Chanukah’s Light of Torah: The Love Between Hashem and Klal Yisrael

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Shalom Aleichem, yeshivas, knesses Yisrael of Hollis Hills. Beautiful yeshiva with such special chashuvah bochrim. It's my privilege to come to speak to you on inyanim of Chanukah. Chanukah. What is Chanukah? What are we supposed to feel on Chanukah when we light the neiros Chanukah? The Rambam tells us that ner Chanukah, the mitzvah of hadlakas ner Chanukah, is a mitzvah chavivah ad me'od. It's very dear. It's a very warm, endearing mitzvah, chavivah ad me'od, a loshon we don't find that the Rambam just throws around lightly in other places. He emphasizes in his halacha, yad hachazakah, how the mitzvah of ner Chanukah is a mitzvah chavivah, chaviv, dear, a warm mitzvah. What's so dear and so warm and so much feeling in the mitzvah of Chanukah? What is it? The whole mitzvah of ner Chanukah, the mefarshim tell us, was actually not needed, the whole miracle. The whole miracle we could have done without. The menorah to light could have been done b'tumah. The halacha is tumah hutrah b'tzibur. That when you have tumah, and all of Klal Yisrael is tamei, the utensils in the Mikdash are tamei, hutrah b'tzibur. It becomes mutar to light the menorah and to use the klei hamikdash and to do the avodah regardless. We do not have to withhold avodah in the Beis Hamikdash because of tumah. Asks the Pnei Yehoshua, then why the entire miracle? What was the need of it? We could have lit the menorah with the tamei oil. The Ribono Shel Olam doesn't just make miracles for no reason. The Ribono Shel Olam doesn't change sidrei hateva for no reason. So if the miracle was not needed, why the miracle? Says the Pnei Yehoshua, and maybe we'll add a word or two here, but this is basically the kavanah of the Pnei Yehoshua. The Ribono Shel Olam saw the mesiras nefesh, the sacrifice that the Chashmonaim and Klal Yisrael did to fight, to come back to the Beis Hamikdash and to light the menorah. So the Ribono Shel Olam wanted to show His love for Klal Yisrael and their kiyum hamitzvos, and to show how much He appreciates and how dear it is to Him that they do the mitzvos, that they light the menorah. You need to understand, rabosai, what is Yavan's goal? What did they want? What did they bother? What are they bothering the Yidden? Many times we go through galus where they want to kill us. Holocaust, they tried to annihilate the Yid. Purim, Haman tried to annihilate. What does Yavan, what does the Greek, what does he want? What is the galus of Yavan? They're not trying to annihilate the Yid. They're trying to cut the Yid away from the Ribono Shel Olam, to separate him. Kisvu lachem al keren hashor she'ein lachem chelek b'Elokei Yisrael. Right on the horn, the horn of the ox, a declaration: she'ein lachem chelek b'Elokei Yisrael. You're not connected to Hashem. So what does the Ribono Shel Olam do when we fight the war and we come back to the Beis HaMikdash? He emphasizes, and he clearly states, Yesh lachem chelek b'Elokei Yisrael. I am connected to you. The menorah was the Mikdash, it was the utensil in the Mikdash that displayed Shechinah shruyah b'Yisrael, that the Ribono...

Some rest among Klal Yisroel regardless. No matter what, no matter what, no matter what happens, I'm always connected to you when you want to be connected to me. The Rabbeinu Sholeilam is saying, You are moser nefesh to come to light a menorah. You are moser nefesh to fight the apikorsus, the hashkafah of Ein lachem chelek b'Elokei Yisrael. I will make a public display that you do have a chelek b'Elokei Yisrael, and how dear it is to me, your mesiras nefesh, how warm it is to me, and how much I love you and your avodah and your mesiras nefesh. And therefore I take the menorah and I make a miracle, an unbelievable miracle, that it should be the lighting of the menorah b'kedushah u'v'taharah. So, in essence, the nes of Chanukah was to show that the Rabbeinu Sholeilam loves us. The word mehadrin, hadar, hadar means it's very precious. You notice in the ner Chanukah there's halachah of mehadrin min hamehadrin. Mehader, mehader means make it precious, hadar, nice, glorified, beauty. The kindle, the light of the menorah is an expression of the Rabbeinu Sholeilam's love for us and how precious. To Him, the Ribono Shel Olam is our kiyum hamitzvos and how much we mean to Him. So that's the pshat. It's a mitzvah chavivah. There's dear, there's precious, there's love in the mitzvah. And when a person is madlik, when he lights the menorah, he can tap into. He's able to get into this chavivus, this love, this feeling that the Ribono Shel Olam is portraying and showing through the nes of the menorah how much you are a part of Him, how much you are a chelek of Him. There's a very interesting Gaon. The Gra explains, we know that the Ribono Shel Olam keeps the Torah. The Ribono Shel Olam keeps the Torah. What does it mean He keeps the Torah? All the middos that the Ribono Shel Olam wants us to do is v'halachta bidrachav, to go in His ways. We need to go in the ways of Hashem. Hashem is a rachum; you have to be a rachum, a merciful, right? Mercy. Mahu chanun, af atah. Mahu, mahu. Just like Hashem is gomel chasadim and He's mevaker cholim, all the middos and hanhagos that the Torah tells us to do is really mahu, that the Ribono Shel Olam does the same. We know there's something called sameach b'chelko. That one is happy with his lot, with what he has. How is that by the Eibishter if the Ribono Shel Olam has everything? Ribono Shel Olam has the whole—it's all His. So how could we see by the Eibishter this thing called sameach b'chelko, that he's happy with his lot? He's sameach with his, what he has, what he owns. He owns everything. Says the Gra, a beautiful pshat: Klal Yisroel is called chelko, ki chelek Hashem amo. Hashem is the chelek. We belong, and we are attached, and we are the kinyan, the acquisition of Hashem. And Hashem is very happy with us, regardless of what and who we are and where we're holding. The Ribono Shel Olam loves us. Ki chelek Hashem amo. We are a chelek of Hashem, and Hashem loves His chelek. He's sameach. He's very happy. Ribono Shel Olam loves a Yid, regardless of where he's holding, and the Ribono Shel Olam shows that simcha. And when we do a mitzvah, and we show that we're moser nefesh, and how much we care, and how much it means to us, Ribono Shel Olam reciprocates and shows how much it means to Him too. This is the nes.

This is the symbol and the remez and the kavana behind Ner Chanukah, the miracle of the Ner Chanukah. No wonder it's a mitzvah chavivah. No wonder. Now we understand what's so chaviv, what's so dear, because it's Hashem's love. It's a portrayal of Hashem's love to us. But, rabosai, I think with every idea of love, it's really twofold. It has to work from both sides. On one hand, Hashem is showing that He loves us, but it's also that we showed Hashem, we showed HaKadosh Baruch Hu that what? That we loved Him. The love between Klal Yisrael and Ribono Shel Olam is like Shir HaShirim. It works both ways. Hashem loves and we love Hashem. It's ani l'dodi, v'dodi li. So what is the love that we showed Hashem? We fought for the menorah, we fought for it, but it's a little bit deeper, rabosai. All the mefarshim explain that the menorah symbolizes Torah shebaal peh. Torah shebaal peh. Torah shebiksav is the written Torah. Torah shebaal peh is Shas, the Mishnayos and the Gemaras. Torah shebaal peh. The Yevanim were happy that we should learn Torah shebiksav. They liked it. Its culture, its literature, they liked that. What did they oppose? They opposed Torah shebaal... Peh, Gemara. That they try to uproot from Klal Yisroel. Learn Bible, but don't learn Gemara. Learn Scriptures, but don't learn Gemara. Scriptures will teach you in the college. Gemara in the yeshiva, that we don't want. L'hashkicham Torasecha. He wanted that we should forget Hashem's Torah. It doesn't say to forget Torah. It doesn't say l'hashkicham Torah. It says, L'hashkicham Torasecha, to take Hashem out of the Torah. Take religion, take God, take the Ribono Shel Olam out of the Torah. Learn Torah as a wisdom, a chochmah, like all the other chochmos: chochmos Yevanis, the Greek culture and its wisdom, its sciences. That we are maskim, and one of them should also be Chumash, class 101. That's good, all good. Bible 101 is good, but Torah, Shas, Bavli, Nashim, Nezikin, Taharos, Kodshim, that we don't want. That we're not interested. L'hashkicham Torasecha, to take Hashem, take the Ribono Shel Olam, take the kedushah out of the Torah. The menorah is the vessel in the Beis Hamikdash that symbolizes Torah shebaal peh. The Gemara says that when Moshe Rabbeinu had a difficulty in a Gemara, to understand the Gemara pshat, where did he go? He went to the menorah, and he looked, and he focused on the menorah and the light of the menorah, Or haTorah, ki ner mitzvah v'Torah or. So he focused on the light of the Torah, and that gave him to understand and enlightened him to know pshat in the Gemara. Rabosai, how many masechtes are there in Shas? Thirty-six. There are thirty-six masechtes. How many candles do we light on Chanukah altogether, with all eight nights included? Thirty-six. You put all the number of the candles that you light is thirty-six, lamed-vav, lamed-vav masechtes, thirty-six masechtes, thirty-six candles, because the menorah represents Torah shebaal peh. What is Torah shebaal peh? You're going to spend your life, mitzvas Hashem, toiling and learning Torah shebaal peh. What is Torah shebaal peh? What is it? What does it mean to—

What does it do for you, Torah sheba'al peh? Giving up your life for this. What is it? What is this Torah sheba'al peh and the Yid? What does it do? What does it speak to the Yid, Torah sheba'al peh? Let me tell you over a big yesod. We know that the greatest thing one could do is to learn Torah lishmah, right? Torah lishmah. What does Torah lishmah mean? Till the Nefesh HaChaim, Reb Chaim of Volozhin, wrote his sefer, there was an understanding of Torah lishmah means I learn Torah for the mitzvah, lishmah, for the mitzvah of learning Torah. Reb Chaim of Volozhin wrote an entire sefer to explain that that's not what Torah lishmah actually is. Torah lishmah is not to learn because it's a mitzvah, but to learn Torah for the sake, lishmah, its own sake, the sake of Torah. I learn Torah for the sake of Torah, not because it's a mitzvah. What does it mean? What does it mean? I learn Torah not because it's a mitzvah, not because Hashem said so, but because Torah, for the sake of Torah. What does it mean? Many had a hard time understanding what this Reb Chaim of Volozhin's yesod is. I was once waiting on line in a store. A very fine chassidic, Chassidishe bachur walks over to me and says to me, I see that you're a yeshiva person, and the yeshivas, they're busy with the shita of Reb Chaim of Volozhin, to learn Torah lishmah for the sake of Torah. I don't understand what that means. Explain to me, how does one learn? What does it mean that one learns Torah? For the sake of Torah, what does it mean? So I gave him what came to mind on the spot, a mashal, an example, which I think is very eye-opening. You know, you find people that buy jewelry. Women will buy jewelry, or men will buy beautiful art, and it's so expensive that they can't even wear it, ever. Where do they keep it? In the bank, in a vault. You know about that, right? They keep it in a bank, in a vault. So what's the point of having it? Something that you can't wear, what do you have from it? And you know what the answer is? It's so precious. It's something so beautiful, and something so expensive, yakar. It's so dear and... that just having it makes the person have it, that I have this. I have this beautiful diamond. I have this beautiful painting. The Ben Torah has to feel, I have this beautiful Shas, this beautiful Torah. It's so precious, and it's so beautiful, and it is the greatest thing in the whole world. It's so dear, and that the fact that I have it is, for me, the greatest kinyan, acquisition that I could have. And that's called Torah lishmah. That's called learning Torah for the sake of Torah. The love that a person has for Torah, how does one get it? How does one look at Torah as the greatest thing in the world? How do you—tzaddikim used to look, wow, Torah is so beautiful. Where does it come from? How does one acquire? How does one get that taste for learning? Stam, you think about it. How do I get that cheshek, wow, every piece of Torah, every word of Torah, it's so special. Reb Chaim Volozhin had a brother, Reb Zalmela miVolozhin, that loved Torah so much that he was able to repeat a pasuk which seems to not have much chidush over again and over again. You know which pasuk? Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. What? Again and again. Why? He loved the Torah so—it was so precious to him. How does one acquire?

The taste for Torah. We're saying it's so much beauty and so yakar, dear. How does one... You know what the real answer to the question is? You have it already. Every Yid, every Jew, in his heart has this inner love for Torah. It's a natural thing in a Yid. A goy doesn't have it. A goy wouldn't even understand it. But it's there. And every now and then it comes out for a small, brief period, a second, a blitz: my love for Torah. But then again, the world, the taivos, and the nisyonos, the difficulties, mask and cover over this love that a Yid has for Torah. It's an inborn thing in the neshama of every Yid. I want to tell you an interesting story. When my Bubby Walkin, aleha shalom, passed away, so they made an hachnasas Sefer Torah in her memory. It was tremendous dancing and singing when they brought the Sefer Torah into the shul. Blocks around the shul were packed with bnei Torah and balabatim and all different types of people that had connection to my Bubby and Zeide, aleh zichronam livracha, dancing with simcha. Across the street lived a goy. His name was John Babaris. What was his name? John Babaris. Mamash across the street from the shul, and he was very close with the family of my Bubby and Zeide. So he asked me, Tell me, what's all this joyful dancing and singing on this celebration of bringing in the Torah, bringing in the scroll? What's the— is it a new edition? Something new, maybe? I said, No, it's the old Torah. Nothing new in it. Is it the only one the shul has? Is this the first one you're getting? I said, No, we have a bunch more. So what's all this joyous occasion? What is it? He saw an outpouring of simcha, of happiness and love, and he couldn't understand, what is it that you're so moved by? And I thought, what can I answer him? And then I realized there's nothing I could explain to him because he'll never understand it anyway. My bubby and zayde used to say over an expression that they had in Europe: For those that understand, they don't need to be told. And for those that don't understand, it won't help all the talking anyway. Vadifas farshteyen, darf men nit zogn, un vadifas farshteyen nisht, vet zikh helfn kin zogn. I'm not gonna help him anyway. So what am I gonna explain? A goy, the love a Yid has for Torah, the way his neshama dances, the way his neshama is overwhelmed and moved, and has such love, and breaks out in song and dance when he brings in a new Sefer Torah. What? Vos ken a goy? And he was a nice goy. He was a nice gentile, wonderful person. Goy verstehent nisht vos a Yid felt. Ahavas haTorah is something that a Jew has deep, deep in his neshama, and no Yevani could extinguish that kindle of fire, that ohr, that little kindle of fire that the menorah represents, the fire, the ohr, ner mitzvah v'Torah ohr. There is no way to vanquish, to vanquish. The Yid will be moser nefesh for that ohr haTorah, from love and devotion. A pasuk, Ki heim chayeinu, we say, Ki heim chayeinu v'orech yameinu. We say it by Maariv, Ki heim chayeinu. What does Ki heim chayeinu mean? Chayeinu means it is our life. Someone once got up to speak, and he said how Torah is the lifeline of the Jew. It's the lifeline of the Yid. Reb Boruch Ber got up, Reb Boruch Ber zech tzaddik livrachah got up, and he said, I'm sorry, I need to fix the speaker, to fix what he said. I need to make a clarification.

It's not the lifeline; it is the life itself of the Yid. Air is the lifeline that we should live. Torah is not the air; Torah is life itself. Ki heim chayeinu. It's not what gives us and sustains us, but it's actually what? Our life. There is no way to explain it to the intellectual, which was Yavan. But the Yid knew that inside his burning love for Torah can never be vanquished. You know, Reb Boruch Ber, zecher tzaddik livracha, when he held a Gemara, you know how he held his Gemara? How do you hold your Gemara, like this, right? He never carried a Gemara like that. You know how he carried his Gemara? He carried it like this. You see all the pictures. Why? It's like a child. Would you carry your child like this? Would you carry your son like this? It's like a child. You love—when you love something, you carry it close to your heart. The heart of the Yid has such love for Torah. You know, I want to tell you over a beautiful pshat from the Chofetz Chaim. The pasuk says, Ki lo davar reik hu mikem, ki hi chayechem v'orech yemeichem. The Torah is not an empty thing. Lo davar reik hu mikem, ki hi chayechem; it is your life, v'orech yemeichem. Same loshon, right? Orech yamim, ki heim chayeinu—this comes from the Torah. What does a davar reik mean? It's not an empty thing. Tell me, the Rabbeinu Shloilam has to tell us in His Torah that the Torah is not an empty thing. Imagine I came to the yeshiva here and I came to tell you, by the way, the Torah is not a simple empty jar, not an empty thing. You would tell me, What are you—? Of course not. Torah is the foundation of Judaism, of Yiddish. The Torah has to write it's not a davar reik. You know what reik means? Reik is something you use on a person who's completely an empty person. You say he's a reik, reikan, he's an empty. Ki lo, it's not a davar reik. What does it mean? Ask the Heilige Chofetz Chaim. Says the Chofetz Chaim something beautiful. Imagine someone who has a good attribute. He's a beautiful singer, a beautiful voice. What would you call this? A ma'alah. A ma'alah means he has a good attribute. Let's say someone can't sing. Any of you are in that? He can't sing? Okay. So what would you say? He doesn't have the ma'alah, this attribute that he can't sing, right? But what happens if, chas v'shalom, the person is dead? What would you say? Oh, the poor guy, he doesn't have this thing, he can't sing. Yeah, he's not alive. Of course he can't, right? Not missing a nice voice, missing period. He's gone. He's not here anymore, right? Says the Chofetz Chaim, we think if a person doesn't learn, he's missing the ma'alah. Oh, he doesn't have it. This person, he learns, he's a— this person, he doesn't learn. This person's dead. Ki loi dover reik hi mikem. It's not that you're missing. It's not a reik, it's not a chisaron, a maila that you're missing. Ki hi chayeichem. It's like you're not living. Without Torah, a person is considered as if he's not alive. Because to the Yid, you know what his life really is? This. Yavan is going to try to convince you there's a world outside. There's a whole outside world. Tell me, where do we light the menorah? We light the menorah in two places: in the home, ner ish u'veiso, and where? In the beis medrash, in the shul, when we daven Ma'ariv here. You see the menorah? We daven Shacharis, we light the menorah, according to some opinions. Because the real ohr and the light is really where? It's in the home. It's in the beis medrash. It's not in the street. It's not in the street. The street is going to convince you that it's lights and flashing and exciting and there's a whole—it's choshech. Yavan is called choshech. The Medrash says, V'choshech al pnei sei—it's dark out there. What means dark?

How much lights and flashing, and then, yeah, that's darkness. This, the small little candles, that's light. And where is that light? It's from within. It's the home. It's the beis medrash. I want to tell you something beautiful. We're almost finished. I soon, I know the oilam has to go. Another few minutes. You know the famous pasuk, Achah sho'alti me'eis Hashem, osah avakeish. Shivti b'veis Hashem kol yemei chayai, lachazos b'noam Hashem u'levaker b'heichalo. What is Achah sho'alti? I ask one thing. Osah avakeish, I request. It's a double lashon. It's the same thing. I mean, you're repeating the same thing twice. Achah sho'alti me'eis Hashem, I ask. Osah avakeish, it is this that I ask for. So why the repetition? Why the double lashon? The mefarshim talk about it. My great-grandfather, zecher tzaddik livrachah, the Beis Aharon, Beis Aharon, zecher tzaddik v'kadosh livrachah, says pshat. The Gra explains there's two leshonos. There's she'eilah and bakashah, which seem to mean the same thing, right? She'eilah means what? To ask. Bakashah means to ask. So what's the difference? Why do you have two words that mean the same thing? Says the Gra that actually it means completely different things. She'eilah is to request. If I get it, good. I don't get it, I stop asking. Bakosha is I search till I get it. I'm searching for something. Bakosha. You know, Esther Hamalka, what did she say? Nafshi. She asks Achashverosh, Nafshi, my nefesh, for me I ask, b'she'eilasi, v'ami b'vakashasi, which means, says the Gra, for me I ask. I get it, good. If you don't want to grant me my life, and you want to take away my life, okay. But for ami, for the sake of Klal Yisrael, bakashasi, I'm not going to stop till I get it. So let's learn the pshat in the pasuk. It says, the Beis Aharon, the Alter zei, the achas shoalti, I ask. Rabosai, you need to daven, and Hashem should give you Torah. A person needs Hashem's help. When it's difficult to learn, achas shoalti, I have to daven. Atah chonein l'adam daas, u'melamed l'enosh binah, hashiveinu Avinu l'sorasecha. I have to ask Hashem. Achas, one thing I ask. Now, if you notice, sometimes you ask for a million things, and this is on the bottom of the list, right? Imagine you ask your parent for 30 things, right? Get me this and get me that and get me this and get me that. What are the chances that you'll get it? Nothing. Why? Because it's such a big list. But if there's one thing that you ask for, the chances are—listen, he asked for one thing, one thing. Achas. I ask for one thing. A ben Torah has to ask for one thing. What does he ask? Shivti b'veis Hashem, to learn. But not only do I ask and I daven to Hashem, it has to be oisah avakeish. I search till I get it. Not easy. You need to work hard. You need to really, really, really want Torah. It has to be that I know in my heart it's getting hard, and I still gonna push, and I'm still gonna try. So you hear the pshat in the pasuk? Let's learn, rabosai, together the pasuk. David HaMelech is teaching us how one should want to be a ben Torah, how one should want Torah. And the answer is, achas. What does achas mean? One. I ask for one thing only. If I ask for many things, it means I don't care that much. I ask for one thing. She'alti, I ask You, Hashem, but it's not only if You don't give it to me, I'll stop. Ois avakeish. If I don't get it, I'll still push ahead, and I'll still put all my efforts to get it. You want a nice story? I'll tell you a nice story. This story is about my great-grandfather.

Beis Aaron, a beautiful story. He was a rav in Europe in a big, big city. He came to America to establish Agudas Yisroel in America in 1918. He went all over all the different cities: New York, Detroit, Chicago. He went everywhere. When he came back, they asked him, Is there Torah in America? Is there Torah in America? Because they believed in America there's no Torah. They always believed, Ah, America, tamei, Manhattan, ach, there can't be Torah in America. They always believed that in Europe, that there'll never be on the shores of America Torah. Can't. The culture of America and the tumah of— it can't be. Is there Torah in America? My great-grandfather said, I'll tell you the truth. I was in different yeshivas in America, and there's learning there. There were plenty of yeshivas. Not saying it was like in Europe, but there were yeshivas. Oh, here, there, there were yeshivas, big yeshivas. But you can't compare the learning of Torah that was done in Europe at that time to the learning of Torah that was done in America at that time. And he gave an example. He says, when two bachurim in Europe learn Torah and they come to the Gemara of 'leima masnisan d'loi k'Sumchus,' that the Mishnah is not like Sumchus, you know what happens? They start fighting and arguing, and, Yeah, the Mishnah is not like Sumchus. Let's see what Tosafos, let's see what the Rishonim—what do you mean, Sumchus? But Sumchus said this, and maybe it is like Sumchus. Turns into a heated debate, a heated discussion. Yes, somches, not somches. The Mishnah is b'nanis, it's not b'nanis. Two bochurim were learning in America, he says, I heard them learning, and the bochur says, Leima masnisin d'loi k'somches. The Mishnah... Ah, that poor guy. Maybe he'll have better luck next time. Eh, somches. Maybe he'll have better luck next time, somches. Let's go further. What does that mean? They learned Torah. They learned Torah. But it was passive. It was passive. They didn't put themselves into it. And when you put yourself into the Torah, you know what you get? The end of the pasuk: Shivti b'veis Hashem kol yemei chayai, lachazos. Remember the end of the pasuk? Lachazos b'noam Hashem. That you could see noam, the sweetness of Hashem. You could see, when a person learns Torah and he really wants, he puts all his efforts, he's able to be lachazos, to see the sweetness. It's sweet, Torah is sweet. My grandfather told me that when the Chofetz Chaim sometimes said a beautiful pshat, he would make with his lips like it's delicious. That's how sweet, sweet Torah is to the person who learns Torah properly, who wants Torah and appreciates Torah. The Medrash Tanchuma tells us, V'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha b'chol levavcha uv'chol... What does it mean, V'ahavta es Hashem? Love Hashem. How do you love Hashem? Says Medrash Tanchuma, Shas, Torah shebaal peh. If you learn Torah shebaal peh, that's an expression of ahavas Hashem. Why? Only one who loves Hashem could learn Torah. It's not easy to learn Torah. You think it's easy to learn Shas? Gotta love Hashem. And when you learn the Shas, you'll get ahavas Hashem. You'll find. Now we're going to learn and end. You ready? Tell me. Every night by Maariv, there's the second bracha of Maariv. What is it about? It's about Torah. Ki heim chayeinu v'orech yameinu. Sound familiar? Ki heim chayeinu v'orech yameinu, uvahem nehgeh yom valaylah, al toilas Torah. And what's the next words? V'ahavascha. Al taasir mimenu l'olamim. Hashem, the love that I feel in the Torah, the love that you have for me and I have for you, ahavascha, go both ways, ahavascha, the love that we have in the Torah, al taasir.

Don't take it away from us. Torah. When a person learns Torah properly, you know what he feels? He feels the love of Hashem. He feels the love of Hashem. He feels Hashem loves him, and he loves Hashem. Now let's go back to the menorah. You know, I want to tell you something. I was zoche to be around very big tzaddikim, gedolim, roshei yeshivas. I always studied everything they did. There was a big giant, a great rosh yeshiva, a great person, Reb Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, zecher tzaddik livracha. He would come to Queens. He would come to Kew Gardens. He would say a shiur, either in my father's shul, sometimes it was in a big hall. We rented a hall for him. We rented a hall for him. After his shiur, after his shiur, he would daven Maariv for the amud. He would be the shliach tzibbur. And I'll never forget, and I'll never forget the way he said V'ahavta... al tashchen... He cried. You had to hear the cry, the emotion that he had. Hashem, your love. You know where you feel the love? When you learn Torah. You learn Torah, you feel very the ohr, the light in darkness. Darkness. There's a dark world out there, rabosai. The love, the love. When a person lights the neiros Chanukah, he feels that love, that Hashem loves him, and that he loves Hashem. And the Rambam is telling us it's a mitzvah chavivah. It's a very, very dear mitzvah. A person can feel so much ahavah, so much love, because the neiros Chanukah is how one connects to Hashem. He connects. Do you know? Let's go back to what Yavah—what did Yavah want? Ein lachem chelek b'Elokei Yisrael. Kisvu lachem al keren ha'shor she'ein lachem chelek b'Elokei Yisrael. You're not connected to Hashem. The Jew doesn't need to be connected to Hashem. You're not a chelek. What did the Chashmonaim, what did the nes Chanukah come back in response? Yes, we are connected to Hashem. The menorah is showing Shechinah shruyah b'Yisrael. The wording of the Chazal is Shechinah shruyah b', b', b', b'Yisrael, in, in me, in my neshama. How is He resting in your neshama? How do you get to that? How do you tap into it? And the answer is through the Torah. When a person learns Torah, inside, inside, inside, he'll feel his neshama, Hashem, he's connected. Rabosai, I can't tell you the segulah, what we could gain when we light the menorah properly. Think about it. When you light the menorah, think, Rabbeinu Shlolem, this is how I connect to You. This is—I want to connect to You. I want to, in a world where it's dark and cold and mean, it's a mean world out there, I want to connect to you through your Torah, through the ohr, the light that the Torah gives. And with this, we'll be zocheh taka to become big, beautiful bnei Torah, and we'll be zocheh to nisim, where the Ribono Shel Olam reveals Himself within us and from around us, and we'll be zocheh to nisim and niflaos. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.