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Chanukah Samayach!
Perceptions
Parashas Mikeitz / Issue #726 / Dec. 12, 2015
What follows is
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When the Greeks entered the Temple they defiled all the oils in it. When
the Chashmonaim [later] prevailed against and defeated them, they
searched and found only one jar of oil with the [unbroken] seal of the
Kohen Gadol. It contained [only] enough oil for one day of lighting, and
yet a miracle occurred and [with it] they kindled [the Menorah] for eight
days. The following year these [days] were made a holiday with [the
recital of] Hallel and thanksgiving. (Shabbos 21b)
Why did they not establish the holiday of Chanukah right after the
military victory? Why did they only celebrate the great miracle the year later?
For the same reason. The hand of God in all that occurred only became
clear to the Chashmonaim after the miracle of the oil happened. In retrospect
they saw how God had the Greeks make their terribly inhibiting decrees to
force the Jews of that time to fight for God and Torah and reveal the Ohr
HaGanuz in the world.6 The miracle of the oil retroactively revealed the hand of
God in all that occurred.
When someone actually lives with this knowledge from day-to-day, from
crisis-to-crisis, he does not see this only in retrospect. He sees it in real time,
and his life reflects this vision. He looks for God in everything and, in response,
God reveals Himself to such a person in everything.
History is merely an ongoing dialogue between God and this type of
God-fearing person. The mode of conversation may change from
moment-to-moment, but not the level of relationship. The physical ceases to
be a barrier between them and the Hidden Light of Creation. They can see it,
and more importantly, they can reveal it. They illuminate, and they are
illuminated, and their chayn is the very proof of this.
So are the miracles. The Talmud says:
If someone sees the name Chanina, Chananya or Yochanan [in a dream it
is a sign that] miracles will occur for him. (Brochos 57a)
It is not difficult to figure out the common denominator of all three
names: Ches-Nun, or chayn. In fact it is Chanina ben Dosa who teaches the sod
of miracle working:
Once on a Friday night he noticed that his daughter was sad and he said
to her, My daughter, why are you sad?
She answered, My oil container got mixed up with my vinegar
container and I kindled Shabbos candles with it.
He told her, My daughter, Why should this trouble you? He Who had
commanded the oil to burn will also command the vinegar to burn!
A Tanna taught: The light continued to burn the whole day until they
6 Pri Tzaddik, Chanukah 15.
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person, the Oral Law is hidden within the Written Law, waiting to be found
and extracted so that it can illuminate the world. It is the chayn of Torah.
Regarding the Talmud it says:
The people that walk in the darkness see the Great Light. (Yeshayahu 9:1)
By now it is clear what the Great Light is. It is the Ohr HaGanuz. Now it
is also clear who merits the Great Light:
The masters of the Talmud are those who see the Great Light, because
the Holy One, Blessed is He, enlightens their eyes. (Tanchuma, Noach 9)
Not coincidentally, there are 36 tractates in the Talmud Bavli, regarding
which it states:
The Oral Law is compared to darkness because it is difficult to learn and
involves hardship. (Tanchuma, Noach 9)
In other words, it requires mesiras Nefesh to learn and to learn well
enough to access the Ohr HaGanuz hidden within it. When a person does this,
he also dispels another kind of darkness:
The earth was null and void and there was darkness upon the face of the
deep . . . (Bereishis 1:2)
Darkness [refers] to the Greek exile. (Bereishis Rabbah 2:4)
The darkness though is not the result of a solar eclipse, or a lack of fire. It
is the darkness that results from a life devoid of the Ohr HaGanuz. It is the most
limiting and dangerous darkness of all, because it is possible to live an entire
life and not even notice it.
So many have.
So many do.
There is not a lot of chayn in the world today.
Then comes the 25th day of Kislev and Chanukah begins. Days of Binah.
Days of chayn. Days during which one can access the Ohr HaGanuz like no
other time of year, and its energy to rise above the everyday natural reality. It
is the time of Ner Shel Chanukah, the one we kindle on the outside, and the
one we ignite from the inside.
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