Mitzvas Chanukah, ner ish u'beiso. The mitzvah of Chanukah is to light a ner. A ner is a source of light, a source of illumination. That's what it is on its most basic, physical, natural level. And without claiming to understand or on a certain level even needing to understand, it's also what ner Chanukah is on a metaphysical level as well. The sefarim talk about, again even without understanding what this really means, about seeing the Or HaGanuz in the ner Chanukah. The mitzvah of ner Chanukah is a tremendous source of illumination in the world. Let's try to understand a little bit, gain a little bit of perspective on that. Mitzvas ner Chanukah, the fact that mitzvas ner Chanukah is a source of illumination. Mitzvas ner Chanukah brings light to the world. We want to gain perspective on that. The Rambam writes in the beginning of Hilchos Chanukah שבבית שני כשמלכו יון גזרו גזרות על ישראל ובטלו דתם ולא הניחו אותם לעסוק בתורה ובמצוות ופשטו ידם בממונם ובבנותיהם ונכנסו להיכל ופרצו בו פרצות וטמאו הטהרות וצר להם לישראל מאד מפניהם ולחצום לחץ גדול עד שרחם עליהם אלהי אבותינו והושיעם מידם וגברו בני חשמונאי הכהנים הגדולים והרגו אותם והושיע ישראל מידם והעמידו מלך מן הכהנים וחזרה מלכות לישראל יתר על מאתים שנה עד החורבן השני.
The Rav zichrono livracha used to comment that the Rambam clearly disagrees with the Ramban in Parshas Vayechi. The Ramban in Parshas Vayechi, לא יסור שבט מיהודה, says that the Chashmonaim were chasidai elyon but chatu cheit gadol that they were over tzava'as ha'zaken that Yaakov Avinu says לא יסור שבט מיהודה, malchus is given to shevet Yehuda and then subsequently that's narrowed down to Beis David. And that the Chashmonaim, despite the fact that they were chasidai elyon, sinned greatly in assuming melucha, kingship. So the Rav said it's clear that the Rambam disagrees with that because the Rambam is highlighting that as a tremendous attainment and as part of the miraculous result of Chanukah was that the Nes Chanukah resulted in the restoration of malchus for over two hundred years. Or in other words, the Rambam calls attention to the fact, he underscores the fact, that the Nes Chanukah in repelling the Syrian-Greek influence and dominance didn't merely restore the status quo ante. Before the Chashmonaim, we didn't have malchus when we first came back from Bayis Sheni. When the Beis HaMikdash was rebuilt, so the... So what happened as a result of the Nes Chanukah? What happened as a result of the whole historical process of the Malchei Yavan being גוזר גזרות קשות ואכזריות is not simply that we survived, not simply that we repelled and and were able to restore the status quo ante, but that there was a ribuy, that there was there was an accomplishment, an attainment. We moved beyond where we had been earlier. You know, the Medrash very famously says, oft and and and widely cited in the beginning of Bereishis Rabbah on the pasuk of והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשך על פני תהום ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים
that the pasuk here, that these stages, that these descriptive terms in the briah represent or foreshadow stages of history and in particular חשך זה גלות יון, choshech refers to the period of galus when we were subjugated to Yavan שהחשיכה עיניהם של ישראל בגזירותיהן. There was a dark, a darkness which defined galus Yavan. And it was dafka mitoch the choshech gadol of Yavan that this ohr of Nes Chanukah emerges. Right, that same dialectic that the Rambam, just by sketching history, also describes. That it was dafka out of the crucible of the gzeiros kashos ve'achzariyos, the דלחצום לחץ גדול וצר להם לישראל מאד. It was dafka from that crucible that malchus was restored, a malchus that we didn't have before the gzeiros, a malchus that we hadn't had in back until Bayis Rishon, until the days of Bayis Rishon was the last time we had malchus. There's a dialectical pattern. Choshech, intense, dangerous, terrifying choshech can yield ohr gadol. The mei-afeila l'ora. The afeila creates a greater ohr than we had previously. We didn't have an ohr of Nes Chanukah before these historical events. On a more natural level, we didn't have malchus before these historical events. Choshech can yield a greater ohr. There's a very, very cryptic Gemara in Sanhedrin. It's one line in Bavel, Rabbi Yochanan. Excuse me, not Rabbi Yochanan, sorry, it's Rabbi Yirmiyah. bemachshakim hoshivani. Hoshivani Kemesei Olam from Eicha. Right? Hakadosh Baruch Hu placed me, ensconced me, bemachashakim, in a darkness comparable to the darkness of the grave. אמר רבי ירמיה זה תלמודה של בבל. First the Talmud Bavli. במחשכים הושיבני כמתי עולם refers to the Talmud Bavli. There are different pshatim in this Gemara. My father, zichrono livracha, quoted a Pri Tzaddik from the end of parshas Behaalosecha. Pri Tzaddik doesn't reference this Gemara, but clearly, clearly he implies a pshat in the Gemara. The end of parshas Behaalosecha, the Pri Tzaddik. ויהי בנסוע הארון וגומר מרמז על הגלות. Right, the movement of the aron, the aron in which the luchos are present, the aron representing Torah. ויהי בנסוע הארון, the aron travels. Where's the aron going? ויהי בנסוע הארון מרמז על הגלות וזהו דייקא היסוד להרבות ולהיבנות על ידי זה.
Through the galus there's binyan. Through the galus there's ribui, there's increase, there's proliferation. U-ke-omram zal, a Gemara at the end of Menachos: פעמים שביטולה של תורה זהו יסודה. וכמו שהיה מיד בגלות בבל—I'm
skipping one line—u-ke-de-isa be-Tanchuma. I don't know why he doesn't quote the Gemara in Sanhedrin here, but u-ke-de-isa be-Tanchuma על העם ההולכים בחושך ראו אור גדול elu Baalei Talmud. I just a little bit lekarev es hadvarim to that that we should a little bit be able to get a again on a on the most basic elementary level לקרב הדברים אל השכל. So what it means is as follows: Imagine that whether it's at home or out in the street, so we have lights for the nighttime when there's no when there's no natural light. So we have we have indoor illumination and then you have you have the streetlights you have outdoor illumination. How strong are the lightbulbs we have? So the lightbulbs we have are are designed to be able to illuminate the natural choshech of the nighttime. Imagine that instead of having the natural choshech of the lifetime of the nighttime we would be plunged into a choshech afila of Mitzrayim, Rachmana litzlan. So what would that demand from us? When when such darkness would descend so what would that darkness demand from us? It would demand an illumination which surpasses the illumination that we've had until now. We couldn't be content with the same type of lightbulbs, the same wattage, the same degree and quality of illumination because we're dealing with such an oppressive choshech afila. So when darkness descends it demands... demands that we generate an illumination which surpasses, which improves upon, which adds to the light in the world. Uchemo shene'emar Rav Tzadok continues, כי ברוב חכמה רב כעס, על ידי הרוב כעס בא הסתרבות החכמה של תורה שבעל פה.
Crisis can spawn creativity. Choshech can generate ribui or. במחשכים הושיבני כמתי עולם זה תלמודה של בבל. That's what the Rambam says, this dialectic of history, that darkness demands added illumination, that the orah which follows upon the afelah is a greater orah. And that's what the Rambam describes going into the whole parsha of Chanukah which begins with כשמלכות יון וגזרו גזירות ובטלו דתם ולא הניחום לעסוק בתורה ובמצוות.
What emerges is more than that, is more than we had before, וחזרה מלכות לישראל יתר על מאתיים שנה. The result of choshech of Yavan was the incomparable or of the ner Chanukah. You know, it's a staple in sifrei chassidus that the pshat in every Yom Tov is that the quality of, so every Yom Tov is correlated with a historical event, Pesach, Shavuos, question how Sukkos is a little bit more complicated, but clearly Chanukah and Purim as well. So it's a staple that the pshat is that it's not that we're commemorating a historical event. July 4th commemorates what happened on July 4th in 1776. No, the pshat is that the he'arah, ה א ר ה, of the day then comes around again each year. Sfas Emes has, kemidomni from the Chiddushei Harim on this very beautifully, that the Baraisa in Megillas Taanis says, נעשה נס והדליקו ממנו שמונה ימים ולשנה אחרת קבעום ועשאום ימים טובים בהלל והודאה.
They didn't make the takanah of Chanukah right away. Lashanah acheres. What were they waiting for? Says the Chiddushei Harim, they were waiting to see, to say it's a Yom Tov. Tes-Vav Nissan is a Yom Tov because every year Tes-Vav Nissan the day has the same quality that it had the night of Tes-Vav Nissan Yetzias Mitzrayim. And the 50th day from Pesach, Shavuos, which for us is Vav Sivan, has the same quality as it had in the year of Ma'amad Har Sinai. So they were waiting to see what Kaf-Heh Kislev would look like the next year, says the Chiddushei Harim. Lashanah acheres they saw. With whatever faculties of soul that they employed they saw the ha'ara of the days. That's, I think, Sfas Emes also quotes from the Chidushei Harim, שעשה נסים לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה. What do you mean bazman hazeh? It's bayamim hahem and it's bazman hahu. What do you mean bazman hazeh? No, bazman hazeh, it's the same zman, the same quality of the zman. That's true every year, it's been true every year of Chanukah of our lives, it's been true every year since the nes Chanukah, long before any of us were born. But all of this has a meaning and a relevance to us which surpasses anything it's ever meant for us in our lifetimes before. I don't think any of us have ever lived through a Chanukah where there was such a choshech. A choshech enveloping the whole world and us as well. It's a choshech, right, the doctors, the public health officials have been warning about a dark, dark winter. The Leilei Teves Ha'arukim. And it's a dark winter which is, should be terrifying and staggering. More than 3,000 people died today in the country from the virus. As was pointed out on the news reports, more than died on 9/11. And this is who died today, not who have died cumulatively since the spring, who died today. More than died in 9/11, more than died in the attack on Pearl Harbor, over 3,000 people. And the expectation is that it's going to continue for the foreseeable future and get worse. I don't think we've ever experienced a Chanukah with such choshech as we're experiencing this year. It's very important to be abreast of the news because it's too easy, if one doesn't see anyone within one's dalet amos in the past few days who's been affected, affected in a significant and profound way, it's easy to be delusional and not recognize that the world is enveloped in choshech. It's very important to hear the descriptions coming out of the ERs and the ICUs. It's very important to hear the doctors and nurses crying over what they're dealing with, not on a daily basis, on an hourly basis. How it's not always possible to stay with a dying patient because there's another dying patient that they have to run to. And yet there's some disconnect that we have from it because b'chasdei Hashem in our dalet amos as long as in our dalet amos we're not feeling it. The fact that b'chasdei Hashem in our dalet amos we're not feeling it doesn't mean that the world isn't enveloped in this choshech. And it doesn't mean that that choshech is not tremendously relevant to us. And it doesn't need to be brought down to this level, but it is important to know that it's true on this level as well. Jews are also dying. The virus doesn't doesn't distinguish. L'maisa when there's a choshech, the greater the choshech, the greater the potential for ribui or. That's what this dialectic principle of of history teaches. The greater the choshech, the greater the potential for ribui or. There's a tremendous potential right now for ribui Torah. But the ribui or that resulted from Chanukah wasn't automatic. It's not that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world that that choshech automatically begets or, that it automatically begets ribui or. The choshech of Yavan generated ribui or because the Chashmonaim recognized the choshech for what it was and responded appropriately as as that form of choshech demanded, with the mesirus nefesh that they demonstrated and exemplified. But it begins with recognizing the choshech. Choshech does not... choshech is prolonged when we don't recognize choshech. When we recognize choshech, choshech can yield a ribui or, it can yield an or gadol, it can give a neir Chanukah in which one can see the or haganuz. But it begins with recognizing the choshech. The response, be it a response of teshuvah, be it a response of ribui Torah, doesn't happen unless it begins with an acknowledgment, a recognition of the choshech. In our context, an essential component of recognizing this choshech afelah which at the moment holds the the world in its grip, an essential component of acknowledging that choshech is complying with the halachos of v'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem, of לא תעמוד על דם רעך. I had occasion to hear from someone about a Chanukah party that was being planned. Not a Chanukah party within a nuclear household, within people who are living in the same household, who are living in the same bubble, but a family get-together where many households, not part of the same bubble, Chanukah is a time for family mesibos. To have such a mesiba, to describe it in pure halachic terms is just assur. Assur. If we'll all have such mesibos, there's a very good chance bederech hateva that it will spread the virus. Will every single mesiba spread? No. Is it likely that most will not spread? Yes. But is there much too great a chance that if we have these mesibos that amongst them there will be spread and transmission? Yes. And all the again we all follow the same news, we hear the same reports. One of the factors recently which is highlighted in terms of the explosion are small gatherings. Much as the big gatherings, so it's not only that which can't be, but it's the small gatherings increasingly also which are source of transmission. It's assur. And to describe it in other terms, it's a denial of the choshech. It's simply a denial of the choshech. We can respond to the choshech in either of two ways. We can, with tremendous hachna'ah, acknowledge it, behave in a halachically appropriate way, and then there's potential for ribbuy or. Or we can deny it, behave in a halachically unacceptable way, and prolong the choshech and multiply the tragedies associated with the choshech. Choshech doesn't automatically yield ribbuy or, but it can, there's tremendous, tremendous potential. There's tremendous, tremendous potential. על ידי הגלות והדחק והייסורין נתרבה ונתייסד בחינת התחדשות תורה שבעל פה בנפשות ישראל,
the words of Rav Tzadok. There's tremendous potential. וזה לעומת זה עשה אלקים. When there's tremendous potential letovah, there's also potential in the wrong direction. Let's be'ezras hashem, bli neder, let's seize the opportunity to acknowledge the choshech, to recognize the choshech for what it is, to respond accordingly in terms of zehirus and in terms of recognizing the need for ribbuy or, recognizing the need for teshuvah, recognizing the need that if each of us learn an extra pasuk, an extra mishnah, an extra daf. Maybe, maybe it'll be accompanied by an insight, by a he'arah as well. Just imagine what the ribui or be'olamo. And it's davka now, now, a person could never, ever, ever, ever, a person would never ever ask for a choshech to create a ribui or. But the choshech is here and shtei drachim lefanenu: to deny it through our behavior and thereby increase the catastrophe, or to acknowledge it through our behavior, to recognize the potential and each of us in his own small but very meaningful way to contribute to the ribui or. A lichtigen Chanukah, rabbosai.