Parshat Vayeshev  Kislev 5761, 23 December 2001

by Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel-- Is our G-d primarily the Creator of the Universe, the Lord of nature and the cyclical seasons of the calendar, or is he primarily the Invisible Director of historical events, the guardian of Israel who is the eventual Redeemer?

In addition to being one of the greatest minds who ever lived, the Rambam (Maimonides) is considered to be a great Torah organizer (codifier), and long before Roget in his thesaurus organized the English language into a thousand categories, Maimonides' Mishneh Torah accomplished much more for the Jewish tradition, organizing all of the Oral Law into a thousand chapters, and concepts, filling fourteen books that are subdivided into 83 sections. This week I'd like to raise several questions based upon the Rambam's laws of Chanukah - and at the same time answer the question with which I began this commentary.

Toward the end of the Festival portion of (Sefer Zamanim) Maimonides' magnum opus we find a combined section covering the laws of Purim and Chanukah - but strangely enough, the laws of Purim precede those of Chanukah. But Chanukah falls out before Purim when we look at the calendar!? Indeed, in the Shulchan Aruch, (the Codes of Jewish Law compiled some 3 centuries after Maimonides), the laws of Chanukah come before those of Purim. Why then does Maimonides change the natural and logical order?

Secondly, the Rambam opens the laws of Chanukah with historical background, an approach which he uses nowhere else. Note that the laws of Purim begin by detailing who is obligated to read the megillah, when it must be read, and under what circumstances other activities must be interrupted to read the megillah. The story is not mentioned at all. After all, Maimonides is writing a book of laws, not of history. Nevertheless, the first "law"of Chanukah is: "In the time of the Second Temple, when the Greeks ruled over Israel, they issued evil decrees against them, forbidding their religion and forbidding them to study the law and to fulfill the commandments.." why the switch from law to history?

Third, Maimonides chooses to appendage the laws of Hallel, the requirement to add special prayers and psalms of thanksgiving on 18 days of the year (21 days in the Diaspora), specifically for the laws of Chanukah, (Chapter 3, Laws 5-14). Isn't this odd? Hallel is said on every one of our Festivals, including Passover, which is the only time it is recited at night as well as by day- and yet the Rambam waits until the end of the Book of Festivals with the laws of Chanukah before explaining the laws of Hallel. Why?

Fourth, we make two blessings before we light the candles: the first addresses G-d who "sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to kindle the lights of Chanukah"; the second refers to acknowledging that G-d performed "miracles for our fathers, in those days, in this season." Generally speaking, a blessing which refers to the commandment (birkat ha'mitzvah) must be recited directly before the individual enacts the commandment -- putting on tefillin, shaking the lulav, lighting Chanukah candles. The first blessing quoted above fits into this category. But wouldn't it make more sense for the second blessing, which refers to 'miracle of our forefathers,' to be said after the kindling of the menorah, once the "miracle' has been made 'visible' and we actually see the light, and understand, by counting what day it is, the extent of the miracle. Why should the second blessing also be recited before kindling the menorah?

Finally, the question everyone asks: why are the candles lit for eight days? Since pure and undefiled cruse of oil which was found did contain, sufficient oil for one day, then the miracle was only seven days long and why do we commemorate an eight-day miracle?

I believe that all these questions can be answered by understanding how we view the Divine role in the universe. Take three major festivals in the Torah: Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot. Although each certainly has a historical significance - the exodus from Egypt, the revelation at Sinai, the booths in the desert - the Torah primarily defines them in agricultural-seasonal-natural terms. Passover is the spring festival (Hag Aviv) which begins the barley harvest; Shavuot, the festival of first fruits, especially wheat; and Sukkot is the fall feast of the harvest, the ingathering of the grain, as well as the time of prayer for rain during the forthcoming winter. Thus on each one of these occasions, our thanks to G-d is two-fold: the manifestation of G-d in history but primarily the G-d of nature and seasons, of creation and physics. Hence the accepted Code of Jewish Laws list the laws of Chanukah before Purim because this reflects the seasonal and calendrical flow of the year, winter before spring.

However, the Rambam wants to teach us Chanukah and Purim are unique festivals not only because they are post Biblical and Rabbinic in origin, but primarily because they are exclusively concerned with historical miracles, the agricultural- seasonal elements playing no role whatsoever. Hence, Maimonides codifies these laws not on the basis of which comes first on the calendar but rather dependent upon WHICH OCCURRED FIRST IN HISTORY.

Indeed, the very word HISTORIA is modern Hebrew's term for history, and even though it's officially spelled with a tet, Rav Kook, the first chief rabbi of Israel, would write the word with a taf; thereby the great first Chief Rabbi of Israel creates two Hebrew words, hester and Kah, the hidden finger of G-d. History is, from our perspective, an account of events propelled by the hidden finger of the Divine.

From this perspective, it becomes clear why Maimonides uniquely begins the laws of Chanukah with an historical outline: the entire significance of the festival is G-d's manifestation of his miraculous Hand in guiding historical events, albeit behind the scenes. Appreciating G-d in history is the essence of the laws of Chanukah (For Purim this isn't necessary since the scroll of Esther teaches the story).

And the second blessing praising G-d for effectuating miracles is no less a blessing of the commandment than is the first blessing; Chanukah commands us to take note of G-d's miraculous role in history!

As far as Hallel is concerned, Rav Yosi Haglili presents the guiding principle that Hallel is recited whenever the Jewish people in Israel find themselves in life and death situations -national tragedies-and are saved by G-d; Rashi immediately comments, "like (Hanukah." (B.T. Pesakim 117a) so what better place to discuss the significance of Hallel than the Laws of Chanukah!

Final question. Why do we kindle lights for eight days instead of seven days?

History of the Jewish people is the recognition of a partnership between G-d and man. "If one comes to purify himself, he is helped," is a well-known adage of the sages (B.T. Tr. Shabbat 104a). We have to start the process, if we anticipate that G-d will help us. The Maccabees were a small group of rebels, the Greek-Syrians a mighty empire. G-d led us to victory only after Judah the Maccabee took the first step-and the initial risk! The Rambam, in Hal. 2 of Chapter 3, law 2 of the laws of Chanukah), gives us a summary of how the Israelites defeated their enemies. He then goes on to describe how, on the 25th day of Kislev, they re-entered the Temple and "found only one cruse of ritually pure oil, enough to burn but for a single day. Yet they kept alight with it the required number of lamps for eight days, until they could press some olives and produce new ritually pure oil." Thus according to Maimonides the miracle of eight days wasn't happenstance, but was rooted in historic reality: it took exactly eight days for the Judeans to produce pure olive oil.

Moreover, even if it's technically correct that the miraculous light was of seven days duration and not eight, the first cruse of pure oil - saved by some anonymous priest who had ultimate faith that the Temple would some day be restored and purified and undefiled olive oil would be required-was necessary to spark the Divine miracle. The first candle eternalizes the human initiative, without which, the Divine miracle in history can never take place! G-d's miraculous intervention in history is a result of a partnership between the human and the Divine.

In this week's portion of Vayeshev, we find a similar pattern of partnership. Joseph interprets dreams, and all along he claims that the interpretation comes from G-d. Indeed it does, but Joseph himself is certainly involved in the Divine communication. Joseph is wise beyond his years. Ages before Freud, Joseph understands that dreams reveal secrets of the human subconscious. The wine steward dreams of serving Pharaoh, while the chief baker dreams of birds pecking the bread on top of his head. If the wine steward is desirous of serving once again, apparently his conscience is clear and free of guilt; if the baker dreams paranoically of creatures from heaven pecking at his head, he evidently feels worthy of punishmentperhaps even of being decapitated! Even the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream may have a rational element, which Joseph discerns. Pharaoh dreams of cows and ears of grain. Both are symbols of sustenance, and one of the mandates for the Pharaoh is to sustain the nation. Since famine and plenty move in cycles, the numerical configurations of the dream could indicate the particular cycle hidden therein.

And Joseph doesn't stop with the mere interpretation of the dream. "Now therefore let Pharaoh look out for a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt [Gen. 41:33]." Joseph not only discerns Pharoah's concerns - but provides a solution, with himself being the logical executor of that solution.

Joseph was in the right place and at the right time, events unfolding under the guidance of G-d. The word mazal or luck is spelled mem, zayin, lammed. A great Hassidic sage once suggested that mem stands for makom (place), zayin stands for zman (time): one must be in the right place at the right time. But that is not sufficient. We also need the lammed, which stands for limmud (learning). The individual who G-d places in the right place at the right time must learn how to take advantage of the opportunity and that depends on the individual. Chanukah and Joseph teach us that G-d effectuates miracles in history-but not without the human initiative of His very special partners without whom nothing of significance will occur.

Shabbat Shalom and a Joyous Chanukah

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