Chanukah: The Dual Inspirational Words of Al Hanissim and Rambam by Rabbi Avi Herzog

good morning everybody it's good to see all of you this morning as uh kanuka begins next week uh one week from tomorrow night on Thursday night I would like to focus this morning on two different texts um regarding kanuka and of course we will notice immediately how uh both of these are really um in play um and very for the mat in which we find ourselves uh now um I shared the screen with you you should have in front of you alhim and that will be followed by um a text a very short um text from the rambam and we are going to go through both of those so if you could take a look at your screen if you'd like um the Bolding by the way is my own and it's intentional and we're going to go through the alhan scene together after which we will um discuss briefly the placement of alhan into both in and in Shimon and then we will take a look at the rambam and notice a couple of things that make this particular wording of the rambam unique TOA so let's begin with the text about we have the introduction which of course we recite also on we give thanks to for the for the Miracles for thean salvation um for the victories another word for salvations and that's another word for and on the wondrous Deeds we cannot stress that word enough today and for the wars that that you God performed for our ancestors for our forefathers by in those days meaning long ago B at this time of year okay let's take a look at the text for kanuka and by the way keep in mind that the text for of only focuses on the story of and the history of puim which is none other than the waging of the war against Taman because that's the entirety of the story of puin keep that in mind because of course there's a similar element to Kuka but there's another element and that has to do with the ne wrot the lighting of the candles as we go through the AL text for kanuk I'm asking you to keep one question in mind and that is what is the focus and you have a choice if I may it's a multiple choice not test but a multiple choice exercise of a b or c a is the focus on the N the N the miracle of the oil or is the focus on the the the victory of the war or C is it both of the above I'm not going to pull a d and none of the above on you because that wouldn't be fair it also wouldn't be applicable in this case so let's take a look let's analyze this very carefully that speaks for itself it was in those days of fine when the uh evil Um Kingdom or King kingdom yes of yavan um arose against your People Israel they attempted to do the following things they were bent on doing the following things one to make us forget the Torah probably referring to observance of the Torah and to remove us from theim of your will that's another way of stating the same thing it's just a repetition to strengthen the point and then what did you do God you in your great Mercy you literally you stood for them in their time of trouble you were there for them in the following manners one ra you literally you argu their arguments for them you you basically came to their rescue you judge their judgments again it all means the same thing you took revenge for them You Gave Over theim The Warriors that's referring to of course the Syrian Greeks into the hands of the weak that is referring to as we did not have any official Army of any sort unlike today what we are considered to have hasem one of the strongest armies in the world and before we go any further keep in mind that here we are giving thanks to aad who for all of this but all of this is referring to Human initiative you were there for us you not you did overtly but rather you allowed us to be the ones to play an overt role and that's very important here you were working behind the scenes you gave over and the many in the hands of the few and those that were in the hands of those that were if not meant in sense that it's certainly meant in the metaphoric sense referring to yavan as T referring to us as T fine again all of these are references to the exact same two groupings you gave them over into our hands V and those that acted um imprudently that those that acted um in a manner that was a slap in the face to you be into the hands of those that were dealing with your and involved and engaged in your Torah and through all of this you made a great name for yourself and for your people is for us I highlighted and bolded those two words for you because they go back to the introductory words of Alan and and you and you for you made a a great salvation for again another word for salvation at this particular time so the exercise in which we engaged are we talking about here the are we talking about the are we talking about both up until this point which really is the meat certainly the overwhelming majority of the text of kanuka it focuses entirely on the war there is no mention perhaps yet of the and I would find that interesting at first glance at least I personally would think there maybe should be an equal balance of the two there isn't it's all about the and let's go further and of course you'll notice there what I baled for you after that and some some of us recite there are two different versions your children it's referring to family we may know them as the or the they came literally that means into into uh the uh the the edifice of your home it's referring to the mikash of course what did they do the focus notice is not at least not yet un liting of the oil but rather they cleared out the in other words it wasn't complete and total disarray um this morning as I Was preparing for today's shiur and just going quickly through the Alan text again uh just to be fully prepared for the Shi even though of course I'm quite familiar with the text as we all are um I realized that I have nothing to complain about and what do I mean by that um my wife and I as I assume many of us find ourselves in a situation where we normally have a cleaner um in my particular case um it's a gentleman and he really is a gentle man and he's a wonderful man his name happens to be ammed so already that's very telling and he would come to our house every two weeks to clean and now we're without a cleaner um at this particular moment Palestinians and those who live in nearby Palestinian Villages surround ing gatev where I live and there are several of them several of these Villages um Palestinians are not allowed into gatev for understandable reasons um my wife and I the truth be told we are deliberating as to whether or not we will continue to use him once we are permitted to do so once gatv makes that decision because it can go either way he happens to be from all Impressions a wonderful person and many people in our neighborhood use him as their cleaner that being said we are now without a cleaner there don't seem to be any Jewish cleaners that are interested in in cleaning um in our neighborhood at least not for for um AB andag for whatever reason and so we're without a cleaner and so while we try our best to clean our home which I suppose we really should do anyway we find it to be in somewhat disarray as compared to when ammed is here and then I said to myself this morning why in the world does that bother me because I'm thinking of mdash and I'm thinking of what the makim needed to do when they entered the mdash for the first time in quite some time and that was the text here they cleared out the mikash you want to know what a mess is that's a mess you have your children and your grandchildren over and they make a mess and the kitchen is a mess and maybe things aren't vacuumed or as dusted as well as they should be well you know what compared to what the makim had to go through in the mikdash and compared to to the disarray and the utter destruction in the mikash um I realized that not only do I have nothing to complain about I don't think my wife and I were complaining anyway but I have nothing to even be the slightest bit disappointed about certainly not in comparison to what the mikdash looked like at that particular moment when they entered and saw what they did and then they went ahead and they halachically purified whatever needed to be purified in the MD and then I bolded for you because finally there seems to be some mention of the second element and that is wrote and if the text would have stopped there or if the text would have continued with they they wrote in your mikash then and only then and this is the kicker we could assume that it was a reference to to once again lighting the daily the daily lighting of the once again so finally it's mentioned except for one thing it isn't there is no mention no mention at all of the N of the N of the rekindling of the lasting for eight days why do I say this because of the words that immediately follow WR so let's take a look at it because it's fascinating and if one doesn't focus on it they don't notice it and they misunderstand what is being said here what we are reciting in Al what did they the makim continue to do they wrote where in the courtyards the minra was not in the courtyard the minra was inside the minra was inside the me so when we think oh we finally are saying something finally making mention of or giving tribute to rekindling the no we're not there's no reference to it at all none this is referring to something else and if you take a look in the book of the mabes what you will see is that they then went outside they and probably not just the family of course not just the but many others went outside when they were finally back and to send forth the message that we are back think of smoke signals or think of Wiki torches because that's exactly what they did they lit torches surrounding the midash for all to see in all directions that look we are back it was the same type of signal that was used to send off any message in those days prior to Simply being able to send out a a WhatsApp or an email like we do today um the same thing was done from fores to signify when to others Roes actually was declared in B so they declared it inim or in orever it was declared at the time and then how did they get the message out that today is rosesh they simply lit whatever they had in those days which would be akin to our Wiki torches today that's what they did they lit lights outside they lit torches for all to see and everybody knew that when it came to the Roses time when it's approximately when the new month would begin that would be a sign that Ros KES has begun the same thing is true when it came to returning to the mikdash we are back and people will see the S signals and they would realize wow we're back it is no longer under the control of thean under the control of the Syrian Greeks that's what's referred to here in and then ends with at a later date they meaning the the um established these eight days of to thanks and to give praise to Your Great Name God putting it in another way there is no mention whatsoever of the n in the AL it's mindboggling furthermore let's think of its placement we recite and we recite there are several different in which this could have been added in which excuse me Al andah could have been added it could have been added in in numerous places in fact we have insertions in other in for example Anu is recited aply so of course in the of Shu we're asking God we're pleading with God we're beseeching God to please hear our voice and so on a fast day we recite Anu please answer our prayers that's perfectly Act it's perfectly appropriate could have been placed in several different but where is it placed it's placed in of thanks after modim after the excuse me after the paragraph modim which literally means we give thanks to God and if we were we're not going to this morning but if we were to focus on modim in modim we're giving thanks to God not for overt Miracles not for the lighting of theuk for eight days not excuse me the minat the mikash which lasted for eight days miraculously instead of just for one that's not what modim is all about the paragraph modim which introduces has nothing to do with overt it has to do with Nim that we may not necessarily think of nim but we recited that this morning that are with us every single day What miracles are there with us every single day morning afternoon and evening what are we talking about we're talking about the fact that we are all sitting here right now able to breathe hasem able to learn tat together able to live our daily lives and especially today we recognize this how precious that is for those that do have the opportunity to do so but those other type of n we're referring to in modim and so the placement of alhan there immediately following the paragraph of modim and immediately preceding the closing the culmination of that of how great is your name God and to you how wonderful it is to be able to have the opportunity to give thanks the placement is just as telling if not more telling than the text itself and that is that we are giving thanks here not to not for the overt Miracles but rather for what is referred to as a Nar for the hidden miracles for the gift of life itself for the ability for us to be involved in this world to take the initiative with the understanding that God is involved behind the scenes and the same thing is true for B now think about this for a moment what we call benching in the Hebrew is for for sustenance for food it's about the physical and not only that there really are two different elements more than two but two main elements to the structure is such that the first two are references to the physical in the middle we have the and there we take a turn towards the spiritual where's Al placed Al is placed within the second Alan is placed in the and we don't have time to actually analyze it further this morning so a peripheral discussion of its placement will have to do but alhan is placed inone when we're talking about the ma in fact the culmination of that particular in which we find is Al alone we're thanking God for the physical land we're thanking God for our sustenance for the food and somehow for some reason alhan was inserted there and I believe it's for this very reason because here the topic and our focus is and should be again not the N not the overt Miracle not the Miracles that we take a look at and go wow this is awesome like a fireworks display but rather the N star rather the hidden Miracles and the gift of everyday life keep that in mind and with that in mind let's take a look at in the r which at first glance is something we learn as a and maybe it calls to mind another mitvah which we'll get to in just a moment if I remember to do so but it's really quite as astounding when we focus on it and again the Bolding is my own um the Hebrew text by the way um is not my own I um I took this from uh I lifted this from safaria so I want credit where credit is due um but I then did choose the particular font and size that I did but the building is my own take a look what the r writes the mitvah of lighting of Thea candles so in this morning she now we are shifting our Focus to the only Mitzvah of kanuka which is the lighting of the neot it is very dear it is very beloved I want us to keep something in mind there is no other mitvah and we know how numerous the list of mitv and the rambam focuses on each and every single mitvah in detail in Greater detail than the in Greater detail in many cases than the the term is the Ra's own term I believe and he does not use it to describe listen to this it's mind botling to describe any other mitvah Beyond this one not any of the mitv of P not any of the of the year that are that are biblically mandated but rather this one nce is the only one that the ran refers to as that's mindboggling and that's a or in self but just keep that in mind and then he goes on to say so much so that a person must be very careful and meticulous about this particular mitvah why to make the miracle known in other words to publicize the N we're adding here the rabam here is adding here the element of pum n of publicizing the Miracle by the way I apologize if you're hearing any pinging at all during the Shi is because unfortunately um messages are coming through on the side and I'm not in a position to mute them right now and I apologize for that in any event or this element of publicizing the Miracle by lighting than a wrote in a public place when we have the opportunity to do so and to add on in the praise of God and thanks to him in other words we always have a way to thank God ones and on the all theim we recite Hal and on kanuka WE recite Hal as well but we're going to add another element to it because we have the opportunity to do so and that is the lighting of the candle so we add on to that and thanks to God for the Miracles that he did for us and then the ram adds something astounding and what makes this astounding is not only the extent to which he takes the importance of lighting the RO kanuka and that every single person must be able to do so and must make sure to go out of their way to do so what makes it even more astounding at least to me is that this is the rambam's OWN initiative this is his own ruling as far as I know there is no Source preceding this particular writing of ramban in which we find the following regarding we find it regarding something else which we'll get to in a moment as I alluded to before but not regarding and the ram adds of his own valtion even if a person does not have what to eat if a person cannot afford to eat think about that for a moment except for Reliance upon Saka the only way that he will be able to eat is if others prepare food for him this is so apt for today when there are so many that here in is and in are helping out in ways to be able to feed families that really are in need and if they're not necessarily physically poor they are certainly in terms of the in terms of um excuse me they are maybe perhaps emotionally poor or don't have the mindset right now or even the the time in which to be able to prepare prepare food as families often would do because one of the two spouses is off to war right now and everything is really in a state of Havoc for so many families here in ER Israel and they may find themselves if not literally then metaphorically in this part particular situation but when we come to the literal description of a person that does not have what to eat and only is able to sustain himself or herself when relying upon others theah of kanuka is so great he must borrow meaning borrow fuel from the neighbor Oho even selling his or her garment unbel able if this person is that poor we know that they aren't going to have clothing either they're not going to have more than one or two garments that Ani is required to even sell His Garment in order to be able in the words of RA to be able to provide himself himself or herself with SH with fuel and with nro and with the with oil excuse me and with the nro and candles the Wick Etc to be able to light kanuka wow that is unbelievably astounding the focus on is the focus on the it is a focus on the restoration of the mikdash in addition to the victory in the war and there's no mention as we said of the n of the of the N of of the in the bikash it's God but it's God behind the scenes what that does then is allows us to play a front and center role we individuals people are the movers and shakers of this particular emphasis in Alan it is we that take Center Stage we are the actors and not only does it enable us to do so it is what God demands of us there are times when God clearly is giving us the message in which he is stating I'm here for you I'm behind the scenes I want you though to be the ones to take the initiative you my people I'm me I'm Israel to take that initiative and to be the ones to take center stage and to fight for our national security and to fight for our future when the need is there that idea was first expressed when B Israel were attacked by Amal upon at that particular moment Moshe told yahushua seemingly of his own valtion he told yahushua hey guess what I've got a new job for you you're an army General now in addition to yua I would imagine being in a State of Shock and maybe being a little bit if not more than a little bit afraid what did yua do he did what mosha told him to do choose for us people this was not a situation to be contrast to excuse me in sharp contrast to and in direct um opposition to at yam where the torat text tells us then told is what are you screaming to me for God's going to fight for you that was a n that was a revealed miracle and God indeed did it he split the sea but here when amake attacked no it's choose for us men that say you I want you people human beings to go out and fight against am and M says I'll be there on the hilltop I'll be there too God's staff God's staff will be in my hand representing God's involvement but it's God invol involvement behind the scenes and when it comes to our Salvation beginning with when we were attacked by amalik for the first time God wants us to be able to play a role of being front and center and therefore he takes a back seat but more than allows us to God expects us to and that's exactly what the did and that's exactly what and all those involved in so many different ways in this effort are doing we are taking the lead because is taking a back seat and sending us the message of alhim which is we all want this SCE we desperately need this nice and I God am asking of you and I'm expecting of you to come to the four to be the actors on the stage and we are answering possibly in ways that have never been seen before in our entire in our entire history at the same time we not only recognize that is involved behind the scenes and is giving us this beautiful opportunity to play this role in his being there for us and seeing us through at the same time the ramban focuses here and elsewhere he focuses on the war but here he focuses on the and he tells us this n of the is so precious it is so dear because when we light the Min to me what we are doing and when we light theuk and Kindle its lights beginning one week from tomorrow at night we are now shifting from our role to God's role or maybe more importantly and better said we're not really shifting we're adding the element of God's role and that's indeed what the rambam says take a look at his words when we light in they wrote kanuka the rambam says on line two on your sheet to add on an element to the thanks of God in our lighting of the Nuka to me what rambam is actually saying here between the lines is we are adding another element to our celebration and to our thanks we are thanking God for the and for giving us that opportunity to be involved and at the same time we're adding on that element of the overt role that God played the overt role of the shenan only being enough to last for one day as it was when the opportunity presented itself lit every single evening in the mikdash and miraculously lasting for eight days there's no greater n than that at least when it comes to the story of kanuka and so we're adding in that element as well and is about both parenthetically I mentioned earlier that there's another Mitzvah in which we find the extent to which the r takes that a person who even is so poor that they that is even so poor that they have to rely on that they then have to go to Great length to be able to uh to be able to perform the while this is the Ram's own ruling with apparently no precedent there is a precedent in another another and you may have picked up on it and that's we're there already in the time of the and expounds upon it upon it further that when it comes to the when it comes to the four cups of wine and one could certainly say that by definition also when it comes to the mat and when it comes to the mar because those are or at least Mar at one point was and will be again but when it comes to the makes it very clear that one must go out of their way and the community must go out of their way to ensure that everybody has the opportunity to participate in the of close parenthesis and getting back to what we were discussing just a moment ago and that is that if we take into account the text of alhan and we take into account this beautiful precious of the rambam he refers to I'm going to add that this particular line of the ra this particular it itself is I don't even know if the r realize just how beautiful the particular wording is that he chose for this particular when we take both of these into account we realize that welcom our initiative provides a space for human initiative and not only requests but even demands our initiative and at the same time while weem are rising to the occasion in so many ways and again it cannot be stressed enough that this particular is applicable to and our thanks are given on a constant basis to all those involved that are really at the four front and center at the same time we look forward to to the time when the overtness when the N does have the opportunity to actually become front and center in the manner of the pasuk with which we include ALU from tan and that is when the entire world will realize not just Jews but every single human being on the planet will realize that God indeed is and does re Supreme by on that day and that day will come soon where okay I particularly find just a tremendous amount of in these particular words um in these particular words meaning of the rambam and of the Alan text and analyzing the two side by side I hope that all of us this morning were able to gain some from this and I just want to end Again by I know it it gets to the point of um it can never get to the point of AD noing in but it gets to the point of repetitiveness but it really can't be stated enough and that is our thanks to all of those that are involved in literally giving their lives and family members that have given up those that are alive given up their own family members that Unfortunately they will never have the opportunity to see again we can never be grateful to them enough for all that they are doing and for everybody that is involved for all that they are doing on behalf of am Isel during this particular mil you will always be forever grateful