Menorah, Tzitzit and the War We Are Now Facing: Chizuk for Iron Sword by Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

good morning everyone Booker toov and uh thank you very much for joining us this morning we uh we're getting together this morning to learn together some words of and that we're m one another by being together this morning during this time and uh I think our first winter day here inim with rain and winds and a little bit of cold so uh we pray that these are Gish that they're rains that bring a lot of blessing and uh and good good things in the coming days let's begin as we do on a regular basis with a capital to and with those words of tahim we have our soldiers in mind we have those that are in captivity those that have been kidnapped in mind those that are in hospitals those that have been injured and we pray foru we pray that Hashem quickly bring those that are in captivity home and bring success to our soldiers and to bring them home as well well this uh this morning what I'd like to uh what I'd like to address is um is khaka we're just uh just two and a half weeks away from khaka a theme that comes from kanaka from from our manora lighting and we're already preparing for that we should already be in that mindset of aana and in a positive way in a joyous way as we're preparing for kanaka and with that I want to talk about Alo something that is that we've been thinking about something that's in the news and that is situs in terms of the tittis that are going to our soldiers and we hear about literally the thousands tens of thousands of pairs of Titus that are uh that are being prepared that are being worned by soldiers as uh as they're going into battle and um with that to uh to bring a little bit of of and and an understanding actually to how situs and Kan relate to one another even though those they sound like they are somewhat distant from one another so let me begin in the following way and that is a gamar that's found gar in chab is and it says the following and it says it tells us the way that we are to light the manura and the way that I grew up and I imagine many of you as well is that the manura was lit in the home that it was lit in the window but the gamar says that that's not the correct place for the lighting of man m it says that the manur should be lit in the doorway you have the mza on the right side you have the man the on the left side and the gamar says in that way you are surrounded by mitv and that happens to be one of the beautiful ways that we see here in and here in ER and it's done in as well but I think it's very very popular here to uh to adopt that that Min or that Hal the way that it's brought in the gamar that that's the appropriate place for the lighting the commentaries point out that it was brought inside the home places in the galut and Exile where it was not safe to be outside it was brought in the home sometimes in the home itself not not even in the window but it was lit inside but the correct place to do it and this is something that I've adopted over the years that I'm living here in ER shells to bring it to the front door and to bring it as the gamar says at the entrance way across from the mza so that is the statement of the gamar that is the ideal way of lighting the manura interesting is the following maker is the following source and it's found in the shos and this Ison this comes from the period of the gim right after the period of the gamarra and he has the uh this statement or this teaching a little bit differently he has mza on the right side he has the minur on the left side that's the same as the gamarra and then he writes but situs in the center situs in the center now the question is what does that mean now it seems to be referring to the person that's lighting the manura the person that's lighting the manura is wearing situs so now you have that combination or those three items you have the manora you have the muuza and you have tius and you have all these Mitzvah that are connecting one to another and the question in my mind is and I found this striking when I I I remember hearing it years ago but I just read it the other week as I Was preparing some uh some learning for khaka and the question is what did the shos have in mind when it Incorporated the idea of situs as part of the uh as part of part of the Mitzvah so to speak of of lighting the manur so I want to share with you three ideas in terms of how how tius relates and I I think the first the first way of thinking about it is the following way that when we speak about the manur when we speak about lighting the manura on khaka we speak about looking at manur it says that we're supposed to to look at the manura supposed to look at the lights we're supposed to be inspired by the lights or those that have the minut of sitting by the candles by sitting sitting by the lights of the manura and we also have which we're all familiar with the idea or Isam that when it comes to titis we also have that we also have looking that we also have that we are aware of theis or Isam actually the word situs itself is relates to sits which means to glance or to look look at as well so in both cases in terms of manura in terms of tias we the we have the idea of uh of it being an object that we are that we are aware of that it's in our view that we're taking note of that we're looking at and one of the themes that we have in terms of tius is the idea that we are to be looking at places of Hol but we are not supposed to be looking things that are inappropriate I think that one of the ideas of khaka and here's sort of the the more subtle message of khaka is not only the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days not only the miracle of the mil of the wars of the mbes but also the inner story The Inside Story is that the Jewish people at that time were assimilated they were assimilating and some of that was forced assimilation that they were decrees that they were not permitted to to celebrate chabis and to learn Torah but sort of in a larger sense the Jewish people were veering away from the ways of Judaism and their dedication their Devotion to the Torah and that was one of the major issues we talk about you know porm as a Time the Jewish people were saved from hamon but when it comes to khaka there was a a spiritual Holocaust so to speak that we were losing our people to uh to the Greek culture and the Greek way of life the theme of tius is to glance at to look at to be drawn to that which is holy and and not to look at those things and not to be drawn into those things that are inappropriate to to culture to a thinking that's not a Jewish way and I think that may be what rakai goon had in mind when he said that situs in the center that the situs very much represent what we are to be aware of what we are to be cognizant of that's the theme of tius and it's the theme of the Menor as well want to share one story that's found in the gamar about situs I don't know how many stories there are in the gamar that relates to situs but this is one that really stands out that's quite dramatic it's found in the and it speaks about a certain individual a certain man who was not necessarily um Mid he wasn't careful in Hala in general in terms of his observance but there was one Mitzvah that he was very careful about and that was situs that was a Mitzvah that he loved and he always wore SES and the gamar says that this man actually set up a um a meeting with a prostitute with a harlot 400 gold pieces that he put aside for this meeting with this particular woman and the gamar says that they get together that he knocks on the door that he comes in and he meets his very beautiful woman and he begins to undress she begins to undress that's what the gamar says and as he's undressing he's taking off his shirt and then he takes off his tius and as he takes off his tius the tius kind of HIIT him in the face hit him in the eyes and at that point when he sees the tius he steps away and he begins to leave and he's walking out the door and uh interesting at that moment the the woman this prostitute says have you found something that you're you're not attracted to in me and he responds that no you are very attractive you're you're actually the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen But I see the tius I see the the the doid conos of the tius I see the four corners and he says that those four corners are going to be like Aiden they're going to be Witnesses and they're come they're going to come before Hashem and they're going to say that I sinned in this world and um and in this way I'm refraining from from being together with you interesting ending to the gamar the gamar says that this woman at some point tracks down where this man is from which Yeshiva he was in which Rabbi he studied with and the woman goes and finds uh the Yesa and says to the rabbi that reia and says that I want to convert to Judaism and it turns out that she converts to Judaism and she uh she actually marries this man who uh who who meets her fascinating gumara um quite a dramatic story in the gumara but one of the lessons in this in this gamar is what situs is all about with the gamar is highlighting is that situs gives us the ability to uh to hold fast to refrain to restrain from restrain ourselves from uh from sinning from AA and again I think this is one of the themes that perhaps had in mind when he spoke about situs at the center when we're lighting the manura and that relationship between situs and the manur the manur represents Kaneka that we as a people as difficult as it was that we held on the sikim the uh that they were able to hold on and to be an inspiration for the Jewish people and uh tius represents our ability to do that as well that's theme number one one possibility in terms of the importance of tius why tius is uh is part of that portrayal of of lighting the manora another idea maybe this came to mind as I mentioned it earlier in terms of cus and the minora and what comes to mind is the number eight and the number eight of course is the eight candles the eight lights the manura and we also have the eight strands of cus as well and that number eight is a a number that we're all familiar with in terms of what the cabala speaks about as being transcendental of being a number that represents outside of of this world moving into a holy moving into a metaphysical moving into a a holy Place uh seven represents the cycle of the week eight represents Beyond and this is something that the maral of Prague writes about and he made famous in his work actually has a a separate book on kanako called n Mitzvah n Mitzvah the light of of the Mitzvah referring to the the lights of Kaneka and there he speaks about the number eight interesting one of the examples and there are many examples we can talk about the eight big day Kahuna of the Ken and one of the examples that he brings is uh which I was not familiar with is inim and many of us are reciting toim these days K the 119th Psalm which opens with a the opening P talks about those that walk in the ways of the Torah that that they're praiseworthy that they live a happy life that they are blessed and in that to Hill him you have eight verses all with the letter Alf you have eight verses all with the letter bed you eight verses all with the letter gimble going all the way through the alphabet that's and the maral says that the Torah represents that number eight that's what D was referring to what he was alluding to that the the power of the Torah the miraculous nature of Torah the Torah is min sh we're learning it here but but it comes from from above it comes from a Heavenly place so the the number eight is a uh is a significant number the number eight also as we know in terms of that we give a br to a child what that represents is the child entering into a covenant entering into the Jewish people we're not like any other go like any other nation in the world that we are a nation with with Hashem with that the eyes of hem are upon us and it's interesting that when we talk about the Mitzvah of mil and we know that mil is a Mitzvah that's first given to Abu we also have a source that talks about situs in relation to a ainu as well which is really fascinating and this is from Med RAB it's par giml in braus rabba and from the story of the battle of the Four Kings against the five Kings Aram is Victorious and he's offered gifts at the end Spoils of War and he answers he says that I'm not interested in The Spoils of War and he says IM even even a strand right even a lace I'm not interested in right I did that sh and I'm not interested in in in the worldly gifts material gifts and the Met says the following I'm the Holy One Blessed Be he said to Abraham you refuse taking anything even a even a string even a strand hasem says I swear to you that I'm going to give the Mitzvah of sets this to you so here here we have also an interesting in the context of War but thatu that he refuses to take any any material um any material gifts what he's interested is what he's interested in is a is a spiritual life and that he did it sh so the number eight the number eight of the tius of the strands of the tius the number eight of the candles of the lights of manur there uh there is certainly a connection between the two in terms of those representing a connection to Hashem a connection to the transcendental to uh although we are here on Earth that the r that we are connected to uh to heaven we are connected to God above so that is another possibility in terms of what R when he spoke about how we light the manura that we have muuza and that we have the tius in the center and then we have the manura on the left side um one last interpretation one last idea again asking the question what is the relationship and here we can actually talk about the relationship between all three the muuza and the tius and the manur and I think one of the ideas and this I think is something that very much relates and I mentioned earlier in terms of the war that uh one of the things that's going on in terms of the war effort and uh I think some of us have been involved in this as well is preparing situs for for soldiers and uh I've seen that not only here in Israel but they've sent from Israel to communities in America I so in Florida and New York other communities that are tying situs that they're bringing them back here for the soldiers and you have so many soldiers and many soldiers that have not worn cus or do not wear cus on a regular basis that are now interested and that that they now have uh I know that that they're drawn to this Mitzvah this time as they're going to battle so the question is what is the relationship and is there any relationship in terms of of going to war going to battle and situs so there are two uh two sources that I that I'd like to share with you one is a gamar that's found in rashash the gamar rashash and it speaks about the way that hasem Davin the way that Hashem davins and uh that's that's interesting to uh to begin with to talk about Hashem is daving as one who davens ran said I'll just read the translation if it were not written in the Torah it would be impossible to say but we are taught that Hashem that God wrapped himself in a Talis like a prayer leader like aak seore and showed Moshe the order of prayer and showed MOS Renu how to Davin so we have this imagery that's found in the gamarra itself that Hashem wraps himself in a Talis that Hashem is daving for the Jewish people that Hashem is daving for their security for their for their protection so we have this imagery this idea this notion that aalis at ctis is something that's used in daving something that's used to daving for others even Hashem so to speak wears situs wears the Talis and is daving on behalf of am Israel and I think that very much connects with with situs today in the way that soldiers are are wearing situs with that in mind with that prayer in mind that Hashem is daving on our behalf that is praying for the welfare of am Israel but there's another really interesting source that talks about situs as a um as a safeguard as a protection as security for one who is wearing tius and for am Israel in general we have uh there's a Min hog not everybody has this minog but before one puts on the Talis in the morning that there is a prayer that there's a of of you can look at it in your sitter and it talks about the kavana that a person should have before they're putting on situs before they're putting on the Talis that they say a certain you know prayer certain daving beforehand a certain kavana uh beforehand and this is part of it just reading one line it's not a very long but this is one line from that prayer that as I'm putting on the Talis that I should think about the Talis as a kind of protection that it's a kind of that it's is if the wings of God are protecting me that God is stretching out his arms and protecting me and watching over me that's the that's this that's what said in this before one puts on the talus interesting the thing about Talis in that way that it's a kind of protection that sits is that wearing a Talis that wearing the D Kos as a protection for the Jew and it then quotes the following P that hashem's wings are protecting us that it's that it's that it's embracing us that it's covering us and it quotes Theo and that's a that's found in towards the very end of the Torah where it speaks about hasem as an eagle like an eagle that hovers that hovers over its young that it spreads that Hashem spreads um his wings and he takes the the chicks that he takes the babies and he covers them and he protects them so that's the P that is quoted here in this in this H for wearing the Talis that we have that in mind that we think about the Talis in that way and it's really interesting to point out that Rashi on that PUK says the following why does the Pug refer to Hashem as an eagle protecting its chicks and Rashi says and you may remember this rashi rashi says because the eagle is a unique bird in the way that it carries its chicks that it places the chicks on its back on its wings it doesn't carry it from below and the eagle and I'll read to you the lon that's found in the in Rashi that the only thing that the eagle is concerned with the only fear of the E of the eagle is that an arrow may come may hit the the eagle no therefore he carries his young on his wings and the the eagle says Hashem says let the arrow or better that the arrow should enter me so that it does not enter my children the Holy One Blessed Be he and therefore Hashem says I will carry you on the wings of an eil eagle beautiful imagery this beautiful picture that we have of an eagle of an eagle spreading out its wings and the eagle says let the let the arrow enter me I want to protect my children so this also interesting that this is what we have in mind this is one of the one one of the themes and the and the theme that's highlighted in itself in terms of what the T the Talis what sit is represents that the Talis that the aranos that it represents hashem's protection that like we take that Talis and we spread it over our head we spread it over our body and in that way symbolically we say and we pray that Hashem should also be our protection and here Rashi says really describing uh a scene of War so to speak the the bullet let the arrow enter me and not enter enter my children and that's very much art fil today as well and I think Ron when he wrote about the lighting the manura and he spoke about the mza and spoke about the Talis and he spoke about the the tius the Talis and the minur that maybe perhaps he had this in mind as well that khaka also represents a time that Hashem spread his wings over the Jewish people that he protected the Jewish people one of the great miracles of kanaka as we know were the wars were the battles in the alanm that's the entire theme of the alanm that we include in our daving was the great miracle of the wars of the battles that the Jewish people that they were the maim that they were a tiny Army that they should not have been able to be victorious but Hashem brought them great strength and um getting back to that that to that imagery one one last time in terms of R haon he speaks about the he speaks about the tius and he speaks about the muza as well and it could be that all of them are related to one another because the mza one of the ideas of mza is that the mza is also a it is a on the homes of the Jewish people the uh the name of Hashem that is placed on the m on one side you have the shma but on the other side of the parchment is written the the name AEM shind Shak and one of the interpretations of why that name is used here on the mza is because it represents Shel that hasem that's an acronym sh deos Isel that hasem watches over Hashem is the sh that hem watches over the homes the houses of Israel so um this could very well be why rhga own added what the gamar does not have and that is that where we light the manura is in the doorway we have the manur we have the mza and we have the tius and all of them share one common theme and that is the protection of Hashem and that is very much what we uh what we're praying for at this time we're praying for protection in our own homes that we should all of us that we should feel safe we're praying for protection for k b Israel for the entire house of of Israel of the House of Israel that all of us as a nation should be protected we pray for our soldiers and uh as we are just uh I don't know it's two two and a half two and a half weeks until khaka we pray that that the Miracles of khaka that the light of KHAK khaka should should enter these days that we're in right now of K as we're moving towards KHAK we should we should to Great miracles to Salvation and beem to to celebrate this hanuka with great joy and uh great happiness and unity within am Isel uh with that we'll we'll conclude with the with the prayer ofu all of us are prayer praying for our brethren for our brothers and our sisters all that are In Harm's Way and for our soldiers for those in captivity for those that are injured and families that are suffering and all of us who are who are feeling unsettled at this time that hasem should bring that we should feel that Embrace of the uh thef that we should feel the the the wings of hem protecting us and feel the closeness of as during during these days we can join in together K I wish everyone a good day everyone should stay safe and stay well and Bash I'm look forward to seeing you soon CTU