two months ago a horrific setting of the sun which we never thought would happen and again we all know the TR the terrible tragedy and Calamity that took place and now we're still in this period the war rages hostages are still held captive and who knows what sort of condition they're in we've already heard again reports I'm sure you've read it as well it's not it's not a it's not an optimistic picture and yet even though that may be the case and even though right now we're all struggling to deal with this and when will it end and when will our soldiers come home and the hostages be brought be brought back home and when when can we eradicate Hamas so we can have peace on our Southern border and take care of hezb on Northern border when can we be Vindicated in the eyes of the world which just looks for reasons to accuse us so we have to defend ourselves for defending ourselves when will that stop we don't know but we have to believe just like we may be experiencing now a setting of the Sun we have to believe as RAB AKA taught there will be a there will be a rising of the Sun a strong belief that everything that we stand for everything that we've been trying to preach everything that Torah stands for will ultimately be Vindicated not only for Jews throughout the world but also for the non-jewish world as well I think this is a powerful lesson and it's we we need to maintain optimism I'm sure you've seen videos I've seen videos of the soldiers who uh you know they're dancing and they're celebrating chabas and when one soldier has a SIM that he can't go you know so they all celebrate with him together it's it's an incredible thing to see the faith of those who are battling for us and we have to share that faith and we have to give them and give ourselves so I think the words of Rabbi Zachs are so so very relevant I I'd like to connect this with Kaneka if I may because again you're dealing with you're dealing with light I mean what is Hanukah if not a holiday of light when candles are lit amidst the darkness and the candles illuminate illuminate the entire room the entire house the entire world it's that what KHAK is about so there is a discussion again this is can be uh expanded to O but an interesting discussion and insight of R salavi who asked a question he said when did the custom come about to light the manur in our homes where made a Tak that Kana is celebrated by lighting The Manor in our homes and in fact K say that the lighting the Minas it's an obligation on the home when did that happen historically so if you examine the historical record the secular I say the secular record of that time namely uh the uh Antiquity of the Jews by Josephus and the saer Hakim we don't know who the authors were we find something absolutely remarkable they when they speak they speak about what happened the macbes how they defeated the Greeks and how they celebrated on the 25th day of kle there is no mention of the lighting of the manur as we know it no mention at all they speak about rededicating the missb and and the sacrificial and the sacrificial service they speak about um celebrating you know celebrating the victory of lighting the manora in the bigdash all that's true but there's no mention anywhere that there was a custom that arose that in everyone's home we should light them in Earth that was that's not discussed at all and it's and Josephus was way after the story of Hanukah I'm not sure when the say were written but it's a very interesting question when did this custom start So ralic based upon a reading of the rambam rasal con gestures that the the uh custom that we have of lighting the manur in the home started after the destruction of the second temple before the destruction of the second temple the only minority that was lit was in the Bas mikdash and then now there was a miracle you know gamar says in Yuma that the the nari the Western candle remained lit even though theoretically the fuel did not support the lit candle for the entire day so the Jewish people were not unaccustomed to seeing a miracle associated with the manora but after the destruction of the second temple there's no bdish there's no manora at that point kazal were faced with a very very serious problem much like we said before that after in the wake of the destruction of the second temple so many people thought that Judaism was over so many people gave up like we said quoted the Garra the end of the third peric and bashra they wanted to forbid people from getting married the mood again was pessimistic the mood was filled with despair in Yos and at that point kazal needed to do something to convince the people that as terrible and as tragic as the destruction of the second temple was this did not Mark the end of the Jewish people and so they reminded us of something and there's a g in comments the says about the in the said what was the purpose of the Manor in the B MDES was it for illumination and the gar says absolutely not absolutely not so what was the purpose of the manora in the B mikdash if not for illumination why did they like the manur so the gor says because it would be an everlasting testimony to everyone in the world is that God's presence resides in Israel in other words the lighting of the Mikes was not for illumination but to remind us and everyone else that God's presence resides with us that idea after destruction of second temple there's no manora anymore kazal said we're gonna take a manora and no longer and we're going to place it in the home and we're going to light the man and you know the the purpose of the candles is not for illumination you can't read anything by the candles of the manura that's why one of the reasons we have a shamish you can't use the candles for anything so what's the purpose if they're not there for illumination soal said to remind us in this long gulus this long long gulus where so many people think that maybe Hashem has abandoned us those candles remind us just like the candles in the B mikdash ad is that God's presence had never has never left the Jewish people it may look that way it may look that way but God's presence had has never never left it was then and no different today so I see that same idea the sun rises for yakob and for all of us and even though it hasn't completely risen we haven't reached the point of gula the kanah manora reminds us sh sh Israel that God's presence is still with us is still with us and if we believe that really believe that and live in accordance knowing that God is close to us and he cares about us not only will we win this battle AEM But ultimately all of us can help pave the way the ultimate gulish slamer have a happy Kaneka everyone and uh have a great week thank you for listening