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Modern Masters: Chanukah: When There’s a Will, There’s a Way By Rabbi Sam Shor
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Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
we're going to get started we're to Jump
Right In as as everyone knows the past
few weeks we've been taking a deep dive
into
kanuka and that's gonna
continue and I want to begin with an
idea that's not on our sheets actually
we're gonna hear from again this course
is Modern Masters so we try to hear from
different great Rabbi personalities of
the 20th and 21st centuries this morning
we're going to begin with a short
teaching from Rabbi gam RAB
noov is one of the
great
mysterious calist here
in uh he lives in the area known as zik
mosha near G and this is a saer calleda
which is a collection of his various
teachings on so in
this says the following words
why in terms of what do we meant to
learn from the fact that lighting the
candles are specifically at the moment
when it gets dark at that specific time
once it's already
dark he says that we learn from this
what a very important idea and that is
that from Darkness we are empowered to
bring forth light okay
the idea the essential message of the
khaka lights is to teach us this very
powerful message of from Darkness Be A
light bring light into the darkness and
turn the darkness to light and he
says that really
the
ENT really the essential message uh that
we're meant to bring to the entire world
is this idea of Shine the Light Of God
in am amidst the darkness to bring the
light of God into the
darkness and to turn the darkness into
light and that's the essential message
of the N of
to turn to turn the darkness to
light I said it's not in the sheet
that's what I told you okay
so with this is our introduction these
words of RA G ROV I want us to take a
deeper dive into specifically the
Mitzvah
of the mitah of lighting those KH
candles and
really really explore what does it mean
to bring light into the dark Darkness
this idea what essential message or
messages are encrypted in this Mitzvah
within this Mitzvah of so now we're
gonna go to our sheets okay now we're
gonna look at the sheets and we're gonna
begin with the famous question of
the asked
right appears in the talud as a footnote
right that khaka really the discussion
of lighting the khaka candle comes in
the midst of the discussion of lighting
shabas candles and Shabbat there's a
whole discussion what materials are
appropriate or permissible to use to
light shabas candles in the midst of
that discussion they the the begin to
say do the same laws apply to kanaka
then they wake up after having this
whole discussion about what materials
you're allowed to use to like khaka
candles and they realize what we haven't
even discussed what khaka is okay we're
talking about Shabbat
so now this is text number one on our
sheets ask my what is Kan all about for
why why do we
have as the rabbis have
taught it was established that beginning
with the 25th day of will be the days of
and these are days that we're told we
don't eulogize and we don't f fast what
does that tell us about the nature of
these days of khah if we don't ulize and
we don't fast what does it
mean it's a these are days of joy and
celebration okay
why because when the Greeks came into
the temple
okay here's the first important Point
all the oil that was in the B mikdash
was rendered impure
so we're come back to that
question and when the house
ofai who was the co meaning when the
rose up against the Greeks and they were
victorious they searched High alone they
only found one little jar of oil they
had the the the Seal of the co
God
okay there was not enough oil there to
last more than one
day so a miracle occurred and it lasted
for eight
days and another year they established
this as a Time uh that these days of
KHAK would be days of Celebration and
joy H and thanks
okay no
that's why the oil last eight days we're
gonna come that question I have a number
of questions on this gar first of all
let's break this gar down very quickly
number one what does it
mean that the searched high and low
morning searched high and low and the
only found one little jar of oil
especially when the ra the G tells us
what that the came into
the all the oil was
impure so what does mean they searched
High alone they found a jar all the oil
was imp pure then what does it mean they
search I'm gonna ask another
question one second but I ask another
says all the oil was impure but I'll ask
an even better question they the
k okay
they're the sons of the high priest so
what does it mean they searched for one
pure jar of oil hidden away with the if
if if anyone would know where that oil
was such they existed a hidden stash
they would know they wouldn't have to
search for it they're the sons of the
high priest what mean they searched high
and low they couldn't find okay and I'll
ask another question where are the
animals of H literature does it state
that the kohanim okay put a little OU or
or bat on the on the shaman the answer
is it doesn't so what is what is that
added detail that they searched high and
low dka for some miracle oil that
shouldn't have existed because all the
oil was impure that have the insign of
the high priest that if they if they
search for it they would know where it
is what do mean they search for it
they're the sons of the high
priest and I'll ask one other question
why d ell's question what's the
significance of daa eight days the miror
that are burned for eight days now first
of all we know that number eight in the
annals of Jewish scholarship
particularly the anals of kastin and and
and cabala that eight represents
what seven represents the days of
creation meaning the realm of the
natural tea and eight represents
something being Supernatural okay
okay more than supernatural being
beyond beyond the constraints of what we
app what what appears natural the
Natural Sciences and logic and that's a
very very important component of this
entire story and the entire message of
KH that we're gonna come back to okay so
we're gonna come back to all these
questions we're going to learn from a
number of as usual a number of great
Masters and we're going to start with
with the shamm the shm rabm barstein is
the second reab of Sak the second Sak he
is the son of the great rebi and po
theer Warstein
and is is text number two on our sheets
says the following
y he says we know that that oil it's IDE
of oil is somehow representative of
Jewish wisdom
okay
oil on
water separates itself in other words
the
Jews okay maybe that's part of it but he
says that the idea of oil represents
specifically kma and and and the Jewish
people have have a different
understanding of how things
work why and that's why they needed to
find a and that's the significance of
the gamar statement that they search for
a jar of oil specifically with a seal
the
why because what is the role of the co
God okay what did he represent
represent he
represented the idea of being a a
pipeline of saity from above okay the
the mikdash on behalf of all he was the
conduit he was aor a pipeline to receive
blessings and Kad from above that was
the role of the COO the and this
word
whoot and the letters of the word which
me pipeline or conduit okay are the same
letters as the word ratson which means
what
desire
okay and this is the role of
the to inspire a
heightened desire okay a heightened
commitment on behalf of the Jewish
people and then this idea is beyond
human intellect okay rone this is a very
important idea that the the Reb is
introducing here that ratone is
beyond intellect what does that mean
let's know how he explains
it and for a Jew what the idea of
serving God of being committed to
AEM that has the what transcends
logic and natural
comprehension
sometimes
sometimes things may seem what we may
our situation our circumstances may seem
difficult may seem impossible and
according to our human intellect what it
may seem like there's no way out of the
difficulties we're
facing okay but a
Jew has to believe what yeshu that bring
a Redemption at the blink of an eye
Hashem is beyond right back to your
question about 8 vers 7 Hashem is beyond
the constraints of tea of Nature and
therefore R if we want to fulfill the
will of God and be live up to as R gam
said in the beginning right that the
role of a Jew is to bring light into the
darkness we want to live up to it then
we have to believe what that even when
things see Bleak and Hope
who can bring a yeshu we have to
demonstrate that commitment and faith
that we believe that that's possible and
when we do so what
happens what happens we find the
strength to what to stand at fortitude
to stand up and sanctify hashem's
name and that's how we were able to
overcome the Greeks think about this who
were the
the were they weren't Warriors the were
were the were the kohanim were the
kohanim anyone here ever read the book
The
Chosen right everyone ever see the movie
because it's even more profound in the
movie they made a movie of it in the
1980s right so the in the opening scene
of the movie The Chosen there is a there
is a group of modern Jewish kids more
modern Jewish kids from Brooklyn that
are wearing their blue jeans and their
Converse Allstar sneakers and they're on
their way to a baseball game and they're
going to meet their competitors and who
are their competitors another group of
Jewish kids who are a bunch OFA boys BM
from Williamsburg okay and what ends up
happening you think that the cool kids
that are you know the open scene the
cool kids are throwing the baseball
around the diamond in they and they're
in there and they're in their blue jeans
and their their Levis and their and
their convers and they look like the
ones that are really ready to play both
right so the boys show up and they're
all in their black coats and in their
dress
shoes what ends up happening in that
opening scene the boys beat the pants
off the the more modern kids and
whenever I think about this context of
the overcoming the Greeks talk about the
mighty Greek
Empire and it's a bunch of Kohan okay
those yes proverbial Yeshiva Boys From
Brooklyn from Williamsburg right
that overcome the mighty Greek Empire so
how do we understand this so how was it
possible so this is what the sh is says
here
okay because the said what you want you
want to do away with Y you wanna you
wanna you want to oppress us you want to
hold us back from everything we do to
serve we're not going to stand for it
we're not going to allow it our desire
is what to fulfill the will of God and
bring light to this world and because
they had that courage and fortitude
desire courage and fortitude they indeed
overcame the
Greeks and this concept continues for
all eternity for all
generations that through the lights of
the kanaka candles we are inspired to
have that r r is more than this desire
Ron is spiritual fortitude and courage
to stand up for what's right and from
the lights of khaka we are reminded of
the story of the how even though it
seemed impossible you would never
imagine that those kashai and those
priests would be able ble to beat and
defeat the mighty Greek Empire but
because they had the ratson and the
spiritual fortitude and the courage they
were successful and so too when we like
the we're reminded says the sh in every
generation that no matter what evil
we're facing in the world no matter what
Darkness we're facing in the world if we
have the r we have the will then
indeed will bring that Yeshua okay so
that's one idea now R cook takes us in a
very different direction R cook in an's
commentary on the gamar in parts of the
gamarra of cook this is text number
three on our sheets of cook says the
following
yes within every single Jew there's an
aspect of the kuna the priesthood
why because collectively the Jewish
people are called what a Priestly nation
and a holy
people the inner desire for the holess
of life and the wisdom of Torah and to
walk in the torah's
ways that is hidden deep in the heart of
every single Jew within every single Jew
there's an aspect in the of thatat of
the theat of the that we spoke about
this inner desire and fortitude what to
serve Hashem and to learn Torah and to
walk in the ways of Torah
he this is hidden in the heart of every
single Jew
this is the jar SM small jar of oil okay
that sealed with the Insignia of the co
who's the co he's taking poetic
license who's the co Hashem is the
ultimate K okay within every single Jew
there is
a the word by the way hash are the same
as
what say cook within every single Jew
there is
a there's
a an actual portion of divinity that's
in within every single one of us and no
matter what the Greeks
tried okay to
destroy they could never look what R
Cook's
words the inner Hidden World of
the that the Greeks can never render
impure say cook
the is illusion to not only maybe some
super mystical mysterious jar of oil
it's a reference to what that within
every single Jew there is
Hashem and despite the Greeks great
efforts to the contrary to destroy our
commitment to our connection to that
they can never succeed because within
every single one of us
is is
the of the Hidden and with every single
one of us okay we're GNA come back to a
lot of these ideas in a moment but now
get ready to be a little bit
surprised believe it or not there's an
alternative version there's an
alternative this is we're g to turn our
sheets over turn our sheets over text
number four we're there's an alternative
version of the story of khaka
and this appears in the midha collection
known as the P if you take a look at the
P text number four on our
sheets the word it reads as
follows why do we light candles
on okay for why because we recall the
the moment that great moment in history
when the sons are
of the were victorious over the mighty
Greek
Empire qu a from
Z when I will cause to you to rise up
this the children of Zion over the
children of yavan of
Greece those went into the mikash now
here comes the here comes the
alternative version what they find
there they found eight iron Spears in
the and they bound them
together and they lit within those eight
iron Spears nrow wait a minute where's
the Miracle Oil where's the little jar
of oil what happens to that in this
version of the story in this version of
the story there is no miracle
in this version of the story what what
did they find the Kash when they came by
the way that answers our questions on
the gamar by the way if we accept this
version of the story perhaps it answers
our questions right because the gamar is
clearly as Rook seems to suggest
allegorical because there was how could
it be that didn't know where the jar of
oil was because says the paa there was
no jar of oil what did they find what
did they find they found eight iron
Spears eight weapons
can eight weapons that were The Spoils
of War and
destruction and they found them in the
Mak mikdash and rather than despair
again ruton right rather than despair
they were motivated what did they do
they took those weapons that have been
used for destructive purposes they bound
them together and they made a makeshift
manura in order that they could once
again bring light into the world the
light of kadus to the world okay and by
the way this answer is another very
important fundamental because even if
there was such a thing as a miracle jar
of oil that was sealed with the Insignia
of the co go what would be the problem
if the environment was impure that the
minute they would open that jar of oil
what would
happen they would be tame
so the version of p is very interesting
it suggests that what that the reason
why we light eight candles is because
not because the oil burnt for eight days
but because they found these Spears and
rather than have the normal seven seven
candle minota that existed in the Bas of
mkes that had either been rendered
completely impure been destroyed they
took to get a to these eight Spears that
they found they took these weapons of
Destruction transformed them talk about
mes right of going up in sanctity and
not going down in sanctity transformed
into something something sacred and they
made a makeshift
manura and instead of having seven
candles this makeshift manura because it
was from those eight iron Spears had
what eight eight candles and that's why
we commemorate and light eight candles
based on this P perhaps okay
soin the Great cic
Master he builds on this and explains
what we're meant to learn from the the
story of the pcta he doesn't by the way
dismiss our gamar because everyone knows
that that's the story of khaka is the
miracle of oil but he gives us a way to
to bring these two concepts together so
take a look at text number five in our
sheets
okay okay it seems we have to add and
say that the idea of finding these iron
Spears
once again this emphasizes and teaches
us the depth of the desire on behalf of
the to what to
fulfill because what does this come said
just as saw these weapons and instead of
seeing them as something destructive
they bound them together to make a
receptacle to receive
what to receive kadus good good all
right so too Raton desire courage
spiritual fortitude these that is a CLE
that becomes a receptacle for us in all
areas
of G explain
this if a person makes them into a CLE
makes himself into a vessel to receive
hashem's blessings then what happens
Hashem will fill him up
okay and therefore since the when they
came into the and they found those eight
weapons and they bow them together to
make him and no and demonstrated in so
doing what their desire and commitment
to light the man in the
bikash fulfilled their wish and their
desire he gave them the miracle of
the but it starts with what when I am
first finding these these Spears and
building the makesh receptacle and
demonstrating that they so despite the
odds and despite the the odds that were
clearly stacked against them okay the
capacity what to have the spiritual
fortitude and courage to plow on and say
what we want to serve you and in so
doing we put our trust in you we know
that if we take the first step you will
bring us all the way home
okay okay this is the whole idea that
they were able to find these eight
Spears and that became the receptacle
for them to receive the and place the
miraculous oil measure for
measure that since they had that desire
commitment spiritual courage and
fortitude that they demonstrated they
made themselves into a receptacle to
receive God's miracle
okay and since they then
had by in so doing they demonstrate what
they do they took that ratone and they
made a makeshift manura out of those
Spears and turn that spear those Spears
into manora into a
receptacle perhaps we could say that's
whyem gave them the
miracle gave them the
oil in order that it should burn and
last for eight days says
that based on all our our alternative
version of the story in the P he says
the most beautiful idea because the Kash
and ultimately CL demonstrated their
faith and fortitude and commitment and
perseverance Despite All Odds and put
their trust in a and said Hashem we're
gonna take the first step because we
love you and we want you to see how much
we want to do your mitzvos and they took
The Spoils of War that they
found things that were used for
destructive purposes and demonstrated
that how do we see the world not to
destroy the world but to what to bring
light to the
world to bring K to the world allow us
to be the conduit to do so and in so
doing what happened they were
Z to experience the miracle
of Hashem gave them that miraculous o
oil that shouldn't have been found
according to logic and shouldn't have
existed according to logic and that
supersedes the logic because it should
have also only burned for one day but
Hashem gave them that miraculous oil and
gave them that Miracle because they
demonstrated the will the and when
there's a
will there's a way and now we're going
to learn just a couple of lines to bring
this all
together from the
shom
memory RAB
Shi was a great master who died in the
year 1999 she's a pretty contemporary
idic Master he is a n he was a survivor
of the shaah who came on Aliah in ISL in
the late
1940s comes together with his his uh his
father-in-law the previous sonbi the the
the Bas
and um he begins his career as the Rosa
of Thea inim and in 1981 when his
father-in-law passes away he becomes the
son ofab his far shom are very very
famous and beloved across all circles
we're just going to learn a very short
snippet from the sh that I think is
going to bring this all together
he says this Revelation the mirac the
finding that that jar of oil is one
amongst the great Revelations that
Hashem brought to us in the miracle of
khaka to teach the Jewish people at
sorry to Enlighten the Jewish people
to teach the Jewish people in the midst
of the
darkness of the long and extensive Gus
that they're going to experience that
what to never give up hope to Never
Surrender because in all circumstances
they find
themselves in all circumstances when the
Jewish people find themselves we can
find strength
from the story and the Miracle of
the just to bring this all together you
know re
famously famously
us there's a Jew never gives up and that
says the shalam and basically everything
we've seen up together this morning that
is the essential message of khaka okay
khaka teaches us that when there's a
will there's a way when we demonstrate
our determination and courage to bring
that light to the world okay to overcome
and outshine the darkness it's in those
moments that we can experience Miracles
that K brings us deliverance and
salvation you hear for every single one
of us as we look ahead and prepare for
the awesome Y is that we should be
empowered to realize and recognize the
gift that is these great days of khaka
and as rosha wolson who we've learned
from before tells us that the word khaka
is really comprised of two components
meaning eight days Kain that throughout
the entire eight days of khaka every
single one of us when we light our
candles we become a Coen whether we're
Coen Le is but every single one of us is
like the Coen in the mikdash reminding
the world through lighting our candles
that when there's a will there's a way
when we demonstrate the Raton to fulfill
hashem's will and to bring the light of
sanctity and K to the
world will take us home will deliver us
and bring Salvation here at some we be
blessed to experience that in the days
ahead yes question