Deep Dive With Rabbi Feldheim 12 17 2024

okayy it's great to be here once again thank you Danielle um okay so where do we start so I'm not sure if what everybody wants to hear is is it worth maybe just spending two minutes going through the of so that just the basic laws of lighting the manura and everything before I get into I'm going to do a short D Tor now before you go into the rooms and then I'll do an unrelated one afterwards the one I'm going to the second VAR Torah after you go to the rooms will be related to the material you're going to study in the rooms but first let me spend just like a minute a quick overview of the Halas of actually liting the monora you you're going to cover some of theas in the material you'll study together in your rooms but I'll just try and focus on some of the most basic ideas uh first of all there are you know different of doing the Mitzvah the minimum requirement is that every home should have one candle lit for eight days so that would mean you need eight candles per home for eight days the better version of doing the Mitzvah is to to light every day an extra candle so one the first day two the second day three until the eth day will you light eight the best way to do it is that every individual in the house should do a an extra candle every day of all the mitzvos in the Torah this seems to be the one that the Jewish people have become accustomed to doing it in the best way people don't compromise on this I don't know anyone who only lights one one candle and most houses all the children light everybody lights um so we do it what's called mahadin mahadin the ideal of the ideal and it's it's a it's something to think about why this Mitzvah of all the Mitzvah is is is it is it so important it's become Universal amongst the Jewish people to do it in this ideal way but that's not the the scope of this but something to think about what's special why is the mids of Kaneka the one that we're so elaborate in the we light them from left to right meaning you light every day the new candle which is furthest to the left um meaning you start the first day with the candle on the right side of your monora then you add one date to the left to the until the end but when you light them you light the newest candle first and then you work your way to the right to the oldest candles the it's important to have a shamash the reason we have a shamash which is what you use to light the manura it's not just for lighting the manura it's because you're not supposed to derive benefit any usage from the KH so you shouldn't read you know H says don't count money you know don't don't don't do any of the things that people would normally use light the light of manora for we don't we don't we don't use it the shabas candles are meant to be used we they're there to to bring peace into the house to light up the house the manora is very different also something fascinating to think about the difference between shabas candles and candles the uh it's important to light Friday night when you light both candles which is a very deep thing you're lighting simultaneously the two opposite types of candles the shavas candles and the but we light the minora first and then the shabas candles as far as havala there are different Customs some people they first to end the shabas and then light the which would seem to be most intuitive but if you say then you can light the candles and then do many people do do that um it's be listen it's best to use oil and cotton wicks as was done in the temple but the most important thing is to have a beautiful clear flame and therefore candles are fine just the problem with candles is is that if you use the colorful candles that everyone traditionally uses a lot of times our Manas are small and close together and the heat causes them to burn too quickly and the manura has to last for half an hour the truth is I shouldn't say that it doesn't have to to last for half an hour it has to be able to last for half an hour meaning what you light needs to be sufficient for a half an hour of lighting if you have a small manora and you're using those little candles so then it won't last a half an hour the heat of all the candles comp pounds and uh they melt too quickly so if you if you want to use those candles you can use them but but spread it out or uh or use shabas candles or or best use oil when we were kids and in Yeshiva it's a big thing you spend time beforehand we used to make our own Wicks you know you get good at making Wicks and you feel like it's your Mitzvah you've done it yourself okay I don't know if anybody has questions afterwards other Halas will cover them but let me first give you a short five minutes of our Torah um something interesting the the medish in a few places different sources tells us that one of the things the Greeks did in their persecution of the Jews was it made the Jews right on the Horn of oxen they would make them take an ax and the right on the horn that you no longer have any relationship to the god of Israel write for yourselves on the Horn of the ax that you have no portion you have no relationship anymore with the god of Israel what's the symbolism of that it's a it's a it's a what are they trying to accomplish so I think I think the symbolism is as follows what is the what is an ax in in in Jewish thought they speak a lot about the difference between a par and a sh a bull and an ax a bull and an ax are really you know in biologically the same animal it's an but when you picture a bull you picture this animal snoring smoke out of its nose and chasing a guy in a red cape or you picture a a bull in a china shop a bull we visualize as a wild animal an ax is when you picture it it has a yolk on it and it's plowing a field and and that's really what they are a b an ax is a domesticated a tamed bull if you Google it it'll say that an ax is a castrated bow but in Hala we're not allowed to do that so it's it's not act by us an ox is not castrated it's tamed it's become domesticated the bull is the the the the the original animal wild and and and destructive and the ax is tamed and sedate and domesticated so if if you think of the ax as that then it's very powerful because if the bull is that tough wild animal so proud of its prowess chasing the guy in the red cape you know so this simp symbol of the ax is its horns the ax is the strength of the bull sorry the bull the horn the bull the horns are the pride of the bull but once the animal has been domesticated and it's not a wild animal anymore the ox has been tamed its horns are now Obsolete and worthless they're the the horns of an ax are a very sad thing to think about they represent obsolescence they represent Glory Days of when I was young and you know and powerful and and now I'm here I am in the field with a yoke so the Greeks said that right on the Horn of an ox that you have no portion no relationship to God meaning the same way the ax is yesterday's news so too is Judaism has been surpassed by Greek thought and what Judaism is to Greek thought is what the ax is to the bull the bull is the greatness the ax is broken the Jews are broken or old school and the Greeks are the new thing that's what they were trying to accomplish the Jewish response to this is very very deep if you look at the laws of BM the first fruit when you go into Israel finally after the desert and receiving the Torah the Torah commands the Jews the first year the first crop and every subsequent year the culmination of history is where the Jews enter the land they they plow their fields the first fruits of your field are are the climax of history and you take them in wagons the Jews would gather together in all their cities and bring the fruit to Jerusalem the to bring them to the temple the first fruit and it says they would fill wagons and The Oxen they make parades of all the farmers with all the wagons and all the oxen pulling the wagons and they would put gold on the horns of The Oxen and that's exactly the opposite of what the Greeks did why why did they put horn gold on the horns of The Oxen this literally is probably the best way to articulate the difference in thought between Jewish thought and Greek thought in Greek thought greatness is the bull powerful viral a force to be reckoned with Judaism says what a waste it's so destructive all it does is destroy CH China shops break glass Chase matadors you know what greatness is the ox isn't broken the ox is focused the ox is harnessed you take all the power of the bull and you make it something productive look at the fruits of the Bikur this beautiful fruit that feed the entire world only come because the ax has harnessed its strength to a productive act and plowed the fields and delivered all the beauty and all this bounty that's what BM says the ox isn't a broken bull the bull is a wasted ax the ax is perfection we put gold on the horns of the ax the Greeks need to learn this that it's not strength or prowess it's what you do with it the greatness is to accept the oak the Yoke the the O in Hebrew the Yoke and to find your field and plow your field and then Harvest your crops and that's what khik is it's not it is the defeat of Jewish thought over Greek thought and the Jews over the Greeks but what it really is it's the celebrating of the victory of of focus and creativity and accomplishment over unbridled wild strength without any purpose or focus and that's the gold on the horns of the axe the horns of the ax are the pride that's the uh that's the first thought you can go to your rooms now and then we'll come back for a different D Torah unless anybody has a quick question okay okay great okay thank you so much by F time so we will break out for the um individual room learning and we will call you back in about 20 25 minutes very good thank you very much yeah there's a hotel there's a kosher Hotel there that's where I am okay okay fell time okay we're on we're good to go all right amazing okay so um I hope it was good in the rooms you covered the material everything he ever needed to know about miracles yes so all right so I wanted to deal with the following question um well really I wanted to explain why it is you see the Torah gives us the essential holidays P the rabbis kazal added in two two holidays P him in khaka and the question is is what was missing in Judaism that they had to add PES and khaka why why was that necessary to to add them so in in order to explain that I I wanted to explain just what is the relationship between Miracles and well would you say the opposite of Miracles are nature doing things I guess is what in in Jewish thought we call it din din is justice justice means you get what you deserve whatever you create with your own hands you eat the fruits of your labor so if if you were to think about it which one do you think is preferable is it preferable to experience the gifts of Our Lives um by earning them or by having them given to us through a miracle so according to everything that that all of Jewish thought it would seem that of course the purpose of life is to earn things we have a good inclination and a bad inclination supposed to struggle and you're supposed to eat the fruits of your labor you're supposed to accomplish things and then sit back and enjoy what you've made if you if you get handouts or freebies it it's that's called God's Mercy Mercy is that God bails us out even when we didn't earn it and it's very nice that God is merciful but you would think that it's preferable to achieve things through justice as opposed to Mercy or in Hebrew din as opposed to ra and it seems to be that that's the truth so the way we normally the way I normally think of Miracles is that Miracles are like a safety net it's like if you have someone in in the in the circus whose job is to walk the tight RPP so under the tight RPP you have a safety net now the goal isn't for him to fall off the tight RPP into the safety net the goal of course course is that he should do flips and do his whole thing and put on the show this is why everybody goes to the circus to see this guy he's he's the hero if he falls off there's a safety net that can catch him and that and that's good so that would be a nice way to understand the relationship between DIN and R Justice and mercy that ideally was supposed to do things with Justice which means we're supposed to dance on the tight rope of life become very good at it and and and and succeed at life work hard you know have relationships have children or would have teach and and and learn Torah and build homes and businesses and help people and give charity all the things that you do by leveraging your abilities and your resources and then you life is about eating the fruits of your labor if you fail at that and things happen and it doesn't work out you can beg Hashem and say hm give me mercy carry me you do it for me a safety net that's the normal way of thinking about it the problem with that is is it seems like Miracles have a much larger role in Judaism than just the safety net we talk about miracles all the time the entire story of khaka the the the Mitzvah is to publicize the miracle like that's what you just learned about why is it so important to make such a to put the safety n Center Stage that's the qu that's the big question about miracles if Miracles are a backup plan so then why are they so Central you know we should talk about miracles at the end of the year when all those failed that's when you talk about safety nets but first go out and try and do it yourself but yet like on pesak which is the first month of the Jewish year Nissan in fact the name of the first month of the Jewish year is Miracles and the formation of the Jewish people was all splitting seed and plagues and we didn't even start yet and God started with Miracles why does the mercy precede the Justice isn't that backwards that's the big elephant in the room when you deal with Miracles is that they don't seem to fit our expectations of the place they should have they seem to be far more important and the answer is very very deep and there's two types of Miracles and that's why we need two holidays of Miracles the miracle of PM which was the first Rabin holiday and then Kaneka which was the last holiday I know in the cal um that that Kaneka comes comes before PM in the calendar but it's really after PM historically um and khah is the second Rabbi Miracle holiday so what's the difference and what is the purpose of Miracles and the answer is amazing is that why do people not succeed in life in Justice why don't we actually deserve the stuff why don't why aren't we good at the tight RPP of Life why is it so difficult and there are two basic reasons similar but there are two reasons that people don't succeed at the tight RPP of life one is that um we're too scared you can break your neck and therefore we don't even we avoid all the tight ropes and we avoid all the challenges and the difficult parts of life because it's too daunting that's one reason we fail but then there's another reason which maybe even more common is that people do go go and try out life they do try the tight rope but because they're scared they're either shaking or they're shivering or they're too tentative and reluctant and they fall off the tight RPP because they're not because they're scared so the two reasons we don't succeed a tight ropes are either we don't try out of fear or we sabotage ourselves subconsciously because of the fear by not being all in and not not throwing ourselves at the tightrope so therefore you know what the secret of succeeding at the tight RPP is is the secret of the safety net is not to catch you when you fall you know what the real reason for the safety net is is that when you know there's a safety net then you won't fall when you know there's a safety net you'll throw yourself in you'll live with abandon you'll dance on the tight RPP and you'll find that you could do this I am good enough I am capable the real goal of the safe net is that you shouldn't need it at all and that's why Miracles have to come first Miracles need to come first is because you have to know that God is going to catch you when you fall and then of course the goal is to do it yourself but the way you'll do it yourself is when you're Allin and in order to be Allin you have to know that there are Miracles and therefore we start with Miracles you start to Miracles we raise our children with the knowledge that Hashem will save them no matter what then they will live freely uninhibited unscared untethered and they're going to embrace all the tight ropes that life gives them and they'll succeed at them so that's the secret of of of of why Miracles need to to proceed need to come first but at the same time they really they they're a backup plan you have to know there's a backup plan to be all in but that really just explains porm porm is the safety net and the rabbi said you know what even that is not good enough people are still hesitant and reluctant people can know that there's a safety net know that they're going to get caught and they if they fall and they still are not jumping on a tiob what's the last reason that people aren't all in why would someone who has dreams I want to accomplish things I I'm not afraid I'm going to break my neck CU I know God and after purm I know God catches us he saves us the whole purm story but still we find ourselves in a fetal position with noise cancelling headphones on our ears pushing snooze buttons and Rabbi said you know what we need to add one more holiday you know that's Kaneka you know what KHAK is there are two types of Miracles one miracle I call a defensive miracle and that is that God will catch you when you fall and that's a safety net but then comes the greatest Miracle of all not a safety net but a trampoline the the reason why people don't throw themselves at life even knowing that they'll get caught when they fall is they say yes I'll succeed but what am I what's GNA happen so I'll invest I'll make eight% I still won't be able to buy the ski shalet I want and the yacht and I won't be able to buy a house in Bal Harbor and I won't be able or even Hallendale right I won't be able to who am I fooling what's it worth all the big things I see people have I can't afford that there's no path to me to my dreams yes I won't break my neck God will catch me what am I going to get so the second Miracle is is not only will God catch you for him but Hashem will multiply whatever you do exponentially a little bit of oil can last eight days that's not a defensive Miracle that's an offensive Miracle that's a trample lean that means you'll jump on it and you can do flips you never thought you could do flips you can do triple Lutes and axles I don't know what they're all called it's been a while since the Olympics but there's a lot of cool stuff that you can do when you can get enough atime and the way you get air time is a trampoline and that's what Kaneka teaches us a a few people can conquer huge armies a little bit of oil can last 8 days that the results of our actions have EX exponential growth don't think that you're bound by math God does two types of Miracles he saves you when you fall and he launches you when you jump and then there's nothing holding you back and that's the miracle of kanuka and that's why we need to light the candles by our Windows the entire world God created the world cuz he wanted people dancing on their tight ropes he wanted them to their life to be that party to be an arena of of Joy but in order for that to happen people have to throw themselves into the world that he gave them they they need to to the first po thought I said they need to plow the fields that they were allotted they need to conquer their their Promised Land what allows me to conquer my promised land is the knowledge that it won't fail Hashem will catch me and not only that but even though my field looks like it's less than an acre I can I can produce crops that there's there's no Ranch in Texas that can deliver that that's the lesson of khah we light the candles by our Windows because the world needs to know this Hashem created the world that people should live their dreams and instead we're all hesitant and reluctant and therefore Hashem told us light these candles metaphorically light up the world but really what light up the world is is give people the bravery to face their dreams and what that is is the knowledge that you don't need to do it all you just need to pounce on the trampoline and then you'll find that you can do crazy flips that's the message of khaka and uh I I give us all the BR that hasem should give us the The Bravery to be inspired by all the holidays and if we're not if the holidays aren't enough to deliver that inspiration you should know that PM says Hashem will save you now you should be able to rearing to go and if that's still not enough kanuka should clinch the deal the knowledge that yes you won't break your neck but not only that but you'll have houses in Aspen in Israel in the old city in Miami on the park in Manhattan you won't be able to count all the houses if that's what you want if you want something more important he'll give you that for sure so that's my BR Hashem should fill our lives with light and Shear that light give everybody else that's the mitz of KH isn't lighting the manur it's showing the world that you light the manur it has to be by the way that's one last therefore because the purpose of the man is not lighting the manora but it's showing the world that you like the manora it has to be done in public and it has to be done in at the time when people are on the streets ideally that's rush hour in the the tal it's called it when the people are still in the they'll time to light mans until everyone is home from the market until the markets are closed so really that's when it gets dark people don't hang out in the streets in the dark so you're supposed to light by sunset or within a half an hour of sunset there are different opinions either at sunset or half an hour later if you light a little bit after Sunset and your manura will last for an hour you'll fulfill all of the all of the different customs and uh and that's like a good way like like the earliest time is by Sunset even those who hold a half an hour later if you started on time within the half an hour and it burns for a half an hour after the half an hour so if you have a candle that lasts for almost an hour and you light a a little bit after Sunset you're good and uh and this way you not you're good everyone who sees their window will be good and that's the real goal is to light up their hearts and and help them recover their dreams that's hasm wanted with all right any questions make up a question no I don't like to end this so fast this is a great crowd we shouldn't go home so soon okay it looks like rose has a question okay where's Rose I don't the so many people it's a big crowd over here I only see Canute yourself hi can you hear me okay yes I hear yes fantastic um I was actually um having a big discussion today in one of the Jewish communities and I feel like it kind of relates to what you're asking and um I feel like maybe part of the reason for publicizing the miracle and especially because Hanukkah has no no yam to um is it because Hanukkah really is about like the miracle of our our interactions with non-jews like and uh like both trying to take time to understand how to have maybe better relationships or how to like express ourselves to non-jews because I'm not sure that public like it's not clear if publicide Miracles is meant for us as Jews or the truth the truth is most of our many of our holidays are to deal are are they all have a component of dealing with non-jews know Egypt was was the leaving of Egypt um purm was dealing with the Persians Kaneka is with the Greeks and even sukot you know sukus sukus is probably generally seen as the most close to an interaction with non-jews in fact on sukot we opened up the temple to by the way I'll share with a very cool thought connecting what you said it's it's a cool thing to hear um sukot on the holiday of su we open up the temple to all the 70 Nations and any any all the non-jews were able to come to the temple and offer offerings and we actually part of our service was um normally on the holiday you bring a certain amount of sacrifices every day on on on sukus there's a special offering called the the the the cows of the holiday and they brought 70 of them Counting backwards from 14 meaning the the first day they brought 14 cows then 13 then 12 there's eight days of suus the same as 8 days of khah and every day they brought Bulls until it equaled 70 because they brought a sacrifice for each of the 70 Nations part of our job not just that they were able to come in but we actually brought offerings for each Nation each each day different nations were represented by those Bulls those those those cows and there's an AR on khaka do we light the candles one the first day two the second day three four five every day more or do we count down eight seven that's the argument between the school of shamai and the school of hillo shamai says no we light backwards the first day we light eight and the seven second day we light seven and you know what his reason is why we do it this way because it's simil it's supposed to be the same thing as the the cows of sukus which we counted down each day of the eight days of sukus from 14 13 12 11 10 to equal 70 so in sukus we count we bring less every day so this so the same thing with Kaneka we should bring less every day so that would sort of be a little bit of a proof to what you're arguing that Shai is saying that khaka is meant to be similar to suus and suus is is a holiday where we relate to the non-jews so Kana then would also be and the proof would be is that Kana and suus that b feels that Kana should be modeled after sukus in the descending lighting and um yeah so we actually rule like Hill Hillel says yes it's true that on sukus WE count backwards but normally we don't count backwards normally males all holy things we grow in Holiness and every day you should add light so therefore we should be lighting extra light every single day not not backwards and in cabala they talk about that might be the difference between khaka and sukus according to shamai they're the same according to Hill there one of them is descending and one of them is ascending and the reasons for that would be is when the Jews traveled in the desert there were two columns that guided them when they traed travel there was the column of of of light the and the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud so according to the cabala sukus and Kaneka are very related they're both eight day holidays sukus is modeled after the column of cloud which is why we sit in sukus to remember the Clouds Of Glory and khaka is to memor to memorialize the pillar of fire and that's the candles so the two columns that led the Jews in the desert the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud areah and sorry Kaneka and sukus both eight days sukus is clouds and Kaneka is is is light and that's Hill's position that it's two different opposite things fire and clouds and H and shamai says no they're both about the clouds and therefore they both count backwards and they're like you're saying maybe they're both about the nations of the world but but uh they definitely certainly do have um you know the the you know I'll tell you this I I had I had this question to my Rabbi Rabbi Schwab years ago I I I felt like there were different sources in the Torah sometimes the Torah says that your purpose is to be a nation of priests a nation of priests and and a holy nation it talks about the Torah that Torah is your light it's your wisdom to to show the world but on the other hand the Torah says in a number of places things like a nation alone shall you dwell so it seems like two opposite messages in the Torah are we supposed to be separ separate to live the attached from the world to live B alone or we supposed to be this is a light onto the world and a nation of priests two opposite approaches so I asked this to RAB Schwab and RAB Schwab told me many years ago I think it was in high school and he told me that there are two different ways to do sales you know when you're starting out maybe you have to be like a door-to-door Salesman and and go knocking on everyone's doors in the in the coldest weather and bring your wears and and ask them to buy but when you have a good product and you've proven yourself and you've been successful then you buy yourself a storefront at the best intersection in the best neighborhood on the corner of Fifth Avenue and you a big PL glass window and everyone comes by you you don't have to go around the world they come to you he says yes of course we're a nation of priests but we're not door to-door salesman that's not our job as a Nation to to go prizing and convincing people our job is to have a showroom and God will always make sure that the Jewish people and Israel are on in the headlines we are always on Fifth Avenue we always have a store where all the traffic is wherever the eyes of the world are that's where the Jewish people are and that means that we're always going to be a lesson to the world our showroom will always be highlighting our product it's not an active relationship to the world where we're actually trying to communicate to them it's a much more effective way of of of of marketing is to is to live a holy beautiful life and let them see us as a successful nation and to say wow we can also have the culture and the nation the land that this nation has and uh that's the way we affect the world sort of with the manora from safely in our houses we light our manora no one hears but our light the light emanates from our houses to the world see we're supposed to see ourselves as a showroom not as uh door to door door knockers and that's the reconciliation of those two opposite ideas and uh of course we should be cognizant of how we're coming across to the world and but you don't have to be smart in the Torah you know the the Torah is uh is is the the guide for Morality if we keep the Torah we will be a lesson the only time we start to mess up is when we think we're smarter and we have to adapt our ideas to whatever it is that we insecurely being influenced by everybody out there and then we give mixed messages to the world right now the world needs to see strong people who are not insecure who are confident in their beliefs and not easily manipulated or lied to and uh and that is that's a big part of the story of Kaneka the Greeks had all the glory and all of the Acclaim and the Jews it was easy for the the assimilated Jews they were called helist to shame the religious Jews of how UNP nonprogressive they were and how oldfashioned and how how foolish you look compared to the Greeks but maio and his sons were able to stand up and not be shamed and and and and and realize the thickess of all the ideas every year some someone else is telling us that our ideas are shameful compared to some other culture well those cultures come and grow come and go their ideas end up becoming the source of their National shame and we with our shameful primitive ideas we've endured forever and constantly consistently been a light unto the world so this is an important light the light of of the I don't know the opposite of insecurity the confidence meem the Battle Cry of Mattis yo that uh we're not missing anything you know uh and we're supposed to feel like the image I like to use this I like to think of myself as the Lifeguard in the pool of the world um and what's the job of the lifegarden the pool you know these kids they who knows you know it's a public pool they're not rich people they don't have their own pools in their backyard so it's a public pool and these kids are playing this is a little bit of joy in their lives and where lifeguards our job is to make sure these kids have the summer of their life only good memories when kids start splashing them they ruin ruin their summer if I blow my Whistle Too Much I'll ruin their summer it's a good visualization the picture the picture yourself as a lifeguard in the pool of the world with a lot of noisy bratty kids but they're kids and they deserve to have life is going to be hard they deserve to have beautiful beautiful summer and therefore don't get angry and uh don't see them as the enemy is uh is see them as you know you're their lease on Joy and see what you could do to make sure they have an amazing summer I mean that's a metaphor but um okay thank you so much time can we give out maybe your email if anybody else has any more questions yes sure I'm just not so good with typing you know I'm much better at talking than typing I'm very old school but you could send it away you know uh um my pleasure Rabbi Rabbi feldheim at gmail very easy Rabbi felim at gmail I'm gonna put it in the chat box if anybody wants to contact the rabbi after after we leave the program thank you so much best thing is is come to the Inspire convention we could spend the whole shabas together got do a little advertisement if you've never been Pro Inspire if you never been to project Inspire it is the greatest weekend ever come we'll have a great time we you could ask right we we sit up a whole night till what what what we have I very true he does yeah answering question right Saturday night Sunday Friday night we do all night classes anybody if you have insomnia this is your program if you don't have insomnia there's some stuff going on by day too thank you so much fell time thank you Alisa who did all of our technical support and thank you so much everybody for joining us and we want to wish you all a very very happy Hanukkah thank you for having me you guys are amazing okay have a great