Illuminations Torah Journal (Chanukah 5773)

Volume 2

Volume 6

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Faith and Security: Why Chanukah in Kislev The Eternal Light ofisthe Candles JessicaMagid Gruenstein Yael ‘12 ‘14 Chanukah is associated with the lunar month of We knoware thatmany the miracle of Chanukah ex-faKislev.allThere questions regardingwas this pressed through such the lighting why? in mous holiday, as why of dothe wemenorah, eat foodsbut cooked oil? Why light eight candles from left right?

There weredo sowe many other Temple services thatto could What is the purposetoofsignify the shamash? many have been performed the joy ofHowever, rededicating neglect to ask the most obvious question of all: Why is the Beit Hamikdash other than this. In fact, some comChanukah in Kislev? mentators go so far as saying that the lighting of the Chanukah celebrates the miraculous outcomes of menorah was unnecessary.

If one is unable to all perform two essentially hopeless situations.

We are familiar a with commandment because of conditions that hamper the miracle of the lights and with the unexpected victory the then Greeks wefrom asserted him fromagainst doing so, oneiniswhich exempt doingour power.

In both of theseTherefore, situations,even we had no hope. the mitzvah altogether. though thereWe did not expect to win; we did not expect to emerge was a commandment to light the menorah every day successful. However, the Jews’ faith that they could do in the Beit Hamikdash, the lack of oil would have exwell allowed them to succeed. We never would have empted thethe priests from thehadn’t obligation thisour defeated Greeks if we had to theperform faith that mitzvah.

This do leaves us with thejug question army could so. The small of oil that burned for would never been ofeight why days the lighting of the have menorah spefound ifwas nobody faith that there cifically chosenhad to symbolize. was still oil left, hidden away.

Thus, Continued on page 14 Chanukah is a holiday of faith.

The fact that the word Kislev is de-

Continued on page 7Editors: Avital Szulc, Elan Kiderman

Chanukah 5769, 2008

Chanukah 5773, 2012

First Impressions

Mattout ‘15 The Eddie Chanukiah

Yitzchak Gross ‘10 “You never get a second chance to make a first The chanukiah is the Chanukah, and, impression” might besignature a cliché, of but people ignore essentially, symbol the holiday.

We use it for it at theirthe own peril. of Whenever a person is doing firstnight impression is vital. Wheththesomething candles wenew, lightthe each of Chanukah.

Placed it is the first day school, aspreads job interview, at er our windows, the of chanukiah the joy or of sellthe ing a product, the first impression is critical. It can miracle that happened to the Jews during the days of make the difference between success and failure.

Matityahu and the Chashmonaim. There are a numSomeone’s opinion of a person can be based solely beronofhow requirements fulfill properly. he or she to acted thethis firstmitzvah time they met. For First, we must clarify that there is a difference beexample, if a person is trying out for the school basketball and plays well, he or she willmebe tween theteam “menorah” andreally the “chanukiah.”

The viewed a “good” basketball player. Even theonly stunorah was as located in the Beit Hamikdash andif lit dent plays badly in the future, people may say that there; the chanukiah is what we light in our homes on he or she is just having a bad day. Leaders must be Chanukah. The main difference is that the menorah especially sensitive to the importance of making a contained lamps and a shamash, while the chanukiah good first6 impression. eight, plus Never In contains Parshat Mikeitz, Yosefa shamash. realized that his theless, colloquially, chanukiahby is the offuture would be the determined impression he would make on ten first referred to as “menorah.”

Pharaoh. Whether he would remain Continued on page 15 a prisoner for the rest of his life or become a major player in Am Yisrael’s Faculty Editor: Rabbi Kenny Schiowitz

Continued on page 10

Illuminations Chanukah Vacation?

Rabbi Aryeh Stechler, Talmud Faculty

The Shulchan Aruch quotes an ancient practice that women do not perform work on Chanukah while the candles are lit. This is a special celebratory custom reserved for women because of their leadership role in defeating the Greeks.

Yehudit’s craftiness allowed her to assassinate the Greek general Holofernes.

The Sharei Teshuva records the custom of some communities expanding this practice of not working to the entire eight days of Chanukah.

However, he rejects this practice as law. Highlighting the Chacham Tzvi as his prooftext, he argues that creating a practice to refrain from work is wrong. “[Unnecessary] refraining from work is an aveira (sin).”

What transgression do we commit when we refrain from work? In order to understand the prohibition against “bumming around,” we need to explore the value that Judaism places on pursuing a career.

All Ramaz Upper School students recently studied the section in the Talmud that invalidates witnesses from testifying if they can be proven to be gamblers (Sanhedrin 24b). The Talmud questions this invalidation: “What have gamblers transgressed to warrant this exclusion?” Rav Sheishet suggests that since gamblers do not “contribute to the development of the world,” they cannot serve as witnesses. As a prooftext for his opinion, the Talmud cites Rabbi Yehudah, who believes that if gamblers have an additional profession, an umanut, they may serve as witnesses despite their gambling ways. The problem is not

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inherent with the action of gambling. Gambling merely is an income source that lacks the contribution to society inherent in other professions.

The Talmud teaches us that contributing to society, through our jobs, is a critical component to defining us as Jews. If we disregard this expectation, we lose our standing in the Jewish community and are no longer deemed valid witnesses in the court of Jewish law.

Many sources in Judaism suggest that work (a job and developing a career) is a mitzva. Some of these sources imply that earning a living through a veritable profession is necessary only to ensure one does not engage in illegal activities (Pirkei Avot 2:2). However, the Mechilta suggests that working is a mitzva during the week to create a contrast to Shabbat (Mechilta, Yitro).

If one merely hangs around all week on a street corner, one cannot appreciate the restful break of Shabbat.

However, what is the source for Rav Sheishet’s opinion that the importance of pursuing a career is based on the Jewish ideal of contributing to society? From where does Rav Sheishet derive that contributing to society is essential to being an exemplary Jew? I believe the answer lies in understanding the primary text in Judaism that focuses on career.

When the Talmud (Kiddushin) lists the primary obligations of parenthood, it includes the responsibility to teach a child an umanut. What is the source that obligates us to teach our child a profession? The Torah obligates us to give

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‫הארות‬ our child “life”; “life” can be defined spiritually, i.e., teaching the child Torah, which is the spiritual way of life. The Talmud’s definition of “life” includes all the physical necessities of life – food, clothing, and shelter. To truly give your children “life” - you must teach them Torah and a profession so they can survive.

Since the obligation of “profession” in Judaism is conveyed to us in the context of parental obligations, I believe the source for Rav Sheishet’s interpretation is the first mitzva in the Torah. Pru Urevu – be fruitful and multiply and populate the world – is not merely a biological mitzva to procreate. To be a parent is to provide life, literally, through birth, but also to give a child the tools, spiritual and physical, to survive. Therefore, one is biblically required to ensure your child is knowledgeable in both Torah and a trade. But Pru Urevu is even more than the survival of the human race. God commanded Adam and Eve – Peru Urevu Umilu Et HaAretz Vkivshuha – multiply, fill the world, and conquer it. Conquering the world must be understood as developing it. What is Rav Sheishet’s source for the belief that the development of society is not only a mitzva, but also a critical precept of Judaism? Pru Urevu – the human race has an obligation to survive and to use the opportunity that is life to positively develop the world around us.

Returning to Chanukah, we now understand why the Chacham Tzvi forcefully argued to abolish the practice of not working on this festival.

While there are some days when the Torah prohibits work, the Rabbis rarely suggested any custom of prohibiting work. Careers are too critical to our mission of societal development to jeopardize even for religious reasons.

More pointedly, on Chanukah we celebrate our victory over the Greeks, a victory that enabled us to resist not being influenced by Greek Hellenism. The Greeks, like many great cultures, celebrated the development of society and significantly enhanced Israel. Today we still can see the contributions of Greek and Roman culture to the Israeli countryside. It is easy to misunderstand the Rabbis’ disdain for Hellenism as a rejection of the Greek value of building society. This may have been the source of the practice not to work on Chanukah. Perhaps the minhag began in order to highlight the fact that we are a spiritual people who value Shabbat – which implies a cessation from work. However, the Chacham Tzvi rejects this notion! Nothing could be farther from the truth. Judaism rejected Hellenism because it wished to replace Judaism with developing man and developing society in a spiritual vacuum. Hellenism failed to recognize that we, as Jews, value developing the human being and society, but we believe that our Torah and her mitzvot are the very tools necessary in that development. We believe Shabbat is necessary once a week, and that the rest Shabbat affords us gives us the ability to contribute to society through our professions during the remaining six days. To highlight our specific argument against Hellenism, Chanukah is a combination of two principles of Judaism. We light the candles – symbolizing our connection with Torah and mitzvot, but even during the time those candles burn, nay, because of those candles – on Chanukah itself, we still are able to work, to pursue our careers and to contribute to society.

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Illuminations Women on Chanukah Esther Douer ‘15

The Maharil says that one is not allowed to work while the candles of the menora are burning. One reason given is that the word “Chanukah” contains the smaller word “chanu,” which means “they rested.” This tells us that on Chanukah we should rest during the time that the candles are burning. Women, in particular, follow this practice because one of the miracles of Chanukah itself is linked to a woman’s action.

The Syrian-Greek king issued a ruling that upon marriage, a Jewish girl was to be brought first to the local ruler. Yochanan’s daughter, Yehudit, was very beautiful and the king wanted to marry

her. The daughter accepted the king’s offer and fed him cheese and wine to get him drunk. Afterward, when the king finally fell asleep as a result of Yehudit’s trap, she decapitated him. She brought it to the Greeks and they fled the city, leaving the daughter as the savior for the Jewish people. Thus, some women stop all work during the time the candles are burning in order to emphasize this aspect of the mitzva.

Source: Kitov, Eliyahu. The book of our heritage; the Jewish year and its days of significance. Jerusalem: Felheim Publishers, 1968. Print.

The Power of the Eighth Day of Chanukah Emma Rosen ‘15

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Jill Adler ‘15

The Talmud (Gittin 57b) describes a wellknown incident of Jewish martyrdom from the time of Chanukah, that of Chana and her seven sons. The first son was brought in front of the king and was commanded to worship an idol.

He refused, citing the pasuk, “I am your God” (Shmot 20:2), and they murdered him. When the second son came and was told to serve the idol, he, too, refused, citing, “You cannot have other gods when I exist” (ibid.) and he, too, was murdered. Each of the sons followed and refused to bow, each citing another pasuk, affirming our faith in the One God. The seventh son cited the pasuk “Et Hashem he’emarta…” (Devarim 26:17, 18). This pasuk describes the reciprocal promises between God and the Jewish People to eternally stand by each other. At this point, the king tells the seventh and youngest son that he will throw

down his royal ring so that the son should just bow down to get it and give it to the king. This two-year-old child, who saw six brothers die and has a chance to escape, tells the king “I pity you.” And the child explained that as important as the king’s honor is to the king, God’s honor 4

‫הארות‬ is infinitely greater and it is to Him alone that he is loyal. The story concludes with Chana kissing her last son goodbye, as she tells him: “My sons, tell Avraham Aveinu that he prepared one altar and I prepared seven.” Then she jumped from the roof as a heavenly voice proclaimed, “Eim habanim semaycha,” - “The mother of these sons can rejoice.”

We must pause to consider what it is that gave these children the courage that they possessed.

We also must note that while the first six sons quoted the explicit verses in the Ten Commandments as their basis, the youngest referred to verses that are less explicit. His inspiration originates in an interpretation of the verses that rests upon the traditional exegesis and his kal vechomer. What was the significance of this?

This contrast is the difference between Torah she’bechtav (Written Law) and Torah Sheb’al peh (Oral Law). Hashem could have given us just the Written Torah and avoided conflicts and confusions in transmission. However, it is the Torah Sheb’al Pe that makes Klal Yisrael truly special. Hashem instructed Yehoshua to write Torah in many languages so other nations have could contact with it. The Written Torah has a universal message that must inspire the entire world. However, the Torah Sheb’al Pe is the unique sign between God and Bnei Yisrael, a “secret language.”

What is the greatness here? A Jew can have the potential to become so godly that what he says is Torah. The godliness that they had in them enabled them to overcome anything. The fact that we are ready to die for Hashem means we can defy the most powerful people on earth if their commands violate our religious principles. And

this is an expression that Hashem is within us and that the future is ours, so no one can overcome us.

The power of Chanukah is that we can become godly and we can turn physicality into spirituality. This is the concept of a candle, where we turn darkness into light. This is why a miracle happened on Chanukah. The miracle of “many in the hands of a few” occurred because we are godly and that is our power. Chanukah is not recorded in the Written Torah, yet when we light the candles, we say “vetzivanu,” -- God commanded us to light the menora -- because God empowered the Jewish People to create our own laws, our own godliness, and our own legacy.

Adina Weinberger ‘16

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Illuminations Menora Versus Havdalah: Who Wins?

Raffi Snow ‘13

Immediately following Shabbat of Chanukah, we are confronted with an interesting halachic question. In one’s home, what does one light first: the candle for Havdala or the Chanukah candles?

The Shulchan Aruch addresses this very question. It says that one should light the Chanukah menora first and then the Havdalah candle. According to the Shulchan Aruch, we do this in order to prolong Shabbat.

A logical question then arises. If we light Chanukah candles after we have already said “Atah Chonantanu” in Ma’ariv, but before we light the Havdalah candle, isn’t it quite obvious that Shabbat is already over? So how are we prolonging Shabbat when it’s pretty clear that it’s already over?

Rav Pam cites the Kaballah in answering this question. The Kaballah says that a small amount of Shabbat separation/holiness still remains even after the recitation of “atah chonantanu.” When we light the menora before the Havdalah candle, we are lighting it at exactly the right time. It is after ma’ariv, so Shabbat is technically over and we are not breaking Shabbat. But it’s also before we light the Havdalah candle, so we still have that extra dosage of Shabbat kedusha.

Other poskim, most notably the Taz, disagree with the Shulchan Aruch. These poskim maintain that one should light the Havdalah candle before lighting the Chanukah menora. Their rationale is based on the halachic principle of “Tadir v’she’eyno tadir, tadir kodem” – meaning that when we face two mitzvot, the more frequent mitzva takes precedence over the less frequent one if there is no

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other way to decide.

In conclusion, both options, the first that we light the menora before we light the Havdalah candle and the second that we light the Havdalah candle before the menora, make halachic sense and are legitimate. Common practice actually goes against the Shulchan Aruch and tells us to light the Havdalah candle first and then afterwards the Chanukah menora.

I think this is probably our custom because we don’t want to it appear to the uninformed that Jews can break Shabbat on Chanukah!

Jill Adler ‘15

Sources: Smith, Rabbi Sholom. Rav Pam on the Festivals.

Brooklyn, New York: Mesorah Publications, Ltd. 2005.

Shulchan Aruch Hilchot Chanukah: Siman Taf Reysh Pay Alef Halacha bet Rama on Siman Taf Reysh Pay Alef Mishnah Berurah Siman Taf Reysh Pay Alef Halacha Bet The Taz: Hilchot Chanukah: Siman Taf Reysh Pay Alef

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‫הארות‬ Faith and Security

(continued from page 1)

rived from the Hebrew word kesel, which can be translated as faith, is not a coincidence. We celebrate Chanukah in Kislev because it is a holiday of faith, the the faith of our ancestors. They believed that they would eventually prevail and save Judaism, and thus with hard work and God’s help they succeeded in their endeavors and fulfilled their own optimism. The message of “Kislev” is that we should have as much faith in other people and in God as the Macabim did long ago. Then we, too, might succeed.

The word kesel also has two other meanings -- kidney, and security (http://www.inner. org/times/kislev/kislev.htm). How are these two things related? We have two kidneys when we only need one, but the extra kidney is not entirely superfluous because the extra organ provides us with the security that if one fails, there’s another one to back it up. Similarly, one person’s kidney can provide security for someone else, as it can be donated to someone who needs it. This is related to Chanukah because of the extra little jug of oil that the Macabim found and that, by a miracle, lasted for eight whole days. If not for that extra jug hidden away, the special practice of lighting the Chanukah candles would never have existed.

“Kislev” teaches us the importance of having a backup, and that we should never put all of our eggs in one basket.

That Kislev is a winter month also is important. In the winter, when it’s chilly outside, we take peace in the comfort of our own homes. We become less tolerant of the literal atmosphere.

Though it is true that in Israel (where Chanukah was originally established) in Kislev it’s a bit

warmer than it is in our local area, the connection still stands. Winter causes us to appreciate the kesel and security of life at home.

As a tradition, my father reads one story to my brother and me each night of Chanukah. These stories come from a very special book, The Power of Light by Isaac Bashevis Singer. This is a collection of eight incredible stories, each of which emphasizes a different message and theme of Chanukah. However, one story in particular always stands out to me, the story of Menashe and Rachel.

Menashe and Rachel are two blind children in an orphanage who learn to make up stories and “see” the world in a different way. One Chanukah night, they realize that they love each other and fantasize that they will one day get married and live happily ever after in the land of Israel. The story ends with this idealistic image.

This beautiful ending always moves me, for it describes the very essence of the security in other people and the faith in the future that represent the reason why Chanukah is in Kislev. Chanukah is in Kislev so that we may exercise these values, and so that we may come out of this miraculous holiday both transformed by faith and comforted by security.

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Illuminations From Despair to Rededication Noam Kornsgold ‘13

From the destruction of the Second Beit HaMikdash until the establishment of the State of Israel, Tisha B’Av was a main focus on the calendar for Jews. Both the Rambam (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Ta’anit 5:8) and Rabbi Yosef Caro (Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chaim 551) added prohibitions dealing with the day during the Middle Ages, a time where Jews constantly were persecuted.

Conversely, Chanukah played a very small role for Jews in the time leading up to the return of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel in 1948.

After all, Chanukah is considered only a minor holiday and receives very little attention in the Talmud (and even less in the Mishna). However, these views on Chanukah underwent a dramatic reversal upon the establishment of the State of Israel. Tisha B’Av is no longer as widely observed and commemorated by the general Jewish population, while almost every Jew celebrates Chanukah in some way.

This change occurred because after the establishment of the State of Israel, Jews began to feel a deeper connection to Chanukah, with its miracles involving a small minority of Jews gaining independence from the mighty Greeks and the lighting of the menora in the Temple in Jerusalem. At the same time, however, Tisha B’Av, which focuses on a loss of Jewish sovereignty and power, seemed to have lost its full significance because the State of Israel represents the exact opposite of what Tisha B’Av signifies.

When the Maccabees rededicated the Beit HaMikdash, they were acting as their ances-

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tors did in the desert. In the section of the Torah that we read during Chanukah, the Torah states, “The princes brought offerings for the dedication (chanukat) of the altar on the day it was anointed” (Numbers 7:10). Just as Bnei Yisrael made a chanukah (dedication) of the Mishkan, so, too, did the Maccabees do a Chanukah (rededication) of the newly purified Beit HaMikdash.

When the Maccabees retook the Beit HaMikdash, it was a very joyous occasion. Chanukah can be considered a greater happiness than it would have been otherwise because of its connection to the holiday of Sukot. Sukot is the only holiday about which the Torah states, “And you shall be happy (usmachtem) before the Lord your God for seven days” (Leviticus 23:40). The connection between Chanukah and Sukot can be found where the Talmud (Shabbat 21b) discusses the reasoning of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel on their respective opinions regarding the number of candles we light each night of Chanukah. In the Talmud, Beit Hillel says that each night we increase the number of candles we light (i.e., on night one, we light one candle; on night two, we light two candles, etc.). However, Beit Shammai says that each night we decrease the number of candles we light (i.e. on night one, we light eight candles; on night two, we light seven candles, etc.). One of the reasons given for Beit Shammai‘s opinion is that the lighting of the Chanukah candles “corresponds to the bull sacrifices of the festival [Sukot].” Just as the decreasing number of sacrifices on Sukot signifies the weakening of the

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‫הארות‬ seventy nations, a decreasing number of candles on Chanukah also reflects the weakening of the might of the Greeks.

The biblical mandate of being happy on Sukot also can be applied to Chanukah. When the Jews established the State of Israel, they were following in the footsteps of their ancestors when, after defeating the Greeks, they rededicated the Beit HaMikdash, which was originally dedicated on Sukot. However, unlike the modern example, Jewish sovereignty did not last for long after the Maccabees took over. It was only a short time period until the Romans destroyed the Second Beit HaMikdash and crushed the Bar

Kochva Revolt. After these tragedies occurred, the meaning of Chanukah seemed to have changed. In its place, Tisha B’Av and all the sadness associated with it took over the hearts and minds of Jews everywhere.

Now that we have a state to call our own, Jews have been, and continue to be, invigorated to celebrate Chanukah in all its joyousness. This Chanukah, as we light the chanukiya, not only should we remember the great sacrifices that our ancestors made in the past, but we also should rejoice in the fact that the State of Israel exists.

Chanukah Power Outage Thoughts Alex Weinberg ‘14

On Monday, October 29, 2012, at 4:12 p.m., the lights flickered and then went out. “No big deal,” I thought to myself, “Bring it on, Sandy. I can handle you.” Even though I was expecting the lights to be out for at least a few days, a rock still dropped in my stomach when the word came in over the hand-cranked radio that we would be living in the cold and dark for the rest of the week, and maybe even longer. While school being canceled was a quick bright spot in a house lit only by flashlights, it wasn’t enough to quench the feeling of desolation creeping into my bones. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate power outages, but there is still some part of me that dreads spending a week in a home devoid of light.

Later that evening as I lay in bed and listened to the wind howl and the trees crash with a ven-

geance into the ground that had failed to keep them rooted safely I thought of the Maccabees of old. I thought of how the menora had provided light for days longer than they had expected. I thought of how much a little light could mean in an otherwise dark night. Would their great victory over the Greeks have meant as much or been as special if they hadn’t had the light of Torah to turn to? Would their victory be as celebrated if the Maccabees had to return to a Beit HaMikdash, the home of the Jewish People, devoid of the incalculable comfort that light provides?

My answer is no. No military victory is special if you need to return to a dark and desolate home afterwards.

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Illuminations First Impressions

(continued from page 1)

did the Chashmonaim feel it was so necessary to find a jug of pure oil? Since the law is that if the majority of people are tamei, and the Temple service can therefore be performed b’tumah, it seems that the menora could have been kindled with impure oil. However, this rule does not apply when a utensil is being initiated for the first time (see Pnei Yehoshua, Shabbat daf 21). The reason is that the initiation sets the tone for the future. If tumah is allowed at the initiation, it will not bode well for the future. The Chashmonaim, under the leadership of Yehudah, understood what all leaders need to realize. “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” They had to make sure that the oil was pure so people would absorb the message and be pure in all of their actions.

destiny was dependent on the first few minutes of his encounter with Pharaoh. Rashi comments that Yosef shaved and dressed in a respectful manner to meet the king. Yosef understood that meeting Pharaoh under such circumstances was no less than a job interview. Thus, he presented himself in a respectful and proper manner so that Pharaoh could see Yosef as someone who could help him in the future.

The most important part of Yosef’s first impression was interpreting Pharaoh’s dream. Fortunately, Yosef succeeded. When Pharaoh realized that Yosef had a connection to God, he hired him immediately. The impression was so strong that Pharaoh proclaimed to Yosef, “There is no one as understanding and intelligent as you are” (Bereishit 41:39).

This can directly apply to Chanukah. Why

A Second Impression About First Impressions Rabbi Effie Kleinberg, Judaics Studies Faculty

The importance of first impressions, as explained by Eddie Mattout in the prevous article, is further illustrated by the following anecdote that Rabbi Tzaddok HaKohen of Lublin recounted from his youth: A poor father and his son were travelling together, barely able to hold themselves up due to their fatigue; they had not eaten in days.

Suddenly, the father noticed a shimmering coin in the mud and asked his son to pick it up. Due to his feeble condition, the son concluded that trying to get it would not be worth the struggle and made no effort to go after the coin. Seeing that his son was not exerting himself, the father picked

Volume 6 | Chanukah 5773, 2012

up the coin and began to clean it off vigorously.

To his delight, they were able to purchase a basket of fruit for the two of them. The father ordered his starving son to eat the fruit, but the son felt guilty because of his laziness, and refused to eat. Realizing that his son felt too guilty about the whole incident, the father decided that he would travel ahead and instruct his son to follow along the same path one hour after the father had begun to walk. As the father journeyed, he dropped the fruit along the path in the muddy road. The son, following along the path, found the fruit lying in the mud, and it did not occur to him that they had

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‫הארות‬ been placed there by his father. In this way, the son satiated his hunger, collecting all the fruit until he again met up with his father. Through this journey, the father taught his son an invaluable lesson. All the son had to do was make that small effort to reach out for the coin and he would have been enjoying delicious apples within minutes. Instead, he chose to not seize the opportunity and had to go on a much longer and arduous journey before he could enjoy the apples.

The parsha in the Torah of the b’chor -- the firstborn son who is rewarded with a double portion of inheritance -- immediately precedes the parsha of the ben sorer u’moreh -- the wayward son (see Devarim perek 21). What is the Torah conveying with this juxtaposition? Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain in his Shem MiShmuel explained that the Torah rewards the firstborn son with a larger inheritance than his siblings because the potential power and impact that this “first energy” of a marriage cannot be underestimated. Nonetheless, much is riding on this first child as he represents the beginning of the next generation of the family, as the great Spiderman said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” In the parsha of the wayward son, once this son has reached bar mitzva age, he is deemed responsible for his actions whether they be positive or negative. The possible danger of not appropriately educating this child at the outset of his formative years can be potentially destructive, as the Torah dictates, “They shall say to the elders of the city, ‘This son of ours is wayward and rebellious; he does not hearken to our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ All the men of his city shall pelt him with stones and he shall die” (Devarim 21:20-21). If the early months of the son’s coming

of age are destructive, our Sages tell us that it is a sign of even worse destruction, forcing the community to cut this boy off before the situation deteriorates any further.

When we celebrate Chanukah, we must consider and praise the heroism of the Chashmonaim.

In a state of panic and disarray, they easily could have chosen to light the menora with impure oil, and they would have been just as well off had they chosen not to search for pure oil. The insistence on pure oil created an eternal standard of not settling for anything less than the best. When we start a new journey in our lives, be it our own spirituality, be it a relationship, or even a new activity or hobby, do not give your second-best effort, because how you choose to approach that situation from the start will affect the way you approach it for the rest of the time you are engaged in that journey. The Jewish people were so careful about the choices that we made in earlier generations, ma’aseh avot siman l’banim -- If we live our Judaism with passion, we will attract others to also get excited about their own Judaism. Chanukah is about not settling for less than the purest form of being a Jew, putting in all of our effort in the first moments of our day so that we can be inspired for the rest of the day and the week and continue to grow in our Judaism for the rest of our lives!

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Illuminations This publication is sponsored in honor of the Ramaz Class of 1998’s 15 year reunion and dedicated to the memory of our friend and classmate

Joey Vogel z”l

We mourn Joey’s untimely death and fondly remember his zest for life, love of Torah, compassion for people and wonderful spirit.

May his memory always be for a blessing.

Members of the Class of 1998 Laws of Candle Lighting

Lighting the Candles: The lights are lit from left to right – starting with the newest candle first. We begin by lighting the shamash, then we say the blessings. Once the blessings are said, we light the first candle and begin singing the songs “Hanerot Hallalu” – which explains the reasons for the ceremony – and “Maoz Tzur” which describes all the salvations wrought by God for the Jewish People.

Time for Lighting: Candles should be lit after nightfall (about 40 minutes after sunset) and last for at least a half-hour. On Friday afternoon, Chanukah candles should be lit before Shabbat candles, and should be of a type that will last over an hour (this leads to many adopting the custom of using olive-oil based lamps).

On Saturday night, the candles are lit after Havdalah.

Editors: Noam Kornsgold ‘13, Sabina Tilevitz ‘13 Faculty Editor: Rabbi Kenny Schiowitz The Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein Upper School of Ramaz 60 East 78th St. New York, NY 10075 Phone: 212-774-8070 www.ramaz.tv www.ramaz.org Volume 6 | Chanukah 5773, 2012

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