Rabbi Benjamin Yudin Discusses Chanukah and Parshas Vayeshev on JM in the AM (5786)

Good morning. Good shabus everybody. Whoa. I'll try to do this as I don't want to say quickly as possible, but first of all, let's remind one another that this coming Sunday night, we begin the rabbitic yom of Kaneka. And let's not forget this coming shabis we have the privilege of reading paras vesvashem hopefully at the end I'll try to talk both together but meanwhile let's get started with kaneka what's the basic difference between kaneka and purim purim which historically came first which led to the building of the second basikdash Purim was a threat to the Jewish body. Hammon Harussia wanted Lashmid. He wanted to annihilate the Jewish people. And therefore on Purim there is a mitzvah to have a suda to have a party to drink wine because we gladden the body that was at stake on Purim. Kaneka was not a physical assault on the Jewish people. It was a spiritual assault. If somebody would say, "I will not keep shabis. I will not hurts me to say this. I will not keep kosha. I will not um keep the Jewish holidays." They were not in any trouble. So therefore this is the fact that we were able to regain the control over the temple to regain the sovereignty over the land of Israel. This happened midway in the second ba mikdash approximately 200 years after Purim. And as a result, we were able to keep the basikdash for another 200 years. But since the primary assault on the people was spiritual, therefore there is no mitzvah to um eat or drink on Khaneka. Listen carefully. One cannot fast but one does not have to have a special meal. The way clearly it works out is that especially today with communication and travel that we don't travel on either or shabas or the holidays the biblical holidays then families very often are limited in terms of getting together, family and friends. And therefore, it is customary for family and friends to get together on at such a time. It's traditional that a nice meal is served. And there are those that are careful even to have dairy on Kaneka to remind ourselves that Yehudis, the daughter of the Cohen Godo, served the uh general or the governor at that time a some dairy and maybe perhaps milk which in turn uh made him drowsy which in turn led to his decapitation which in turn led to spurn the victory and the war against the Greeks and the rest as we know is history. Okay. Theor teaches that really we can work on Kaneka. Women, some have a custom not to do work while the candles are burning. And what is prohibited on Kaneka is number one to make a hespade which means a eulogy because it is a public holiday. Spirits of people are high and we don't want to ruin it except for a good fun as well as tanis which means that one does not fast. So if one has a custom to fast on a yard site and the yard side occurs during Kaneka, they will not fast. Or if one is getting married during Kaneka, once again the kala will not fast during Kaneka. Okay. Now the mitzvah midon on Kaneka is as we know to light the minora. Who is obligated to light the minora? Men, women are both equally obligated and children from the age of on which is approximately six seven years old. So from that time on we try to educate our children. And as we know and what you should know is as follows that on any night of Kaneka if you are low on oil or candles. Technically speaking you can fulfill the mitzvah any night with one. the first night, the fifth night, and the eighth night. Our practice, as the Gammorra teaches us, is to be hedor mitzvah, to beautify the mitzvah by adding an additional candle each night. It's preferable to light with oil because the miracle happened with oil. And therefore when facing the manora we place the oil or candle in from right to left and when we light the candles we begin with the newest one on the left and then we proceed to the right. Okay. Now where is the minora to be placed? the minora to be placed interestingly in Erit Israel more and more going back to what the Talmud tells us that ideally the Khan manora is placed at the pesak at the entrance to one's home on the outside so that passers by could see that this is whoa something is We don't have these candles here last week. We're not going to have it next week. This is their pursua to publicize the miracle. Now, for many, many years, A BC, we were not in the land of Israel. Most of the Jewish people were scattered all over the world. and B, it was not safe for the Jew to light outside his home. And therefore, over the years, depending upon the sociology of the day, that is where we put the minora. either in the window within our house or forgive me on the kitchen table with the drapes closed. One way or another we tried to have pursua which means to publicize this miracle. Okay. Now the next thing is when at what time should one light the minora? So the Talmud says the time to light the minora is with shia sunset. Well, there's a debate between the Rambam, who understands sunset to mean the beginning of sunset, what we would call approximately 4:30 today in where in where we are in the northeast. And in Erit, Israel again, we're talking about lighting at the beginning of sunset according to the Rambam all over. However, while we respect the Rambam and many light a little earlier, the Shanor disagrees with his rebi the Rambam and says the proper time to light is with Laya night when the stars come out which is approximately 30 to 40 minutes after sunset. Okay. Now, till when can a person light? Technically speaking, as long as someone else is awake to see the lights, be it somebody outside, be it somebody inside the home. If everyone is asleep and a person lives in a culdeac where really nobody from the outside, the people are away etc. You know, maybe an occasional police car comes by once or twice during the night. So we would still say yes, light with a bra even if you're by yourself. The mission of Brewer had problems with this and he as much as said if you can wake somebody I'm not telling you to wake a parent maybe a uh a sibling or somebody else but uh or it's best to maybe even today with modern technology facetime somebody then somebody else can see your lit manura. You can light until the morning, meaning as long as it's still nighttime. And whenever the candles are lit, they must burn for a minimum of which is understood by our rabbis to mean a half an hour. So let's say in our area next week that the ideal time would be to light approximately which is a little more than a half an hour after sunset. So the idea is very clearly that as long as the candles can burn for a half an hour, that's okay. And if you needed to go, you could blow them out after a half an hour. But less than a half an hour, it would be wrong because the candles are to burn for at least that half hour for pursuing Nissa for publicizing the miracle. Okay. Now the Talmud teaches us before one lights the manora we recite three blessings to kindle the light of two different customs. the custom of and others have without the shell. What's the difference? Well, basically there's something very different about Shabas candles and Kaneka candles. Shabas candles you must get benefit there from the um Kaneka candles after we've lit the first candle each night lighting from left to right. On the first night after we light one, on the rest of the nights after we light the first one, we start saying alolo whereby we proclaim that we're not lighting these lights because we need light in our home etc. Just the opposite. We're not permitted to get benefit there from a just like when we had a BA migdash. One could not a cohane shouldn't be smoking in the first place. But if he did smoke, he certainly couldn't light up his cigarette or his cigar from the light of the manora. So just as one cannot get light from the minora in the mikdash so too one is not to get benefit from the light of our minora. Okay. Now, three braos. The first one. The second one. Thank you, Hashem, for performing miracles for our forefathers. And finally, Shehanu, thank you for allowing us to live, to see, to participate in this holiday of Kaneka. Whoa. Please God, we will talk about the shabis lighting next Friday and other aspects of that. I am just going to tell you one or two other very quick things. There's a law called an aenoi. An aenoi is a guest. Somebody who is sleeping over your home. Ideally, they could should bring their own manora and they can light in your home, preferably in a window, etc. However, if someone comes and oh no, I didn't bring a minora. Now what? And you don't have an extra minora for them. No problem. What he can, she or he do is give you a quarter, a token coin whereby you become a partner with them in their lighting and therefore they can keep you in mind and when they make the blessing of and they are included with your blessing. saying they are part of the family on that night. Okay. So this is the law of an if a person is invited out for dinner and they're afraid to leave the candles lit in their home which is a very good idea. Never leave candles home alone unattended. So what does one do? The answer is you can go to somebody else's home at dinner time. Leave yourself a note on the door when you come in. All right. To remind you to light the minora. So even though you might be getting home 9:00 at night or 10:00 at night and it's certainly time to kindle the Kaneka light, that's okay. If and when they are going to quote eat dinner by someone else, one should not light candles where they're eating dinner. They should light when they get home. Leave yourself a note or any other kind of reminder. And remember, you can light all night. Don't light as late as possible. Light as early as possible, but you can eat if necessary before. At home, when everybody is there, once again, we light before we have dinner. If one has any questions certainly consult your local RV. And finally just to tell you remind everybody that we add in our prayers on Kaneka in the ES and the Basanim and we complete the hal on each of the eighth days of Kaneka even on roes. Okay, let's make the transition. Good morning everybody. Let's not forget tomorrow we have the privilege of reading parishas vation. I'd like to share with you a true incident. I was once asked by an illustrious rabbi, who is the most unsung hero in Paras Vayesv. And after reflecting, I answered, "Ruain for the Torah testifies on his behalf." They had the best of motives to save Yose from his brothers. Though he tragically never carried out those intentions. The correct answer the rabbi gave me, however, was nothing short of astonishing. The rabbi said the unsung hero in paray is the fly. He proceeded to explain the precise split second timing of that fly. Had the fly landed or plunged into parro's cup one second earlier while it was still in the butler's hand. Yoseph would have remained in prison as the butler would simply have removed the insect. Had the fly appeared a second after the butler handed the cup to parro. Hilson would likewise still be in prison. For all prison would have seen that it was Farro Parro's fate, not the butler's error that caused the mishap. Instead, the fly arrived at the exact moment the butler presented the cup to parro. The timing was so razor thin that the umpires could not agree on whether the butler was guilty. Faroh himself was unsure and decided perhaps a short prison term was warranted and the rest is history. While this hero might be the most unexpected, its nomination teaches a profound lesson, namely, Hashem runs the world. This theme continues in next week's para. When parro dreamed and none of the proposed interpretations satisfied him, the butler at that point suddenly remembered, oh, what he called the Hebrew youth, the slave of the chamberlain or the butches was with us in jail and interpreted our me the butler and my buddy the baker. And again, the rest is history. The Torah tells us in Mikates next week. So Farro sent and summoned Yose and Vaharu. They rushed him from the dungeon. Now every word in the Torah is exact. Why emphasize that Yoseph was rushed? Why not just tell us Yoseph was brought to Barrow? And this foreigner explains that the Torah is teaching not only a historical detail, but a timeless principle, namely that divine salvation always comes hastily and unexpectedly. So it was in Egypt as we read in Schmos because they the Jewish people were thrust out of Egypt and as we recite in the dough had no time to rise for the king of kings revealed himself and redeemed them. And so it will be in the future redemption as Malachi writes in the third and last chapter of the book of Malachi. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. Messiah will come unexpectedly in the blink of an eye. Now history is filled with such examples of Hashem orchestrating events with split second precision. At the beginning of the sixth chapter of Mcilas Esther that night sleep eluded the king. Does it matter which nightash had insomnia? Yes. Because we again see Yeshua Hashem the salvation of Hashem comes faster than a blink of an eye. Rashi explains that this was the night after Esther invited the king of Hmon and Hmon to her banquet. The paranoid feared Esther and Hmon were plotting against him. Meanwhile, Esther walking to the throne room prayed, "My God, my God, Kaye, Kaye, l aani, why have you forsaken me? Hashem did not respond merely quickly. He responded immediately. Similarly, why does the Torah in Schmos note that on the night of the splitting of the sea, Hashem moved the sea with a strong east wind all night. Who cares about the weather? Because skeptics might claim that the wind alone split the sea. Yet, the Torah highlights the wind's perfect timing. It blew just long enough for over two million Israelites to cross. Only once the last Jew stepped onto dry land did the wind cease, causing the waters to drown the Egyptians. Once again, timing is everything. In paras told dopes, the Torah tells us and it was that when finished blessing Yakov and Yakov had scarily left his father's presence, Asov his brother came from his hunt. Rashi notes that as one left, the other entered. Another example of divine orchestration down to the second. Likewise, in this week's para, the Torah describes the cargo of the caravan transporting Yoseph to Egypt. Their camels were taught or bearing spices, bolome and lotus. Does this really matter? Rashi sighting the medish teaches that Hashem intervene for Yoseph's comfort. Ishelite caravans typically carried foul smelling goods such as tar and napa. However, Hashem arranged that this Caribbean be an exception. What we would call perfect timing. This background helps us better appreciate. Each night we recite the blessing that Hashem performed miracles for our ancestors. The plural nim refers both to the miraculous military victory and to the miracle of the oil. But why was the second miracle necessary? Wasn't that enough that the assimilationist decrees of the Greeks were overturned? That Hashem delivered the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanting into the hands of the Torah faithful. Duche agos two. Shabis 31B explains that one had might have mistakenly attribute the military victory to natural causes, familiarity with the terrain, strategy or luck. Therefore, Hashem provided an unmistakably supernatural miracle, the oil burning for 8 days to demonstrate that the victory too was entirely supernatural. And the timing is no coincidence. The war ended on the 25th of Kislave and the miracle of the oil began that very night. Once again, a divine wink. And finally, returning to the second Kaneka blessing, we thank Hashem for the miracles he performed in those ancient days. At this time, at this time refers not only to the season, the darkest nights of the year when we light the minora, but also to his extraordinary timing throughout history. It reinforces our belief in the 12th of the Rambam's 13 principles. Mashiach. I believe with perfect faith in the coming of Messiah. And though he may tarry, I await his arrival every day. As Mala promised, Messiah will come suddenly like the blink of an eye. I take this opportunity to wish everybody a frean starting this coming Sunday night. I take this opportunity to wish everybody a wonderful Shabas preceding Khaneka. the beauty of Shabas and reminds us once again the fact that we have to light candles very early this Friday as we've been doing in the last few weeks reminds us once again that he runs the show every second of the time. Shabbat shalom and a free to all.