Chazal tell us that Avraham asked Hashem (Brieshes 15;8) “Bameh aidah”- How will I know that my descendents will inherit me? To which he was answered- seemingly as a punishment- “Yoda tiedah” You shall know that your descendants will have to endure 400 years of exile and suffering. The Masai Hashem (the rebbi of the Alshach and Baal Lecha Dodi) explains that the golous Mitzraim wasn’t a punishment but rather Hashem answered Avrahams question. The very first Rashi in the Torah teaches us that Klal Yisroel having the Torah proves that Eretz Yisroel rightfully belongs to us and we didn’t just go to war and kick the Cnanim out of their land. The Torah is like our receipt that we were righteously given the land as an inheritance. Avraham fully believed in Hashem that he’ll have a son, he just wanted that when the nations of the world should realize that Eretz Yisroel belonged to him. He wanted Hashem to give him the Torah- the deed to Eretz Yisroel right then. To which Hashem told him- not as a punishment but rather as an explanation, three things are only acquired through hardships Eretz Yisroel, Torah and the world to come. In order for your descendants to receive the Torah, and with that Eretz Yisroel they will first have to endure the hardships of a exile, be redeemed and be created by Hashem as a nation. The golous is just the path we must embark on, in order to get to the geulah.
P.s. excuse the grammer, spelling its close to shabbos, sorry. Shabbos Shalom!
28 December, 2007
07 December, 2007
Chanukah
In ‘Al hanissim’ we thank Hashem for delivering “The strong in the hand 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…” The meforshim ask, the miracle of strong and many in the hands of the few and weak is a miracle worth mentioning, but what is the big deal if the victors happened to have been pure and righteous - that doesn’t make the miracle any bigger, so why mention it in the tefilah?
The miracle of Chanukah was twofold, one, Klal Yisroel defeated the mighty Greek empire. “The many in the hands of the few, strong in the hands of the weak…” The second miracle was that the oil that was enough to last one day lasted for eight. Yet we only commemorate the miracle of the oil and not our victory at war.
There are two different types of miracle, one is that we do some kind of hishtadlus- effort however small and Hashem ‘helps us’. Then there is a miracle where we just sit back and leave it up to Hashem to take care of us and our needs. Chanukah has both aspects. The Chashmonaim went out battle physically- even though they were heavily outnumbered they did what they were able and Hashem helped them out. (As opposed to Purim when all Klal Yisroel did was daven.) The miracle of the oil on the other hand was purely by Hashem from start to end.
The Chachomim of the time foresaw that if they institute a commemoration for the miracle, later generations would come and make the mistake and celebrate the unlikely victory and forget what it stood for and that it was all from Hashem. (As can be seen in modern day Israel every sports team is named Macabee.) Instead they gave us the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days as a miracle to celebrate and commemorate. A miracle that we will never be able to take credit, and all generations will thank Hashem.
Maybe we can suggest that is why we mention that the victors of Chanukah were pure and righteous, to remind us in later generations that the war wasn’t fought for our own political benefits and wasn’t won through our involvement. Only we fought for Hashems greatness and only because of him did we defeat the mighty and impure Greeks.
The miracle of Chanukah was twofold, one, Klal Yisroel defeated the mighty Greek empire. “The many in the hands of the few, strong in the hands of the weak…” The second miracle was that the oil that was enough to last one day lasted for eight. Yet we only commemorate the miracle of the oil and not our victory at war.
There are two different types of miracle, one is that we do some kind of hishtadlus- effort however small and Hashem ‘helps us’. Then there is a miracle where we just sit back and leave it up to Hashem to take care of us and our needs. Chanukah has both aspects. The Chashmonaim went out battle physically- even though they were heavily outnumbered they did what they were able and Hashem helped them out. (As opposed to Purim when all Klal Yisroel did was daven.) The miracle of the oil on the other hand was purely by Hashem from start to end.
The Chachomim of the time foresaw that if they institute a commemoration for the miracle, later generations would come and make the mistake and celebrate the unlikely victory and forget what it stood for and that it was all from Hashem. (As can be seen in modern day Israel every sports team is named Macabee.) Instead they gave us the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days as a miracle to celebrate and commemorate. A miracle that we will never be able to take credit, and all generations will thank Hashem.
Maybe we can suggest that is why we mention that the victors of Chanukah were pure and righteous, to remind us in later generations that the war wasn’t fought for our own political benefits and wasn’t won through our involvement. Only we fought for Hashems greatness and only because of him did we defeat the mighty and impure Greeks.
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