Total Victory? The Miracle & The Meaning of Chanukah By Rabbi Joel Kenigsberg

B of A tight schedule so we'll start on time 9 910 that's right okay B thank you all for coming it's wonderful to uh see everybody here and to be with you together for this special edition of our weekly learning our weekly learning program we've called this day there's no greater time than to talk about G to talk about bravery strength Jewish heroism throughout the ages from the times to our very days as well and as we all know has many many different forms many Expressions we'll be hearing today from some very very special people terms of modern de as well so just before we begin I want to thank our generous sponsors for this morning Sharon and Michael Cronenberg all the shim today have been sponsored Sharon's mother R shim and as well mazov on the birth of a new grandson Chim thank you okay I've called the topic this morning there is no handout for this year there the handout you have will be for the later ones but this will be T of course the year total Victory question mark the miracle and the meaning of kanuka so I just want it to be controversial not really but uh really what what's behind the title is the following you know last year if we cast our minds back a year ago to kanuka it was the first Festival that we had with the exception of sim of course but it was the first Festival that we had from the outbreak of this war and there many many questions on people's minds I think there are still many questions on people's minds last year it was very clear and it was very it was brought into sharp Focus you know how do we how do we celebrate with all that's happened back then and again ER you know certain things people are still going through a lot but back then a lot of things were still very fresh in our minds how do we celebrate kanuka how can we be happy at a time like this and these are questions which we've been asking ourselves throughout really I think every throughout the cycle of the year and as we're going again if I told you last year on kanuka that we're going to fast forward a year will'll be kanuka the next year and we'll still be at War not sure you would have believed me I'm not sure you would have known what to say you know how can it be this is still going on what and there are many it raises many other questions you know what are we what are we achieving what have we achieved what what's it all for what's the point what does Victory look like okay so I'm not going to go into a military analysis yeah I'm not going to go into a geopolitical discourse I'm not qualified to do that and this is not the forum for that but I want to address some of those questions from a Torah perspective From anuna perspective and I want to do it in the following way because if you think back to kanuka you'll realize something you realize we've been here before all the questions that I mentioned at the beginning at the outset are not new questions but they were the exact same questions that the Jewish people were asking themselves in the times of kanuk and we have hindsight which is 2020 right we look back on kanuka I ask you know what's kanuka about is there a you'd say to me what are you talking about of course it's it's everything they tried to kill us we survived let's eat right that's the that's the story you've got the hindsight we know that's what happened but really it was a lot more complex than that and when you go back and you think see at the time and I want to look at this from a both a historical perspective and AIC perspective and we do a bit of a deep dive into what happened during the days of kanuka and what happened afterwards we see it's very very very far from straightforward very far from straightforward there is a lot of controversy that surrounds kanuka there are a lot of questions that surround kanuka should it be a should we have a is there anything to celebrate at all it's not so clear it's not so clear and when we understand what those questions are even if we don't have necessarily definitive answers to all of them but we look at what the response was and what the response has been throughout the ages I think that will help us understand and and and unpack what our response should be today okay so let's begin as follows why do we celebrate kanuka what happened what was the miracle for which we celebrate kanuka okay this is the question that the asks the chabat it says my kanuka right what is kanuka and over there Rashi tells us my kanuka means over which n over which Miracle are we celebrating what are our options what are the two Miracles we have on the one hand okay can end the sh yeah you can all go home okay we have the of the right much ink has been spiled on this this is this is familiar we have the nest of the mil the war against the Yim against the Syrian Greek Empire and we have the nest we have a small uh we found just a small amount of oil which was enough for one day it let in the Mana days okay that's in the bet mikdash that is familiar to all of us now if we look at our two primary texts in terms of right which we will say throughout our throughout our Bening throughout the days of focus is on the war the the is mentioned tangentially it's not the it's not the big deal but if you look at the at the G and I want to read to you how the defines what kanuka is what's amazing is that the war is barely even mentioned it gets a side mention and if you think about it and we would ask what is kanuka all about why are we celebrating we're celebrating because of the war remember they tried to kill us we survived let's it okay but that but that that was miraculous but listen to what the says so it says okay what is from 25th of we have eight days what's special about these eight days not born you cannot give a HED on them and you cannot fast on them okay when the Greeks entered the sanctuary and they defiled all the oils when the overcame them and were victorious they looked around they looked everywhere they could only find one small vial of oil that had the Seal of the okay was only enough for one day a miracle was done and it L for eight in a different year they established these days as days of of praise and thanksgiving so two things I want to point out from this many things that we could ask number one is notice the mention of the war is so trivial it's so tangential it's like yeah okay there was a war we won okay not a big deal there's no celebration here there's no there's nothing exceptional about it it happened when the Greece came in when we won the war okay when we won the war this was this was the event this was the miracle but there's no mention of it and the second thing is when was kanekar established not then and then not there and then the says a later year now again discuss why does it say many reasons are given but we get a sense here already that there's some something that wasn't so clear maybe there's a bit of controversy here maybe there's a bit of opposition maybe there's a bit of misunderstanding there and then we don't have a uh celebration maybe people were asking themselves what you going to celebrate on this this is Victory this is a war this is a miracle okay so already here we start to see between the lines that something's going on it's not so it's not so clear and it's not so straightforward and I think if we delve into the history and again we're not going to go into all the details now but if you think about the history of of the war and of what to took place we start to understand why we start to understand why the mention of the war is so minor and is so trivial because it didn't end there and then it didn't end so well right how long was you know we think I don't know I don't know about you but the way I always thought about it growing up was at kanuka you know there was this war you know took we think you know Six Day War whatever okay we took on the mighty Greek army was miraculous they started against us they set the decrees they fought against us we fought back okay when did when did it end when was the total Victory on kanuka we came into we came into the B mikdash we rededicated it and there and then everything was over right well no that's not the story at all that's not what happened Kan maybe the wars between the and the were going on for years going on for about a decade okay kanuka is the halfway point we're still fighting these wars for at least another four years after kanuka so it's not it's not the end it's not Victory it's not even the SE ceasefire maybe it's a temporary pause but nothing more than that also what happens to all the heroes of the Kana story you know mat had five Sons what happens to them four out of five get killed yud makab the hero of the Kana story he gets killed not at kanuka a few years later four years later okay and so to for all of his brothers except for Shimon so you know we're used to thinking of it in these glowing terms this miraculous this glorious victory in the war four out of the five brothers are killed that they of the Enemy Within A Century within a century after Kana takes place the Roman Empire starts to rise and we know how that ends we know what happens to our sovereignty there the whole story of the the whole family and the whole dynasty of the is one of the most tragic stories in Judaism these again these five brothers who start out start out fighting against fighting against the Greeks fighting against the similation fighting against the the defilement of our culture ultimately they end up them and their descendants end up becoming epitomizing all of that which they fought against tell us today the is finishing right the beginning of the tells us if anybody comes to you and says that I a descendant of the they're lying they're a slave because they were all wiped out because they Ascent why why did this happen by the way so the ran points out the points out that the made a terrible terrible mistake they were Kim they were from the tribe of Ley and they took on the kingship for themselves we have the the kingship comes from the tribe of not from the tribe of Le after the kanuka story and after the victory they took on the kingship for themselves says the ran they were punished they were punished very very terribly as I said four of the five King four of the five brothers died they're killed in the war later on their children their descendants become Kings and they become some of the most wicked kings that we've ever had there is a it could be it seems that we had a CO Gad Yan who likely was from this dynasty he becomes auki he becomes a non-believer at the end of his life later on you have a King Alexander yanai who is also from this family he ends up killing all the sages we end up with Herod okay it did not end well it did not end well and it didn't take very very long for the whole story to deteriorate and to spiral out of control so you know if we're celebrating the military Victory and we're celebrating what happened afterwards this doesn't seem like something to celebrate if have questions you have questions about the government nowadays back then it was far worse far worse again I'm not getting political I'm just talking about what was that okay [Music] um and something else so so that's the war itself and that's the day after it doesn't end well but even after that we find a fascinating discussion in the like I said the there told us that that that kanuk was what they didn't establish it there and then it was it they had to wait and see why did they have to wait and see maybe related to what we've been discussing but there's another discussion has a discussion about what whether itself should have been abolished or not we have not sure if you know but we have many festivals that were in the Jewish calendar that were after the destruction of theik okay this is what's called and the truth is the the primary that talks about which I read out to you before which is very very strange it's very cryptic you know all you have to say about kanuka is that it's a day you don't fast and it's a day you don't give a hped so seemingly this is taken from this m m there were certain days most of them were related to different events that occurred or different Miracles or quasi Miracles that took place related to the BET mikash and that's called so these are the days you don't fast you don't say right you don't say on these days that it becomes a real it's a Min Festival you don't say becomes a major Festival okay but that is but that is so the says nowadays many of these events are no longer relevant right how can you celebrate things that happen in the mikdash if you don't have a mikash what do you what do you as they say so there is a discussion do we say the days that were part of this do we still celebrate them or do we stop celebrating now one of the days that is that is included as part of is so the has a discussion and it says just understand how controversial understand how heated of this God okay there were those of the sages who said we continue celebrating M we continue celebrating kanuka and there were those of thees who said no we don't celebrate kanuka anymore we have to stop so what happened so it says the following case this was brought in the that mentions as well it says okay you have a you have an argument one side says this way one side says that way what do you do we have to create facts on the ground you say we should celebrate Kana you say we shouldn't celebrate Kana we're going to declare a fast day on Kana then everybody will know there no there is no kanuka there is no Festival there is no celebration it's a fast so that's what they did in l a few meters away from the airport they they they they said a f so said no it's not going to happen so he went and he uh went to wash right in in a way that is these are things which you cannot do on a fast day went and had a haircut to show everybody know there is no fast we're still celebrating kanuka the fact that you declared a fast you now have to fast over the fast that you made because that was improper that was incorrect so it goes on so essentially now we we assume we understand probably that that M was cancelled well that's one of the opinions the other days M are cancelled but it says yeah but why is it even even according to says even according to the opinion that says it was canell why is different by the way there's one other day there was in which we still celebrate that's P so says is different because kanuk is not just about you don't have a you don't have a tet but you have aah what's the Mitzvah candles says okay what's the big deal you are can you established the day you established the Mitzvah you're now canceling the day and you cancel the mitzvah is different because we are publicizing the miracle so what do we have here essentially what the is telling us is that yes kanuka remains controversial remains controversial to the extent that there are those who say forget about it abolish it there should be no more kanuka the only thing that saves it so to speak is the Mitzvah but not just the Mitzvah the fact that there is okay we'll talk in a moment what is this what is so remarkable and what is so unique about publicizing the miracle this also raises many questions because the way that we publicize the Miracle on kanuka I could think of far better ways to do it but but but but there's what it says we keep we keep kanuka because of so essentially what we're saying until this point now if I can summarize what we've said in some of the questions that we've raised because essentially we're asking the following kanuka is a day which commemorates a war a miraculous War a miraculous victory that we had and the Victory ended and the war ended on Kana that's what we thought before the sh began and what we've now understood is the following that it's not clear number one if this war was actually significant enough to celebrate anything right thear asked the question I mean it's ludicrous when you think about it you have a war you defeated an Empire or you have some oil that burned for a few days you know which is more significant if I would ask you which is more significant you'd say I'm out of my mind what are you asking the candle yeah the candle burned okay the oil burned they could have waited they could have found more O whatever if we had lost the war we would that's it there would be no uh no more Jewish people so obviously I think obviously the war is more significant but no we look in the sources and we look back and we see that fact that we're even asking the question the fact that in many of these sources the war is barely even mentioned that already raises questions number two the fact that at the time it was clearly controversial something was going on because it says it's only year later that maybe they needed the perspective of hindsight a certain perspective of hindsight in order to celebrate it okay and we saw the war goes on we don't achieve total Victory certainly not immediately maybe never there are some very very Grim results that come out of the war itself as they said many of our leaders are killed okay the day after the war does not work out very well either to put it to put it mildly with and that whole story and then years later we even have a serious consideration and maybe this is the reason why to say okay what are we set crating for you know we've got this we've got this uh take puim just as an example for a moment soim puim also we have a lot of similar issues right we talk about total Victory again P they tried to kill us we survive let's eat they we drink as well but but we don't you all know we don't say and one of the reasons the gives it says we don't say because because we're still enslaved because we're still living in Exile we're still under this foreign subjugation and uh things haven't really gotten that much better okay so yeah so what what are we celebrating okay come back in a few months time we'll talk about why we celebrate P but why are we celebrating Kana it seems uh it seems it seems seems very very very strange okay and the last thing that we said the thing that that's going to tied all together that's going to save the thing that saves kanuka is this this idea this element of P of publicizing the miracle now when we when we start lighting our candles next week so all of the pertaining to related in one way or another to this idea of of publicizing the miracle when do we light our candles we have to light our candles at the time when most people are going to see it where do we light out candles we light them with most people will see it as well right the only place aside from the home that we don't light candles is in the betet it's where people gather together it's for but essentially the mitvah is you light it at your home in order to in order to publicize the miracle and the question I ask you is this right if we want to publicize the miracle if we really want everybody to see it you know who knows how to do p man knows how to do p right everywhere you go you walk around in this city and any other City you walk around the streets you have these big out there on the streets they're outside anywhere and everywhere you go there's a in the Town Square you light the candles that's that's but most po don't accept the that's why if you are not aik and you go to whatever public event generally speaking we don't lie to we don't lie with a unless it's in the sh okay it's not I'm not getting into not getting into the Su now if you want to hear more about it come on Sunday morning then we'll discuss the but but the point is where do we light the candle we light outside our house or inside our house through the window and we say once you're Lighting in the home okay so lighted in the home in the place where the most people will see it right light it in the window light it outside where people can see but but my question is surely if we really want to publicize this thing don't light it in the home light it in the Town Square light it on top of the buildings right which we do again but we don't say we don't say unless you're so so so what's going on and that Pier so that P which is so minor which is so minor and so trivial when you think about it that's the thing that saves hanuk so I think we try and tie it all together I think the answer here is twofold and I think a a a deep understanding of just what the p is maybe not to whom we're publicizing but what we're publicizing will help us really understand what we're doing help us understand kanuk maybe maybe hopefully tie some of our questions together so it goes like this I'll share with you a piece from the ti who we quoted in our last couple of shim in context also has within his response he has many that he talks about different and different ideas so he has a beautiful idea which he expresses he says when we think about kanuka again we think think about what the war was what was the battle between us and and the and the salua Empire so ultimately it became a physical battle as well but it was primarily a spiritual battle at least when things began right theim said okay all you have to do is just be like us just give into our culture and we won't kill you just assimilate that's all we want there've been other times in our history today included where they said that's not good enough right we we'll kill you and it's a war of annihilation there it was not it became that but it was not ultim this was a war of ideas this was a spiritual and what was it that they that they fought against so they fought against many things there were many decrees Etc but one of the primary things is that they challenged The Jewish Home they challenged the sanctity of the Jewish home okay and there are many expressions of this ER many expressions of this I W get won't get into the details now but this was a this was a major part this was a major Catalyst in what led to this ultimately becom a war so the says like this he says they came along to fight against to fight against Holiness to fight against sanctity of the Jewish Home and of the Jewish Family unit so it's the most natural thing so that's why what is our Victory our Victory is that that unit continues that that sanctity within the Jewish Home continues and that is what we are publicizing the way you publicize that is outside the home because it's connected it's the fact that there is a Jewish Home and what's going on inside in that home which is continuing the tradition and continuing the ideas continuing the culture continuing the M of thousands of years that that is they tried to wipe that out but we are able to continue that that is the victory that is the n and that is the so he says like this read if you want the reference he says they understood that that that sanctity that that unit that Jewish Home is a fortress and they did everything they could to try and destroy that he says ultimately if they're going to try the CES which are going to violate the sanctity in that way so that's like a death sentence we fought against it against all the decrees together and he says that is why says that ultimately the decree and the victory was that we'll light the candles where outside every home that the former glory has been restored of the renewal of the uh coming back together reuniting that the Jewish the Jewish Family unit right this is a war of culture war of ideas and this is a tremendous Victory we have within that I think can expand this a little bit as well as much as this was a battle talking about the home on a micro level in our days we can definitely appreciate this that this is a battle over the home on a macro level as well right and uh if you think about today you think about the war that we're fighting nowadays of course there is a physical War as well and again as I said later on we'll hear more about G in that sense but there's a war of ideas that's behind it and it's a battle over the home if you look at how our enemies what do they call this what do they call this war they call it ala flood if you look at everything that they have to say and everything they say where are they fighting it doesn't matter where they shoot the Rockets they say we're fighting over Jerusalem thankfully we have seem to have less Rockets here than other places but but it's a fight it's over the home it's over the home and what the home represents by the way this whole idea of is what we're publicizing we finded one other place in and we find there it's also connected to the home it's inside the home that is by P by P said you look at you'll see there that are related to publicizing the miracle when it comes to the four cups of wine and again we ask the question what kind of a pum is this you're inside your home nobody can see you nobody else is there no the fact that we're in the home that we have the home that is the pum that is the n that's what we are publicizing so that is what that is one Element to this and that victory endures that Victory began then and no matter what else happens outside that inures but that is maybe froma right that is from us but there's a second aspect to this which is froma which is Hashem reaching out to us not necessarily what we do for him but what he does for us and now we see this in Kan this very well and I think this answers our questions in another way as follows many of the of are unique very very different to any to any other for example the fact that is the only where the only Mitzvah we have is at night it's not during the day it's in the depths of winter it is the only that we have that is not normally it's in the middle of the month it's at the end of the month where you cannot see the moon when it's dark we have this Festival it's in the middle in the coldest time of the year in the darkest time of the year the darkest time of the day theuk itself we light very very close to the ground okay everything represents and then you have this little candle again this little candle of P how much light is going to come from this candle but that is exactly what kanuka comes to represent and comes to teach us that even at and we've seen historically We Now understand a little bit more that kanuka occurred in one of the darkest times in Jewish history and even after the miracle was still a very very dark time was still a very dark time but in that time having that while was having that light why was having that oil so special because ultimately we said it's not such a great miracle we didn't need it God didn't have to do that for us so to speak but it was a sign it was sort of a kiss from above was God saying that no matter how difficult things seem no matter how dark things seem no matter you seem completely alone and isolated and things are things are bad and things are going to get worse and things seem very very Bleak but even with that I am here and I'm with you and you have that light that lights up the darkness again and shows us that no matter what is going on outside no matter what winds are blowing yeah we have a fortress and it's a foress because we're not by ourselves because hm is with us I want to the rambam writes something amazing when he talks about he says the he defines it as he says this is an exceedingly precious Mitzvah the ra doesn't do that by other Mitzvah all the Mitzvah are precious the r doesn't tell us Shabbat is a precious Mitzvah is a precious Mitzvah is a precious Mitzvah he tells us that what does that mean maybe what it means is this means that kanvah is a time that shows us that Hashem demonstrates to us that we are how precious we are to him and that's what the light represents that's what it's all about that's the pum and I want to to share with you I know we're running out of time but I want to share with you a piece that I saw last year this was written by ofra of is a journalist I think her son na was killed in on last year and she writes this piece this is a few months after her son has has fallen coming up to Kaneka last year she writes the following she says what a holiday a holiday of light and miracles a family holiday a time for prayer for our children their education a holiday that at its peak when the monai fa overflowing brings my birthday a holiday that lands in the middle of winter and warms the heart but the truth the truth is this here I'm a little afraid the times when the whole family family gathers highlight its missing parts one child who no longer needs prayers he's already in a world that is entirely good and last year is still so present with memories of our how can a person light a candle and push away the darkness if they feel they have no light from which to ignite it that there is no Light Within them says there is no such thing it simply doesn't exist even a poor person who lives on charity must borrow or sell their clothing to obtain oil for lighting every person has some energy some strength some small spark within them from which they can light the kanuka candles even if they are now empty of strength and once that light is lit it will push away a piece of the darkness and the surroundings will be brighter and the next day it will increase and grow there are many people around us who may need to borrow a candle or a wick this year to engage with light and talk about miracles if we search within and don't give up on ourselves we will surely find something from which we can begin may we Merit many lights of Miracles of togetherness and of Victory those are the words of ofak and that I think is the message for us of kanah you see all the problems and all the difficulties and all the trauma that continued in the time of kanaka there was not an exception but that is part of that characteristic of what the festival is about and of what it teaches us and we can see that even within that time and even with those difficulties we have those lights and we can see those lights in the darkness those lights that remind us that we are not alone those lights that remind us that yes no matter what winds are blowing outside we have a fortress within and within ourselves we have somebody who is looking out for us and is together with us that is total victory