חנוכה: Transcendency in a Myopic World

שיחה given in KBY חנוכה תשע״ה

Recorded by: Jeremy Teichman. Transcribed by: Moishy Rothman

There is a scarcity of primary sources which reference the festival of חנוכה and its establishment. We really only have על הניסים (from the ב״ד של חשמונאי[1]), הנרות הללו (from the מגילת סופרים) and מגילת תענית. The other sources are secondary. In Gemara, we find a discussion about חנוכה, but it’s merely quotations from parts of the מגילת תענית. Even ספר המכבים can’t be defined as a primary source. It was written by an anonymous author, and, being that the text was written so long ago, our version of the text is merely a translation of the Greek version of the book[2]. Today, we are זוכה to have in our libraries texts from authentic, primary sources from our sages and therefore we will focus on those writings to understand what חנוכה is all about.

            The ב״י[3] asks a famous question and there are many answers given. Why do we light נרות חנוכה for all eight days? If the first day wasn’t a miracle, we should only be lighting for seven days, corresponding to the seven days of נס. There are many different and creative answers given. I just want you to know that the שאילתות[4] tells us that the כהנים only found a לוג’s worth of oil to light. The הלכה tells us that we need 3 לוגים of oil to light to last for one night. Even on the first day a miracle occurred. That’s the honest truth.

            One of the earliest references to חנוכה and its history is found in מגילת תענית it say: 

עשרים וחמשה בכסלו: בעשרין וחמשה ביה חנכתא תמניא יומין דילא למספד בהון. שכשנכנסו יונים להיכל טמאו כל השמנים שבהיכל וכשגברה יד בית חשמונאי ונצחום בדקו ולא מצאו אלא פך אחד שהיה מונח בחותמו של כהן גדול שלא נטמא ולא היה בו להדליק אלא יום אחד ונעשה בו נס והדליקו ממנו שמנה ימים לשנה אחרת קבעום שמנה ימים טובים.

ומה ראו לעשות חנכה שמנה ימים והלא חנכה שעשה משה במדבר לא עשה אלא שבעת ימים שנאמר ומפתח אהל מועד לא תצאו שבעת ימים וגומר ואומר ויהי המקריב ביום הראשון את קרבנו וגומר ובשביעי הקריב אפרים וכן מצינו בחנכה שעשה שלמה שלא עשאה אלא שבעת ימים שנאמר כי חנכת המזבח עשו שבעת ימים והחג שבעת ימים.

מה ראו לעשות חנכה זו שמנה ימים אלא בימי מלכות יון נכנסו בני חשמונאי להיכל ובנו את המזבח וסדוהו בסיד וכל שבעת הימים היו מתקנים בכלי שרת. חנכת בית חשמונאי לדורות ולמה היא נוהגת לדורות אלא שעשאוה בצאתם מצרה לרוחה ואמרו בה הלל והודאה והדליקו בה נרות בטהרה לפי שנכנסו יונים בהיכל וטמאו כל הכלים ולא היה במה להדליק וכשגברה יד בית חשמונאי הביאו שבעה שפודי ברזל וחפום בבעץ והתחילו להדליק.

ומה ראו לגמר בהם את ההלל ללמדך שכל תשועה ותשועה שעשה הקדוש ברוך הוא לישראל הם מקדימין לפניו בהלל ובשבח וכך הוא אומר בספר עזרא ויענו כל העם בהלל ובהודות לה' כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו על ישראל וכל העם הריעו תרועה גדולה בהלל לה' על הוסד בית ה' ואומר לה' הישועה על עמך ברכתך סלה. להקדוש ברוך הוא לעשות נסים ונפלאות ולנו להללו ולברכו שנאמר על עמך ברכתך סלה.

The book is basically a list of יארצייט’s. They were days declared by חז״ל as ימים טובים on which one may not fast nor say הספדים. One of these day was כ״ה כסלו. That’s the day of חנוכה.

The מגילת תענית writes מאי חנוכה. The word חנוכה comes from the word חינוך which means inauguration. It was the day on which the חשמונאים began a weeklong re-inauguration of theבית המקדש. That’s the reason why חנוכה is eight days. It’s not because of the מנורה. The 8 days have nothing to do with the נס. On חנוכה, you are commemorating the חינוך המזבח which occurred during the ימי חשמונאי. This is גופו של יום. Now, once we established the basis for the holiday, חז״ל ask on that point, if the model of this holiday follows the חנוכת הבית, then we should have only seven days of חנוכה. All the inaugurations of the בתי המקדש, from the days of משה until שלמה, were always only seven days? On this question, the מגילת תענית answers that this חינוך was longer as it took eight days to clean up the mess left behind by the Greeks. When you celebrate חנוכה, you are acknowledging the eight-day process culminating at חינוך הבית. It’s the עמל ויגיע of getting to חינוך, and not just the חינוך כשלעצמו, which we are celebrating. I want you to appreciate that. We say לפום צערא אגרא- that’s the אגרא. The essence of חנוכה is not the מנורה at all! This actually undermines the basis of the בית יוסף’s question.

ומה ראו להדליק את הנרות…Why do we do this? The answer is during the era when the Jews finally came into the בית המקדש they were very poor. They didn’t have anything to light with, so they took seven[5] שיפודים, long tubes, covered them with wood and lit them. The מנורה, just to clarify, is the body of the candelabra. The branches which emerge from that core body are called the קני המנורה. The cups on top of these tubes, also known as the נרות המנורה, were actually detachable. You can technically light them outside and place them back on top of the קני המנורה afterwards[6]. The כהנים took these tubes and made a makeshift מנורה. Finally, when the Jews got richer, they made a golden מנורה. That’s the reason we light the candles. Once again, חנוכה celebrates the עמל ויגיע of the חינוך המקדש. We really wanted to light the מנורה, even מתוך עניות; that’s also part of the יום טוב. Both חינוך הבית and the הדלקה are part of this overarching חינוך. Both the מזבח and the מנורה are emphasized. If you see חנוכה in this light, it’s a completely different יו״ט. It’s the celebration of trying your best to serve G-d in times when it’s not easy. That’s the holiday.

The מגילת תענית asks why we recite הלל and answers because there was a תשועה, a salvation. It doesn’t say because we won the war. In fact, we say in the על הניסים that we thank הקב״ה for the תשועות and the מלחמות. These are two different things. תשועות are salvation and מלחמות are wars. War means that G-d fought our wars. What do תשועות mean? It means He saved us from גזירת יון. Together, it means we recognize G-d’s, our savior from both the סיבת המלחמה and theגוף המלחמה. We praise G-d in הלל for saving us from מות לחיים, from עבדות לחירות[7]. It was a תשועה because our religion was in the pits to the point that urban Judaism was heavily Hellenized. It was only the rural Jews, outside the big cities, who kept the מסורה going. ירושלים was basically a hotbed of Greek culture. Even our religious institutions were being invaded. The כהנים גדולים of the time were government appointees. They, too, were Hellenized. The Greek presence had a lot of influence over the Jewish nation during this era, and we thank G-d for saving us from this spiritual menace.

To review, the גופו של יום is the חינוך המזבח. The עמל ויגיע, the determination to get to that point, is the reason we have it for eight full days. The reason we light מנורה is because we worked hard to construct a מנורה to light for חינוך הבית. The הלל is for the תשועה מגזירת יון. But what’s the deal with the נס? How does it fit into all of this? The מהר״ל in [8]נר מצוה explains that once the people saw a נס during the חינוך המנורה, they realized that G-d was intervening and showing favor to them. It’s for this reason חז״ל were נקבע לדורות these eight days. Why is there no holiday commemorating the חינוך הבית of משה רבנו? Why is there no holiday for the חינוך of שלמה המלך? Why not for עזרא ונחמיה’s? The תירוץ is that it was specifically because of this aspect of the overall חינוך the Rabbis saw celestial intervention. They took this miracle as a divine hint to establish this eight-day period as a holiday. The נס of the מנורה was the reason for the קביעות לדורות and we commemorate that נס each year during חנוכה. Everyone asks why חז״ל wanted to have שמן טהור if there is a concept of טומאה הותרה בציבור? The פנ״י argues that for חינוך we need שמן טהור. Even if you disagree with the חידוש of the פנ״י, the fact is that הקב״ה wanted the הדלקה to be בטהרה. Therefore, He performed a miracle during its inauguration. This is the reason for establishing the שמחת החינוך לדורות. So, we’re not lighting candles because of the נס. The יו״ט is on the חינוך הבית which became נקבע לדורות because of the נס של חינוך המנורה.

We established the הגדרות, the overall structure of the holiday, but what does it mean? What is the significance of the חינוך הבית as a reason to create a festival? More specific to this חג, what is the importance of the חינוך המנורה? I would like to explore this by opening. The מדרש[9] says:

אתה מאיר לכל העולם ואתה מצוה להעלות נר תמיד אנו באורך נראה אור ואתה אומר להדליק נרות, א"ר מאיר אמר הקב"ה חביב עלי נרות שאהרן מדליק מן המאורות שקבעתי בשמים למה שבשעה שהקריבו הנשיאים חנוכת המזבח ולא הקריב שבט לוי היה אהרן נפשו עגומה אמר כל הנשיאים הקריבו בחנוכת המזבח ואני לא היה לי חלק בקרבנות אמר ליה הקב"ה חייך כל השבטים הקריבו חנוכה אחת ואתה לעצמך תעשה חנוכה מחוץ לפרוכת העדות באוהל מועד יערוך אותו אהרן ובניו, זה שאמר הכתוב תאות ענוים שמעת ה' (תהלים י) לכך אמר הקב"ה למשה ואתה תצוה וכתיב יערוך אותו אהרן ובניו אמר הקב"ה למשה צו את בני שיהו מביאין שמן זית כדי שיהא אהרן מדליק לפני.

This is the only source where we find הקב״ה calling the נרות מנורה beloved. This is probably the language from which the רמב״ם in the end of הלכות חנוכה explains that מצות נר חנוכה is חביבה היא עד מאד. The רמב״ם is always influenced by theלשונות  of חז״ל[10]. But it must be pointed out, these נרות refer to the one’s which אהרן lit in the מקדש. What does it have to do with חנוכה? The answer is found in the רבנו בחיי (שמות כז:כ). He explains:

אמר רבי מאיר אמר הקב"ה חביבין עלי נרות שאהרן מדליק מן המאורות שקבעתי בשמים, למה, שבשעה שהקריבו הנשיאים חנוכת המזבח ולא הקריב שבט לוי היה נפשו של אהרן עגומה, א"ל הקב"ה: כל השבטים הקריבו חנוכה אחת ואתה לבדך תעשה חנוכה לעצמך, הוא שכתוב: (תהלים י, יז) "תאות ענוים שמעת ה'", וזהו שכתוב: "מחוץ לפרוכת וגו' יערוך אותו אהרן ובניו", ע"כ. ויהיה רמז לחנוכה של נרות חשמונאי, ואם כן כשאמר "יערוך אותו אהרן ובניו" ירמוז לשעה ולדורות.

            What does it mean that the הדלקה of אהרן is a reference to חנוכה? This is really from the רמב״ן in פרשת בהעלותך (במדבר ח:ב):

ולא נתברר לי למה נחמו בהדלקת הנרות, ולא נחמו בקטורת בקר וערב ששבחו בו הכתוב (דברים לג י) ישימו קטורה באפך, ובכל הקרבנות, ובמנחת חביתין, ובעבודת יום הכפורים שאינה כשרה אלא בו, ונכנס לפני ולפנים, ושהוא קדוש ה' עומד בהיכלו לשרתו ולברך בשמו, ושבטו כלו משרתי אלהינו. ועוד מה טעם לחלישות הדעת הזו, והלא קרבנו גדול משל נשיאים, שהקריב בימים ההם קרבנות הרבה כל ימי המלואים. ואם תאמר שהיו חובה ונצטוה בהם, וחלשה דעתו על שלא הקריב נדבה כמוהם לחנכת המזבח, גם הדלקת הנרות שנחמו בה חובה ונצטוה עליה. אבל ענין ההגדה הזו לדרוש רמז מן הפרשה על חנכה של נרות שהיתה בבית שני על ידי אהרן ובניו, רצוני לומר חשמונאי כהן גדול ובניו.

 ובלשון הזה מצאתיה במגלת סתרים לרבינו נסים שהזכיר האגדה הזו ואמר, ראיתי במדרש כיון שהקריבו שנים עשר שבטים ולא הקריב שבט לוי וכו', אמר לו הקב"ה למשה דבר אל אהרן ואמרת אליו, יש חנכה אחרת שיש בה הדלקת הנרות ואני עושה בה לישראל על ידי בניך נסים ותשועה וחנכה שקרויה על שמם, והיא חנכת בני חשמונאי, ולפיכך הסמיך פרשה זו לפרשת חנכת המזבח עכ"ל.

וראיתי עוד בילמדנו (תנחומא בהעלותך ה) וכן במדרש רבה (טו ו), אמר לו הקב"ה למשה, לך אמור לאהרן אל תתירא, לגדולה מזאת אתה מוכן, הקרבנות כל זמן שבית המקדש קיים הן נוהגין, אבל הנרות לעולם אל מול פני המנורה יאירו - וכל הברכות שנתתי לך לברך את בני אינן בטלין לעולם. והנה דבר ידוע שכשאין בית המקדש קיים והקרבנות בטלין מפני חורבנו אף הנרות בטלות, אבל לא רמזו אלא לנרות חנכת חשמונאי שהיא נוהגת אף לאחר חורבן בגלותנו. וכן ברכת כהנים הסמוכה לחנכת הנשיאים נוהגת לעולם, דרשו סמוכין לחנכת הנשיאים מלפניה ומלאחריה בכבודו של אהרן שלא נמנה עמהם:

The רמב״ן tells us that the הדלקה of נרות חנוכה is not just a כאילו הדליק, as we find when we recite פסוקים about קרבנות; rather, it’s a continuation of the נרות המנורה of the מקדש. If it was just like קרבנות, and I can just learn the הלכות, how did this provide consolation to אהרן? It must be that, to some extent, lighting the נרות of חנוכה is more than this. It’s is an extension of הדלקת מנורה במקדש! The same נרות in the משכן which were lit in the היכל are the same נרות lit when we light chanuka licht. The מצוה has been transferred outwards. Just like ברכות כהנים initially was only done in the עזרה and now it’s יוצא לגבולין, the same is true here.

            When we light the מנורה, we are lighting נרות המנורה like that of the מקדש. For this reason, the ר״ן in שבת explains that the prohibition to benefit from the light of the מנורה is not just an issue of הוקצה למצותו; there’s more to it. It’s דומיה למנורה of the מקדש. Just like the נרות of the מקדש were אסור בהנאה these candles as well are אסורים בהנאה. It’s an entirely new הלכה. That’s what we say in הנרות הללו: “הנרות הללו קודש הם ואין לנו רשות להשתמש בהם אלא לראותם בלבד…”. It’s not just מוקצה. It retains the status of קודש. That’s why oil set aside for lighting which remained after חנוכה is אסור even when it’s not הוקצה למצותו anymore. You have to burn it. You’re not defining the candle as הוקצה למצותו. It’s גופו של נר. It’s the נרות המקדש. It’s a נר קדוש.

            These ideas, based off the מגילת תענית and the רבנו בחיי and רמב״ן, tell us the following. We are celebrating the חינוך המקדש, emphasizing the חינוך המנורה in context of this larger inauguration. That’s the uniqueness of this חינוך. Both משה and שלמה had a חינוך המקדש. But on חנוכה there is an additional element. It’s the מנורה which makes this special. The נס only serves as an indicator of the significance of the חינוך המנורה, establishing this חינוך לדורות.  Why is this חינוך so special?

I would like to answer by first exploring another question. Why do we say הנרות הללו? The answer is found based off an idea found in the מור וקציעה by Rav Ya’akov Emden. The הלכה is that we say a ברכה on נרות חנוכה even בספק. However, when we are מסופק if we said a ברכה on מגילה we don’t. Why are נרות חנוכה different? מור וקציעה answers based off understanding the dispute of הדלקה עושה מצוה או הנחה עושה מצוה. The Gemara want to know if the עיקר מצוה of נרות חנוכה is to light the מנורה or is it to place the candles down? We rule הדלקה עושה מצוה, but the Gemara asks if we hold הנחה עושה מצוה, what is the format of the ברכה? The ר״ן comments that the ברכה is “להדליק ולהניח.” I don’t understand. You just said the מצוה is הנחה. Why are you also mentioning the הדלקה? The explanation is found in the Gemara there. It rules that if one has a candle which was lit onערב שבת and you want to use it for נרות חנוכה on מוצאי שבת one must first extinguish it and then relight the candle. At first glance, explains the Gemara, this concurs with the opinion of הדלקה עושה מצוה: one must light the נרות to fulfill the מצוה. However, the Gemara concludes that this can fit in with the opinion that הנחה עושה מצוה as well. He would have to add one more step though: after extinguishing and relighting it, he must then lift the candle. He must be קובע מקום for lighting since הנחה is the מצוה. But everyone agrees you need a הדלקה. Rashi there explains you need to define the candle being used as a candle for חנוכה. It needs a הגדרה. That’s essential to the מצוה. Therefore, you have to extinguish the old candle, relight it and then put it down.

            We find this idea in another area of הלכה as well. The Mishna in פסחים says that if one doesn’t say פסח מצה ומרור, he’s not יוצא his מצוה. תוספות there say the source for the הלכה is from the פסוק of ואמרתם זבח פסח. You have to talk about the פסח along with the act of eating the פסח to fulfill the מצוה properly. Once we are הוקשו מצה ומרור לפסח we now know this criterion applies to not just פסח, but מצה ומרור as well. It’s clear from the תוספות that a part of theקיום מצות פסח מצה ומרור is relating the explanation of the מצוה along with the מעשה מצוה[11]. It’s not enough to eat. You have to explain what you’re doing. You need a מצה מפורשת. The same applies to נר חנוכה[12]. When I sing הנרות הללו, I’m being מגדיר the נר as a נר של חנוכה. It’s part of the מצוה. For this reason as well, the מור וקציעה writes, even in cases of ספק one is still required to recite a ברכה. The ברכה in this מצוה is essential. A candle without a ברכה is just a candle. The ברכה helps define it as a נר של חנוכה. When we say הנרות הללו we are explaining the מצוה, enhancing the קיום המצוה.

            While defining the candle in הנרות הללו, we talk about נסים ונפלאות. What’s the difference between these two words? נסים connote supernatural phenomena while נפלאות refer to manipulations of nature. We find them within the confines of nature but they’re astonishing. They surprise us. They overwhelm us. That’s what it means when you hear הפלא ופלא. It’s what you call a jaw-dropper. It doesn’t have to be a miracle. Stand under Victoria Falls and you’ll know what I mean. That’s נפלאות הבורא. It doesn’t mean a miracle. When you look at חנוכה, you need to start looking for both the נסים and the נפלאות which occurred then.

            על התשועות. This is פורקן יון.

            על המלחמות. We are talking about the specific wars in which we attribute our victories to ה׳.

            שעשית לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה. What does בזמן הזה refer to? Does it refer to our current era. That doesn’t fit in. The wars of Antiochus aren’t going on now! Does it mean this eight-day period? The wars with the Greeks went on for seventeen years after חנוכה. Just for your knowledge, Judah HaMaccabee was only able to make peace, removing the Greek presence, only after signing a pact with the Romans. It was a short-term gain, unfortunately resulting in a monumental, long term loss. Religion within the aristocracy lasted for another two generations. After that, it was over. They all became צדוקים. Herod was not even Jewish; he a vassal of Rome. So, what are we referring to with בזמן הזה? We not talking about the political wars won. We are talking about the capability to continue the service of the Temple. This is what it’s about. Just open a history book and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. It’s about חינוך המקדש. We celebrate that ability to serve in the מקדש once again. It was very symbolic for us because it raised our religious heads upright.

            על ידי כהניך הקדושים. Why are the priests called קדושים at this point? The term קודש refers to transcendency. It’s the ability to go beyond mundane. It’s because we have these people who they themselves are transcendent, we have נרות הללו קודש הם, an object of transcendence. The נרות are מופקע from צרכי האדם: the transcendent lights lit by transcendent people

            What I have here in the liturgy is a theme of קדושה. It’s the הגדרת היום. What does this mean? I think it’s quite simple. We talk about lighting the נרות אהרן which allude to the נרות המנורה. What does this light signify? We say every day a whole ברכה about lights. Did you ever look at ברכות ק״ש and try to figure out what’s going on? You start talking about light. Then you move into talking about the חיות הקודש and מלאכים who are dying to understand G-d. They’re crying קדוש קדוש קדוש. G-d is beyond all the levels of understanding, חכמה בינה ודעת, but He’s so close. כבודו מלא עולם. That’s what you’re saying. They’re on a quest to find the מקום כבודו. They’re looking for the שרש, the source. But קדוש קדוש קדוש…כבודו מלא עולם. The כבוד, the expression of חכמת הבורא is here, but the essence is nowhere to be found.

בשעה שיתבונן האדם במעשיו וברואיו הנפלאים הגדולים ויראה מהן חכמתו שאין לה ערך ולא קץ מיד הוא אוהב ומשבח ומפאר ומתאוה תאוה גדולה לידע השם הגדול[13]

Once you become acutely aware of the enormity of the בריאה around you as it is מלא כל הארץ כבודו, you’ll start dying to find מקום כבודו. Who is this unbelievable G-d who expresses Himself with tremendous חכמה in everything you touch? We’re totally encompassed, but don’t have a השגה of who You are. I want to know You, not just what You do. I know You as an engineer. I know You as an artist. I know a lot of things. We do this too. People ask you, “What do you do?” I eat. I sleep. Are you asking about my vocation? People define you based off your actions. Who is he? He’s a lawyer. He’s not a lawyer. He deals in law to make a living. Who is he in essence? I’m not sure he knows himself. Who is he? That’s the biggest question I ask when I look in the mirror. מי אתה? Great question! All I want to know is who G-d “is.” If I have an inclining of an understanding of Him I begin to understand so many other things.

At the moment I see the expressions, but I don’t really know the direction. I don’t really see the purpose. The more I understand the source of it all, hopefully in the end, it’ll all make sense. This is the explanation of the Gemara in פסחים נ which says that there will be a time in the future when we will understand the שם הגדול של הקב״ה and finally be able to pronounce it. Now we don’t see it, so we don’t say it[14]. והיה ביום הוא יהיה ה׳ אחד ושמו אחד. Some day we will actually begin to understand it and ממילא we will be able to pronounce that שם. We will be able to look back at history and genuinely say ברוך אתה ה׳…הטוב והמיטב. Don’t ask me how that’s going to happen. I don’t know. But that’s what חז״ל tell us.

            That’s לדעה את השם הגדול. The מלאכים don’t know it. But they want to know. We then finish with יוצר המאורות. The progression is fascinating. We first talked about the celestial bodies which produce light, like the sun and the moon. Then we somehow transitioned talking about the angels. Now we’re back talking about light: לעושה אורים גדולים and אור חדש על ציון תאיר. What does this mean? What’s the progression in this ברכה?

            When we pray for אור חדש, what are we asking for? Are we asking G-d for more sun? That’s not the פשט. We’re talking about the אור הראשון which was out for [15]ל״ו שעות from which אדם הראשון was sustained with. That’s what you’re asking for. You want that אור הגנוז. We want to be ראוי לכך. This answer the טור’s question[16] on the formulation of the ברכה. He asks the חתימת הברכה praises הקב״ה who creates the מאורות, the celestial bodies, and the line right before the end of theברכה  talks about the אור חדש. What does the sun and moon have to do with the אור הגנוז? It’s a חתימה שאינה מעין הברכה?

The answer goes like this. The Gemara[17] says that הרואה שמן זית בחלום יצפה למאור תורה. What does this mean? The peshat is found in something we experience in our culture as well. Did you ever read an old comic book? Did you ever notice when one of the characters has an idea you find a light bulb on top of the guy’s head? now, it’s a bit strange. What does an idea have to do with Tom Edison? The answer is simple. Light signifies the ability to see. It allows one to gain awareness of his surroundings. Think about life without light. If you didn’t have electricity at night, you wouldn’t be able to see anything. It’s terrifying. That’s why people said השכיבנו. Simply recognize the gift of light. It’s life changing. If you haven’t gone to the blind museum, go. Appreciate the gift of sight. It’s an amazing מתנה.

What does it mean to be enlightened? It means he’s cognizant of his surroundings. He’s seen a lot, absorbed the experiences and indoctrinated them as part of the way he sees reality. There’s so much there. That’s what the דרך ארץ זוטרא[18] means when it describes one of the traits of a ת״ח as being a זכרן. It doesn’t mean he remembers the facts (though that’s important too). It means he takes in those past experiences and lays them out in front of him as he lives in the present. He is aware of his past in a very real way. Don’t misunderstand me. He’s not living in the past. He’s taking the past and bringing it with him in the present. That’s what an enlightened thinker is. Light is the medium of seeing, symbolic of awareness. The enlightened person is the person who sees the world around him and lives his life with those perspectives.

We talk about the אור הגנוז. What does it mean? The Gemara says that when אדם הראשון was created, he saw מסוף העולם עד סופו. It doesn’t mean he saw the Chinese drinking tea. It means אדם הראשון has prophetic vision. He “saw” מטבור הארץ עד כסא הכבוד. He saw the total mass of the natural sciences, metaphysics etc. in reality. He saw the source where everything came from. I had some students who bought me a book published by the BBC called “Connections.” It’s an unbelievable book. They showed the process of development, from A to be B to C, finally ending up with a computer. It’s a book about how reality forced invention, forcing a further invention, ultimately ending up in the present. That’s what אדם saw. When he saw the water he drank, he experienced all the contexts, the chemistry, the physics, the metaphysics and more, of water. Light from the אור הגנוז means the ability to see reality with a broad scope: spanning from the earthly sciences to כסא הכבוד all the same time. It’s not that the sciences will lead me to an awareness to שם הגדול. I now reached a point in which I see the שם הגדול in the sciences. The study of these disciplines is not merely an outgrowth of the quest for knowledge. I’m not learning a Gemara to hopefully understand the values of הקב״ה. Now, I can see הקב״ה in the Gemara. It’s beyond us for now, but this is אור הגנוז. It’s that perspective of a massive convergence of information into one harmonious image.

The lights that G-d gives us are tools which allow us to see ourselves. We are terribly myopic and therefore we see the world in a very compartmentalized way. This person is X. The other guy’s Y. We put people in boxes. But sometimes we are able to see individuals who just can’t fit into our narrowly-defined categories. Sometimes I stand in front of the רמב״ם astonished. He was multidisciplinary, and simultaneously top in his class in every field he studied. He was a master philosopher. I don’t even want to talk about his תורה. It’s incredible. The רמב״ן treads on eggs to deal with him. The ראב״ד is the only one who’s gutsy. But in the end of the day, the רמב״ם is scary. I don’t know anything bigger than him. Seeing everything at once. It’s amazing. And he thinks he’s nothing compared to the נביאים! When you ask me why there is no נבואה today, I’ll tell you why. It’s because we don’t have anyone capable. To see “all that,” to achieve an incredibly broad perspective, requires a lot of mental power. But that’s what you’re going to see with the אור חדש. We just talked about the מלאכים who were searching to know. In the end, we’re going to know. In the meantime, we have to use the lights that we are given. Use the sun and the moon to figure it out. You can’t just wait for the אור הגנוז to come. Now, learn how to interact with the flashlight He gave you. It’s called enlightenment.

That’s what we talk about when we say אור הגנוז. Where is it today? The Gemara tells us it’s גנוז בתורה. It’s the תורה which will ultimately teach us everything. This is the רמב״ן in his הקדמה to חומש. All the wisdom, including all prophecy, is found in there. I don’t know how. רבינא and רב אשי didn’t see it. But יחזקאל saw in it the מעשה מרכבה. He saw things that they didn’t see. The total mass of information, מטבור הארץ עד כסא הכבוד, is hidden in that book. So, start using the lights you have to start mining as much as you can.

It’s for this reason we recite following this ברכה of the אור הגנוז the ברכה of אהבה רבה. It’s a ברכת הודיה for the תורה which has this light stored inside of it. The progression of these ברכות goes like this. We recognize the light. There’s now a capability for awareness. The dream is to understand. Look at the מלאכים who are dying to understand and attain a level of enlightenment and yet, it alludes them. But אור חדש על ציון תאיר. There’s going to be a new light. We are going to finally get an inkling of understand what שמו אחד is. But now He hid it, so thank You for giving us something, the sun and the moon, to start seeing. But we want to use these bodies to see שמו הגדול. How do we do that? It’s אהבה רבה. As תוספות ברכות יא: explain, this is a ברכת התורה. Do you know what you’re saying in that ברכה? You’re thanking G-d for giving us the תורה and begging Him to know it. How many times have I pointed out that there is no more poignant of a ברכה found in our liturgy than that of אהבה רבה. חמלה גדולה ויתירה חמלת עלינו…אבינו האב הרחמן המרחם רחם עלינו. Give us some רחמנות. ותן בלבנו להבין להשכיל לשמוע ללמוד וללמד לשמור ולעשות לקיים את כל דברי תלמוד תורתך באהבה. We want to know it all: ספרא ספרי מכילתא תוספתא תלמוד בבלי וירושלמי and more. והאיר עינינו בתורתך ודבק לבנו במצוותך וכו׳. It just keeps going on and on. There is no בקשה like this one. בעבור אבותינו שבטחו בך. “My grandfather got it. Give it to me.” You’re desperate. You need this. You’re begging for חכמה. That’s enlightenment.

You have to understand that entire reason we have מאורות is for us to see חכמה. הקב״ה loves the מנורה more than anything else. הרואה שמן זית בחלום יצפה למאור תורה because שמן signifies light. You need oil to light a lamp. Today you would dream of an electric current to light a bulb. It’s the capability of enlightenment. ברוך מבנים אשר…וטובל בשמן רגלו. Is אשר walking with greasy feet? I don’t think so. It means he wades in enlighten. Oil was the fuel for light. The capability to see allows one to read and understand more. The more light there is, the more enlightenment is available. It’s very simple.

The אור המנורה is more חביב than all מעשה בראשית because what is creation for? בשעה שיתבונן באדם בחכמתו…יתעורר תאוה גדולה לדעה את ה׳. We look at finite reality and its wisdom. There is a lot there. The world is astounding. It’s all a means towards an end. לדעה את ה׳ הגדול. I remember once seeing a story of the Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch. He once asked the Russian butler why he works. He told the Rebbe to make money. The Rebbe continued to ask him why he wanted the money. The butler responded, “To get a good drink.” “Why?” “To be happy.” “Why?” “To have strength.” “Why? To work!” He’s just running in circles. Then the Rebbe asked his son, “Yingele, why do you eat?” “To daven.” “Why?” “To get closer to הקב״ה.” “Why?” “Because I want to serve Him. What else is there?”

What’s the מטרה and what’s the אמצעי? The עשרה מאמרות שבהם נברא העולם are the אמצעי. The goal is עשרת הדברות. All our world is a means; albeit an important. But the goal is to become aware of הקב״ה from טבור הארץ עד כסא הכבוד. Ultimately we must see it all as one. הקב״ה is talking to you in chemistry. He’s talking to you in physics. But there’s only one medium where He’s talking to you, allowing you to ultimately understand Him better, finding purpose and meaning in your existence. That’s in תורתו הקדושה. That’s why you only make a ברכה on תורה and not only science. תורה is the ultimate goal. Everything else is just an אמצעי. [19]היכן גנזו? בתורה. That’s what תורה is. The Gemara in [20]שבת says this is the נוטריקון of אנכי: אנא נפשי כתיבת יהבית. I wrote Myself in a book and gave it to you. That’s what לימוד is. Read this and you’ll find Him. The רמב״ם in the end of the מורה נבוכים writes that it’s only in תורה can we find Him in essence. We only have an inkling of what it means. It gives us meaning, purpose, direct. It’s not just, “Wow, what a beautiful world.” It’s learning about Him not what He does.

The worst שקר is a half-truth. Those last a long time. The glorification of the עשרה מאמרות, the world the way we see it, is a truth. It’s actually a theological truth. Do it for real. Don’t use cliff notes. It’s חכמתו יתברך. But, ultimately, it’s there להתאות תאוה גדול לדעה את השם הגדול. You’re going to find that in תורה. That’s your מטרה. Everything else is an אמצעי. It’s a very noble אמצעי. For me, some experiences I had with nature were really intense, religious experiences. The only thing better is a רשב״א! The biggest שקר is when they take the אמצעי and turn it into the מטרה to the point that they say that’s all there is. מהו אפיקורס? מאי אהנו ליה רבנן. Being cynical about ultimate truths, glorifying the אמצעי, is corrosive to one’s religious posture. So, we ask for the אור חדש. The goal is לדעה את ה׳.

You know what קדושה is? It’s something that transcends man. It’s something which is outside the realm of עשרה מאמרות. It’s something which is connected to עשרת הדברות, the מטרות, not the Lincoln logs of creation. Outside of the ששת ימי המעשה is שבת. It’s the זמן של דעת. Stop talking about how you build. Start thinking about why you build. We’re looking at מלאכת מחשבת. We work to deserve שבת. It’s not because I’m tired. It’s because now I did something which allows me to look back at how I did. What did it mean and what will it lead to as we look forward? We have to remember what’s the goal and what are the means. קדוש means something beyond the rigid borders of our world. קדוש קדוש קדוש means He transcends beyond my scope of חכמה בינה ודעת. It’s being מופרש. קדושים תהיו. Don’t be confined by earthiness. You transcend normative, social interactions. You’re beyond that.

The נרות הקדושים mean the אור of the מטרה of the ששת ימי המעשה. We are looking for the חכמה הטהורה, the pure thought, not just the applied sciences. The applied sciences are here to lead you back to the pure thought. There is something unique about the mind of the human. Functional thought is found in all the minds of the animal kingdom. The beavers didn’t need to go to MIT to build their dams. The salmon are tremendous navigators without computers. These creatures are so programed and so bright; they don’t need degrees. They mastered whatever they needed to exist. We are the only ones who don’t know how to do anything. We need schooling. We have no clue how to survive if not for our mind which allows us to take in new information. What makes us unique is the ability to think abstractly. Transcending function, conceptualizing the world into abstractions, is who we are. It’s pure thought. It’s קדוש. It’s מופרש. We’re capable of not just delving into the world but ascending upwards into the world of thought, the world of why’s.

The מהר״ל explains that חציוניות עולם is עשרה מאמרות and פנימיות העולם is עשרת הדברות. This idea is seen throughout his ספרים. As important as the world of science and human thought are, one must understand that there is something which transcends all that. The idea of the Infinite G-d is something we can’t comprehend. We know He’s there, but we don’t grasp it. The רמב״ן, talking about Aristotle, writes that he believed מה שלא הבין אינו קיים. Ideas which were beyond his scope didn’t exist. He defined the sciences based off his subjective understanding. If you ever looked at Aristotelian astronomy or anatomy, you’ll think it’s a joke. They never opened a cadaver. They just used their למדות. It should be this way and that’s the reality. It took many ways until science opened anyone up.

Aristotle was a paradigm of the Greek worldview. You know what Greece glorified? It was the world of Harmony. The world of aesthetics, especially the body, was glorified by the Greek. They were enamored by the beauty and symmetry of science. Everything is perfect. They glorified aesthetics because it was the harmonious merging of elements. They glorified beautiful speech. They were word-smiths. You should give them credit. Without them, we would all be barbarians. חכמת יון is a tremendous thing. But you it’s only an אמצעי for a מטרה. It’s the שפחה for the גברתה. The עיקר is the חכמה הנבדלת. It’s bowing down to a truth beyond your comprehension. We’ve experienced prophecy. We know there is a G-d. That’s what we live for and die for throughout our whole history.

What Greece wanted from us wasn’t so much to change the religion. What they wanted to take away was our Weltanschauung since it rejected the fundamental assumption of Greek philosophy. Greek simply didn’t accept a truth beyond their comprehension. Even their gods were de-deified. Their gods are not pristine, pure beings representing truths. They were a dysfunctional family. It’s a bunch of hulks. There is no truth or beauty in Zeus or Mercury. Greek mythology simply describes the never-ending struggle of forces. Brutality is the name of the game. You control nothing. Gods are just forces like dragons. They’re just a nuisance. Focus on man and you’ll be good. Greek polluted genuine religion. You can have your temples but they will be defiled. You can have your oil but it will be tainted.

With Greece the capability to see מסוף העולם ועד סופו is gone. Understand that there is nothing else out there. Man, stopped looking for truths in religion and turned inward towards his own logic. Man’s logic is very limited. You will only focus on the temporal and functional. All the rest- forget about it. It’s meaningless. That’s יון. They didn’t mind if you had a different religion than theirs. They were quite tolerant in that sense. But it was only in Judea where there was intolerance. Why? It was because the people were a thorn to the back of the ethos of Greece. We transcended science and logic and bowed down to something beyond our comprehension. We took their idol, the culture of aesthetics, and demoted it to the status of the butler. They didn’t like that. They wanted those transcendent lights, the אור הגנוז out of the picture. They wanted us to become myopic. They wanted us to focus on the עשרה מאמרות without looking for the עשרת הדברות. טימאו את השמנים. It’s that שמן which was to be used to enlighten us which became defiled. The ספרי חסידות explain that טומאה is finite. The אבי אבות הטומאה is death. Everything else is a certain reality of life whose potential was cut. It’s a life that stopped. It’s over. It’s טומאה. טימאו את השמנים means that they put limits with our perception.

This was the culture of Greek. And it was a major challenge. Can religion survive in such a culture? At the time, it was a clash. In contemporary culture, as the world becomes more focused on the here and now, forgetting about the past and future, can we really be religious or are we defined as merely traditional and observant? Can we have a religious quest or just be orthodox? That’s the challenge of יון. It’s very contemporary and relevant in our time as well. Can we bow down to the Infinite, the Un-comprehendible, to שם הגדול? That’s what השתחוויה לה׳ is. It’s the total subjugation of the self to Him. That’s why על הנסים is found in מודים. כל מי שלא השתחוויה במודים שדרו נעשה נחש. The person who doesn’t bow, his stature is subject to the נחש הקדמוני. You’re going back to the old sin, seeing the world subjectively and walking away from the objective reality of pure thought. You don’t want to see the אמת. You just want to see the טוב ורע. You can’t bow in front of G-d since you live in subjectivity. 

That’s why in על הנסים we talk about the כהנים הקדושים lighting נרות קודשים. This is the uniqueness of the חינוך הבית of חנוכה. It was a גזירה on the מנורה. The מנורה represents wisdom. If you want חכמה, the Gemara says, daven towards the south since the מנורה was positioned on that side of the מקדש. Greece campaigned a war on חכמה. It was an assault against קדושה. This is the uniqueness of the חינוך of חנוכה. The perseverance of maintaining a religious quest under the pressures of a culture that glorifies the temporal. That’s what this יו״ט is about.

א ליכטיגען חנוכה!

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