The Menorah of Chanukah:The Flames of History & The Light of Destiny By Rabbi Yaakov Glasser

it is such an honor to be here and I see some friends wow the rosers I see how are you I see a whole bunch of friends it's so nice to be here wow raes amazing incredible I uh I come toel often to give sh I usually speak in how are you nice to see you I usually uh speak in yeshivas and these types of places but it's so nice to be in a community and every time I come so I try to bring back something for my kids I've Kara four kids growing up in pic New Jersey my wife and I we grew up in Los Angeles but we live in New Jersey because Hashem does bad things to good people and we don't know why and uh and uh so I always try to bring something back for the kids and over the course of the trip I always try to find something that'll be interesting to them and usually I don't so usually at the airport I'm like buying different things and then we came on a family trip and our flight was delayed and kids walk into the store at the airport and they're like we have all this stuff what is going on here right so one year I was walking down the street in man Sharin and there was a toy store so I walk up to the toy store and he has a big bin of different toys and different objects and I'm like looking through the thing trying to find something for my son and I pull out of this uh out of this box I pull out of it what looks to me like a miniature Santa Claus so I say to him him in like all of my you know 12 years of yiva high school Hebrew ER Maz right and uh he looks at me and he goes so I said to him he's like you know Kana is one of these that permeate all aspects of our culture of our life every study done about the Jewish population identifies that the most commonly observed ritual across the spectrum of affiliation in worldwide jury is not yum Kipper and is not the Seder but rather it is lighting Kaneka candles and we know that the entire environment becomes saturated with the symbols of Kaneka you walk down the street here and everywhere you go there's donuts and your Donuts are like Mom like it's unbelievable you know it's like our response to they tried to kill us is we're just going to kill ourselves it's unbelievable right L oil it's like unreal it's like mamish everywhere my favorite part of Kaneka is that only the Jewish people would celebrate a victory by eating money right like these chocolate coins that you know and I don't know if you've ever tried to open one you have to like grow a nail already from suus they're like encased in this titanium you know like and you you pry it open a little bit then you get a tetan shot and then when you open it up there is the most mysterious white powder that's sitting on this piece of chocolate so you blow off the anthrax and you take the thing out and then you start to eat it and it functions like no other properties of chocolate that you've eaten in any other part of your life chocolate usually melts this like crumbles into some sort of substance that then seems to absorb all of the moisture in your body from places you didn't even know you it's but this is the Jewish people we have such a sense of elevation and passion for our Kim and for our holidays and when it comes to Kaneka there's such an infusion of culture there's such an infusion of experience and the question is what really is the source of this type of elevation why did Kaneka really become this Central uh foundational dimension of Jewish identity that asserts itself and projects its values and its ideals in such a significant way that it's such a standing symbol of Jewish culture right that the minora is one of the most iconic symbols of judism recognized throughout the world I remember that I once I used to be the head counselor of a camp in California and we showed up at the camp and it was a YMCA Camp you know what the YMCA shows we rented a YMCA Camp the young men's Kusa Association so we show up at the camp and at the front of the camp there is a gigantic cross so I walk over to the reverend in charge of the camp and I said to him Reverend Mike Reverend mik we we we can't have this at the front of the camp we're gonna have visiting day everybody's G to come they're going to see this Salem I mean it's beautiful I'm not saying it's not beautiful you know it's like six amamos high and three amamos across and it had to sheare the ises very beautiful but buta like this can't be what we do here so he I said can we cover it he says no it's very disrespectful to cover it it's a tysus and aazar you can't cover it I said okay okay fine I said we have to do something so he says Rabbi don't worry I'll take care of it I see him walking towards the thing a half hour later with wood hammer and nails I said Mike I I just I just like you know like no you don't have to get biblical on this you know it's like so he says to me no no no and he walks up to the cross and he puts up a board here here here and here minora so then when everyone came for visiting day in August there was a giant manora welcoming them to Camp with a very accentuated Shamus and base so so everybody in the world knows the symbol of the manora everybody in the world knows what the minora is about where does this come from so I'd like to begin if we all have a packet the first time in the Torah that we seem to elevate had as a more Central feature of spiritual life one that transcends perhaps some of the other elements and the other dimensions of our world of mikdash the Torah tells us in sa midbar in the beginning of says the Torah speak to and you should tell him that the has to be more than a concentrated space of spirituality the B has to be more than an environment with which we engage and experience a sense of elevation that's personal and that is internalized within ourselves that the has to project and illuminate the world beyond the confines and parameters of its particular existence that the minora symbolizes the notion that the mikdash is not just a refuge is not just a space we go to Anchor in spiritual connection but rather that the entire notion of a mikash hasem stands as a radiating force of spirituality and light that can be projected throughout the world and that's why says toon in a very particular command inbar you are resp responsible for lighting in the Min Rashi immediately asks a very simple question the end ofas which is just opposed to the initial Pim of depicts the dedication of the Mish and in the dedication of the mishan each one of the tribal leaders each one of the Nim brings a particular configuration of carbonos and indeed they were identical and they play a part they play a role in in inaugurating the new Mish hasem so immediately following that procedure K comes to Aron he says and you you're gonna like the so Rashi says the entire Torah is not just a random collection of values and ideals the flow The Narrative the Jos of one idea to the other always reveals something that speaks to the essence of what it is that the Torah is intending to convey and so Rashi says why are these two things next to each other answers Rashi because when Aron saw this entire procedure of all the Nim participating in the development of the Mish he became incredibly despondent he became depressed why because all of the tribal leaders were assigned a role except for him right a number of years ago our built a new betet in uh in pic New Jersey don't worry we used Jerusalem Stone but it was from Long Island anyway the point is we built a beautiful new betet so when you build a new betet you have a dedication so imagine you have the dedication the donor speak the president speaks the guests speak the the Builder speaks the everybody speaks and then that's it then they go and the rabbi has nothing to do with it so that would be very odd that would be very in congruent with what you'd expect you'd expect the rabbi to be convening the whole thing he's the spiritual leader of the congregation he's the one that's galvanizing the community in the effort to build the where Ison so Aon became full of consternation and he was very concerned so says to by your life Your Role your contribution Aron is greater is more Transcendent than theirs we're in Source number two right whyos because you Aon may not have been part of the foundational ritual that brought the mishan into life but you are Ain you are entrusted with the sacred Duty and role and contribution of kindling the manora every single day so immediately asks all the him Aon did lots of things every single day right Aon was in charge of carbonos Aon was in charge of theas ran says that the minur is different why says the ramban because the minur is the one aspect of the B mikdash that would transcend the actual standing of the mikdash itself right we have elements of Jewish life that are symbolically resonant and and and remembrances of what was in the mikdash but there's only one Ritual from the mikdash that perpetuates beyond the destruction of the temple and that is lighting the manor which we continue to do every single year and we'll be doing very very soon so the ran writes this whole thing of the of the Min andos it's special to Aron it's special to Aron because ultimately his Descendants the Kash would Vanquish the Greeks and they would reestablish the bdash the whole Miracle of the Kaneka story so you're entrusted with the manur you're entrusted with it now and you're entrusted with it it in perpetuity here is the question if we look at the rambam the rambam in Source number four says something so fascinating we know that in order to serve in the B mikash what do you have to be what do you have to be can I serve in the bash I cannot I cannot right can you serve in the B because you're wealthy you cannot what do you have to be to serve in the B you have to be a a coin you have to be a coin that's what you have to be that's the way it goes that's Jewish life a coin you're not a coin so and what happens if Yakov Glasser decides I'm so passionate I'm so interested I'm so motivated I love the Bas I me just so much I want to serve it in any way and I go and usurp that opportunity and walk into the B mdash and serve in the B mdash what happens to me okay you know Judaism or is very incremental so that's it death penalty okay you're not allowed to serve in the B unless you're a Coen so listen to this says the rambam in the second part of Source Four the the ritual of lighting the minora in the B mikdash did not require a Cohen a regular Jew like me a regular POS Jew NE from New Jersey could light the minora in the and then the r says now he has to address a problem what's the problem we're about to say that the Min is positioned in a section of the where guess what someone who's not a coin is not allowed to go to so the rabam says it's no problem the coin prepares the neros in the and listen to this you have the donor standing on on the outside and he carries the Man Out Of The B mikdash then the regular Jew lights the minora and the coin carries it back into the bik that is what the ramam writes is a legitimate appropriate and hierarchically acceptable fulfillment of the Mitzvah to light the minur in the B imagine the coin carries it out we have this ceremony you light the minur and then the Coen carries it back in what is the problem with this the problem with this is basically what the rambam is saying is that anyone has the capacity and the license to light the manora but Rashi said that the reason why this Mitzvah is directed particularly to Aron is because because your role is transcendent of everyone else's role that there is something exclusive to your connection to this Mitzvah of that lighting the manora is unique to you Aon all the Jews got to be involved in dedicating the B mdash but there's something that you and your descendants get to do that they don't get to do which is light the manora well if anyone could light the manura following the appropriate logistical uh you know Arrangements of bringing it out and bringing it in so then in what way do the kohanim enjoy any unique status and stature at having been granted this privilege this unique opportunity to engage in everyone with me that's the question what do you mean anybody could like the Min says the r anybody could like the Min and there's another peculiar out peul we won't even try I'm jetlagged you'll say the word on your own right you know now we all fly elow which is very exciting um especially since I have status ununited so I you know I get to sit in the economy minus part of the plane I'm like in charge of the line in the back if you know what I'm saying which is good because I'm a managing director so I have managerial skills so I can figure out how to arrange it what does it send people back it's all great but I'm a little tired so the uh so so that's the question that's the question that's the question on this and there's another challenge which is we know that in the laws of Kaneka when it comes to our manur we're going to like the manur soon right we're going to like the manur soon so the is the G has a discussion whether or not what does that mean means the placement of the manur meaning you just have to facilitate that the manur is lit so if you light the minora in your basement and then you carry it up and put it in your window or here in your doorway so that's considered an acceptable lighting of the minur the gor's other possibility is that no you have to light the minur in the spot where you're obligated to light the Min in the window or in the door and we follow the the in Source number six that had you have to light it where it needs to be which is fascinating since we just got done saying that the bdash which is the Paradigm for all of this which is the source of all of this permits one to light the minora outside the B mikdash and then bring it in so those are our those are our two questions so now let's engage Kaneka let's engage Kaneka in an extraordinary way and we are going to answer these questions we know that the gimar Tells of two potential Frameworks for how we light the Kaneka candles first we're told that the gar says mitz in Source number seven is the fundamental Mitzvah is one candle per home and you're done right you don't have to get started with all the yeshivas that send you those boxes with just enough colors of the ones the kids like you know that they'll fight the whole Kaneka you know you know you know what I'm talking about those like colored boxes that hate children so you know so you don't you don't have to worry about that one candle everyone could have a red one it's all good you know one candle for all of Kaneka a mahadin someone who's you know mahadin we know mahadin right you only eat it mahadin so if you're mahadin so then everybody lights a candle and then if you're mAh Min mahrin which is like you're on the L flight and the meal comes and it's like six layers of plastic and you know you have to pierce them all and none of them crunch up for some reason I don't know they should make the airplane out of this substance so mahadin Min mahadin says you start Kaneka with a full manora a full manur you imagine on the first night of Kaneka you light all the candles and from there you diminish b h is like what we have what we have the full that's not like to the eight night of kanah where no one's talking to each other right that's that night that's not to the end first night of Kan when you're making theu and you still like most s and everything's good right that's your like one little manora one little kanah candle and then most you grow what do we do what do we do there's not anyone in the world who who does B sh who does nobody here has ever been to a Kaneka Lighting on the first night of Kaneka where they light all the candles you always light from the first and then you grow and we would think that makes sense because Yus is so growth oriented we embrace the notion of incremental trajectories of growth so it makes sense you start small and you get big but listen to this if we take a second and we think about all of the other of the year do they fit the Paradigm of let's think about it on PES the first night of PES first night of PES is everything the Mitzvah of the Mitzvah of mat of of Hal sh what happens after the first night of PES or after in Gus the first two nights of PES what happens what's PES Six Flags right it's what is it it's t Lim there's nothing to do there's nothing to do maybe according to summ shown maybe maybe maybe there's a Mitzvah to eat matah right and you're not allowed to eat and you're not letting but are there mitzvos no it starts big and then it diminishes suus the first day of the mitzah is a you have to eat that's why if it rains you have to stay stay up later that's why and and the first the rest of suus the says you want to eat you have to be in a you don't want to eat you don't have to be in a the first day of suus the MIT meaning is you have to take on the first day that's St meaning and then what happens the rest of suus all right we to remember the we take the that's suus doesn't really have but it has been huging and what do we do on sh what do we do on sh we stay up the whole night the whole first night learning and then coma for the next three days right it's it's like like literally to wake anybody who stayed up the night on on on on shabis for another three days it's like there is more napping as a result of shabis night than there is in any other part of the the Jewish calendar so what happens when we look at the paradigms of arim they actually more fit the notion of we actually when we think about it we start big with a full minora and then right we have a certain claran call for engagement with these dimensions of the of the of the and then we have a lingering aftermath where we can process and internalize and relate to and and and make sure that it's something that's lasting but this notion of ascending intensity of Engagement that comes through in hillel's Paradigm is actually entirely dissonant with the way in which all of our other holidays operate why would that be so so I want to suggest that the reason that is so is because there's a fundamental difference between khah and every other of the Jewish calendar and that is actually manifest through a comment of the rambam where the rambam writes because there's discussion in the rishonim how the history of this all unfolded what day did they walk into the B mikdash and what day did they actually start lighting the manur the rambam writes that they walked into the bdash on the 25th and they started lighting the manur the next day right and many discuss well then why doesn't Kaneka start the next day the whole thing is about the manur so some say that because the war is also part of the miracle of Kaneka but there's another possibility as well and that has to do with the uniqueness of Kaneka itself you see all of the other of the Jewish calendar all of them from beginning to end position the Jewish people people in essentially a passive and differential role with a reactive responsibility KES comes and liberates am is and then we stand up and reciprocate by being proud members of the Jewish people KES comes and gives the Jewish people the Torah and we reciprocate by embracing its opportunity to live a life of meaning and purpose and impact in the world KES comes to the Jewish people and cares for their uh their well-being over the course of their journey in the desert and we in turn you know Express a degree and a standing embracement of of in the do and we respond Kaneka is the inverse Kaneka represents the moments in Jewish history where we do and a KES responds the miracle of Kana does not begin with the oil lasting longer than it should have the miracle of Kaneka begins with the courage and the tenacity of the Jewish people to walk into a b mikdash that has been defiled and ransacked by a foreign power and not accept that reality as defining to their existence and to their truth the miracle of Kaneka begins when the Jewish people find within themselves the capacity to transcend their circumstance the ability to not accept the status quo as what's going to ultimately Define the Jewish people the miracle of kanah begins not by us sitting back and Hashem saying do a miracle it begins by Mato and his kids getting together and saying we're going forward we're going forward and then when they go forward militarily and they van andu does a miracle and they Vanquish their enemies then they walk into a bash where they had full Hal license to be differential to the reality of that landscape and not light the manura because at the end of the day they didn't have to light a manura they didn't have pure oil but bonu the Jews search and they search and they search until they discover until they find the opportunity to be able to create this lighting of a minur and it was a halachically it was a halachically compromised solution because at the time they did it they had no idea if they would be able to develop more they should have looked at the B mdash saw the situation and immediately engaged in the process of processing new oil and when they add it they like the B mdash they like the manura they didn't like the manora the day before they didn't like the manur then without Li the Mana now and so therefore the entire essence of Kaneka is the is the sense of initiative that comes from the Jew to not simply relegate themselves to these seeming historical facts on the ground that convey their own Narrative of what Jewish history should be and what Jewish history will be the entire Miracle of Kaneka begins with a sense of courage and passion from amra and so therefore that's why had that's why even though in the bdash it's enough to facilitate the lighting and let the environment Elevate the experience in our homes we have to do it there's a pride and there's an essence of what it means to bring that illumination to the world and this is where Aron aen re-enters the picture who was Aon hak there are two brothers and a sister that lead the Jewish people through the desert Moshe Reno and Aron are very different people mosenu is what I would call for those who who who are in business like a top- down manager right mosenu you couldn't really look at his face he's up in the in the heavens he's meeting with angels and he's conveying top down to the Jewish people this is what is going to be what kind of leader was Aon Aon was bottom up Aon as the mishna tells us H om of all people shom shomon add a social Dimension to his leadership Aon brought forward and in ability to help others Aon was with the people it was bottom up and the rambam tells us in the parish mishas that his approach his modality of Engagement was that he would encounter an individual who themselves was living a compromised lifestyle of Torah and shom and Aon would immediately give them and provide for them a sense of affirmation and dignity and love and elevation Aon immediately would would would give them and would fuse them with a sense of embrace and then says the Parish of the r when that person would go off they would say to themselves that I am worthy of Aron's attention of Aron's affection there must be something within me that has more potential that has more capacity Aon a coen's modality of inspiring others was not top down it was not to instruct and control and demand aon's modality of Engagement was to help people see the greatness within themselves that's what a Coen is about we know we're all called so what does it mean that we have a tribe of kahuna the role of a coin is not to dominate and control the Jewish people the role of a coin is to help every single Jew discover the Kahuna within themselves we all have a spark of leadership we all have a capacity to impact and illuminate and change the world everybody could do something and that's why we don't even look at the kohanim during B we put the the talus over our head we're looking at ourselves at what it tells us about who we are AR sees that he's not part of the Hamish so you know what his greatest fear was his greatest fear was that now becoming the minister of the B mikdash that his role would change to the role of Moshe now you're the head of the B mikdash you have to you're top down you're more spiritual you're more elevated and is telling him that's not what my base on is about my is about the manur it's about taking the light to the people it's about empowering people and elevating people it's about inspiring people and bringing them to a place where they can make a difference and that ultimately is the vision of what it means to be part of the world of Kaneka and to be part of the world of Bal that's why the minora is in the window and in the doorway because it is reinvigorating within ourselves that sense of passion and determination that we have that we are not Li and defined by the circumstances within which we find ourselves and if you look at the rest of the sources you will see that it's fascinating that when the state of Israel Unleashed a competition to decide what would be its symbol the symbol that was ultimately chosen was the manur but not just any manura the symbol that was ultimately chosen was the depiction of the minura that exists on the Arch of Titus and the reason for that is because historically what the Jewish people were trying to tell the world is we are not defined by what's embedded within some rock sitting in Rome we can take that image and we can harness what it symbolizes and we can advance Jewish history and the future of the Jewish people that is our capacity and that is ultimately what the manora is about and that's why kanah is M it starts with something small it starts with something small because it starts with our contribution in which AES reciprocates with his miracles we are living in a Time of tremendous where the Jewish people are saying to the world we are not going to be defined by your narrative we are going to speak for who we are we are going to illum illuminate what we believe we are going to advance where we want to go we are going to move the Jewish people and Jewish history forward and that is the essence of Kaneka and we can only hope and pray that like the Kaneka of times of the mikdash that that will be reciprocated as we have already seen that experience so far with the Miracles with the and the to elevate and to advance the Jewish people may the Rabon shalam give us all the perspective and the strength to be able to find that capacity within ourselves and within the larger Jewish people and may we see these great Miracles and live to see the lighting of the original minora in the B mikdash once again have a wonderful wonderful e