Modern Masters: Chanukah: When There’s a Will, There’s a Way By Rabbi Sam Shor

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