The Ramban's Message of the Eternal Chanukah: Chizuk for Iron Sword by Rabbi Avi Herzog

okay good morning everybody it's good uh to see all of you last week um meaning the last sheer that I gave which was Wednesday morning of last week for those of you that um for those of you that uh tuned in uh we discussed and delved into two of the texts um regarding Kaneka itself we're still dealing with the theme of kanuka uh this week which of course uh makes sense and is pertinent um as kanuka as we know begins this week on H Thursday night but today rather than taking a look at texts that are directly related to Kana we're going to take a look at some of the text and some of the parim that are indirectly related to Kuka so just a little bit of a background very often the medieval the classic parim and others um modern day parim as well uh will deal with the topic of or the Jos why certain topics or certain story lines or certain mitzvot are placed where they are we're all aware of the fact that that is a very common and uh very popular method with which to view the layout in the Torah this particular uh piece that we will be looking at today which indirectly relates to perhaps stands out more than any other in the sense that we are dealing with a text here that simply seems to be completely out of place we may be familiar with what I'm referring to we may be familiar some of us probably will be familiar I imagine with the ran that we will be going through but I think that it is just so um important and telling for our times right now uh particularly this this year with everything that's surrounding this year here in ER Isel and for jewry worldwide I'm referring to the for itself which is not directly related to and what immediately follows it so a little bit of important background information all of the details as in everything you wanted to know about the mishkan but we not but we're afraid to ask um but didn't even need to ask because it's all spelled out for you that's a long title is all presented in the second half or maybe the the last third of sa shot in other words parot then a little bit in and then again the entirety of is all about the Mish and every single detail and the truth of the matter is there's no real need for any other detail regarding the mishan beyond that point at all in the entire then we have the entirety of sa then we have the opening of and the first half of parat Nas the second half of parat Nas which we'll get back to in just a moment deals with the not what we call of course but the the dedication ceremony for the in the Mish in other words it was the inaugural ceremony for they were about to start offering corbane on on the in the Mish and then after that it right into and we find something fascinating and again it seems to be completely out of place so what I would like to do with you to this morning is to go through with you the text beginning with the middle of par which introduces these particular of the of the princes for each particular sh then just to look quickly at the text of the opening of about the and then take a look at the comment of Rashi and the um elaborate or more detailed comment of ramban and the tells us as follows this is all the way through or 84 no we're not reading 84 inside we're reading maybe three of them and the Torah tells us as follows this is the introductory the princes or the VIPs one from each shet offered eight their piece or their part of the dedication ceremony of the on the day that it was going to be uh inaugurated or anointed each one of the VIPs offered their particular for the f one Prince for each day in other words this is going to be be the procedure it is not going to be a one day procedure with each one of the offering their Corban on the same day nor will it be divided up let's say six and six over two days but rather one per day for a 12 Day ceremony now notice I mentioned 12 well there are 12 one for each sh except by that point already sh y was divided into or subdivided into sh epim and and and each had their n their uh VIP their prince offering a Corban so now we're dealing with 13 but there are only 12 and you may have guessed it already the one sh that was left out was shet Lei sh Le did not offer one of the daily Corb note for the for the inaugural ceremony of the dedication of the sh was not involved Moshe our leader of course mosu were sh Le that's where that will be our beginning point this morning the toraat goes on to tell us this is the on the day that it was anointed or inaugurated immediately following the excuse me immediately following the discussion in the the topic of the we come to the very beginning of and this is the part that is seemingly complet completely out of place it doesn't really have any place as I mentioned before in the at all putting it another way we don't need it everything's already been told to us about the mishk but secondly and more poly for our purposes this morning what's it doing here in sa it doesn't make any sense put that aside and the Tor tells us as follows speak to and tell him when you light the literally that means when you bring up theot and of course it seems to be that on a level of or the simple level the term alot to bring up or to raise theot is used because Flames themselves rise okay or you cause them you cause the Flames to rise up but there are many beautiful midashim here about that word as opposed to when you light we're going to leave that for a different time but when you light they wrote facing the there are some ni we're familiar with that too that somehow miraculously the Flames all um Turned inward from this direction facing the center one from this direction facing the center one we all know that without a nce that is n onto impossible because either they're standing the Wicks or the Flames are are erect standing straight up or they're blowing in One Direction or the other but they're not certainly not um not opposing one another that's not possible it is possible again we'll leave that aside for now so did so he raised or he brought or he kindled in exactly as he was told to dohe like God had commanded Moshe good the goes on to tell us the next this is the construction or the making of from gold or one piece of gold in its entirety from the stem of including the beautiful uh the beautiful um um decorative aspects of the made exactly the way God had told them to again we knew all of this already and if I'm personally being redundant it's intentional because I'm simply stressing for you and for myself just exactly how redundant the torat is being none of this is necessary here keep in mind that it follows on the heels of the 12-day ceremony of the from which and therefore by definition aon's shet was omitted so Rashi picks up on this quoting a midash mid and Rashi tells us follows and again you may be familiar with this already uh personally I'm very familiar with this and I think it's just worth constantly reviewing it especially this time of year every year and particularly this this year what does Rashi tell us not just why is this this small piece about's liting mentioned at all and not only why is it here in the beginning of but more specifically why does it follow on the heels of what immediately preceded it what's that all about is there a connection to the to the dedication ceremony of the and Rashi according to M tells us that indeed there is because here's what happened when observed the dedication ceremony of the VIPs guess what Kal as literally that means his mind became weak in other words he went into a state of depression he felt dejected why because he was not involved with them in the dedication ceremony of the not him personally and not his sh they were omitted they were left out it's as if a little child in school sees other children being uh being chosen to participate in let's say a play and he's not chosen or in gy not being chosen for the team in valleyball and the child says rightfully so it's not fair that's exactly what Aon was saying or was thinking according to the mid so listen to this it's so beautiful said to Moshe according to excuse me toon according to the mid literally that means by your life but it's another way of saying Aron get a hold of yourself the words can also mean get a Excuse me give me a break I don't think that was the way that a would be talking to Aon here as it were because that would not console Aron that would just upset him even more or make him feel bad so rather I'm sure God said in a consoling manner Aon just think about this for a minute come onone is that really what's going on here do you really think that I or your brother would do that to you further yours is greater than theirs why keep in mind keep in mind ARA they all had a one day ceremony it was over and done but you have the opportunity you get to be the one who lights the n wrot and not only that has the opportunity to clean out the to clean out the calabra the Min itself in the morning now how exactly having the opportunity to clean it out in the morning would consol Haron that could be somewhat difficult except for the fact that we know that if we clean up a space around us then we can reuse it as well so perhaps the cleaning aspect of it that is somehow supposed to console Haron is that now the N will be the Min will be ready for the kindling the following evening but the point being is Aron come on you have the opportunity to light them in and yes to clean it out in the warning preparation for the next night every single night as long as there is a mishkan and once you are no longer with us your children will take over and then their children the kohen will take over it will be the that are lighting the Min on a daily basis in the mishkan and eventually if there were to be a replacement for the mishkan a permanent structure let's call that the then it will be your shav that is doing that too so yours is greater than them so I I God understand that you feel badly I get that but look at the bigger picture that's Rashi ramban comes along and he says let's analyze this now I've mentioned in my my regular sh sh at the U Center itself prior to uh prior to October 7th and will be back soon I've mentioned many times and perhaps in these minuk as well that everybody's born with I joke everybody's born with a mission in life ramban was one of these unbelievably inight the individuals who the moment that he entered this world that he exited his mother's womb he understood his purpose in life his purpose in life is to learn Rashi to learn the P rash on Kash to quote Rashi often and then to say that rashi's wrong and then to give his own P he does that very often he'll say that this is incorrect he'll use very similar language often throughout his here he doesn't quite do that here ran quotes Rashi and he says let's make sense of Rashi quoting the midash rather than dismissing it and saying rashi's incorrect this time rashi's right but let's expand upon that let's help Rashi explain what he's referring to and so this is what ran says whether ran meant that this is what Rashi intended or not I don't know but nevertheless ramban here raises a question or qu a series of of many questions and then he answers with a beautiful insight and this will be what pertains to us today and Aban writes as follows first he quotes Rashi and then he adds the lone NE barely this whole thing about God making our own feel better because he gets to be the one he's the one and only he has the opportunity to lighten with every evening and every morning doesn't make any sense to me it's not clear to me because after all why did God Comfort Aon specifically with the lighting of the and he didn't comfort him with something else with another aspect that was only given to sh specifically to the for example with theor with the incense that was also off twice a day in the morning and in the evening and what about the regular we all know that the regular Corban that were brought every single day throughout the year theb twice a day the special Corban on Shabbat and all of the all of the Corban generally speaking with a few exceptions were offered byon and by the by so why didn't God make him feel better with that if anything that's somewh directly related what didon feel dejected about the fact that he did not part he and his sh did not participate in the offering of a COR so why not comfort him by saying you get to be the one to offer Corban several times a day every single day throughout the entire year and what about the which simply means an offering of an offering of matah or of bread of some sort that was offered pan bread God could have picked the greatest of all what about the fact that when it comes to yur you're the one that gets to be you're the one excuse me that has the opportunity to do all of the in its entirety it all centers around you come on one day a full half of the the repetition of the of the ofur will be about us lowering ourselves to the floor in Imitation of what you did and calling out why didn't God choose that asks raan what about that once the was actually in its erected form only and only the were able to enter to to the holy of holies Kad what about the fact that he is the one who's called Kad and nobody else is that's question number one question number two is aside from the fact the Ty from the issue of why specifically was the liting of the N chosen by God to comfort Aaron as opposed to any of the other options listed what's the reason why Aon felt dejected in the first place why did he even feel badly because we forget or we tend to forget or putting it this way I AB presented it this way intentionally I only referenced the Corban not of the 12 that is true but in addition to that says ran and he reminds us that in addition to those particular Corban not of the VIPs from each Shon also brought Corban every single day of the 12 days of the of of theuk every single one of these dayson also brought it's just that there was an additional special aspect that you didn't find at any other time not previous to and not following this 12 Day ceremony but I brought corote all along every single day alongside theirs or on the same days that they offered theirs so why was he feeling dejected in the first place San to answer this question has a beautiful insight and he writes as follows the point of this midash is not surface level because if it is surface level then Rashi meaning the midash doesn't really make any sense for the reasons or falls short and is filled with holes for the reasons that we mentioned so instead there's more to it than that says ran min it is for us and for Aon to be able to deduce to be able to pull out an illusion a hint from this particular piece Al about get ready kanuk Shel wrot the dedication ceremony kanuka and remember maybe we learned as children or maybe as adults that the name kanuka I'm just opening a parenthesis here um that the name comes from a compound word of sorts that they rested or they camped meaning the war is finally over and the and had a chance to just take a step back and say we survived we won the war when did that happen on the 25th of kave that that's all very nice it's not the origin of the name kanuka the origin of the name kanuka is the word kanuka which means dedication Center so we had the in and in addition says ran this is to serve to Aron and to us the readership as a remes as an illusion to another kanuka yes to another dedication ceremony wrot of that took place during the second through Aon and his children remember what we recite in the beginning of Alan which we reviewed in detail last week on Wednesday they were me to say you will have the opportunity Aron not just to light the Min now that may not make you feel so much better but you will be the one who is at the four when it comes to another kanuka when it comes to another dedication ceremony way off in the future during not the first but during the second bash and then R goes on to say I found in short I found another source for this as well he ran quotes this particular mid and he adds I saw in the mid that what God in effect is saying to is yes I understand that you're dejected but don't worry about it there is or there will be again in the distant future way far off another kanuka another dedication C that will involve the lighting of the meaning of course we know the story that will involve being able to return to the midash and once again lighting the Man daily like had been done prior to the prior to the Syrian Greeks prior to the the um taking over for a three-year period is and I'm going to do this for is God says as it were through your children through your Miracles and salvation that will be named for them now it is important to to mention also that in one of the original sources and I don't recall which one off hand discussing the name of this we call it kanuka kanuka is short for something kanuk means dedication but it was actually that was one of its original names the of the House of the Hans and that is your sh and therefore says that's why this this small section of the opening of wrot is ju supposed meaning for our purposes it immediately follows on the heels of the end of parat the end of the of the piece that discusses the that discusses the the position of the of then to the in the time of in the time to come wow and then ran adds one more piece and I saw elsewhere ran goes on to say that quoting this other source God as it were said to mhe go and tellon I'll this is really saying the same thing but more succinctly perhaps even more beautifully don't fear don't be afraid you are set aside by me for even greater G for great for even a higher service the generals they exist as long as the mikash existed and once there's no longer a mikdash the Corb not will not be in play the when they wrote will always play a role for us they will always play a role for am Isel and then this particular Source goes on to say there's a problem here because it's known that factually this is not true when there is no like today that and the corote are no longer offered they're no longer applicable so too are the of the Mish of the mikash there is no daily offering of these seven branched candal Abra in the mikdash when there is no bam mikdash that's no longer done either so what in the world could these beautiful words mean continues the source that ran is quoting here this is in a saare by the way called literally that means he will teach us I am not familiar with the author of this particular Source quoted by the but he ends by saying when the source is stating that the N wrot will always be in existence even beyond the existence the very existence of the mikash itself it is again an illusion to the of the Hans that will be applicable that will be observed even after the even after the destruction even when we are in still still in a state of galut in a state of Exile and on some level we still are today because bar every single one of us tuning in this morning I imagine all of us that are tuning in live in ER Isel I'm only imagining that because it's 11:00 a.m. here and anywhere else in the world it would be too early to be tuning in not everybody tuning into this indeed does live in ER Isel those that will be listening later on YouTube or in the OU archives you aren't here in ER Isel and still approximately half of jury is not yet in ER Isel and yet we have Kuka and we have it every single day that's the raat believe it or not I only quoted about half for you I omitted the other half because it gets a little bit lengthy let's think about that for a moment God is consoling consing our own and I believe consoling Us by informing us that yes there were beautiful ceremonies there was once upon a time another kanuka the inaugural kanuka dedication ceremony of the original Mish that came and went it was a 12 Day ceremony and that it was over but Aaron you and your children will have the opportunity to preserve another aspect of the mishan and that is the lighting of the and that through your children and then eventually not only through your direct descendants in the second bash who will restore the lighting of the Min but in commemoration of that every single Jew will have the opportunity to Kindle their own lights in their own home or by their own Doorway to publicize to the entire world that look at us we have survived we survived the we survived the first mishkan that wasn't destroyed so to speak but we didn't really need it anymore because it was a replac with the midash we survived the destruction of the first bash we survived the destruction of the second bash we surv we still here and when we light a WR kanuka it is a reminder to us that this indeed and only by this means is how CHS to console Aron that you should know that for all eternity wrot will always be lit for all eternity we will be able to declare to the entire world quoting May represents Mitzvah or represents Tor weem have the opportunity all Jews worldwide and will for all eternity to continue to light that air to continue to shine the light of Torah to the entire world that I believe is the message that aad was sending to Aon HOH at a time that he felt dejected does every single one of us feel somewhat dejected during this time of the war absolutely it's completely appropriate it's inappropriate not to and obviously those families and perhaps involved some of you that are listening at the Sher this morning I do not know but those families that are more directly involved obviously it will have a greater impact and it will present itself with a real challenge of feeling dejected of feeling down and out and for so many unfortunately literally being in the state of aut of a of mourning there's no question about that and all of that is important and all of that is necessary at the same time we have this premise we have what to look forward to that even today thousands of years later we are still lighting that same Min refers to in appeasing and we will have that opportunity to do so to do so for all eternity