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Torah She’baal Peh by Rav Moshe Weinberger
From the Fire
By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf
We see in the seforim that it is customary to connect the parshios of Yosef Hatzaddik to Chanukah. I saw a teaching from Rav Pinchas Friedman, the Rosh Kollel of Belz, which makes several amazing connections between Miketz and the yom tov of Chanukah.
When Yosef’s brothers return to Egypt with Binyamin, Yosef invites them all to a seudah, a feast. The Torah then says (Bereishis 43:34), “And [Yosef] gave them portions, but Binyamin’s portion was five times greater than theirs.” Why does the Torah use the expression “chamesh yados” to say “five times greater?” There are other words it could have used besides “yados,” which literally means “hands.”
Rav Friedman brought down a Torah from the Kedushas Levi (Peirushei Agados) on this pasuk to explain that Yosef was planting the seeds for the ultimate victory of the Chashmoniam over the Greeks with this gift to Binyamin. The five “hands” correspond to the five deliverances of the Greeks into the “hands” of the Chashmonaim: “the mighty in the hands of the weak, the many in the hands of the few, the impure in the hands of the pure, the wicked in the hands of the righteous, and the willful sinners in the hands of those who study Your Torah.” The five ways in which the Greeks were delivered into our hands correspond to the five “yados,” the extra gifts Yosef gave Binyamin.
Generally, Hashem sends His Divine influence to the Jewish people using His “right hand,” the side of mercy. He sends His Divine influence to the nations of the world using his “left hand,’ the side of strict judgment. The Kedushas Levi also explains that Yosef gave these extra portions to Binyamin in particular to further strengthen the Jews’ ability to overcome the Greek oppressors. Binyamin means “ben yamin,” the “right hand.” Yosef gave him additional gifts in order to strengthen the “right hand,” the Jewish people, to enable them to overcome the “left hand,” the nations of the world at the time of Chanukah.
Yosef, however, gave Binyamin an extra gift another time as well. In Parshas Vayigash, the pasuk (Bereishis 45:22) says, “[Yosef] gave each one changes of clothing, but he gave three hundred silver pieces and five changes of clothing to Binyamin.”
Why did he give an additional gift of “five” to Binyamin? The Gemara in Megilla 16b explains: “Rabi Binyamin bar Yofes said: [Yosef] hinted to him that someone would come from him [Binyamin] who would come out from the king with five royal garments, as it says, (Esther 8:15) ‘And Mordechai went out in the royal garments of [1] turquoise and [2] white with a [3] large gold crown and a [4] robe of fine linen and [5] purple.’”
We therefore see that Yosef gave Binyamin five gifts twice: one to set the stage for the five victories of the Chashmonaim over the Greeks in the events of Chanukah, and the other corresponding to the five royal garments worn by Mordechai in the miracle of Purim.
Why did Yosef hint to Binyamin about the yomim tovim of Chanukah and Purim? What is the connection between Binyamin and Chanukah and Purim?
Each of the twelve months of the year correspond to one of the twelve Shevatim, tribes. According
to the Arizal (although not the Zohar), the month in which Chanukah takes place, Kislev, corresponds to Shevet Binyamin, about whom the Torah says (Devarim 33:12), “May Hashem’s beloved dwell securely by Him; he hovers over him all day long and rests between his shoulders,” an allusion to the fact that the primary parts of the Beis Hamikdash will dwell in Binyamin’s portion of Eretz Yisroel.
The Beis Hamikdash would be re-inaugurated in the month of Kislev by the Chashmonaim after it had been defiled by the Greeks, as we say in Al Hanisim, “And after this, your children came into the Holy of Holies of Your house, cleansed Your Temple, purified the site of Your Holiness and kindled lights in the courtyards of Your Sanctuary.” They therefore cleansed Binyamin’s portion of Eretz Yisroel in the month of Binyamin, Kislev.
Binyamin is also connected to the yom tov of Purim because that miracle occurred through Mordechai, Binyamin’s descendant, as the Megilla (2:5) calls Mordechai “Ish yemini,” “a man [from the tribe of] Binyamin.”
According to Rav Tzadok Hakohen in Pri Tzadik on Chanukah, Chanukah personifies the victory of the holiness of Torah she’baal peh, the Oral Torah, over the Greeks who attempted “to cause [the Jewish people] to forget Your Torah.” At the time of Chanukah, Oral Torah began to take shape as the sages initiated the compilation of the Mishnayos. This was necessary to counterbalance the spread of Greek philosophy, Aristotle, y”sh, and the like, which, on the side of evil, corresponded to the Torah she’baal peh, the Oral Torah.
That is why the miracle of Chanukah took place through the children of Aharon Hakohen. Moshe is the source of the Torah she’bichtav, the written Torah, because he received the Torah from G-d’s mouth at Sinai. Aharon, however, did not hear the Torah from Hashem directly. Aharon was the first person to learn Torah orally, from Moshe, so the kohanim were the initial step in the process of the Oral Torah. We can see this in the pasuk (Malachi 2:6-7), “The Torah of truth was in [the kohen’s] mouth ... the lips of the Kohen will guard wisdom and seek Torah from his mouth.”
The connection between Chanukah and the Torah she’baal peh, the Oral Torah, is also exemplified by the fact that there are 36 candles lit throughout Chanukah, which correspond to the 36 masechtos, tractates, of Mishna.
Based on what we have said, we can also understand why Yaakov had to marry two sisters. According to the Me’or Einayim in Vayeitzei and the Baal Hatanya in Likutei Torah on Metzorah, as well as
other tzaddikim, Yaakov married Leah, who corresponds to the Torah she’bichtav, the written Torah, and he married Rochel, who corresponds to Torah she’baal peh, the Oral Torah. This is alluded to Lavan’s statement to Yaakov (Bereishis 29:26), “It is not done in this place to give the younger one [Rochel] before the older one [Leah].” Leah, who corresponds to the written Torah, is the older sister because the written Torah came first. Rochel, who corresponds to the Oral Torah, is the younger sister because the Oral Torah explains and expands upon the preexisting written Torah. Therefore, Lavan’s words can be interpreted to mean that one should not study the Oral Torah before he has something of a firm grasp on the written Torah.
The Yomim Tovim of the written Torah, like Pesach and Sukkos, were therefore revealed first through Moshe Rabbeinu, who is a descendent of Leah, the older sister, who corresponds to the written Torah. The rabbinically instituted Yomim Tovim of Chanukah and Purim, however, were revealed later in history, through Yosef and Binyamin, the children of Rochel, the younger sister, who corresponds to Torah she’baal peh, the Oral Torah.
This is also why Rochel said to Yaakov (Bereishis 30:1), “Give me children, and if not, I, anochi, am dead.” In other words, Rochel was saying to Yaakov, “Give me Yosef and Binyamin, my children who will lay the foundation of the Oral Torah. If you do not, I, anochi, which stands for “Anochi Hashem Elokecha,” “I am the L-rd your G-d,” i.e., the whole written Torah, will not have any staying power without my children Yosef and Binyamin, the progenitors of the Torah she’baal peh, the Oral Torah.”
We know that we will return from exile in the merit of the prayers of Rochel who represents the Torah she’baal peh, the Oral Torah, as it says in the pasuk (Yirmiyahu 31:1416), “A cry is heard is Rama … Rochel cries for her children, she refuses to be comforted for her children for they are no more … you have hope says Hashem and your children will return to their borders.” And according to the Medrash (Vayikra Raba 7:3), “All of the exiles will only be brought back in the merit of Mishnayos,” i.e., the Oral Torah represented by Rochel.
In a similar vein, Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, zt”l, taught an amazing gematria in the pasuk (Yeshaya 1:27), “Zion b’mishpat tifdeh v’shivyah b’tzedakah,” “Zion will be redeemed with justice and her returnees with righteousness.” He taught that Zion b’mishpat tifdeh is the numerical equivalent of Talmud Yerushalmi, and the phrase v’shivyah b’tzedakah is the numerical equivalent of Talmud Bavli.
This connection between Yosef Hatzaddik and the Oral Torah is also hinted at in the pasuk (Bereishis 41:42-43), “And Paroah removed the ring that was on his hand and placed it on Yosef’s hand and enclothed him in garments of linen (“shesh”) ... and he caused him to ride on the second (“ha’mishneh”) royal chariot which belongs to him (“lo”).” The garments of linen (“shesh,” which also means “six”) correspond to the six sections of the Mishnah, the second (“ha’mishneh,” which also means “Mishnah”) royal chariot corresponds to the Mishnayos, and the phrase “which belongs to him” (“lo,” which has the numerical value of 36) alludes to the 36 candles of Chanukah, which is the yom tov of the Oral Torah.
After finishing the preceding teaching from the Belzer Rosh Kollel, we may be left to wonder how we can retain the deep experience and Torah of Chanukah even after the yom tov is over. We may feel like the skinny and impoverished cows in Paroah’s dream, which remained just as pathetic as they were before even after eating the seven fat cows. We also consume a lot of holy ideas throughout Chanukah, but as soon as the yom tov is over, we may fear that we will go back to being exactly like we were before and that nothing we experienced will have made any lasting change in us.
The answer is that we must eat more latkes. According to the Baal Hasulam, Rav Alshag, the word latke is connected to the Aramaic word “lateh,” meaning patch. The nations among whom we live have created many breaches in the walls of our lives, “u’phartzu chomos migdalai,” and we must create more latkes, more patches, to mend those breaches by learning more Torah she’baal peh, Mishnayos and Gemara.
With Hashem’s help, the Torah we learn should fill in everything we are missing and we should be zocheh merit to go up to Yerushalayim, b’viyas go’el tzedek b’mheira b’yameinu. Amen.
