Chanukah: Bringing Light into the World - Rabbi Reuven Lauffer

so it says that a lot like this actually is a fascinating idea that that the lighting of Chanukah candles is so important that the sages teach us already that a poor person should take charity in order to fulfill the mitzvot which means that you know under normal circumstances taking charity now many people prefer not to take charity they would like to make do with a lot a lot less and be able to not have to rely on other people and yet when it comes to the when it comes to Chanukah were taught that a person should a person should take charity because it's so important the midst is so important and interesting enough it says that somebody who fulfills the mid sir of Chanukah of lighting Chanukah lights will have children who are Talmud a common hotel would scholars right so that sounds like a pretty good reason you know even even if it's not going to help for for us at least that our children should have the benefit of being able to be come tablets are coming to become town with scholars what was the connection the connection is really very simple as that we spoke about the other day the idea of light the idea of bringing light into the world and kanika being the the festival of lights and the idea that when we come and we like the olive oil of the olive oil is is analogous to the Torah itself and that we're we're we're utilizing all of those various symbols in order to bring some kind of a blessing on our children that if it's a shame they should become time with erika column it's our chef who gets to light candles so first of all we're in a deal right now we're going to deal with the Ashkenazi custom in a minute we'll look at the Safari custom afterwards but the Ashkenazi custom is if anybody over the age of Bar Mitzvah is obligated in lighting Chanukah candles amongst us fighting the custom is that normally one person the father lights the candles for the whole family inside of the home and there's no need for anybody else to light but by the Ashkenazim the custom is not like that but ash cards like I said a every single person over the age of a meter should light Chanukah candles how do we do it and so there is a very famous mac locus a very famous disagreement between Hillel and Shammai I about lighting Chanukah candles the way that we are all familiar with is that we like one candle on the first day and two candles on the second day 3 on the third and on the eighth day you like eight candles and that way we fulfill the obligation however shall I was of the opinion that we should light eight candles on the first day seven candles on the second day six on the fifth day until on the eighth day you're only lighting one candle what's the fundamental difference between them right what are they what are they disagreeing over right there not disagreeing over the amount of candles that need to be lit whether you start with aiding you start with one you're using exactly the same matter candles it's good to say what up for those local days I'll say again you're saying if the candles first good if there's six candles you're supposed to stay lit up for those six days you don't have to to do I do no no no you just you light light up in the night and then they'll burn down and then the next day right so for example the way that we do you like the first candle on the first night then it burns down and then on the second night you like two candles they burned down and then on the third night you're like three candles until you get to the eighth night when you're lighting eight candles and the Shamas just saying the opposite sham I saying start with eight let them all burn down and then on the second night you'll you're like seven and on the third night you're like six until slowly but surely you get to the seventh night you like to and the eighth night you're like one a fascinating explanation which is which is which is the most which is the most exciting night of hanukkah ask anybody else and they'll tell you that the Thursday Annika's most exciting day why is that because you haven't done it for all year right there's a lot of anticipation and you know the kids are Cuzco nuts about can occur because it really is it really is a time but yeah presence and and you know like a lot of a lot of family time you know nice nice food and singing songs and playing dreidel and it's just it's a it's a one it's a wonderful it's really a wonderful family time it really is and the kids you get really excited Thursday is something really exciting next day is very exciting third day is exciting what it is okay fifth day and I in by the eighth day it's like oh my gosh how many more luck because do we have to eat over here right how many and I are you are you sure that we have to eat you know a doughnut for every candle that we like and seems rather excessive and the Embassy's like this that that that's human nature human nature is such that what's new is exciting and after you begin to get a little bit used to it so it becomes less exciting that's just that's the way we're bill that's way we're wired right and it makes perfect sense it really does however inside of inside of our religious lies inside of our spiritual eyes it shouldn't be like that at all which means that the last day of something is a culmination of everything that's happened over the last few days so for example the eighth day of chanukah really is supposed to be the most exciting day of kanika the most significant day of hanukkah because the eighth day of chanukah represents the time where this miracle came to a it kept you know came to a climax right with 88 days worth of oil being burnt it was something completely extraordinary and every day was an extra part of that an extra part of miracle now you know day one is miracle data is miracle plus day three is miracle plus plus the eighth day so it's a culmination of everything in chanukah right it should really be the most exciting Dave spiritually that's what we have to work upon we really do here if I ask you to set the same question of that pizza right what's the most exciting night of pesach the most exciting day of pesach of course it's a first day right you know Layla seder eating matzah for the first time you know it's four cups of wine right it's a horseradish oh it's fantastic right Carosa you know with only people that eat you know eat food that's supposed to look like and taste like cement I mean for goodness sakes you know Matt's matter as well as the only food i know of that the box it comes out the box that comes and tastes better than the contents it's it's like it's weird right but it's by the time you get to the eighth day of pesach it's like you know what what time is a bakery open yeah I need a roll I got its like people are people are having withdrawal symptoms you know I got role but the truth of the matter is what happened on the last day of pace are the sea split and we went through the sea and we became a nation and that's it we're completely and absolutely released from the bondage of Egypt right which means that the last day spiritually the last day of something is the most significant day of all Hillel saying when you come to light your Chanukah candles that you go day one you like one candle day to you like two candles day three you like three candles why because we're supposedly building up our anticipation and the more candles you light then the more anticipation you're going to have until like you and your sister you're gonna get to the eighth day and it's like you know I want to light know I want to light now it's my turn to light is you get away you know mummy she started I you know she started she hit me back whatever you know right and but unfortunately psychologically we're not like that like I said before psychologically by the time we get to the 89 it's like okay with it just kind of got to light candles come on and it's like it loses the freshness and the excitement hillel saying we got to light the candles going from 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 going up because we've got to learn how to be excited about doing the mythos we've got to learn that each day there's another another another dimension of mitza that's being added into the day and we should we should feel that shammai who is a little bit a little bit of a killjoy I shall I sigh sham I saying to Hill oh yeah that may be right but it's not the way we are which was the most exciting night of the of chronic is the eighth night sorry the first night and then the second night is a less exciting Abbott antic by the time you get to the eighth ninth then you the excitement is really pretty much disappeared says shall I if that's the case how should we light candles well start with the eight candles on the first night because that's the most exciting night that's a another that the build up is everything right and then the next night well a little less excitement so you just like seven candles and the night after that is a less exciting so you just like six candles until by the end you get to one we choose to follow hello right but it's not enough just to follow Hillel it's not enough just to like one on the first night and two on the second night and 339 we have to follow helo by thought we have to learn what he loves teaching us right he loves teaching us that we need to be excited about doing it says we need to be excited about we need to have an anticipation to be able to do this and the more you know the longer konica runs for the greater our anticipation and our appreciation for chanukah needs to be and that's that's hard it really is right that's something which requires working and the more you read up about kanika the more you understand about can occur so the greater your appreciation for can accrue is going to be because it really is a very a very beautiful time a wife shouldn't should not light independently of her husband right so even though we mentioned that anyone over the age of Bar Mitzvah has an obligation to like mechanical lights but her husband and a wife a team of a husband and a wife so the husband lights the candles for the wife she doesn't lighter on candles well learn him it's a shame later on if the husband's not around for whatever the reason he's not able to light than the white should light for him how many lights you supposed to light so again it's interesting in the gomorian says like this there are different there are different opinions one opinion is that one light per night is enough right and the truth is my card in according to the absolute stripped down version of the halacha if a person's only got eight candles that's all you've got right then you can light one candle every night and you fulfilled your obligation of lighting Chanukah candles the reason why we follow you know he'll ELLs suggestion of one two three four five six seven eight is because there is a concept of Mahajan mean imagine we're going to do this in the best possible way that we can do it we're going to do it in the most the most the most most proper way you sound almost English right the most proper way to do this which is taking the most you know i'm going to use words stringent I know I don't really don't mean it in a negative way but even we're going to the most proper way because that's the most stringent way to do it now where's this coming from where's this idea coming from so we spoke about a little bit yesterday kanika is all about the rededication of the temple which is a connector is all about starting starting fresh and beginning something all over again right this is go back into the story of Hanukkah for a moment the temples been defiled they have to come they have to cleanse it and now they're going to start worshiping all over again it's like a very very special moment inside a Jewish history and it's all got to be done in that the best the best possible way that you can do it right and that's exactly what we're doing over here when we come to light canna collides with we're commemorating what took place over they were commemorating that idea of rededication we're commemorating the idea of purity right doing things in the best possible way that we can and that's why everybody likes the kind of colitis it's a fantastic idea everybody uses a most stringent opinion with lighting Chanukah light doesn't matter you know who you belong to whether whether you're only you know marginally affiliated to Judaism volcanic is a very popular it's a very popular festival even amongst a non-affiliated Jews because not not affiliated and sort of marginally affiliated Jews because it represents something which really speaks to everybody and lots and lots of people light kanika candles and I wrote a piece once for the awesome at magazine which it makes me every time I think about it makes me laugh it really does I went with my mother to a charity dinner in London and the the the charity dinner it was it was kosher of course but it was for Jewish charity it was a camera which charity it was but I can tell you where it was it was in the it was in the Imperial War Museum it was a really rather fancy affair and Martin Gilbert spoke actually I can't remember what it was but I said i sat on his table it was a rather fascinating Martin Gilbert was what was one of the greatest Jewish I mean greatest historians in England he was Jewish passed away not very long ago actually he months ago and but i sat next to a fellow it makes me laugh this whole story actually and I that the food was kosher but it wasn't that the meat was not Glatt Kosher so there's different levels of kosher right and I'm careful to eat only I guess super deluxe kosher and it was whatever I don't member probably I don't have the details but it was it was definitely kosher but it wasn't me that I would normally eat right so my mother called over the waiter and asked if there was a vegetarian alternative so the waiter said there was so she asked if you can you bring can you bring to vegetarian you know meals one for me and one for my mother and you know where I'm sort of like you know getting ready to to cut open my my beautiful artistically designed tomato that's sitting on the on this plane oh and watching other people stuck in are getting themselves stuffed into roast beef and that there was a fellow an elderly fellow sitting next to me hadn't said a word to me since I'd sat down if I he looks at my plate and then he looks at me and he said he was very English he says are you vegetarian now I would just I just I traveled from Israel that day I just arrived and I was a little I was a little you know I really wasn't thinking straight I should I probably should have just said well kind of but I did I said no not really so he says to me right wide earth if you're not a vegetarian one earth would you choose to eat that which was a good question because it was it was pretty you know whatever it did not match up to what everyone else was eating that's for sure and so I started to explain to him that everything's kosher but I had a you know what I'm eat meat that's on a higher level of of cash and this fellow went nuts you know what you're talking about he says kosher kosher he says I guy I don't understand what you're talking about I can't I really don't understand this and then I believe it or not he looks at me and he says you sir are a snob and I'm like you know i just i just got off this blowing plane and i've been carted off to this ridiculous charity dinner to sit and have a piece of tomato instead of a proper meal and I'm being accused of being a snob but I was fellow sitting next to me I was I was like mortified really i mean you could call me lots of things you really can but I'm not not here because we're being videoed rabbit but but a snob that's like whoa that really hurt then so everything goes quiet you know and I'm like pushing this piece of tomato around my plate and they came around with the wine so they've got red wine or white wine I don't drink alcohol I don't like this stuff so anyway he gets that the white the person with the wine gets to his fellow sitting next to me and he says to him red wine or white wine sir so I thought I looked looked at the bottles and he says what are these what are these wines so these wines are from Israel sir so he says israel israel he says I don't drink wine director I re drink French wine the best French wine and I'm like I'm sitting there with my mouth wide open you know bits of tomato light falling out of my mouth because I can't believe it you know I've been accused of being a snob because I didn't want to eat the meat and he's busy ranting on about the wine that wines just not good enough for his palate because it's not French wine so I've got me thinking what's this going to do with that I mean what first of all it filled up five minutes that's a that's a pretty good reason to tell over the story and if needs be i can tell it over again if you want right and but it got it really got me thinking you know inside of Judaism there really is sometimes I don't know what I don't know what else to call it there really is sometimes a sense of Jewish snobbery oh you do that we don't do that of course you eat that we don't eat that oh you go there goodness me we don't go there and there's a certain sense of you know whether it's intentional or unintentional there's a certain sense of like you know holier than now it can be sometimes it can be a little bit patronizing right and what got me thinking was a Kanaka on Hanukkah nobody's firmer than anybody else every everybody's fulfilling the midst of lighting Chanukah lights the same way but that you hip shot right the Gomorrah says if you want to fulfill the Mitzvah you can fulfill it lighting one light one candle every day how come nobody does that everybody takes upon himself the most stringent opinion of all which is what that we like one and then two and then three and then four what's called in the Gomorrah mahajan minima hundred that's about as that's about as mu who dare really means beautiful right that's about it that's about as beautiful as you can get in fulfilling the meter everybody does it together and you know what I think I think that that's that's the beauty of Chanukah it really is and that's but maybe that's one of the reasons why I kanika ties all the Jewish people together I remember when I was growing up I had I had Jewish friends who were not not the least bit religious and they didn't keep kosher at home and they didn't keep Shabbat but you know what can occur they all lit Chanukah candles it was a big thing so fine they may not you know they waited until the father came home from work and maybe it's a little bit later on but it was a big thing everybody and you had to be home right you couldn't go out yet to be home for the giver the candle lighting kanakia nights everybody maybe the reason why kanakia nights everybody it's because there really is no one upmanship when it comes to keeping a konica rule we're all doing it the same way it so good you want you won't have a discussion about what are you used to light with i'll use that oil we don't use that we use this oil right well i'll use those candles that we use these candles but at the end of the day that the the midst of the performance of the mid sure itself we're all doing it the same way and maybe that makes tanika less again i'm hesitant to use a word but baby mates can occur less threatening perhaps an other you know that than other holidays which are very very detailed and very complex and you know you know very easy to make mistakes with inside of kind of goods it's really it's easier to do how do we get on to that I don't remember but whatever I did enjoy telling that so I'm until that story for ages actually I was completely completely taken aback by it okay how long does the light how long do the light had to the candles how long they have to be alight for so we touched on this yesterday they've got to be a light for a half an hour after nightfall now we're going to talk him into a shame about when the candles need to be lit at which point but many people have the custom to light the candles before nightfall about 15 minutes before my foot now for which means that if that's your custom then you need to have candles are going to last for 45 minutes because they have the last a half an hour after night falls let's say it gets dark at five fifteen then your candles have to stay light until quarter to six if you like your candles earlier than nightfall you need to have enough fuel there to keep them going for half an hour after nightfall all I'm saying is like this if you if your custom is to light just before it gets dark then you need to make sure the camera is going to last long enough that it's a half an hour after it gets dark right that little twirly colored candles that gets old all over the place are absolutely fine for every day every day of chanukah that lasts for 45 minutes give you like that there that's about that's about their maximum but they're fine the problem is air of Shabbat right on era Shabbat you've got to have your chanukah candle lights staying a light half an hour after nightfall however when do we light the Hanukkah candles where we like the Hanukkah candles just before we like the Shabbos candles which means if you if you're here in Israel if you here in Jerusalem that's 40 minutes before sunset so let's make a calculation over here right you've got 40 minutes before sunset plus 20 minutes until the stars come out so that's an hour and then they've got to last another half an hour after that which means that you need candles that are going to last an hour and a half from the time you've lit them on air of Shabbat until half an hour after dark that means that that little box of candles we know that the multicolored you know twisty candles that everybody seems to have grown up on so they're great for everyday except for Erin sherbert and Irish about there a problem the best thing to do for shabbos with regards to shoppers for regards oh chanukah is to use candles out you could use Shabbas candles they for sure going to last long enough right or if you're going to talk about that as well if you're going to use oil than to make sure you've got enough fuel inside of your oil right there's enough sorry i'll try that again you've got enough oil inside of your cup right in order to make sure that it's going to last long enough into the night that you can fulfill the bitter if you don't fulfill its a problem right if it's not a light for the half an hour after after nightfall then it's a question of whether you have fulfilled your obligation or you haven't fulfilled your obligation so what you need to do for air of Shadows is you need to make you need to you need to come up with a you gotta be a little bit innovative over here if my son says it in yeshiva lots of people use shot glasses you know right I don't tell you what shot glasses all right and you probably know better than I do people use shot glasses and they'll fill them up with water and oil and you know they'll they'll use oil on arish about to make sure that it lasts longer the other alternative is to take shabbas candles that come in little glass holders and to line them up and to light those instead of the regular you're not to not to use the menorah at all another alternative is that you can you can actually you can become a partner together with somebody else so let's say you don't you know you don't you don't want to have to go to the additional expense after you bought the van around you've bought the candles you don't want to go into an additional expense of you know buying buying a whole new something just for air of Shabbat so you can go partners with somebody who's got a menorah that takes bigger candles or takes oil or whatever it is it's very simple you have to do is give him more than what's called a putter to become a partner with his candle lighting so that's giving him you know half a shekel is for sure plenty and that way you become a partner and that way he can recite the Broca's you can answer our main and you fulfilled your obligation even though you didn't actually like the cat you didn't like the candles yourself another alternative which is something I used to do with my kids when they were younger before once a once i get to a certain age my kids start using oil anyway and but when they were younger there are candles made out of beeswax that are very long like this long and there's relatively thin and they fit it into the regular you know into into the regular menorah whole you buy them one but you know you by however many you need just for air of Shabbat it the only the only slight problem with those candles is that when it gets very hot if there's a lot of is a lot of people lighting around is that they start to those starts I sort of bend over and you know because I've just made out of wax so they're not they're not they're not fixed into position you