VaYeishev 5632 Second Ma'amar

The Sfas Emes teaches that the source of all hischadshus/renewal that we experience comes from outside the physical world.  It comes from the spiritual.  If we seek renewal and newness within the physical, we will be frustrated in our efforts.  Nature belies renewal and novelty.  How can we merit renewal?

The Sfas Emes answers that we can merit renewal by connecting to the spiritual.  How?  We find a pasuk in the chapter of Tehillim (30:2) that we read during Chanuka, “ארוממך ה' כי דליתני .../I will exult You, God, for you have lifted me up …”  The Chiddushei HaRim explains that the word דליתני/you have lifted me up alludes to דלות/meagerness.  It is not much of a kindness if God lifts us up and this causes us to become arrogant.  Therefore, the Chiddushei HaRim quoting the holy Rav of Parshischa explains that God lifts us up in a way in which we remain humble.  He helps us to connect to Him and, remaining humble, we stay connected.  Being connected to God is the only way to experience hischadshus/renewal and novelty in this world.

The Chiddushei HaRim also teaches that this is the meaning of the words that we say every morning, “מגביה שפלים .../He lifts up the lowly …”  When we think about this we are beset with questions.  Once He lifts them up, they are no longer lowly.  But to be of a low spirit is something for which we strive.[1]  Why, then, would God lift us away from lowliness of spirit?  This prayer must be understood differently.  When God “lifts” us up, He is not lifting us away from humility.  Rather, He is bringing us close to Him – connected to Him, as it were.  The Chiddushei HaRim explains that God lifts up those who will remain lowly even after He lifts them up.  He helps us to come close to Him and remain humble.  Again, being close to God, we are open to experience His hischadshus.

We find this concept in a Zohar[2] explaining the pasuk, “טוב ילד מסכן וחכם ממלך זקן וכסיל .../A poor and wise child is better than an old and foolish king …” (Koheles 4:13)  The Zohar says that the child represents the yetzer hatov/good inclination whereas the old king represents the yetzer hara/evil inclination.  The good inclination guides us to be wary of the suggestions of the yetzer hara, to realize that life is fraught with dangers – מסכן/poor has the same root as סכנה/danger – and to fear sin.  The yetzer hatov helps us to be wise.  What is חכמה/wisdom?  The Zohar[3] explains that חכמה comprises the same letters as כח מה'/strength (or potential) is from God.  The foundation of wisdom is to realize that all power and all potential are from God.  The pasuk states this explicitly, “ראשית חכמה יראת ה'/Awe of God is the beginning of wisdom.” (Tehillim 111:10)

When we tread carefully in this world and realize that everything is from God, we “connect” to Him and are able to experience renewal.  Things take on newness.  One who thinks that he is secure on his own experiences only staleness.

We can understand a pasuk in this week’s parsha according to this concept as well, “... והוא נער/… and he was a youth” (Breishis 37:2) referring to Yosef.  The word נער/youth, has the same root as the word התעוררות/revival.  Yosef always had hischadshus because he was always connected with God.

Our nation experienced a tremendous hischadshus on Chanukah as well.  At the time of the Chanukah story, we as a nation were on quite a low level.  The Assyrian Greeks has instituted terrible decrees forbidding us from keeping the mitzvos.  We cried out to God and He saved us through miracles and wonders.  Every miracle was a hischadshus that came from outside the physical world.  This is clearly alluded to in Tehillim (40:2-4), “קוה קויתי ה' ויט אלי וישמע שועתי: ויעלני מבור שאון מטיט היון ... ויתן בפי שיר חדש .../I have greatly hoped for God.  He inclined to m me and heard my cry.  He raised me from the pit of raging waters, from the slimy mud … He put a new song in my mouth …”  The word יון/slimy, in this pasuk alludes to יון/Greece.

May we merit God lifting us close to Him thereby experiencing hischadshus in our lives.

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[1] Avos 4:4

[2] Zohar 1:179a

[3] Zohar 3:28a, Tikunei Zohar 69, 102b

Chanukah 5632 First Night Second Ma'amar

In addition to our miraculous military victory over the Greeks, there was the miracle of the Menorah.  The Greeks had rendered all the oil in the Beis HaMikdash impure.  The Chashmona’im found one small container of oil that was sealed and pure.  It was enough for one night.  Miraculously, that one container lasted for eight nights.

The mitzvah of lighting the Menorah was not for the light it provided.  God does not need our light.  The Sfas Emes tells us that the mitzvah was simply the will of God.  There was no practical ulterior reason for this mitzvah.  When a situation arises in which it is impossible to perform the mitzvah, we are exempt.  What then was the purpose of this miracle?  

That God suspended the laws of nature to enable us to light the Menorah indicates the great affection God had for our performance of this mitzvah.  He wanted the enlightenment that comes from the Menorah to come specifically from our lighting it so much so that he enacted a miracle so that we would be able to perform this mitzvah and do His will.

This concept continues even to this day.  During Chanukah God gives special assistance to do His will miraculously and wondrously.

Chanukah 5632 Third Night

Chazal established Chanukah as a holiday by giving praise and thanks – "לשנה אחרת קבעום ועשאום ימים טובים בהלל והודאה/The next year they established and made [these days] holidays through praise and thanks." (Shabbos 21b)  The wording implies that the praise and thanks caused these days to be holidays rather than being instituted as a result of these days being established as holidays.  Why did Chazal establish Chanukah in this manner?

Our holidays are not merely a national memoriam of past events.  Each of our holidays is the result of a spiritual enlightenment special to that day.  The only way Chazal could establish a holiday would be to tap into the specific spiritual enlightenment for that day and draw it into the physical world.  Chanukah is a time of praise and thanks to God.  So, to draw the enlightenment specific to this time into the world they gave praise and thanks to God in recognition of His salvation.  As a result the holiday of Chanukah with its spiritual power as days of thanksgiving manifested.  

But this does not mean that we automatically experience Chanukah's spiritual enlightenment.  In order for us to experience the spiritual enlightenment of Chanukah we, too, must draw it into the world by singing praises of thanksgiving to God.

What is true on a national level is true on a personal level as well.  Any time we experience God's salvation – which is really a Godly revelation – we can cause that revelation to remain with us by recognizing it for what it really is – a revelation of God's great kindness towards us.  The effects of His kindness remain with us to the extent that we recognize it by praising and thanking Him.   In fact, the Sfas Emes teaches that we can cause the effects of God's revelation to remain with us even for the generations that follow us.

With this concept we can understand a Chiddushei HaRim.  Although Chanukah is a time of thanksgiving, there is no mitzvah to eat a special meal on Chanukah.  However, the Rema[1] writes that we can turn a meal on Chanukah into a "mitzvah meal" by singing praise to God during the meal.  The Magen Avraham[2] extrapolates to any situation in which there is a doubt as to whether the meal is a "mitzvah meal" or not.  By singing praises to God during the meal it becomes a mitzvah meal.  There are, for instance, certain marriages where the meal may not be considered a "mitzvah meal."  The Magen Avraham infers from Chanukah that singing at these meals turns them into "mitzvah meals".

The Chiddushei HaRim[3] however, notes that Chanukah meals cannot be compared with other situations where the mitzvah status of the meal is in doubt.  The reason that the Chanukah meal becomes a mitzvah through singing is because giving praise and thanks to God are inherent attributes of the holiday.  This is not the case in the meals that the Magen Avraham is referring to.  If the meal at a certain type of marriage is not a mitzvah, there is no special magic that occurs through singing that will turn it into a mitzvah.

The Sfas Emes explains that the Chiddushei HaRim is alluding to our concept.  By praising and thanking God on Chanukah, we reveal the latent enlightenment that exists at this time.  The holiday is a manifestation of this revelation.  When we sing at a meal we are drawing that enlightenment into the physical.  The meal automatically becomes a holiday meal – a mitzvah meal.

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[1] S.A. O.Ch 670:2 Haga'a

[2] Ibid Magen Avraham 4

[3] Chiddushei HaRim Chanuka, s.v. Issa

Chanukah 5631 First Night

The pasuk in Mishlei states, “... נר מצוה ותורה אור .../… neir mitzvah veSorah or…/… a commandment is a lamp and the Torah is light …” Just as the oil, wick and light need a lamp to hold them, so too, the light of the Torah needs a vessel to contain it. The vessel that holds the light of the Torah in this world is the mitzvos. The Zohar explains that Shlomo HaMelech associated mitzvos with a lamp because we perform the mitzvos with our 248 limbs with love of God and fear of Heaven. Two hundred forty eight limbs + love of God + fear of Heaven = 250 which is the gematria of neir/lamp. The Zohar is teaching us that we can rectify our deeds and limbs in this world by imbuing them with the light of the Torah. We do this by performing the mitzvos. Each mitzvah holds a unique aspect of the spiritual light of the Torah. When we do a specific mitzvah we draw the unique spiritual force associated with it into the physical world.

This concept applies not only to the 613 mitzvos mentioned in the Torah. It also applies to those mitzvos that were instituted by Chazal including, of course, the mitzvah of lighting candles on Chanukah. What is the unique spiritual force triggered by the mitzvah of Chanukah lights? The Chiddushei HaRim explains that the mitzvah of lighting candles on Chanukah contains the spiritual enlightenment of the original miracle of the menorah in the Beis HaMikdash on the first Chanukah. Lighting the Chanukah candles draws the enlightenment of the original miracle once again into the world. In fact, the Tur Shulchan Aruch writes that we light Chanukah candles in order להזכיר/lehazkir/to mention the miracle. Notice that he does not write, “in order לזכור/lizkor/to remember the miracle.” The nuance is not as apparent in English but in Hebrew, these two words are actually two forms of the same verb. להזכיר/lehazkir/to mention is a stronger form of לזכור/lizkor/to remember. It implies an action that is being done to the object of the verb.[1] Since the object of the verb here is the miracle, the Tur is telling us that by lighting the Chanukah candles we are bringing to light the actual original miracle. Lighting the Chanukah candles is not merely a way of remembering the original miracle. By lighting the candles we are triggering the same latent spiritual force that caused the original miracle (i.e. bringing it to life.)

This is why the prayer that we say after lighting the candles starts with the words, “הנרות הללו קודש הם/HaNeiros halalu kodesh heim/These candles are holy.” Generally, the objects that we use to perform mitzvos (e.g. lulav, matzah) are not considered holy. They may be tossed once they are no longer needed. The same principle should apply to the lights of Chanukah. Yet, the prayer states that they are holy. Why? According to the Chiddushei HaRim, though, it is clear. They are holy because they contain the spiritual force of the original miracle.

This explains the language of the brachah that Chazal instituted before lighting the Chanukah lights. We say, “להדליק נר חנוכה/lehadlik neir Chanukah/to kindle the Chanukah lamp.” We don’t say, “להדליק נר בחנוכה /lehadlik neir beChanukah/to kindle a lamp on Chanukah.” The language of the brachah suggests the original Chanukah lamp. Performing the mitzvah activates the spiritual force of the original Chanukah menorah.

This concept helps us understand a puzzling halachah about the Chanukah lights. A person who sees Chanukah lights is required to say the blessing, “שעשה נסים לאבותינו/she’asah nisim la’avoseinu/who made miracles for our forefathers” even if he himself does not light. Generally one is required to say this blessing upon seeing the place where a miracle occurred either to him or his forefathers. Why do Chazal require us to say this particular blessing upon seeing Chanukah lights? According to what we’ve said, though, it is clear. Since the Chanukah lights contain the spiritual force of the original miracle, seeing the Chanukah lights is akin to seeing the actual place of the miracle. This is why Chazal required the blessing usually reserved for seeing the place the miracle occurred.

Each of us has the ability to release the spiritual force of the original miracle of the menorah by lighting Chanukah candles. Our very souls are intimately connected with the mitzvos. A clear awareness of the spiritual effect of our physical action strengthens that spiritual effect. Contemplating this concept while lighting the Chanukah lights is the best way to draw the spiritual force inherent in the mitzvah into the world.

[1] Other examples: לשמוע/lishmo’a/to listen and להשמיע/lehashmi’a/to make others listen; לחתום/lachtom/to sign and להחתים/lehachtim/to sign up others. The first is more passive whereas the second means the person is doing something to the verb’s object.