Category: Holiday Teachings
We want to thank our dear friends who are continuing to pray for our soldiers and for the welfare of Israel. Here on Itamar it is very hard for all of us – many of our young men are on the front line in Gaza right now. Those who are privileged to enjoy a quiet Shabbat mustn’t forget our boys in the battle field who are out there fighting for the future of our people. This Shabbat is called “Chazon” – we read the first chapter of Isaiah where he talks about the spiritual decline in Israeli society. This he prophesized around 250 years before the destruction of the first temple. He saw what would cause the downfall of our people and warned us to repent. Unfortunately, Israel did not heed his words and we suffered the destruction of two temples. Today after thousands of years of exile we are blessed to have returned to our land and witness the building of a beautiful country. The consoling words of our prophets have come true. Tisha B’av has taken on a different mood and meaning. Our focus of mourning on this solemn day must be on giving Israel the strength to overcome its enemies and allow us to move forward in building our third temple. It is no longer a dream but a reality that is getting closer and closer to fruition. I read a story this week in a Yiddish newsletter that bothered me. It spoke about the holy Rebbe of Berdychiv Z”TL that when he would make a wedding he would write on the invitation that the wedding is scheduled to take place in Jerusalem and if for some reason the Beit Hamikdash is not yet built then it will take place in Berdychiv. This, of course, is a very special story when you go back to the 19th century when he lived. In those days it wasn’t easy to move to Israel and Jerusalem wasn’t liberated yet. So it, indeed, reflected the great Rebbe’s love and desire to return to the land. Unfortunately something went wrong with the way the Chasidim were educated upon arriving in the United States- they don’t see Jerusalem of today as part of the redemption process. Instead they choose to continue to remain in exile and duplicate the shtetl lifestyle of Eastern Europe in America. This is a great tragedy and is worth mourning about on Tisha B’av itself. While Am Yisrael is being collected from all the four corners of the earth HOME, her boys fight for her very existence in complete self-sacrifice, it is hard to fathom Jewish people not giving thought to what is happening in Israel today as it demands self-sacrifice from all of us as a nation!
The redemption process is a slow moving process that our sages describe as “kimah Kimah” one step at a time. Let us pray that the Jews of the world wake up and snap out of their stupor as events spiral forward at a yet faster rate as the minutes fly by. It is top priority for everyone to be a part of the mission of returning home and protecting the Land in whatever way through whatever means he or she can!
Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith
http://youtu.be/WMf7fSC56IQ
Answers to chanukah quiz
1- His brother Yonatan
2- Adjacent to the candles but differenciated from the rest of the candles
3- Yes
4- Yes
5- When it begins of Chanukah
6- No
7- Burnt
8- This is what was used in the Temple service
9- No
10- His friend will bless for him and he will join
11- He will light one candle for Shabbat and one for Chanukah
12- The Greek that wanted to sacrifice a pig on the altar
13- Parshat Mikeytz
14- Because they are fried in oil- remembering the miracle of oil
15- The Second Temple
16- 8 candles halcha le beit Hillel
17- He has no tashloomim and the next night should light like everyone
18- Yes
19- Mizmor Shir Lechanukat HaBayit leDavid
20- Yes
21- Judah HaMaccabbee – his son
22- For one day only
23- From left to right
24- No
25- At the end of Chanukah candles
26- Giving charity
27- Yes
28- Seven
29- No because you cannot enjoy their light in that way
30- The daughter of Yochanan the High Priest
31- Hachodesh
32- Bet or gimmel tevet
33- Yes
34- Yes
35- 2 shitot- sunset or when the stars come out
36- Chanukah and Purim
37- Yes
38- The hellenists
39- Chanukah candles
40- Havdalah
Chidon Chanukah (a trivia game about ideas connected to Chanukah- answers will follow next week)
1 Who continued to rule in the house of Macabbes after Judah passed away?
2 Where do we light the shamash?
3 Can we light the Chanukah candles in a copper vessel?
4 Can we go to work on Chanukah?
5 On what day of Chanukah do we use the most oil?
6 Can the menorah be shaped in a circular form?
7 What is done with oil that is left over in the menorah after chanuah?
8 Why is it preferred to use olive oil for lighting purposes?
1 Are women obligated to say Hallel on Chanukah?
2 What is the law about someone who does not know how to say the blessing on the candles?
3 What is the law if it’s Erev Shabbat on Chanukah and there are only 2 candles available?
4 Who did Mattityahu kill?
5 Which parsha is read on Chanukah?
6 Why do we eat latkes and doughnuts on Chanukah?
7 During which Temple (first or second) did the Chanukah story rake place?
8 What halacha is hinted at in the word Chanukah?
9 What is the law if a night passed by and you forget to light the menorah?
10 Can we extinguish the candles after a half hour of mandatory burning?
11 Which tehillim pertains to Chanukah?
12 Can we light the candle from unkosher fat?
13 Who ruled in Israel after Mattityahu the Chashmonean?
14 How long should have the oil that was found in the Temple been burning?
15 And how long did it really last for?
16 Can we do any work for the time the candles are burning?
17 When do we light the shamash?
18 What mitzvah is applied to Chanukah aside from lighting the menorah?
19 Does a poor person that lives on charity need to light the menorah?
20 How many candle/oil holders were on the menorah of the Holy temple? (7 or 8)
21 Can you make havdalah from the Chanukah lights?
22 Yochanan the High Priest had a special daughter who cut off the head of a terrible enemy of the Jewish people- who was she?
23 What did the Greeks want to abolish in the system of the Jewish calendar?
24 What day is the last day of Chanukah on the Hebrew calendar?
25 Does a person traveling in a boat or train have to light?
26 Does a guest have to light his/her own menorah?
27 What time of the day do we light the menotah?
28 What 2 holidays do we say “Al HaNissim”?
29 Can a person use wax candles and not oil on Chanukah?
30 What were the Jews that assimilated into Greek culture called?
31 What do we light first, Shabbat candles or the menorah on Friday evening?
32 On Saturday night what do we light first- Havdalah or Chanukah candles?
Happy Chanukah! 2012
Dear Friends,
The winter is fast approaching and the pitter patter of rain has been splashing down and wetting the earth of the Land of Israel. It is green, moist, cloudy and brings to mind the passuk “I will make these and the environs of My Hill a blessing. I will send down the rain in its season, rains that bring a blessing.” (Yechezkel 34:26). It is the end of the olive harvest and the vats of oil are ready for Chanukah. There is a special bond between rain and earth here. You actually feel the passuk: “For as the rain drops from Heaven and returns not there, but soaks the earth and makes it bring forth vegetation, yielding seed for sowing and bread for eating.” (Isaiah 55:10)
The Land is giving fruit and abundance again to her people, a sure sign that Hashem has special plans for us as we continue to fortify the heartland of Israel and watch it grow and prosper. Looking back just less than a century, the Land did not look like this, for it lay fallow and dry for thousands of years. It was only when we came to Independence that it came to boast of KOL TOV- the best of everything. Our pioneers that came to drain the swamps and till the earth, dig wells, fight off the enemy in hard wars lived lives very similar to the founding fathers of the Jewish nation. The work is not finished yet even today.
Independence for the Jewish nation living in Israel is the key to our survival, the longings in every person’s heart that feels close to Israel.
Rabbi Nachman says that a person is not what he/she does, nor not what they think. A person is what he longs for. This is illustrated in the light of the sun and the moon vrs. The light of the candle- The sun shows us everything that exists (I am a —- you can see that) The moon shows us shades and shadows of things (I think ——) The candle though illuminates the yearnings of the soul. Chanukah is just that. It is a little light flickering in a dark dark time, when Greek philosophy of what you can do and what you think ruled. The Greeks tried to snuff out the candle of the soul. The Macabbees reinstated Independence to Israel igniting the soul of our bond to Jerusalem and Israel in the offering of the oil of the olive, the fruit indigenous like its people – to the Land.
We would like to bless you with a happy and healthy Chanukah. May there be much brightness and warm cheer in your homes and know that we are thinking of you always. Take comfort in knowing there are watchmen on the walls here on the top of the mountain, guarding Israel’s heart and shining a light in a dark and difficult time.
Chag Chanukah Sameyach, Leah Goldsmith