Exodus Magazine - December 2020 by Exodus Magazine

#218 | December 2020 • Tevet 5781

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Exodus Magazine

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Pre-Holi

s/wicks a Menorah s (44 candle e or make or candle of Chanukah) • Acquir nights and wicks, x) up on oiltotal for the eight (pref. beeswa • Stock in s total) a candle are needed sure to have (8 shamash candle oil, make night • If usingas a shamash each kah treats, to use some Chanu buy or make handy • Plan to donuts and latkes kah gelt such as ls and Chanu draide • Have some

Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario

Chanukah

to Chanukah nces: Primary Observa Menorah 1. Light the each night e and publiciz 2. Celebrate the miracle time 3. Spend quality Menorah around the

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festival is an eight-day Chanukah miracles orates the that commem ion of the the rededicat an surrounding and the Maccabe Holy Temple e Seleucid the oppressiv Revolt against BCE. It is 2nd Century Empire in the light,” and “festival of ing the known as the idea of illuminat celebrates the darkness.

an candles and for oil or wax candle. The has eight holders (“attendant”) A Menorah the shamash of Chanukah What is a Menorah? apart from the rest, for set Since the miracle is the ideal fuel. additional holder, oil or wax candles. , and olive oil can either be is preferable Since the Chanukah lights oil Menorah they produce. olive oil, an any smooth flame happened with one, though because of the are preferred to use a beautiful to the Cotton wicks it is customary row. In addition in a straight a mitzvah article, for the shamash, Menorah is they are arranged also be a place do as long as lower there should candles will bit higher or candles, a sits – which for the Chanukah candles for the other lights eight spots use beeswax is used to kindle tradition to it. There is a the candle that candles to separate than the other chair or Place it on a the shamash. you a central doorway. Menorah in This way, when it? Set up the and the mezuzah. Where to light – the mezuzah that is opposite off d by two mitzvot near the doorpost small table 12 and 40 inches you are surrounde be between the doorway, the street, lights should pass through facing l menorah a windowsil Ideally, the menorah on Make sure the the menorah. set up your ground-level. not You can also thirty feet above children and the ground. is less than the reach of the window that is out of provided that fireproof surface on a sturdy, materials menorah is of the or other flammable at the time present near curtains be should their own Menorah. family members person lights light it? All families, each . Who should own Menorahs lighting. In some to light their d nightly menorah also be encourage Children should

kah Story

The Chanu

BCE, the year 139 of Kislev in On the 25th the Holy Temple s liberated the Maccabee the vastly , after defeating in Jerusalem armies of and powerful IV. (This more numerous ek king Antiochus .) the Syrian-Gre of Chanukah great miracle was the first cleansed Jews repaired, to the The victorious the Temple d oil had and rededicate But all the Temple’s service of G-d. invaders; when by the pagan been defiled Temple’s to light the only the Jews sought ra), they found menorah (candelab olive oil fit pure of ritually one small cruse sly, the one-day use. Miraculou for Temple until new, for eight days, supply burned (This was the be obtained. .) pure oil could miracle of Chanukah second great Chanukah in making your For assistance community updates about plans and for families, kids events for anukah Chanukah visit jrcc.org/Ch and adults, or contact the

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Imagine what the world would be like if people felt a genuine awareness of the common oneness that bonds all people. Imagine how different it would be. Would we wage war and use our resources to build weapons of mass destruction? Would we need police and courts to stop us from taking advantage of one another? Would we seek to manipulate economic systems and risk the security of others for personal gain? Would we rob the earth of its riches without thinking of the effects on our own children, let alone our neighbors? Would we be so cold and uncaring as we pass each other in the streets? Would we be so absorbed in our selfishness that we would ignore the needs of others? When I look at the realities of the world we live in, this dream seems a bit far-fetched, I admit. I don’t even see unity among my own people, and I see other nations and groups suffering the same pain, so how can we hope for unity amongst the diversity nations? Given the profound change for good that a paradigm shift in the perception of human unity would almost certainly and instantly achieve, I find it surprising that among Judaism’s 613 commandments governing the minutia of human life – including the percentage of our income that should be given to charity, the best way to slaughter an animal, the proper order for tying one’s shoes, and how to correctly wipe one’s appendages after using the bathroom – I do not find any mention of a directive calling for unity. Perhaps unity is not as important as we assume. Perhaps the need for unity is rooted in some psychological weakness or primordial herd mentality, rather than a higher ideal. Or maybe the heavenly court finds our petty arguments and unending divisiveness to be entertaining – a source of amusement they are reluctant to relinquish. But given the undeniable benevolence that would result from unity, it is difficult to argue that Judaism, the linchpin of human morality, could overlook such an obvious way to improve and perhaps even perfect human civilization. It is true that, by nature, humans abhor fragmentation. We have this need, perhaps

bordering on obsession, to make sense of things. Have you ever lived your life for a few weeks without making enough time to process events? Personally, I am tortured by that unhealthy, disconnected feeling that results from the hundreds of random daily tasks I fulfill that, on the surface, seem to have no common thread. Without taking time to process where I’m going and what I’m doing, coming to some vision of purpose within this mundane reality and creating some semblance of order within the chaos, my sanity starts to slip. One of the cornerstone Kabbalistic teachings is that everything in existence, and all people, are one. So perhaps there is no need for a unity directive, since unity is something that already exists, albeit on a metaphysical level. But that’s exactly the point: The same thing could be said about so many of Judaism’s teachings. The edict to “be holy,” for example, seems superfluous in light of the fact that every individual is already holy by virtue of the soul. The purpose of these commandments is not to create a new reality, but to coax a hidden spiritual reality into the forefront of our consciousness and our material lives by guiding us to seek it, uncover it, and transform the latent potential into reality. So, the question becomes what sort of ethos would enable the inherent oneness to shine? What is the secret to unity? If there was true unity, then we would act with sensitivity and openness toward each and every individual we encounter. Or, more accurately, if there was love between each and every individual, then by default there would be unity all around. And if not… well, we are all quite familiar with the “if not” reality, for it is the reality we find ourselves in today. If we have love between individuals, then the sum total will be unity. If not, then all the banners, slogans, and conferences in the world dedicated to the ideal of unity will not get us there. It’s easier to wave a banner, chant a slogan and attend a conference then it is to really engage, accept and appreciate another person as an individual. But any directive toward unity is decidedly futile. Love, not unity, is the answer.

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© 2020 JRCC. Published monthly by the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario. Issue Number 218 (December 2020) Mail Registration Number: 40062996 Circulation: 19,000 Subscription: $18 For submissions, please send articles via e-mail along with a biographical sketch of the author. Журнал Эксодус выпускается Еврейским Центром Русскоязычной Общины Онтарио. Журнал на русском языке можно приобрести позвонив по телефону (416) 222-7105.

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think! again. December 2020 • Tevet 5781

6 | JEWISH SOUL

A Wild Number

10 | JEWISH THOUGHT

Chanukah in Hindsight

The Chanukah Menorah has eight lights, although it reflects the Miracle of the Oil which occurred in connection with the rekindling of the Menorah in the Temple, which had seven lamps.

History itself has a history. We don’t always understand the real significance of an event until many decades later or sometimes even centuries. A classic example of this is the history of Chanukah.

— From the Rebbe's letters

— by Jonathan Sacks

7 | MADE YOU THINK

12 | ASK THE RABBI

editorial jewish soul made you think life on earth jewish thought ask the rabbi our community holiday guide

Chanukah: An American Holiday

Jewish DNA?

Chanukah commemorates events 2,000 years ago when a small band of Jews, in the name of freedom from oppression and freedom of religion, battled the largest army in the world.

I want to confirm my own Jewish lineage, even though I was brought up Jewish. And I have friends who suspect they might be Jewish, even though they were not raised Jewish. Is there a reliable DNA test?

— by Simon Jacobson

— by Rabbi Yoseph Y. Zaltzman

8 | LIFE ON EARTH

18 | PERSPECTIVES

The battle of the Maccabees is an ongoing battle. As AI development rapidly accelerates, we may be participants in yet a deeper formalization of society, the struggle between man and machine.

Two ideas heard personally from the Rebbe on my birthday – extending kindness to others and experiencing the joy of G‑d's closeness – resonate when I reflect about events both global and personal.

— by Tzvi Freeman

— by Yoseph Janowski

The Battle of Artificial Intelligence

Caring for the Light

simchas perspectives marketplace memorials

4 6 7 8 10 12 13 16 18 20 21 25

jewish soul

A Wild Number From the Rebbe's letters

t is significant that the Chanukah Menorah has eight lights, although it reflects the Miracle of the Oil which occurred in connection with the rekindling of the Menorah in the Temple, which had only seven lamps. As explained in our sacred sources, there is an inner symbolic significance in the numbers seven versus eight. Seven represents the natural order, since G‑d created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, thus completing the natural order in seven days and imbuing it with the holiness of Shabbos. Eight, on the other hand, represents the supra-natural, the extra-ordinary. Thus, the seven-lamp Menorah, corresponding to the seven days of the week, symbolized the natural world order, which is geared to, and must be perpetually illuminated by, the light of the Torah and Mitzvahs during each and all of the seven days of the week. Chanukah, on the other hand, recalls a very extraordinary situation in Jewish history, when the Jewish people faced a crucial challenge that threatened them not with physical, but with spiritual extinction, to be engulfed by the pagan Hellenistic culture that had swept the world at that time. The danger was all the more insidious because it happened while the Jewish people were in their own land, the Holy Land, and the Temple was in existence; and the enemy did not aim to destroy the Temple, nor to put out the Menorah, but "merely" to contaminate them with their own ideas and mores. This extraordinary situation therefore called for an extraordinary response in terms of real self-sacrifice. Hence Chanukah is celebrated for eight days, and the lighting of eight lights, in a manner of increasing them in number and brightness each night of Chanukah until all the eight lights of the Chanukah Menorah shine brightly on the eighth night of Chanukah. We find the same thing in other aspects of Torah and Jewish life. For example, the dedication of the Sanctuary and Temple took eight days – because the idea of a House of G‑d for the Divine Presence within the confines of a measured and limited space is most extraordinary, as King Solomon, the builder of the first Temple, expressed it:

"Surely, the earth and all the heavens cannot contain You, yet this House will!" This is also the inner significance of Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day (following the seven days of Sukkot), which is the culmination and retention of the Divine service of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the essence of which is Teshuvah – that extraordinary Divine gift whereby a Jew breaks through all natural limitations, both within and without, and rises to the highest degree of spiritual achievement. In all these instances (and others, too numerous to mention here) the number eight is not just one more than seven, or an additional 24 hours, but it symbolizes the extra-ordinary, supra-natural and infinite, as distinct from the ordinary and natural, hence limited, as symbolized by the number seven. It is in this sense that I characterized the new Project as seemingly "wild" – not only in the ordinary sense of being wild and far-fetched from the viewpoint of practical consideration, but in the sense of being extraordinary also from the viewpoint of sacred considerations. By this I mean that, at first glance, considering our responsibilities

for the existing institutions, especially the educational institutions, struggling with deficits and having to be not only maintained but also expanded, for what could be more vital than Chinuch? -one would think that these institutions command top priority on all our resources. Yet, I am convinced that the present world situation, and the Jewish situation in particular, is so extraordinary that ordinary means cannot cope with it, and a "wild" approach is required. Hence the said Project, as a first step. It will reflect, emphasize and demonstrate in a concrete and tangible way our profound faith and trust in the eternal strength of Judaism to overcome all difficulties, and in the wholeness and inviolability of the Land of Israel as the Divinely given eternal inheritance of our people, and of Jerusalem, our Holy City, which belongs to all our Jewish people everywhere, with every Jew having a share in it, as also emphasized by the fact that while the whole Land of Israel was divided among the twelve tribes, Jerusalem was not divided among the tribes, but every Jew has a share in it. And this we proclaim not merely in words and protestations, but by concrete action, in a manner which is understood by all, namely by the fact that American Jews, especially successful businessmen, who are known for their acumen and practical knowhow in business affairs, are willing and ready, and do indeed, invest substantial resources in building a neighborhood for Jews permeated with Judaism precisely in Jerusalem, our Holy City, in our Holy Land, thereby also involving the cooperation of Governmental agencies in this “wild” project, though the Government has other vital projects connected with defense, which ordinarily command top priority. I trust, indeed I am quite confident, that this "wild" Project will bring forth G‑d's blessings in a correspondingly “wild” and extraordinary measure, so that the Project will be implemented and completed much sooner than expected, and that it will serve as a living testimony to the vitality and strength of our Jewish people transcending all limitations and bounds; living testimony to Jews and non-Jews alike. EM

Tevet 5781

made you think

Chanukah: An American Holiday Simon Jacobson

he festival of Chanukah commemorates the victory that occurred over 2000 years ago when a small band of Jews, in the name of freedom from oppression and freedom of religion, battled the largest army in the world and were victorious. In 1789, a group of revolutionaries, in opposition to the great world powers of that time, wrote the Bill of Rights in order to safeguard the basic individual freedoms of Americans – freedom of religion, speech and press. Religious persecution was the impetus for many to leave the shores of Europe for the New World so it is not surprising that the first amendment stressed the importance of freedom of religion. The Founding Fathers understood this to be central to all other liberties as it embodies the freedom to pursue your own belief system, your personal way of finding transcendence. The message of Chanukah is as relevant today as it was two millenniums and two centuries ago. Every year we celebrate the power of freedom over oppression with the kindling of the Menorah, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness. Chanukah teaches us four lessons about freedom. As the sun sets on the first night of Chanukah,

December 2020

people around the world will light a candle. And for the next seven nights, they will add a flame, until a total of eight flames illuminate the night. Lit at sundown, the Menorah reminds us that the way to eliminate darkness – to rid the world of selfishness, negativity, hatred and greed – is to kindle the lights of knowledge, generosity, faith and love. The Menorah is placed in the window of one’s home or in a public place so that the light shines out into the street. This public display represents our responsibility to bring the light of freedom, morality and spirituality not only into our own homes, but also into the lives of others and into the world. On a more personal level, a flame represents the soul of a person, the G‑dliness that is inherent in each of us. Every person has an individual contribution to make, a unique way of illuminating the world. Chanukah celebrates the power of the soul reminding us that although there are 6 billion people in the world and many forces that de-personalize our lives, each flame, each soul, brings a special and distinctive light into the world The eight flames of the Menorah tell a unique story. 2200 years ago in Jerusalem, when the Jewish soldiers entered the Temple

that had been desecrated by their enemies, they found only a small cruse of olive oil to light the Temple Menorah. The oil that was sufficient to last for only one day miraculously lasted for eight. The number eight mystically represents transcendence and infinity, one beyond the number seven which represents the natural cycle. There is a natural limit to all human endeavors, to all human knowledge, but Chanukah introduces the eighth dimension, the power of transcendence that enables us to go beyond our natural limitations and transform darkness into light. The festival of Chanukah calls us all to revolution, a revolution of light fought over centuries by all people seeking true freedom. The Festival entreats us to reclaim our most basic freedom, the freedom to rise above our subjective, limited perspective and reach for the above and beyond. As Americans and as citizens of the world, it is our duty and privilege to add to the forces of light both at home and abroad in a steadily growing measure. EM Rabbi Simon Jacobson is the author of Toward a Meaningful Life: The Wisdom of the Rebbe and the director of the Meaningful Life Center (meaningfullife.com).

exodusmagazine.org

life on earth

The Battle

Artificial Intelligence

Tzvi Freeman

hanukah is generally presented as a commemoration of a landmark victory for religious freedom and human liberty in ancient times. Big mistake. Chanukah’s greatest triumph is still to come—the victory of the human soul over artificial intelligence. Jewish holidays are far more than memories of things that happened in the distant past— they are live events taking place right now, in the ever-present. As we recite on Chanukah’s parallel celebration, Purim, “These days will be remembered and done in every generation.” The Arizal explains: When they are remembered, they reenact themselves. And indeed, the battle of the Maccabees is an ongoing battle, one embedded deep within the fabric of our society, one that requires constant vigilance lest it sweep away the foundations of human liberty. It is the struggle between the limitations of the mind and the infinite expanse that lies beyond the mind’s restrictive boxes, between perception and truth, between the apparent and the transcendental, between reason and revelation, between the mundane and the divine. Today, as AI development rapidly accelerates, we may be participants in yet a deeper formalization of society, the struggle between man and machine. Let me explain what I mean by the formalization of society. Formalization is something the manager within us embraces, and something the incendiary, creative spark within that manager defies. It’s why many bright kids don’t do well in school, why our most brilliant, original minds are often pushed aside for promotions while “the survivors” who follow the book climb high, why ingenuity is lost in big corporations, and why so many of us are debilitated by migraines. It’s also a force that bars anything transcendental or divine from public dialogue. Formalization is the strangulation of life by reduction to standard formulas. Scientists reduce all change to calculus, sociologists reduce human behavior to statistics, AI technologists reduce intelligence to algorithms. That’s all very useful—but it is no longer reality. Reality is not reducible, because the only true model of reality is

reality itself. And what else is reality but the divine, mysterious and wondrous space in which humans live? Formalization denies that truth. To reduce is useful, to formalize is to kill. Formalization happens in a mechanized society because automation demands that we state explicitly the rules by which we work and then set them in silicon. It reduces thought to executable algorithms; behaviors to procedures, ideas to formulas. That’s fantastic because it potentially liberates us warm, living human beings from repetitive tasks that can be performed by cold, lifeless mechanisms so we may spend more time on those activities that no algorithm or formula could perform. Potentially. The default, however, without deliberate intervention, is the edifice complex. The edifice complex is what takes place when we create a device, institution or any other formal structure—an edifice—to more efficiently execute some mandate. That

edifice then develops a mandate of its own— the mandate to preserve itself by the most expedient means. And then, just as in the complex it sounds like, The Edifice Inc., with its new mandate, turns around and suffocates to death the original mandate for which it was created. Think of public education. Think of many of our religious institutions and much of our government policy. But also think of the general direction that industrialization and mechanization has led us since the Industrial Revolution took off 200 years ago. It’s an ironic formula. Ever since Adam named the animals and harnessed fire, humans have built tools and machines to empower themselves, to increase their dominion over their environment. And, yes, in many ways we have managed to increase the quality of our lives. But in many other ways, we have enslaved ourselves to our own servants—to the formalities of those machines, factories, assembly lines, cost projections, policies, etc.

Tevet 5781

life on earth

We have coerced ourselves into ignoring the natural rhythms of human life, the natural bonds and covenants of human community, the spectrum of variation across human character and our natural tolerance to that wide deviance, all to conform to those tight formalities our own machinery demands in the name of efficacy. In his personal notes in the summer of 1944, having barely escaped from occupied France, the Rebbe described a world torn by a war between two ideologies—between those for whom the individual was nothing more than a cog in the machinery of the state, and those who understood that there can be no benefit to the state by trampling the rights of any individual. The second ideology—that held by the western Allies—is, the Rebbe noted, a Torah one: “If the enemy says, give us one of you, or we will kill you all!” declared the sages of the Talmud, “Not one soul shall be deliberately surrendered to its death.” Basically, the life of the individual is equal to the whole. Go make an algorithm from that. The math doesn’t work. Try to generalize it. You can’t. It will generate what logicians call a deductive explosion. Yet it summarizes a truth essential to the sustainability of human life on this planet—as that world war demonstrated with nightmarish poignancy. That war continued into the Cold War. It presses on today with the rising economic dominance of the Communist Party of China. In the world of consumer technology, total dominance of The Big Machine was averted when a small group of individuals pressed forward against the tide by advancing the human-centered digital technology we now take for granted. But yet another round is coming, and it rides on the seductive belief that AI can do its best job by adding yet another layer of formalization to all society’s tasks. Don’t believe that for a minute. The telos of technology is to enhance human life, not to restrict it; to provide human beings with tools and devices, not to render them as such. Technology’s ultimate purpose will come in a time of which Maimonides writes, when “the occupation of the entire world will be only to know the divine.” AI can certainly assist us in attaining that era and living it—

December 2020

as long as we remain its masters and do not surrender our dignity as human beings. And that is the next great battle of humanity. To win this battle, we need once again only a small army, but an army armed with more than vision. They must be people with faith. Faith in the divine spark within the human being. For that is what underpins the security of the modern world. Pundits will tell you that our modern world is secular. Don’t believe them. They will tell you that religion is not taught in American public schools. It’s a lie. Western society is sustained on the basis of a foundational, religious belief: that all human beings are equal. That’s a statement with no empirical or rational support. Because it is neither. It is a statement of faith. Subliminally, it means: The value of a single human life cannot be measured. In other words, every human life is divine. No, we don’t say those words; there is no class in school discussing our divine image. Yet it is a tacit, unspoken belief. Western society is a church without walls, a religion whose dogmas are never spoken, yet guarded jealously, mostly by those who understand them the least. Pull out that belief from between the bricks and the entire edifice collapses to the ground. It is also a ubiquitous theme in Jewish practice. As I’ve written elsewhere, leading a Jewish way of life in the modern era is an outright rebellion against the materialist reductionism of a formalized society. We liberate ourselves from interaction with our machines once a week, on Shabbat, and rise to an entirely human world of thought, prayer, meditation, learning, songs, and good company. We insist on making every instance of food consumption into a spiritual, even mystical event, by eating kosher and saying blessings before and after. We celebrate

and empower the individual through our insistence that every Jew must study and enter the discussion of the hows and whys of Jewish practice. And on Chanukah, we insist that every Jew must create light and increase that light each day; that none of us can rely on any grand institution to do so in our proxy. Because each of us is an entire world, as our sages state in the Mishnah, “Every person must say, ‘On my account, the world was created.’” This is what the battle of Chanukah is telling us. The flame of the menorah, that is the human soul— “The human soul is a candle of G‑d.” The war-machine of Antiochus upon elephants with heavy armor—that is the rule of formalization and expedience coming to suffocate the flame. The Maccabee rebels are a small group of visionaries, those who believe there is more to heaven and earth than all science and technology can contain, more to the human soul than any algorithm can grind out, more to life than efficacy. How starkly poignant it is indeed that practicing, religious Jews were by far the most recalcitrant group in the Hellenist world of the Greeks and Romans. Artificial intelligence can be a powerful tool for good, but only when wielded by those who embrace a reality beyond reason. And it is that transcendence that Torah preserves within us. Perhaps all of Torah and its mitzvahs were given for this, the final battle of humankind. EM Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, a senior editor at Chabad.org, is the author of Bringing Heaven Down to Earth and more recently Wisdom to Heal the Earth. To subscribe to regular updates of Rabbi Freeman's writing or purchase his books, visit Chabad.org. Follow him on FaceBook @RabbiTzviFreeman.

exodusmagazine.org

jewish thought

Chanukah in Hindsight Jonathan Sacks

istory itself has a history. Our perspectives shift over time, and some moments may only seem meaningful in retrospect. We don’t always understand the real significance of an event until many decades later or sometimes even centuries. A classic example of this is the history of Chanukah. At one level, the Chanukah story is very simple. From the days of Alexander the Great of Macedon, Israel was under the dominion of the Alexandrian Empire of the Greeks. This meant that in the third century BCE, it was under the control of the Ptolemies who were based in Egypt and Alexandria. Then, during the second century BCE, Israel came under the domain of the Seleucids who were based in Syria. The Seleucid leader, Antiochus IV, who modestly called himself Epiphanes, meaning “G‑d made manifest”, decided to force the pace of Hellenization on the Jews of the land of Israel. Among other things, he forbade the public practice of Judaism, erected a statue of Zeus in the Temple, and offered swine before it as a sacrifice, in a desecration of Jewish values that Jews of the time called the Abomination of Desolation. An elderly Priest called Mattityahu, and his sons and their supporters known to history as the Maccabees, rose in revolt. Over the next three years they scored a momentous victory over the Seleucids, reconquering Jerusalem and bringing it back under Jewish sovereignty. They cleansed the Temple and rededicated it, lighting the great Menorah, the candelabrum that stood in the Temple, for a celebration lasting eight days. That is the story of Chanukah as captured in history in the first and second books of Maccabees. But that is not how the story was ultimately told within the Jewish tradition, as it was ruled that the two books of Maccabees, and others under the same title, should be called Sefarim Chitzoni’im, apocryphal works, and kept out of the Bible. The Chanukah story that is told instead is a very different one, with a powerful message. The Talmud tells us that in the first century, in the last days of the Second Temple, a Rabbi called Yehoshua Ben Gamla, established a network of schools throughout Israel. The

result of this was that from the age of six, every child in the country received a publiclyfunded universal education. This was the first education system of its kind anywhere in the world, and also a clear indication of the now familiarly Jewish commitment to education and to ensuring our children are literate in their heritage. According to the Talmud, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Gamla’s memory is blessed, because without his intervention the Torah would have been forgotten in Israel. Without him, there would have been no survival of Judaism and ultimately no Jews. What Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Gamla and the other Sages understood, and what was not understood at the time of Chanukah itself, was that the real battle against the Greeks was not a military one, but a cultural one. At the time, the Greeks were the world’s greatest in many fields. They were unparalleled in their advances in art, in architecture, in literature, in drama, in philosophy. Even today, their achievements have never been surpassed. But Jews nonetheless believed, and surely history has borne this out, that there is within Judaism, within ancient Israel and still within its heritage to today, something special. Something worth fighting for. Judaism, with its emphasis on the sanctification of life, and the belief that every human being was

created in G‑d’s image, held eternal truths that we could not abandon. This was the unique distinction between the culture of the Greeks and the world of Torah and Judaism. As a result, Jews have always known that the real battle is not necessarily fought on the physical battlefield with physical weapons, but rather in the hearts and minds of future generations. So Judaism, and the Jewish people, became a faith and a nation no longer focusing on its military heroes, but on its spiritual ones. It became a civilization rooted in texts, and in teachers, and in houses of study. We became the people whose heroes were teachers, whose citadels were schools, and whose passion was learning and the life of the mind. The end result was that Judaism did survive and thrive throughout the centuries, whereas Ancient Greece, the Greece of Athens, the Greece of Alexander the Great, declined. In fact, it was only a short time after the events of the Chanukah story that Greece began its decline, and Rome rose to take its place. That is the message of Chanukah, and to articulate our story, we focus in a rather beautiful and symbolic way on just one tiny detail of the original chain of events: That one cruse of pure, undefiled oil was found by the Maccabees among the wreckage and

Tevet 5781

Eulogizing Rabbi Sacks is not Enough Sivan Rahav-Meir

defilements of the Temple, just enough to light the Menorah until more oil could be sourced. One of the most interesting aspects of this shifting perspective from the original way of telling the story to the current way is reflected in the name of the festival itself. Chanukah, from the word chanuch, means re-dedication. That is what the Maccabees did to the Temple. They rededicated it, as described in the books of Maccabees. Yet over time, Chanukah became connected to the word chinuch, a word meaning education. What we re-dedicated was not a physical building – the Temple – but living embodiments of Judaism, namely our children, our students, the people to whom we teach and hand on our heritage and values. From being the festival of a military victory, Chanukah became the festival of a spiritual and civilizational one. I believe this history of our history has a message for us all. It teaches us this fundamental truth, as relevant to our lives today as ever before: To defend a country physically you need an army, but to defend a civilization you need education, you need educators, and you need schools. Those are the things that kept the Jewish spirit alive and the Menorah of Jewish values burning throughout the centuries in an everlasting light. Often what seems at the time to be the headline news, the military victory, is, in the hindsight of history, secondary to the cultural victory of handing your values on to the next generation. If we do that, we will ensure that our children, and theirs, light up the world. EM

Rabbi Dr. Sir Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, was the former Chief Rabbi of the UK and the Commonwealth and a member of the House of Lords. He was a leading academic and respected world expert on Judaism. He was the author of several books and thousands of articles, appeared regularly on television and radio, and spoke at engagements around the world.

I have many stories about Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. I had the honor of being a guest in his home in London a year ago, and we worked together on several projects, including a collaboration with Ishay Ribo. There are many observations to make on the work of Rabbi Sacks – on the breadth of his thought, his integration of the old and the new, his awakening the world to the greatness of our heritage. But the words of a eulogy are not enough, unless accompanied by thoughts and deeds of what we must do to honor the memory and legacy of greatness that Rabbi Sacks has left us - going forward. As a young college student, he paid a visit to the Lubavitcher Rebbe with questions he wanted to ask. The Rebbe asked Sacks questions in return. How many Jewish students were there on his college campus? What was he doing in order to involve them in Jewish life? The Rebbe explained to Sacks – who was deliberating whether to study economics or law – that the Jewish world was in crisis, that ignorance was our greatest enemy. Therefore, it was Sacks' obligation to help, to utilize his talents in order to study and teach Torah. Sacks, who was not observant, eventually became the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, a professor, and a member of the British House of Lords. "When we make Judaism our top priority – we lose nothing," he used to say. Can all of us become professors, rabbis, and lords? No. But all of us can make full use of our talents. All of us can imagine standing opposite the Lubavitcher Rebbe and answering questions about our commitment to Judaism and what we are doing about it. When someone whose mission was making Torah and Judaism accessible and understandable to everyone passes away at the height of his powers, a vacuum is left behind. The same thing happened a few weeks ago with the passing of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz – the great interpreter and commentator on the Bible, the Talmud, and Hasidic thought. Even if we will not reach their level, we cannot allow ourselves to merely mourn their passing. All of us, each in our own way and with our own talents, must answer the call and help to fill the void created.

future tense

MOSHIACH MUSINGS

Times of spiritual and material bliss did not require any special effort or exertion. There was no need for waging battles or self-sacrifice. Even the “street,” the outside world, was not dark or obstructive. The light inside the Holy Temple illuminated even the outside. Thus there was an equal number of lights every day, for when everything runs normally there is no need for supplementary activities. In a difficult period, however, a period that necessitated battles against enemies from both within and without, a period of assimilationists (Hellenizers) who cared for neither the Sanctuary nor independence and tried to blend into alien cultures and lifestyles, self-sacrifice became the order of the day. These were the trying times that brought us the mitzvah of Chanukah lights. When darkness pervades the “outside” and threatens to penetrate the homes, it is not enough to illuminate one’s own quarters. One must bring light into the street as well, to dispel its darkness. The Chanukah lamp, therefore, is lit when it is dark, and specifically “by the door of one’s house on the outside,” in order to illuminate the outside. It will not do to kindle lights on the table on which we eat or work, and then to open the door to allow the light to shine outward as well. The light must be lit “by the door,” that is, one must exert efforts to illuminate the street. Moreover, the lights of the previous night are not sufficient. One cannot be content with having maintained yesterday’s level and status. There must be a continuously progressive ascent, rising ever higher and higher, until darkness is dispelled altogether.

ask the rabbi

Jewish DNA? Rabbi Yoseph Y. Zaltzman

There is no DNA test that can possibly determine Jewish identity. According to the Torah, Jewish identity is determined solely by matrilineal descent – meaning, if your mother is Jewish, then you are Jewish. Obviously, that means her mother has to be Jewish, and her mother, and her mother, etc. That’s it. There is no other factor. A person’s father and his entire side of the family can be Jewish, and he can love gefilte fish and feel a strong connection to the Jewish people, but according to the Torah his children would not be Jewish if the mother is not Jewish. As such, regarding DNA testing, Jewish genes has very little to do with it. The vast majority of a person’s ancestors can be Jewish – both his paternal grandparents and his maternal grandfather. But if his maternal grandmother (and therefore his mother) are not Jewish, then he is not Jewish. Genetically he would have “Jewish DNA,” since most of his family genetics are Jewish, but he would still not be considered Jewish according to Jewish Law. There have been some scientific studies that found common genetic markers among certain isolated tribes in Africa, the so-called “Kohen gene.”. It should be noted that these studies only observed common male ancestry where a gene was passed from father to son, which does not prove Jewish identity, which is determined by the mother. Such a person may very well a descendant of Kohanim (priests), but unless he can prove his mother is Jewish, he is not considered Jewish. This case only reinforces the very unique and specific requirement for Jewish identity – having a Jewish mother. Jewish identity is a unique concept. It doesn't fit into standard categorizations of race or religion. Jews are neither a race, nor a religion, but at the same time we are a little bit of both. We are a family, that’s why we are biblically referred to as “the Children of Israel” (B’nei Yisrael in Hebrew) – Israel being another name for Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. Jewish

groups often share some racial qualities, so they are sometimes mistaken for a race. And Jews are supposed to live by the teachings of the Torah, so we are often mistaken for a religion. Jewish identity is not at all affected by one’s race or by one’s adherence to the Jewish religion – a non-observant Jew is just as Jewish as the most observant. So we are neither a race, nor a religion. We are a family. (It is worth noting that any person who sincerely desires to be Jewish can undergo conversation and becomes 100% Jewish – even though all their DNA is not Jewish. They become “adopted” into the family through conversion. This conversion is not just a new acceptance of laws or lifestyles; rather it is what it claims to be: a conversion. It is the total converting from one identity to a new identity.) So if we can’t determine Jewishness via DNA testing, how do we determine it? According to Jewish Law, in order to be considered Jewish for various purposes such as Jewish marriage, Aliyah to Israel, and Jewish burial, a person must prove that their mother, as well as her mother, as well her mother, etc., are Jewish. This requires some documented proof, and often entails extensive research, especially when documents are not available. In order to be considered Jewish according to the Torah, there must therefore be substantial evidence that one's matrilineal line is Jewish. It is important for every person to have their Jewish identity certified by internationally recognized in order to avoid any doubts or discomfort down the road for them and their descendent when the need arises to prove one’s Jewish identity. Contact our office for assistance. EM Rabbi Yoseph Y. Zaltzman is the Senior Rabbi of the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario. You can Ask the Rabbi at jrcc.org or fax to 416.222.7812. To meet with Rabbi Zaltzman in person, feel free to call 416.222.7105 to book an appointment. Appointments are generally available on Tuesday evenings after 7pm. Rebbitzin Chiena Zaltzman is also available for private consultations by appointment on Wednesday evenings from 9 to 10pm by calling 416.222.7105.

Обратился к нам человек, который никак не может устроиться на работу: на всех интервью ему всегда отказывают. В результате он вконец отчаялся, провозгласил себя «неудачником» и прекратил все попытки поисков работы. Семья оказалась в трудном положении. Или другой пример: долгое время еврей ищет шидух – невесту, но ничего не получается. Он опускает руки, говоря, что все бесполезно. Хотелось бы поговорить о категории людей с заниженной самооценкой: по-английски про этих людей говорят, что у них комплекс «лузера», по-русски их называют «неудачниками», а на идиш – хлестким словом «шлимазл». Как еврейская традиция может помочь, чтобы из «неудачника» превратиться в благополучного человека? Что делать? Начну с шутки. Знаете, какая разница между «шлимазлом», «леюцлахом» (неудачником) и нудником? Нет? Ну так я вам расскажу. Собралась компания друзей, рассказывают друг другу смешные истории. Один говорит: «Сидит в ресторане элегантно одетый человек и разговаривает со своим товарищем. А как обычно говорит еврей? Руками. Вот и он, вовсю размахивает руками. Тут приходит с заказом официант, а посетитель в это время особенно энергично взмахнул рукой, и поднос с супом опрокинулся на элегантный костюм. Официант извиняется, кидается вытирать пролившийся суп». Один из друзей спрашивает: «А какой это был суп?» Так вот, тот, который суп опрокинул – шлимазл, а который спросил о супе, нудник. И действительно, какая разница, какой это был суп? Что делать человеку, которому кажется, что он не поспевает за требованиями и ритмом жизни..? The article above is excerpted from the Russian edition of Exodus Magazine. To subscribe, please visit exodusmagazine.org or call 416.222.7105.

Tevet 5781

‫ב”ה‬ ‫ב''ה‬

Our

DECEMBER 2020 | TEVET 5781

Community

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

NEW COURSE EXPLORES THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS

НОЯБРЬ 2020

DECEMBER2020 SUT

19 KISLEV FARBRENGEN

SUN

VIRTUAL CHANUKAH WONDERLAND

KISLEV 5781

T H E M O N T H I N R E V I E W. U P C O M I N G E V E N T S & P R O G R A M S .

Jewish thought has long emphasized the importance of living with joy. But how? And can you really choose to be happy? Last month, the JRCC’s Rosh Chodesh Society launched a new seven-part course called “Code to Joy: The World’s Happiest Kept Secret” that synthesizes timeless Jewish wisdom and the latest findings from the field of positive psychology, The World’s Happiest Kept Secret exploring how wealth, meaning, trust, optimism, regret, faith, introspection, mindfulness, relationships, and ritual all The World’s interrelate with our outlook on life. The course began last month at the JRCC East Thornhill, and all are Happiest Secret welcome to join the upcomingKept sessions. More info at JrccEastThornhill.org/rcs. A M O N T H LY SERIES OF

CLASSES FOR WOMEN

JRCC WOMENS CIRCLE EVENTS

THU

10 10 18 SUN

VIRTUAL PUBLIC MENORAH LIGHTING

CHANUKAH

5 TEVET FARBRENGEN

Last month, the JRCC Women’s Circle hosted “Fashion for the Soul,” a unique virtual evening of I T ’and S A Q U Emusic. S T I O N that has The launched a thousand self-help seminars, a Rebbetzin Chaya inspiration event featured designer Joyce Azria, Creative Director at BCBGeneration riddle that has perplexed multitudes, a mystery that enthralled the ancients: What Mushka Schneerson is the secret of happiness? Jewish thought has long emphasized the Dozens importance of and Founder of Avec Les Filles. of participants joined the interactive virtual event via Zoom, was once asked, living with joy. But how? And can you really choose to be happy? “What the most aswasJoyce shared her moving story of growing us as the daughter a billionaire, being a fashion icon, This extraordinary course goes beneath the surface to find answers. Synthesizing joyful moment timeless Jewish wisdom and the latest findings from the field of positive psychology, and the pull of her Jewish soul. In addition to featured events like this one, the Women’s Circle also of your life?” we look at how wealth, meaning, trust, optimism, regret, faith, introspection, She immediately mindfulness, relationships, and ritual all interrelate with our outlook on life. Packed organizedwithaspiritual variety of intriguing programs and events for women, including the weekly Torah & Tea insights you can apply to real life, you’ll love every minute of discoverreplied, “This very ing the Codebring to Joy. moment is the that sessions together a group of women to socialize, learn and discuss a variety of topics based We invite you to crack the code and find the key to J-O-Y in every lesson. most joyful!” on interest. These classes are geared to all levels of knowledge, and are held in Willowdale and East Thornhill, with an additional virtual session each week. More info at jrcc.orgwomenscircle.

KISLEV FARBRENGENS

The JRCC hosted two farbrengen gatherings last month. In honor of 9-10 Kislev, the day of liberation of the Mitteler Rebbe from czarist prison, a gathering was held at the JRCC Rockford. In honor of 14 Kislev, the anniversary of the Rebbe’s wedding, a gathering was held at the JRCC Woodbridge. Farbrengens, or “informal gatherings,” are a regular and central part of community life, where friends and neighbors get together, usually to mark important collective and personal dates and milestones. Farbrengens generally feature one or more persons leading the gathering with stories and Torah thoughts, as participants share words of wisdom, encouragement and song, while enjoying l’chains and refreshments. More info about upcoming events at jrcc.org/farbrengen.

HEBREW SCHOOL DURING COVID-19

CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES Dec 4, 2020

4:23 PM

Dec 11, 2020

4:23 PM

Dec 18, 2020

4:24 PM

Dec 25, 2020

4:28 PM

December 2020

As we transition back to in-person learning at the JRCC Hebrew School, several safety measures have been put in place at all branches. Only students enrolled in the program will be allowed entry, with a contactless pick-up/drop-off system for parents to sign their children in/out. Every person entering the campus is required to complete a health screening questionnaire to ensure that no ill or exposed individuals attend. Student movement will be planned to limit congregation in the hallways, and congregation of teachers/staff will also be limited. Students in class will sit at least two meters apart, and group activities will be planned to ensure that distancing remains in effect. The premises, furnishings and equipment will undergo frequent cleaning and disinfecting. The measures are aligned with the Ministry of Education in Ontario, will remain in place for the duration of the 2020/2021 school year, and will be updated according to the situation. The Virtual Hebrew School is still available for those who prefer it. More info about virtual learning and COVID-19 policies at JrccHebrewSchool.org.

exodusmagazine.org

OMEN

We’re often told that money can’t buy happiness; joy must come from within. But let’s be honest: Are we really supposed to think that having nicer things doesn’t mean anything? And yet we all know that person who seems to have it all—and is somehow still miserable. So which is it? Classic Jewish sources suggest that what matters most is howThe we appreciate our life circumstances and how regularly we World’s express that appreciation. A M O N T H LY

SERIES OF CLASSES FOR WOMEN

Happiest Kept Secret

The World’s Happiest Kept Secret LESSO LESSON 2N

Journey JourneyofofYourself Yourself

STAYING HONEST, HUMBLE, AND HAPPY

The World’s Happiest Kept Secret

PRE-CHANUKAH kids r o f PARTIES Woodbridge: KIDS EVENT Tuesday, December 15

Staying positiveHONES about life means staying S TAYING T, HUMBLE, AND positive HAPPY about ourselves. In this second step, we look at the importance Staying positive about life means staying positive about ourselves. In this second of nurturing a healthy self-concept and how to avoid I T ’ S A Q U E S T I O N that has launched a thousand self-help seminars, a negative ourselves. of nurturing a healthy self-concept and how to step,feelings we look about at the importance IT’S A Q UESTION that has launched a thousand self-help seminars, a Rebbetzin riddle that has perplexed multitudes, a mystery thatChaya enthralled the ancients: What

haya erson sked, most ment life?” ately s very is the yful!”

Concord: CHANUKAH PARTY Monday, December 14 | 5:00pm

avoidMushka negative feelings ourselves. Oftentimes itancients: is feelings of nihilism and riddleabout that has perplexed multitudes, a mystery that enthralled the What Schneerson wasnavel-gazing once asked, excessive that drag us down, but they can be countered by two prime, living with joy. But how? And can you really choose to be happy? living with joy. But how? And can you really choose be happy? “What was theto most if seemingly paradoxical, Jewish principles: that I matter as an individual—but it isn’t This extraordinary course goes beneath the surface to find answers. Synthesizing joyful moment timeless Jewish wisdom and the latest findings from the field of positive psychology, This extraordinary course goes beneath the surface to find answers. Synthesizing of your life?” all about me. we look at how wealth, meaning, trust, optimism, regret, faith, introspection, is the secret of happiness? Jewish thought has long emphasized the ofimportance of Visit www.JrccEastThornhill.org/RCS for Jewish info and is the secret happiness? thought has longRSVP emphasized the importance of

S Richmond Hill & Maple:

KIDDIE HOLIDAY CHEFS

Sunday, December 6 | 11:30am 9699 Bathurst St

She immediately mindfulness, relationships, and ritual all interrelate with our outlook on life. Packed timeless Jewish wisdom and the latest findings from the field of positive psychology, with spiritual insights you can apply to real life, you’ll love every minute of discoverreplied, “This very we look at how wealth, meaning, trust, optimism, regret, faith, introspection, ing the Code to Joy. moment is the We invite you code and find the key to J-O-Y in every lesson. mostwith joyful!” mindfulness, relationships, and ritual all interrelate our outlook onto crack life.thePacked

West Thornhill

with spiritual insights you can apply to real life, you’ll love every minute of discovering the Code to Joy.

MOTHER AND CHILD PAINT NIGHT

LESSON 3

Job Opening: You!

Sunday, December 6 | 3:00pm

WHAT AM I HE RE F OR?

Tuesday, December 15 | 5pm

We invite you to crack the code and find the key to J-O-Y in every lesson.

CHILDRENS CHANUKAH PARTY

TZIVOS HASHEM

Each of us matters, because each of us has been sent into this world for a particular purpose. But how do we find out what that mission is? This lesson goes through nine different life-factors to take account searching The newinto JRCC of when Ontario baseto find one’s life calling. Above all, we learn that—contrary to popular misconception—living a holistic life is now recruiting. inspired by the Torah means having a relationship with G-d in which our individual Mitzvah and Holiday Missions, selves find expression. To this end, we employ a kabbalah-based personality COtest amazing prizes. V to learn how to best express our personal strengths while pursuing our life P mission. E ID

Visit ckids.net/th to sign up.

Woodbridge

East Thornhill: DONUT FRY-OFF Wednesday, December 9 | 6pm Rockford: KIDS CHANUKAH Sunday, December 6

PARTY

Willowdale: LIMO HOP Sunday, December 13

ND -19 IN G

OSCAR YOLLES

CAR MENORAH Celebration

Monday, December 14 | 4:00 - 8:00 Leaving from Home Depot • Chanukah treats • Chanukah music • Chanukah chocolate gelt • Chanukah pride Join with your family! Reserve a Menorah or flag for the top of your car Avrohom.Yusewitz@jrcc.org Book a stop for the celebration to pass by your house! Sponsorship opportunities available.

PUBLIC MENORAH LIGHTING

LIGHT UP

THE NIGHT

JOIN US VIRTUALLY ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, www.jrcc.org/MenorahLighting time TBA 14

JRCC is running a TOY DRIVE for Chai Lifeline. Drop off new toys at the bin at our main office any JRCC synagogue by December 10. The toys will be distributed in time for Chanukah by Chai Lifeline.

Visit www.jrcchebrewschool.org for more info.

5 TEVET

CO PE VIDND 19 IN G

FARBRENGEN Celebrating the Victory of the Books and Rabbi and Chiena Zaltzman’s arrival in Toronto for shlichus in 1980.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 8 P.M. At JRCC, S Richmond Hill & Maple, 9699 Bathurst St.

jrcc.org

Watch our Rabbis and dignitaries as they light the giant menorah at Mel Lastman Square.

TOY DRIVE

Tevet 5781

19 D- G I V IN CO ND PE

Woodbridge:

CHANUKAH PARTY

Wednesday, December 16, 5:00pm 25 Sandwell St.

S. Richmond Hill & Maple:

BISTRO CHANUKAH

Saturday Night, December 12 9699 Bathurst St.

Concord:

CHANUKAH PARTY

Saturday Night, December 12, 8:00пм

West Thornhill:

WINE & CHEESE

Wednesday, December 16, 8:30pm 1136 Centre St., Unit 2

East Thornhill:

CHANUKAH CAFE

CHANUKAH Parties FOR ADULTS

WWW.JRCC.ORG/CHANUKAH MONDAY, DEC. 14, 6:30pm Menorah Lighting and indoor event at the Etobicoke Civic Centre TUESDAY, DEC. 15, 6:30pm Menorah Lighting and indoor event at Scarborough Civic Centre

Saturday Night, December 12, 8:30pm 7608 Yonge St. Unit 3

South Thornhill:

BISTRO CHANUKAH

Wednesday, December 16, 8:00pm 1 Cordoba Dr. Party Room

JRCC Hilda:

CHANUKAH PARTY

Monday, December 14, 8:00pm 61 Green Bush Rd.

Rockford:

CHANUKAH SOIREE

Saturday Night, December 12 18 Rockford Rd.

Willowdale:

CHANUKAH PARTY

Thursday, December 10, 4:30pm North York Civic Centre

Celebrate New Year of Chassidism with us!

19 KISLEV FARBRENGEN

YUD

TES KISLEV Join us Online at www.zoom.us/my/jrcchq

Saturday Night, December 5 | 8:00pm in English Rabbi Shimon Friedluch - Shliach to Beijing Rabbi Mendel Rubin - Director of Shabbos House Albany, NY Rabbi Zushe Silberstein - Shliach to Montreal

Sunday Night, December 6 | 8:00pm in Russian Rabbi Alexander Pruchansky - Director of several educational programs in the CIS Rabbi Fishel Chichelnitsky - Deputy Chief Rabbi of Odessa and South Ukraine

Order your free farbrengen-in-a-box at www.jrcc.org/19kislev

December 2020

Faces of the Community ANATOLY KOCHANOV (NAFTALI BEN AVSHALOM HACOHEN) MECHANICAL ENGINEER Tell us a little about your career. I graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. I was involved in the installation of 50,000 elevators, escalators and lifts in various buildings and structures, but there were three iconic projects in my life: the World Trade Center, the embassy building in Havana, and the Government House in Moscow. In the 1990s I worked as director of the Russian branch of the American company Otis, the world's largest elevator manufacturer. In 1993, President Boris Yeltsin awarded me the title of Honored Builder of the Russian Federation. Which neighborhood do you live in, and why did you choose that are? We live in the Willowdale area of Toronto. It is close to Jewish communities and to the subway station, which is convenient because my wife does not drive. Where does your family come from? I'll start with my Jewish roots, since not everyone with a simple Slavic surname has such deep Jewish roots. My paternal grandfather, Moshe Berkov Kachenov (as it is written in the certificate from the Rabbinate, signed by the official rabbi) was a Lubavitch Chassid, born and lived in the town of Lubavitch. He was a Cohen, an expert in the Talmud, and descended from a family of Torah scholars. In 1899, his wife and children died of the plague. After this misfortune, he left Lubavitch and came to the city of Mstislavl, in the Smolensk region, where he married my grandmother, Sara Zalmanova, who was also from a Chassidic family. They had five children, the third of which is my father, Avsey Moishe Kachenov. As I mentioned, my grandfather was a Talmudist, and he was an active member of the Mstislavl Jewish community – as much as possible in the USSR at that time. In 1933, after Yom Kippur, he was taken to the GPU (State Political Directorate). For two days they "worked seriously" with him, and let him go home. Three days later, my grandfather was gone. My father Avsey finished cheder in Mstislavl, and wrote and spoke Yiddish. In the early 1920s, like many Jews from the surrounding townships, he left for Moscow. After the funeral of his father, he brought his mother Sara to Moscow. Later, his sisters also joined them there. But based on a libel from Mstislavl, the GPU pursued him and did not leave him alone, and he left for the Far East. There he worked as the chief of communications for one of the detachments in the BAMLAG labor camps, where one and a half million prisoners and civilians were building a new Trans-Siberian Railway. He returned to Moscow in 1939. My grandmother Sara still lived in Moscow with her eldest daughter. She wrote only in Yiddish. They lived in the center, and my grandmother went on foot to the synagogue on Arkhipov Street and observed kosher dietary laws. In 1948, when Golda Meir visited this synagogue for the first time, my grandmother Sara sat next to her. This balcony seat is easy to find as there is a plaque in honor of the famous Golda. My mother's grandmother was named Golda, a native of Mogilev – that is, we are one hundred percent Litvaks [Lithuanian]. At the end of the 19th century, after the Jewish pogrom in Mogilev, my grandmother's brother left for America with his family. There his new life began. Grandma Golda lived with her eldest daughter in a large communal apartment in the center of Moscow. We celebrated all Jewish holidays there. She observed kosher and knew all the secrets of Jewish cuisine. In Passy she baked matzo. My sisters and I helped her, and the multinational neighbors - it was normal in those years, watching us. I was born and studied in Moscow. I have been together with my wife Marina for over fifty years. Her Jewish roots are from Latvia. In addition to her grandmother and mother, all her relatives died either in the Riga ghetto, in Salaspils, in Auschwitz, or in Kazakhstan and Siberia in the USSR from Stalin's repressions. Marina's father is a Jew from Dvinsk. He went through the whole war, was a hero of the Battle of Stalingrad, and liberated Auschwitz. We have two sons and six grandchildren - all Cohens of course, descendants of the family of Aaron the High Priest. From 1991 until we left for Canada, our family took an active part in the life of the synagogue on Bolshaya Bronnaya. It was built as a home synagogue in the 19th century by the owner of the Russian railways Lazar Polyakov. It was restored and reopened by order of the Rebbe, who said: “There is a real synagogue in Moscow and it may disappear.” Rabbi Isaac (Izya) Kogan, the Rebbe's emissary, put a lot of work and effort to open it again. A Board of Trustees of the synagogue was created, which I was part of. I had a chance to participate in the reconstruction of the synagogue on Bolshaya Bronnaya and implement the instructions of the Rebbe. Do you have any hobbies? I write poems and stories. For many years they were published in the magazine “Lechaim” and “Informspace.”, published in Russia and Israel. I am fond of demography. From time to time I give lectures on demography at the Bernard Betel Center. Together with my wife, we constantly participate in the life of the Jewish community, at our local Willowdale JRCC headed by Rabbi Yisroel Zaltzman. We celebrate all Jewish holidays in this community and wish it prosperity with all our hearts.

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Exodus Magazine Holiday Companion

CHANUKAH Dec 10-18, 2020

Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario

How to Chanukah ist oliday to-do l

Pre-H

ake a Menorah wicks • Acquire or m les (44 candles/kah) d n ca r o s, k ic oil and w of Chanu • Stock up on total for the eight nights ax) are needed in dle (pref. beesw tal) n ca a e v ha to h candles to , make sure • If using oil amash each night (8 shamas ts, to use as a sh Chanukah trea e m so e ak m r o • Plan to buy uts and latkes n o d as ndy such anukah gelt ha Ch d an s el id ra • Have some d

Chanukah is... Primary Observances: 1. Light the Menorah each night 2. Celebrate and publicize the miracle 3. Spend quality time around the Menorah

What is a Menorah? A Menorah has eight holders for oil or wax candles and an additional holder, set apart from the rest, for the shamash (“attendant”) candle. The Chanukah lights can either be oil or wax candles. Since the miracle of Chanukah happened with olive oil, an oil Menorah is preferable, and olive oil is the ideal fuel. Cotton wicks are preferred because of the smooth flame they produce. Since the Menorah is a mitzvah article, it is customary to use a beautiful one, though any candles will do as long as they are arranged in a straight row. In addition to the eight spots for the Chanukah candles, there should also be a place for the shamash, the candle that is used to kindle the other lights – which sits a bit higher or lower than the other candles to separate it. There is a tradition to use beeswax candles for the shamash. Where to light it? Set up the Menorah in a central doorway. Place it on a chair or small table near the doorpost that is opposite the mezuzah. This way, when you pass through the doorway, you are surrounded by two mitzvot – the mezuzah and the menorah. Ideally, the menorah lights should be between 12 and 40 inches off the ground. You can also set up your menorah on a windowsill facing the street, provided that the window is less than thirty feet above ground-level. Make sure the menorah is on a sturdy, fireproof surface that is out of the reach of children and not near curtains or other flammable materials Who should light it? All family members should be present at the time of the nightly menorah lighting. In some families, each person lights their own Menorah. Children should also be encouraged to light their own Menorahs.

Chanukah is an eight-day festival that commemorates the miracles surrounding the rededication of the Holy Temple and the Maccabean Revolt against the oppressive Seleucid Empire in the 2nd Century BCE. It is known as the “festival of light,” and celebrates the idea of illuminating the darkness.

The Chanukah Story On the 25th of Kislev in the year 139 BCE, the Maccabees liberated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, after defeating the vastly more numerous and powerful armies of the Syrian-Greek king Antiochus IV. (This was the first great miracle of Chanukah.) The victorious Jews repaired, cleansed and rededicated the Temple to the service of G-d. But all the Temple’s oil had been defiled by the pagan invaders; when the Jews sought to light the Temple’s menorah (candelabra), they found only one small cruse of ritually pure olive oil fit for Temple use. Miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new, pure oil could be obtained. (This was the second great miracle of Chanukah.)

For assistance in making your Chanukah plans and for updates about community Chanukah events for families, kids and adults, visit jrcc.org/Chanukah or contact the JRCC.

Tevet 5781

When to light it? It is customary to light the Menorah shortly after sunset. In some communities, the Menorah is kindled after nightfall (approximately thirty minutes after sunset). Either way, the menorah must contain enough fuel to burn for at least thirty minutes after nightfall. Standard Chanukah candles only last approximately 30 minutes. If using those candles, then you should light after nightfall. On Shabbat, the times are a bit different: Chanukah + Shabbat. Slightly different rules apply when Chanukah coincides with Shabbat. On Friday, we light the Chanukah candles before lighting the Shabbat candles, and we make sure to use longer candles that will burn for at least thirty minutes after dark. On Saturday night, we light the candles after Shabbat is over, after reciting Havdallah.

LIGHTING THE MENORAH

The Chanukah Blessings The blessings are recited before lighting the Menorah. The third blessing is recited only on the first night (or the first time lighting the Menorah this Chanukah).

Blessing #1 Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech ha-olam a-sher ki-de-sha-nu be-mitz-vo-tav ve-tzi-va-nu le-had-lik ner Cha-nu-kah Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light.

4. While standing, recite the appropriate blessings.

Blessing #2 Ba‑ruch A‑tah Ado‑nai E‑lo‑hei‑nu Me‑lech ha‑olam she‑a‑sa ni‑sim la‑avo‑te‑nu ba‑ya‑mim ha‑hem bi‑ zman ha‑zeh. Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.

5. Light the candles. Each night, light the newest (left-most) candle first and continue lighting from left to right. (We add lights to the Menorah from right to left, while we light from left to right.)

Recited on the first night only (or the first time

Arrange the lights on the Menorah. On the first night, place one candle on the far right of the Menorah. On the following night, add a second light to the left of the first one, and then add one light each night of Chanukah – moving from right to left.

2. Gather everyone in the house around the Menorah. 3. Light the shamash candle and hold it in your right hand. (Lefties hold it in your left hand.)

Thursday, Dec 10 | 24 Kislev | The 1st Night of Chanukah • Place one candle on the right side of the Menorah • Recite all three blessings (see Blessings to the right) • Light the candle Friday, Dec 11 | 25 Kislev | The 2nd Night, Chanukah + Shabbat Special pre-Shabbat instructions: • Light the Menorah before sunset, before lighting Shabbat candles • Use enough oil and/or longer lasting candles so they burn for at least 30 minutes after nightfall • Place two candles on the right of the Menorah • Recite the first two blessings (see Blessings to the right) • Light the candles, starting from the left one Saturday, Dec 12 | 26 Kislev | The 3rd Night, Chanukah After Shabbat Special post-Shabbat instructions: • Set up and light the Menorah after nightfall, after Shabbat is over (after Havdallah) • Place three candles on the right of the Menorah • Recite the first two blessings (see Blessings to the right) • Light the candles, starting from the left one Dec 13-17 | 27 Kislev - 1 Tevet | Nights 4 – 8 • Place the appropriate number of candles for each night on the right of the Menorah • Recite the first two blessings (see Blessings to the right) • Light the candles, starting from the left one

Blessing #3 lighting the Menorah this Chanukah)

Ba‑ruch A‑tah Ado‑nai E‑lo‑hei‑nu me‑lech ha‑olam she‑heche‑ya‑nu ve‑ki‑yi‑ma‑nu ve‑higi‑a‑nu liz‑man ha‑zeh. Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

Spiritually Speaking In Kabbalistic teachings, the number seven symbolizes natural perfection, while the number eight symbolizes that which is beyond nature. This might explain why the number eight and the infinity symbol are essentially the same. Chanukah is connected to the number eight is not natural or logical – it stems from the power of the soul. In our lives we can also tap into the transcendent qualities of the soul to overcome the challenges we face in bringing light into our lives and into the world. The lights of the Chanukah menorah are more than simply a reminder of ancient miracles. They are meant to provide inspiration and illumination in our contemporary daily lives. They are also a foretaste and reflection of the era of Moshiach, a higher level that is above and beyond our worldly limitations.

December 2020

exodusmagazine.org

Chanukah Thoughts Compiled by Exodus Staff

THE LIGHT WITHIN The Syrian-Greek desecration of the Holy Temple was another example of their determination to destroy the sanctity of Jewish life. The worship of one invisible, omnipotent G‑d was replaced with the worship of pagan deities made in the image of man. The Torah tells us that "the soul of man is the lamp of G‑d." Just as oil permeates the olive, the Divine soul permeates the Jew; and just as the oil burning in the menorah spreads light, the Jewish soul illuminates the world in the performance of good deeds. In defiling the sacred oil of the menorah, the Greeks tried to destroy the Jewish soul. But the soul cannot be extinguished. Miraculously, despite the best efforts of the oppressors, one cruse of pure oil remained in the Temple, and one cruse was enough to re-dedicate the Temple and renew the holy task of spreading light throughout the world. ILLUMINATE THE WORLD Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, recalls the victory—more than 2,100 years ago—of a militarily weak but spiritually strong Jewish people over the mighty forces of a ruthless enemy that had overrun the Holy Land and threatened to engulf the land and its people in darkness. The miraculous victory—culminating with the rededication of the Sanctuary in Jerusalem and the rekindling of the Menorah which had been desecrated and extinguished by the enemy— has been celebrated annually ever since during these eight days of Chanukah, especially by lighting the Chanukah Menorah, also as a symbol and message of the triumph of freedom over oppression, of spirit over matter, of light over darkness. It is a timely and reassuring message, for the forces of darkness are ever present. Moreover, the danger does not come exclusively from outside; it often lurks close to home, in the form of insidious erosion of time-honored values and principles that are at the foundation of any decent human society. Needless to say, darkness is not chased away by brooms and sticks, but by illumination. Our Sages said, “A little light expels a lot of darkness.”

December 2020

The Chanukah Lights remind us in a most obvious way that illumination begins at home, within oneself and one’s family, by increasing and intensifying the light of the Torah and Mitzvahs in the everyday experience, even as the Chanukah Lights are kindled in growing numbers from day to day. But though it begins at home, it does not stop there. Such is the nature of light that when one kindles a light for one’s own benefit, it benefits also all who are in the vicinity. Indeed, the Chanukah Lights are expressly meant to illuminate the “outside,” symbolically alluding to the duty to bring light also to those who, for one reason or another, still walk in darkness. What is true of the individual is true of a nation, especially this great United States, united under G‑d, and generously blessed by G‑d with material as well as spiritual riches. It is surely the duty and privilege of this Nation to promote all the forces of light both at home and abroad, and in a steadily growing measure. Let us pray that the message of the Chanukah Lights will illuminate the everyday life of everyone personally, and of the society at large, for a brighter life in every respect, both materially and spiritually.

A CHANUKAH QUESTION It was Chanukah eve, and a large group of chassidim had gathered in the home of Rabbi Dovid of Tolna to witness their Rebbe’s lighting of the menorah. Rabbi Dovid held the lighted shammash in hand, and prepared to recite the blessings; suddenly, he turned to one of the assembled chassidim and asked: “I’ve always wondered: You are a very tall fellow, while your wife is a short woman. What do you do when you wish to speak to each other? Do you stoop down to her or does she crane upward toward you?” Without waiting for a reply, the Rebbe turned his attention to the menorah, set on a stool in the doorway, recited the blessings, and lit the flames. Later, a chassid explained the Rebbe’s mysterious remark. The Talmud tells us that, as a rule, “the Divine Presence does not descend to lower than ten handbreadths (approx. 31 inches) above the ground.” And yet, the laws of Chanukah specify that it is preferable to place the menorah below this height. This, says the Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria, is an expression of G‑d’s great love for His people: the Divine Groom stoops down to commune with His bride Israel.

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Tevet 5781

perspectives

Caring

for the

Light

Yoseph Janowski

s a student in Yeshiva, on numerous occasions, usually around the time of my birthday, I had the privilege of experiencing a private audience with the Rebbe, where I could ask for his advice and blessing. Two of these memories stand out in my mind. On one such occasion, I recall that the Rebbe asked to confirm that I had given charity on my birthday, something that is customary. On another occasion, I remember the Rebbe looking at me and saying, “G‑d is rejoicing with you in the happiness of your birthday.” That was an amazing feeling as a young man, one I’ll never forget, realizing that G‑d is with me, close, caring for me, sharing my life with me. It made something abstract become very real. These two ideas heard personally from the Rebbe on my birthday – extending kindness to others and experiencing the joy of G‑d's closeness – resonate when I reflect about events both global and personal. Specifically, they are instructive regarding how past events can be instructive for the future. We are experiencing the health and economic turmoil of a global pandemic. Our lives have changed dramatically. Our social interactions have changed to social distancing. Yet in some ways we have become closer, more caring, in this time of need. We have managed to bridge many gaps in order to work together to make things work, to be responsible for one another, to take care of the elderly and others who are more vulnerable. We have become more physically distant from one another, yet more connected and closer to the core of what it means to be human. I also think about G‑d, and how we have become further, yet closer. Two thousand years of exile saw the Jewish nation exiled from their homeland and dispersed among the nations. But not only did we survive as a nation, we brought G‑d's light to the world. And not just to the outside world, but also to ourselves, to our inner world. For, after all, we are made up of a body and a soul. The soul is a part of G‑d. And the body is permeated with the Divine light that gives it life and guides it. When we become aware of this, when we become aware that G‑d is one with the entire world, including ourselves,

and that He orchestrates everything that happens by Divine Providence, then we become closer to Him – despite of, and really because of, the distance. I reflect upon the miracles of the past three decades. The world has become a more peaceful place. The Cold War, which threatened nuclear annihilation, was resolved peacefully. There have been no military conflicts between major powers. There is increased peace-making in the world, especially in the Middle East right now. Something special is happening, and I am in awe. I feel thankful for G‑d's kindness, and I feel Him close to us – in the trenches with us and celebrating with us. Indeed, I think back to a time thirty years ago, when the Rebbe reassured us, at the time of the First Gulf War, that we had nothing to fear. The Rebbe quoted a Medrash in which G‑d says: “My children, do not be afraid. Everything that I did, I did only for you. Why are you afraid? Do not fear; the time of your redemption has arrived.” The Rebbe said then, based on the description mentioned earlier in the Medrash, that the Medrash was referring to that Gulf War. Indeed, we saw great miracles at the time, how G‑d protected us from numerous missiles. I often wondered, why was it necessary for

G‑d to repeat three times to not be afraid? But then a second frightening series of events occurred, beginning with the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, which led to the Second Gulf War, the rise and fall of ISIS, and the Arab Spring, which eventually weakened some of Israel's enemies, while numerous other nations in the region began pursuing peaceful relations with Israel. And then a third very frightening time came: COVID, economic turmoil, civil unrest, polarizing politics. So perhaps this is why G‑d told us a third time, “Do not fear; the time of your redemption has arrived.” I look forward to a time when we will be able to truly recognize G‑d's presence in everything, which will lead to a closer, loving relationship with G‑d, and a peaceful, caring relationship with one another. As we experience the month of Kislev, a time when we celebrate G‑d's miracles, and we light the Chanukah menorah, adding more light each day, we look forward to seeing many more miracles, until the ultimate light in the complete Redemption with the coming of Moshiach. Until then, we can strive to see and care for the light within us, within one another, within the world. EM Yoseph Janowski lives in Toronto, Canada.

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BAR MITZVAH CLUB

NEED a CAR?

Discover what Bar Mitzvah is all about. Learn to read the Torah, and love it too! Bar mitzvah preparation and so much more...

BAT MITZVAH CLUB

Happy Hanukkah! ● Lease,

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● Previously

Don’t just celebrate a Bat Mitzvah, become one! Learn what it means to be a Bat Mitzvah Woman in the modern world.

For more information and to register call 416-222-7105

YOSEF KROUPENIN English ● Russian ● Hebrew

(416) 508 -1406

JRCC VEHICLE

DONATION PROGRAM

It is a

WIN !SITUATION! Get a TAX de receipt for you ductible r VEHICLE and help the JRCC

HELP JRCC

For more info please contact us: Phone: 416.222.7105 x 251 Email: VehicleDonation@jrcc.org Web: Jrcc.org/VehicleDonation

Tevet 5781

The EUROPEAN FURNITURE Our qualified sales staff will help you select the style of furniture that suits your taste, lifestyle and decorative needs. Our store features a wide selection of fine European furniture and the best furniture around the world.

Visit us: 4699 Keele St, Toronto, ON M3J 2N8 (1 Block South of Steeles) Open daily 10 am to 8 pm

Наши квалифицированные продавцы помогут вам правильно подобрать мебель, со вкусом полностью обставить ваш дом. Большой выбор европейской мебели и гарнитуров лучших дизайнеров.

Visit www.TheEuropeanFurniture.ca Hanukkah is a time to reconnect with your loved ones. Book a FREE HEARING TEST

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Lawrence Plaza, 416-613-8382 Lawrence Avenue and Dufferin Street, 416-613-8384 Spring Farm Marketplace, 416-613-8383 St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street, 416-613-8381 FOR A FULL LIST OF LOCATIONS, AND MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT

HearingSolutions.ca

December 2020

exodusmagazine.org