Rabbi
Doniel Staum, LMSW
Rabbi,
Kehillat New Hempstead
Social
Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch
STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
VAYESHEV 5768
“SHOUT
IT IN THE STREETS”
In
an article entitled, He
Belongs to Glasgow,
Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein relates the following personal anecdote:
“Several
years ago, I was the joint guest speaker at a fundraising dinner for
a Jewish Charity. My fellow speaker was the ex speaker of Great
Britain’s House of Commons, Viscount Tonnypandy, George Thomas.
“Viscount
Tonnypandy told the tale of the first Jew he ever met. It was in his
hometown of Tonnypandy in Wales at the beginning of the century. A
Jew called Issacs approached little Geordie Thomas and asked him if
he would be willing to come in and light the coal fire on Friday
night and Shabbos morning. If he would do this every week, he would
receive a twopennce! Little Geordie eagerly agreed and returned home
proudly holding his fortune in his hand. He came into his mother’s
kitchen where he found her washing dishes. She observed him out of
the corner of her eye and carried on at her task. When she finished
she turned to him and asked, "Where did you get that boy?"
"The Jew Mr Issacs gave it to me Mam! If I go into his house on
his Sabbath and light his fire Friday night and Saturday morning, I
get a Twopennce!" His Mother looked at him sternly, "Take
it back boy!" Little Geordie was stunned, "But Mam, he said
I could have it!"
“Again
his mother told him to take it back. The future Peer of the realm
looked up at his mother and his lip started to quiver and tears
filled his eyes, "But why Mam?"
“His
mother looked at him and explained, "You don’t take money from
a man, to help him serve his G-d!"
“Geordie
Thomas trotted back to his benefactor still clutching his Twopennce
and told him that he could not accept the money and why. The Jew
would hear nothing of it and marched him straight back to his mother.
Then Mr Issacs and Mrs Thomas started a debate, which ended in a
compromise. Geordie could keep his Twopennce on that occasion but
from now on would light the Shabbos fires for free.
“Then
Viscount Tonnypandy turned to his Jewish audience and declared: "You
Jews; you’ve forgotten who you are! When we in this country were
still running around in animal skins, you had already built your
golden temple in Jerusalem. While we were still living in caves, you
had already written the book, which would go on to inspire the whole
world. Never be ashamed of being Jewish. You’ve forgotten who you
are!" ”
The
verse states1,
“The dudaim have yielded fragrance, and upon our doorsteps are all
delicacies; both new and old have I stored away for you, my Beloved”.
The Medrash elucidates the verse in the following manner: “’The
dudaim have yielded fragrance’ refers to Reuven, as it is written,
“Reuven heard, and he rescued him [Yosef] from their hand2”3;
‘And upon our doorsteps are all delicacies’ refers to the
Chanukah lights.”
What
is the connection between the two seemingly unrelated themes of
Reuven saving Yosef and the Chanukah candles?
Chasam
Sofer4
explains that the mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles must
accomplish “persumei
nisa-
publicizing the miracle”. When one lights the Chanukah candles he
must do so in a place and in a manner that ensures that they will be
visible to every passerby.
Although
all other mitzvos observed during the various holidays throughout the
year celebrate miraculous salvations, we have no obligation to
promulgate those miracles to the outside world. We recite the
haggadah on Seder night in the privacy of our homes and read the
megillah on Purim in shul. What is the distinction of the Chanukah
candles that they warrant an external ostentatious commemoration of
the miracle?
There
is a fundamental difference between the miracle of the Menorah and
the other miracles that transpired during our other times of
salvation. All other redemptions were necessary for the very survival
of Klal Yisroel. Although they were clear demonstrations of G-d’s
infallible love for His nation, an outsider could dismiss them as
being mere acts of mercy to protect them from being completely
obliterated. Had G-d not saved us from Pharaoh, Haman, and the
Babylonian exile the Jewish People would have perished.
The
miracle of the Menorah however, was undeniably an act performed
solely out of G-d’s supreme love for Klal Yisroel. At that point,
the Maccabees had already miraculously vanquished the far superior
Syrian-Greek forces with great valiancy and faith. The Bais Hamikdash
had already been recaptured and5
the Avodah (Holy Service) was ready to be resumed. The fact that at
that point G-d performed an additional magnanimous miracle in the
sanctuary of the Bais Hamikdash, which could only be seen by those
who were in the vicinity of the Menorah, was a clear indication of
G-d’s great love for them. Therefore, because the miracle was
performed so exclusively and in such a private forum, it is incumbent
upon us to publicize it in a grandiose manner. In doing so we
demonstrate our acknowledgement of the love He feels for us, even in
the darkness of exile.
When
the sons of Yaakov decided that Yosef should be killed6
the verse states, “Reuven said to them, ‘Do not spill his blood;
cast him into one of these pits in the desert, but a hand we should
not raise against him’, in order to save him from their hands in
order to return him to his father”7.
From his mere suggestion that they cast him in a pit one can
conceivably conclude that Reuven’s intention was to kill Yosef.
Therefore, the pasuk makes it a point of relating that Reuven’s
intentions were noble and that casting him in the pit was a means to
save Yosef.
In
a similar vein, when Reuven saw that his mother became barren after
giving birth to four sons, he went to gather dudaim, a special type
of wildflower which somehow helped a woman become more fertile so
that she had a greater chance of becoming pregnant. The Torah makes
it a point to relate that Reuven went out “during the time of the
wheat-harvest”8.
Rashi quotes the
Gemara9
which explains that Reuven picked dudaim and not wheat so that he
would not encounter any problem with theft.
As
a tribute to Reuven for being careful to avoid stealing, he is deemed
the “ba’al
hadudaim- master of
the dudaim”. Just as the Torah makes a point of clarifying that the
actions of Reuven were just and honorable in regards to the dudaim,
so does the Torah make it a point to relate that his motives in
regard to Yosef were noble as well. This is the meaning of the first
phrase of the Medrash. “’The
dudaim have yielded fragrance’ refers to Reuven, as it is written
“Reuven heard, and he rescued him [Yosef] from their hand”10.
From Reuven’s encounters we learn that positive actions, or even
mere positive intentions, should be publicized.11
If in regards to Reuven the Torah makes it a point to reveal his
noble motives, surely then the great miracle of the Menorah deserves
no less publicizing. Thus, the Medrash continues, “‘And upon our
doorsteps are all delicacies’ refers to the Chanukah lights,”
i.e. the Chanukah lights too must be lit in a public place in order
to publicize the (relatively) hidden miracle that occurred.
The
conclusion of the special Al Hanisim prayer recited on Chanukah
reflects this idea. “For Yourself You made a great and holy Name in
Your world, and for your people Yisroel you worked a great victory
and salvation as this very day.” At the conclusion of the Maccabean
wars G-d’s Name had been sanctified and Klal Yisroel had been privy
to the undeniable manifestation of His Divine Intervention. It was
then that the miracle of the Menorah transpired, as the prayer
continues, “Thereafter, Your children came to the Holy of Holies of
Your House, cleansed Your Temple, purified the site of Your Holiness
and kindled lights in the Courtyard of Your Sanctuary.” Part of the
mitzvah of kindling the Menorah is to demonstrate our pride of being
the recipients of G-d’s love and seeking to reciprocate that love
through our performance of His Torah and Mitzvos. We do so by
publicizing the miracle of the Menorah for all to see. It is a
testament of our pride that we merit a unique relationship and
closeness with G-d, as it were.
The
lights of Chanukah symbolize that we must never forget who we are. We
must be proud of our heritage and that we alone carry the banner of
Torah and thereby merit being the elite nation of G-d; a nation who
bears the distinction of being the proverbial ‘rose among thorns’.
In other words, the mitzvah of kindling the Menorah is inextricably
bound to our national pride which has not dimmed or wavered in the
face of pogroms, inquisitions, auto-da-fes, holocausts, blood-libels,
massacres, and virulent anti-Semitism. In fact, the opposite is true;
“As much as they would afflict them, so they would multiply and so
they would spread out”12.
The more our enemies try to squelch and destroy our national pride
the more they bring it to the fore!
The
following poignant story serves as an apt conclusion:
It
was the first night of Chanukah, December 1943, in the infamous Nazi
Concentration Camp, Bergen-Belsen. From their meager food portions
the men had collected some bits of fat while the women pulled threats
from their tattered uniforms and twisted them into makeshift wicks.
They fashioned a Menorah out of a raw potato. Everything was brought
to Barrack 10 where the holy Bluzhever Rebbe, Rabbi Yisroel Spira
zt’l, was given the honor of lighting the single Chanukah candle.
After nightfall, one thousand inmates clandestinely gathered around
the Rebbe. The Rebbe quickly lit the candle and recited the three
blessings. The crowd tearfully stared at the flame for a few brief
moments, each lost in his own world of thoughts. Then they quickly
dispersed, returning to the miserable reality that was Bergen-Belsen.
One
man, a non-believing Jew, approached the Rebbe. “Rabbi Spira,” he
began, “I have a very strong complaint against you. I understand
why you recited the first blessing, thanking G-d for the mitzvah of
kindling the candles. I also understand why you recited the second
blessing which thanks G-d for performing miracles for our ancestors
in those days at this time. But I do not understand how you were able
to recite the third blessing of “shehechiyanu”, which thanks G-d
for sustaining us and keeping us alive to reach this time. Look
around you! There is only hopelessness, death, and barbarism! How can
you rationally thank G-d for preserving us so that we can endure this
misery?”
The
Rebbe, who had already lost his wife, his only daughter, son-in-law,
and only grandchild, gently explained, “The truth is that I share
your sentiments. After I recited the first two blessings, I
hesitated. I didn’t know how I could wholeheartedly recite the
shehechiyanu blessing. But then I looked around. I looked at the
faces of one thousand Jews who were risking their lives to witness
and participate in the performance of this mitzvah. I saw a thousand
souls whose inner faith resonated in a macabre existence. It was for
that faith that I thanked G-d for preserving me and keeping me alive;
for the merit of being able to witness such incredible tenacity and
yearning for G-d, even in the most unspeakable conditions.”
“The
dudaim have yielded fragrance”
“You
Jews; you’ve forgotten who you are!”
1
Song of
Songs 7:14
2
i.e. the
hands of the brothers who wanted to kill Yosef
3
Bereishis
37:21
4
Derashos,
64
5
as soon as
they re-consecrated everything that had been defiled
6
they ruled
that he was halachically liable to receive the death penalty
7
37:22
8
30:14
9
Sanhedrin 99b
10
Bereishis
37:21
11
[Based on
this point, the Rashba (Teshuvos 582) concludes, that it is a
mitzvah to write the names of donors on the things they donate to a
public institution.]
12
Shemos 1:12
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