Chanukah and the Light of Torah: Yosef HaTzaddik, Kedushah, and Mesikus HaTorah

Topics

• Chanukah and the Light of the Torah: Yosef HaTzaddik, Kedushah, and Mesikus HaTorah
• The Connection Between Parashas Miketz and Chanukah
• Shabbos 22a: A Chanukah Lamp and Yosef's Pit
• "HaDudaim Nasnu Reiach": Reuven Saves Yosef and Ner Chanukah
• What Reuven Could Not See
• Sforno, the Second Beis HaMikdash, and the Future of Yosef
• The Doorway, the Delicacies, and the Joy of Chanukah
• "Beis Yosef LeHavah": Yosef and the Flame of Chanukah
• The Ohr HaGanuz and the Purity of Torah
• Yosef HaTzaddik: Torah With Kedushah and Taharah
• What Blocks the Light of Torah?
• Sufganiyos, Oil, and the Sweetness of Torah
• "When You Understand Clearly, Torah Becomes Sweet"
• The Inner Keys: Banim and the Secrets of Torah
• Kedushah Means Good Middos, Not Only Avoiding Arayos
• The Sweetness of Torah: Rav Baruch Ber and the Chazon Ish

Transcript

# Chanukah and the Light of the Torah: Yosef HaTzaddik, Kedushah, and Mesikus HaTorah

## The Connection Between Parashas Miketz and Chanukah

Rabosai, we have two subjects before us: **Parashas Miketz**, the story of Yosef, and **Chanukah**, the victory over Yavan. At first glance they have nothing to do with each other. One is the story of Yosef in Mitzrayim; the other takes place many generations later, during Bayis Sheini.

But when you examine the **Midrashim, Rishonim, and Acharonim**, you find a tremendous *kesher* between Yosef HaTzaddik and the *nes* of Chanukah. I want to show you some of those connections and then develop what I believe is their inner message.

Look first at the **Sforno at the beginning of Parashas Vayeishev**, on Bereishis 37:1–2. The Sforno explains that what happened to Yaakov Avinu after his return to the land of his father's sojourn corresponds to what later happened to Klal Yisrael during **Bayis Sheini**: the destruction, the galus, and even **"גאולת קץ הימים"**, the redemption at the end of days.

That means the events we are reading now are more than a family history. There is a *remez* here to the future of Klal Yisrael.

And Bayis Sheini, *rabosai*, is where the story of **Yavan and Chanukah** takes place. The Rambam opens Hilchos Chanukah by describing the decrees of the Greek kingdom against Israel during the Second Beis HaMikdash. So we have the history of Yosef and the story of Chanukah coming together in this larger pattern.

I want to take that a step further. The story of Yosef also draws us toward the idea of **Mashiach ben Yosef**, and the later *sefarim* speak about **ohr**, the light associated with the ultimate geulah. Chanukah is a Yom Tov of light.

But I don't want to build everything on an attractive similarity between the words *Yosef* and *ohr*. Let's open the **Gemara**. I want to show you something remarkable: the Gemara itself brings the *halachah* of **Ner Chanukah** and the episode of **Yosef in the pit** right next to one another.

Why would these two statements be brought together? Listen carefully. That's where our *shmuess* begins.

## Shabbos 22a: A Chanukah Lamp and Yosef's Pit

The Gemara, **Shabbos 22a**, says:

**"נר של חנוכה שהניחה למעלה מעשרים אמה פסולה, כסוכה וכמבוי."**

A Chanukah lamp placed higher than **twenty amos** is invalid. The explanation is that the person's eye does not ordinarily notice the light at that height: **"לא שלטא בה עינא."**

Immediately afterward the Gemara says:

**"ואמר רב כהנא, דרש רב נתן בר מניומי משמיה דרב תנחום: מאי דכתיב והבור רק אין בו מים?"**

And then comes the familiar teaching:

**"מים אין בו, אבל נחשים ועקרבים יש בו."**

When Yosef was thrown into the pit, it had no water, but it contained **snakes and scorpions**.

*Rabosai*, what is the connection? We are learning Hilchos Chanukah! All of a sudden, the Gemara begins discussing **the pit into which Yosef was thrown**.

Of course there is a simple explanation. The Gemara has brought a teaching in the name of **Rav Nasan bar Manyumi, citing Rav Tanchum**, and it brings another teaching in the same transmission. The text says **Rav Kahana** introduced that exposition. It is normal for the Gemara to group sayings from the same *baal memra*.

But the juxtaposition is nevertheless striking. One statement concerns a light too high for a person to see; the next concerns something **hidden deep in a pit**.

An approach attributed in the *shiur* to the **Maharam Shik** suggests that Reuven could have intended to save Yosef and still not have noticed the dangerous creatures at the bottom. Perhaps the pit was sufficiently deep that he could not see them. This is tied to **"לא שלטא בה עינא"**.

Now think carefully: the Gemara discusses a lamp too high for the eye. A pit is in the opposite direction—**downward**. Are the two kinds of distance necessarily governed by the same rule? There are later *poskim*, including a statement attributed here to Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, who distinguish looking upward from looking downward.

So I am not presenting a new practical *psak* that twenty amos below is automatically the same as twenty amos above. The original **Maharil Diskin** and other commentators also discuss the depth of Yosef's pit in a very different way.

But whatever the exact dimensions, the *diyuk* is powerful. **Something momentous was taking place out of sight.** Reuven was acting to save Yosef, without seeing all the danger and all the consequences.

And perhaps that is a clue to the connection between Yosef and the light of Chanukah. We'll see an explicit Midrash that brings them together.

## "HaDudaim Nasnu Reiach": Reuven Saves Yosef and Ner Chanukah

There is a remarkable *Midrash* quoted on the pasuk in **Shir HaShirim 7:14**:

**"הדודאים נתנו ריח, ועל פתחינו כל מגדים."**

The *dudaim* gave their fragrance, and at our doorways are all manner of precious things.

The Midrash is quoted with the interpretation:

**"הדודאים נתנו ריח — זה ראובן שהציל את יוסף; ועל פתחינו כל מגדים — זה נר חנוכה."**

Reuven, who found the *dudaim*, is the one who saved Yosef. And the precious things at the **doorway** allude to the **Chanukah lights**, which are placed at the entrance.

That is astonishing. The Midrash itself puts **Reuven's rescue of Yosef** and **Ner Chanukah** together in a single pasuk.

We now have a more substantial connection than merely noting that both stories speak of light. Reuven's *hatzalah* is set alongside the Chanukah lights, and the Gemara in **Shabbos 22a** likewise places a Chanukah-light statement beside the snakes and scorpions in Yosef's pit.

But **why**? What does the rescue of Yosef have to do with the candles of Chanukah?

I want to bring another *maamar Chazal*. The Midrash says that if Reuven had known the Torah would record **"וישמע ראובן ויצלהו מידם"** (Bereishis 37:21), he would have carried Yosef home **on his shoulders**, accompanied by celebration.

What does that mean? Did Reuven want *kavod*? Did he say, "Had I known the Torah would praise me, I would have staged a grand procession"?

*Chas veshalom*! We must understand what the Midrash is teaching about Reuven's action and the significance of what he did.

I want to suggest an explanation this year. What if Reuven had known **how far into the future** the rescue of Yosef would reach? What if he had known that the *hatzalah* in the pit would be connected, in the language of Midrash, to the **future *nes* of Chanukah**?

Then his joy would not have been about his own honor. It would have been about the tremendous consequences of saving another life.

And this brings us back to **"לא שלטא בה עינא."** Sometimes a person cannot see the ultimate consequence of what he is doing. A small act now may have effects long after anyone can foresee them.

I want to explore that idea, because I think it is a key to the whole connection.

## What Reuven Could Not See

Let's read the Gemara's words again. A Chanukah lamp placed above twenty amos is invalid because **"לא שלטא בה עינא"**—the eye does not take it in. And right there the Gemara describes the pit: **"והבור רק אין בו מים"**, but it held snakes and scorpions.

Could it be that the connection is not simply a measurement? Perhaps the Gemara's placement of these teachings invites us to think about **what the eye does not see**.

When Reuven tried to save Yosef, he saw a brother in danger. He did not see the whole future unfolding from that rescue. He could not know that Yosef would eventually be taken to Mitzrayim, become the source of *parnassah* for many people, and prepare the way for the history of Klal Yisrael.

And now the Midrash connects Reuven's rescue to the **Chanukah lights**. Had Reuven known the *toldos*, the consequences that would come from saving Yosef, he would have carried him back with tremendous **simchah**.

That is how I would like to explain the Midrash about the music and fanfare. Not that Reuven wanted people to honor him, *chas veshalom*, but that he had no idea how great the consequences of his act would be.

The hidden *nes* in the pit had a future he could not yet perceive. And so, perhaps, **"לא שלטא בה עינא"** becomes a beautiful *mussar* idea: sometimes what truly matters lies beyond the reach of the human eye.

Now there is another part of Chanukah we have to understand: **simchah**. The **Yesod VeShoresh HaAvodah** speaks of rejoicing in the *nes* of Chanukah.

We all know Chanukah is a happy time. The children receive treats and sometimes presents. But is that simply because of the season? Is it because we copied customs of other nations? Certainly that is not the *yesod* I want to teach.

There are sources among the *Acharonim* that discuss Chanukah gifts and festive customs. Their exact *halachic* status needs separate checking. But one thing is clear: **Chanukah has its own special joy in the salvations and miracles of Hashem**.

The question is, what does that joy have to do with Yosef, with the *bor*, and with **the lights of Chanukah**? And why does our Midrash speak about **"מגדים"**, something like sweet delicacies, at the doorway?

I think those two questions—**simchah** and **sweetness**—will lead us to the answer.

## Sforno, the Second Beis HaMikdash, and the Future of Yosef

Let us make a *chazarah*, *rabosai*. We began with the **Sforno on Bereishis 37**, who says that the events of Yaakov Avinu after returning to his father's land correspond to the history of Klal Yisrael in **Bayis Sheini**, with its destruction and the geulah at the end of days.

That is the broader frame. Yosef's story and Chanukah belong to a connected history of Klal Yisrael, not merely two parshiyos that happen to be read at the same time.

The **Rambam**, at the beginning of **Hilchos Chanukah**, tells us that the Greeks ruled oppressively during the Second Beis HaMikdash, decreed against our religious life, and even violated the dignity of Jewish women. Through the victory of the Chashmonaim, Jewish sovereignty was restored for a period.

Now think of the story of **Yosef**. The trial of **Eishes Potifar** threatened Yosef's kedushah. Later Yosef rose to power and became a ruler in Mitzrayim. We can hear resonances with the decrees, the threats to Jewish sanctity, and the restoration of authority in the Chanukah story.

I am not saying the Sforno spells out each of these particular comparisons. Those are **connections I am developing** from his broader *mahalach*.

And what about **Mashiach ben Yosef**? The Sforno points toward the future *geulah*. Later *sefarim* associate Yosef with a future role in redemption. This gives another dimension to the idea of **the light of Mashiach**, though we must keep the explicit source separate from our own *derush*.

Now, back to our Gemara. The halachah of the Chanukah lamp above twenty amos and the account of the pit with snakes occur next to one another. The **Maharam Shik** and other explanations connect them through the possibility that danger at the bottom of the pit was invisible.

But I want to ask: **does the pit truly have to be twenty amos deep?** Could there be other explanations? The **Maharil Diskin** is cited as challenging the dimensions of the pit, drawing on the *sugya* of the dangers associated with a deep *bor*. If Yosef fell into such a pit, how did he survive?

We would need to verify that *mareh makom* and learn the differences between ordinary hazards and the *nes* that occurred to Yosef.

My point is that I am not satisfied with an explanation based only on **a similarity in measurement**. There is also the **Midrash** that explicitly connects Reuven's rescue with Ner Chanukah.

And that *Midrash* demands we ask a deeper question: **what was Yosef's special contribution that would become the light of Chanukah?**

## The Doorway, the Delicacies, and the Joy of Chanukah

We saw the Midrash:

**"הדודאים נתנו ריח — זה ראובן שהציל את יוסף; ועל פתחינו כל מגדים — זה נר חנוכה."**

The Chanukah lights stand by the **pesach**, the doorway. But why does the pasuk call what is at the doorway **"מגדים"**? The word suggests precious things, delicacies, even sweets.

I want to understand why Chanukah is associated here with that word. Is it only about where the candles are placed, or is the sweetness itself part of the message?

People eat **latkes and sufganiyos** on Chanukah. We know the simple connection with the miracle of the **shemen**—the oil. But why do we eat sweet foods, and what do they symbolize?

Before answering, I want to show you another *remez* of Chanukah in the story of Yosef.

There is a discussion in **Orach Chaim 670** concerning whether the extra **seudos** people make on Chanukah count as a mitzvah, and under what circumstances, especially when accompanied by **shiros vesishbachos** to praise Hashem.

The **Eliyah Rabbah**, quoting earlier *Acharonim* including the **Mateh Moshe** and a gloss associated with the **Mordechai**, discusses a remarkable allusion from our coming parashah.

Yosef prepares a meal for his brothers. The Torah says:

**"וטבוח טבח והכן"** (Bereishis 43:16)—slaughter an animal and prepare it.

Our *mefarshim* point to the letters of **"טבח והכן"** as an allusion to **Chanukah**, and the well-known total of **44 flames** across the eight nights when the shamash is included. The number 44 is not the ordinary gematria of **טבח**; the letter connection must be evaluated separately. The particular numerology is a *remez*, not the plain meaning of the verse or a source replacing the laws of Chanukah.

Imagine: **the seudah that Yosef made in Mitzrayim** hints at the seudah of Chanukah!

Again, why Yosef? Why Chanukah? Why **a meal**?

A teaching attributed to the **Megaleh Amukos** connects Chanukah specifically with Yosef, in the way the *regalim* are connected in different *sefarim* with the Avos. We must verify the exact text, but that *yesod* offers a direction.

And now we have several things coming together: Yosef's **hatzalah**, Chanukah's **simchah**, the **meal**, and the **sweet delicacies**. We will not understand them until we understand the **ohr haTorah** and the particular *kedushah* of Yosef HaTzaddik.

Let's go one step further.

## "Beis Yosef LeHavah": Yosef and the Flame of Chanukah

The **Mateh Moshe** and **Eliyah Rabbah** bring a *remez* from Yosef's seudah: **"וטבוח טבח והכן"**. The letters can be arranged as an allusion to Chanukah, and there is a connection drawn between the meal and the lights. Now I want to ask, what is the *nekudah* behind it?

Look at something Chazal say about **Yaakov Avinu**. When Yosef was born, Yaakov was ready to leave Lavan and confront Esav. Rashi on **Bereishis 30:25** brings the teaching **"נולד שטנו של עשו"**: the one able to confront Esav had been born.

Who was that? **Yosef**.

And why? The pasuk in **Ovadiah 1:18** says:

**"והיה בית יעקב אש, ובית יוסף להבה, ובית עשו לקש."**

The house of Yaakov will be **fire**, the house of Yosef **a flame**, and the house of Esav **stubble**. Rashi explains how a flame can reach farther than the fire itself. Yosef is the flame that carries the force of Yaakov outward.

*Rabosai*, do you hear the connection? **Fire. Flame. Chanukah lights. Yosef.**

The source of the flame is the **eish of Yaakov**, but the flame that reaches into the darkness is **Beis Yosef**. Yosef took the Torah of Yaakov and carried it with him into **Mitzrayim**, a place where it could not be taken for granted.

And look at the Torah that became attached to Chanukah. We all know the famous **Beis Yosef's kashya**: Why is Chanukah eight days when the oil naturally should have lasted the first day? There have been tremendous numbers of answers written. The question or versions of it existed in earlier Torah literature, but in the world of learning it has become known as the *Beis Yosef's kashya*.

I find that interesting as a further *remez*: once again we have **Beis Yosef** and the flame of Chanukah. I am not presenting that word association as a source, only as a beautiful observation.

But there is something deeper here. What exactly does the **menorah's light** represent? The *sefarim* speak of **ohr haTorah**, the light of Torah. Chanukah is the time of recovering and revealing that light.

And here is my central *chiddush*: **the light of Torah is revealed through kedushah and taharah**.

Yosef's flame was not merely wisdom or learning. It was **Torah joined to kedushah**, a Torah a person can carry even into Mitzrayim.

I want to prove that from the sources.

## The Ohr HaGanuz and the Purity of Torah

We know that the menorah symbolizes **ohr haTorah**. The pasuk says **"כי נר מצוה ותורה אור"** (Mishlei 6:23): a mitzvah is a lamp, and Torah is light.

The **Rokeach**, the **Bnei Yissaschar**, and other *sefarim* connect the lights of Chanukah with the **Ohr HaGanuz**, the hidden light of creation. There are **thirty-six** obligatory Chanukah flames across the eight nights—one the first night, two the second, and so on to eight—and a tradition associates this number with **thirty-six hours** during which an extraordinary primordial light shone.

These *remazim* require attention to their exact original texts, but the essential symbolism is clear: the lights point to the possibility of perceiving **a concealed spiritual illumination**.

Where can a person encounter that light? The *sefarim* speak of it as hidden in **the Torah**. And in the future, with the coming of Mashiach, the darkness will give way to a higher clarity in the knowledge of Hashem.

I want to emphasize something. Chanukah isn't just a celebration of **having Torah books** or being intelligent enough to study. Yavan wanted to draw us away from the **kedushah** of Torah, to strip our learning and lives of their sanctity.

That is why the Chanukah story keeps emphasizing **tumah and taharah**. We say in *Al HaNissim*: **"טמאים ביד טהורים"**—the impure were delivered into the hands of the pure. And after the victory:

**"ואחר כך באו בניך לדביר ביתך ופינו את היכלך וטהרו את מקדשך והדליקו נרות בחצרות קדשך."**

Your children entered the inner chamber of Your house, cleared Your sanctuary, **purified** Your Mikdash and kindled lights.

Notice the repeated language of **purity** and **sanctity**.

The **Pnei Yehoshua on Shabbos 21b** asks a famous *kashya*: if certain Temple services could proceed when the community was in a state of *tumah*, why was it necessary for Hashem to perform the special miracle of finding **pure oil**?

One answer is that the miracle expressed Hashem's special love for His people. But I want to see another *nekudah* in it, by way of *mussar*: the *nes* demonstrated that our relationship with Torah and avodah requires **taharah** as an ideal, even beyond a technical minimal allowance in a circumstance of necessity.

That was what Yavan opposed. Their decrees against **bris milah, Shabbos, and Rosh Chodesh** struck at the sanctity of Jewish life. The particular details of each historical decree belong in the relevant Midrashic and historical sources. But the *yesod* is the conflict between Torah **as mere knowledge** and Torah **lived with kedushah**.

Now I ask you: who embodies that Torah of kedushah? **Yosef HaTzaddik**.

## Yosef HaTzaddik: Torah With Kedushah and Taharah

Why do we call Yosef **"HaTzaddik"**?

We think immediately of the trial with **Eishes Potifar**. Yosef was in Mitzrayim, far from his father's home, and he could have surrendered to the environment around him. Instead he retained his *kedushah*.

Yosef was the **lehavah**, the flame that came from Yaakov's fire, and he carried that flame into a place of *tumah*. That is his extraordinary contribution: **Torah together with purity**.

Chazal say that Yaakov taught Yosef the Torah he had learned in the *beis medrash* of **Shem and Ever**. The Torah describes him as **"בן זקנים"** (Bereishis 37:3).

Look at the **Baal HaTurim** on those words. He interprets **זקנים** as a *notarikon* of **זרעים, קדשים, נשים, ישועות, מועד**—*Zeraim*, *Kodashim*, *Nashim*, *Yeshuos* (a name associated with *Nezikin*), and *Moed*.

Now, *rabosai*, do you notice what is missing?

**Taharos!**

Yaakov taught Yosef such tremendous Torah. The *notarikon* names nearly the entire order of the Mishnah, but it doesn't explicitly include **Taharos**. How can that be?

Here is the *chiddush* I want to suggest, my own *derush* on the Baal HaTurim: **Taharos was the special avodah Yosef had to develop himself**.

Yaakov gave him Torah. But Yosef, going down to Mitzrayim, had to make a life of **kedushah and taharah** out of that Torah. He had to keep himself pure when nobody from home was watching and when the surrounding culture worked against it.

That is why I connect him with Chanukah. Yavan wanted to obscure the purity of Torah, and the Chanukah miracle restored **the pure oil** and the pure light of *avodas Hashem*.

We call Yosef **"tzaddik yesod olam"** by the language of Mishlei 10:25 and the way the *sefarim* associate the *middah* of **yesod** with Yosef. If a foundation lacks purity, how will the beautiful building above it endure?

The Torah of Yosef was not only knowledge. It was Torah built on a foundation of **kedushah**. Without that, a person may have Torah learning but not fully perceive its light.

And the Baal HaTurim has another comment on **זקנים**: the word hints to **רז**, the secrets of Torah. I want to show you what that has to do with the hidden light, and why it explains the **sweetness** of Chanukah.

## What Blocks the Light of Torah?

I want you to imagine someone trying to see a brilliant light through layer after layer of dark material. The light may be there, but the person's view is blocked.

So too with **ohr haTorah**. The Torah itself is filled with light. But a person can obscure his ability to appreciate it through his own **gashmiyus**, *taavos*, and *tumah*.

That's why I say Chanukah is not merely about **Torah** in the abstract. It is about **Torah learned with kedushah and taharah**.

When Mashiach comes, the nevuah describes a time of **"מלאה הארץ דעה את ה'"** (Yeshayahu 11:9)—the earth will be filled with knowledge of Hashem. The idea is **clarity**: a world in which spiritual darkness no longer conceals the truth so completely.

The *sefarim* associate this future clarity with the **ohr haTorah** and the **Ohr HaGanuz**. When we say the light of Mashiach, we aren't talking about a literal flashlight or glowing sneakers! We're talking about **the illumination of daas Hashem**.

And that is the life Yosef HaTzaddik began to build. He carried the Torah of Yaakov with its sanctity even into the surroundings of Mitzrayim.

Now you can understand why I connect him to **the miracle of the pure oil**. The Chashmonaim fought so Torah would remain Torah of *kedushah*, and the *nes* came through oil that was **tahor**.

But now let's return to the **sweets of Chanukah**. The Midrash says **"ועל פתחינו כל מגדים"**, and I asked why the Chanukah lights were associated with *megadim*.

What do sweets represent? And what is the connection between **sweet foods** and the **sweetness of Torah**?

Everybody knows Chanukah has **sufganiyos** and **latkes**. People think it's just a nice custom or a business invented by the bakery. But there are older sources discussing fried pastries on Chanukah.

I want to read one of them, attributed to **Rabbeinu Maimon**, the father of the Rambam. And then I want to read what Dovid HaMelech says about the **sweetness of Torah**.

Once we learn those two, the *megadim* will take on a whole new meaning.

## Sufganiyos, Oil, and the Sweetness of Torah

Now, *rabosai*, let's talk about **sufganiyos**. People think the *minhag* began with the bakery down the street. But we have an old tradition of preparing fried foods for Chanukah.

The *shiur* cites a text attributed to **Rabbeinu Maimon, the father of the Rambam**, printed in a collection referred to as *Sarid U'Palit*. It describes a widespread custom to eat fried dough called in Arabic **al-sfing**, or *sufganiyos*, and associates it with **"כצפיחית בדבש"**, something like a sweet wafer in honey.

The printed attribution should be examined in its original edition before we quote its precise wording as certain. And I don't want to claim that a medieval source describes **modern jelly-filled doughnuts** exactly as they are sold today. The basic custom of **fried, sometimes sweet dough** is older; how and when the jelly or cream filling became customary is a separate historical question.

Now listen to the idea. We celebrate the *nes* of the oil with food fried in **oil**. But why the special **sweetness**?

Look at what **Dovid HaMelech** says about the Torah:

**"הנחמדים מזהב ומפז רב, ומתוקים מדבש ונפת צופים"** (Tehillim 19:11).

The words of Torah are more precious than gold, **sweeter than honey and the honeycomb**.

Why does the pasuk compare **Torah** to something as physical as honey? I could understand calling Torah wise, pure, holy, profound. But **sweet**? It sounds almost like a child talking about candies and cakes!

I heard two beautiful approaches.

In the **Chofetz Chaim's introduction to Likkutei Halachos on Kodashim**, an explanation is attributed concerning the powerful effect of honey's taste, used as a *mashal* for Torah. Even a small amount of genuine Torah can have a profound transforming effect on a person, more than its outward quantity would suggest. The exact wording and the halachic comparison to mixtures must be checked; it would be wrong to treat this illustration as a general rule that honey automatically nullifies prohibited food.

And in a passage attributed to the **Shelah HaKadosh** concerning Shavuos, there is another *peshat*: with ordinary honey, a person may enjoy a little and then become overwhelmed by the sweetness. With **Torah**, the more you learn it and come to understand it, **the more you want**.

You don't say, "That's enough Torah for me; it's too sweet!" True *geshmak* in learning generates a greater desire to learn.

And I want to add a thought about the phrase **"ונפת צופים."** What makes a food with honey so delightful? The ingredients may be prepared into a delicacy you can enjoy bite after bite.

Maybe that's also a key to **mesikus haTorah**. Torah needs to be **learned, prepared, and understood** until its sweetness can be tasted. Let me explain with a story about a great Rosh Yeshiva.

## "When You Understand Clearly, Torah Becomes Sweet"

I saw an interview with **Rav Shmuel Berenbaum zt”l** in a collection referred to as **MiPihem**. They asked him, how can a person attain **ahavas haTorah**? How can a *bachur* develop a real *geshmak* in learning?

His answer was that one has to **understand well**.

If a person reads the words but doesn't know what is going on, he won't taste all their sweetness. He must work until the *sugya* becomes clear. When he understands a *Rashi*, a *Tosafos*, or the underlying *lomdus*, the Torah becomes alive to him.

He gave a *mashal* from food for a little child. You cannot hand an infant a tough piece of meat and expect him to eat it. But if the food is properly prepared, softened, and made suitable for the child, he can take nourishment and even enjoy it.

So too with Torah. **We have to work on a sugya until we can take it in.** The effort of learning and explaining makes its beauty accessible.

And that brings me back to **"מתוקים מדבש ונפת צופים."** Honey alone may be so intense that a person cannot eat very much. But when it becomes part of a carefully prepared cake or another delicacy, he can enjoy it again and again.

I want to suggest that **"נפת צופים"** evokes this prepared sweetness. I am not claiming this is the only literal meaning of the word; it is the *derush* I want to teach.

Now think about a **sufganiyah**. You take a bite. Sometimes the sweet filling is deep inside and you don't reach it right away! You may have to take a second bite, or even more. And then you find the sweetness.

So too in learning. A person has to work, ask, answer, review, and understand. At first all he sees is the outside. But when the *peshat* becomes clear, suddenly he tastes something wonderful.

There is a teaching in the *Midrashim* comparing the Torah to **light**. The pasuk says **"כי נר מצוה ותורה אור"** (Mishlei 6:23). And Tehillim 19:9 says:

**"פקודי ה' ישרים משמחי לב, מצות ה' ברה מאירת עינים."**

Hashem's teachings are upright, **gladdening the heart**; His commandment is pure, **enlightening the eyes**.

Look at the progression: **clarity, light, simchah**.

When you understand the Torah clearly, it brightens your eyes, it brings joy into your heart, and you begin to experience its sweetness.

Now I understand why **Chanukah**, the Yom Tov of **ohr haTorah**, is connected with **simchah** and **megadim**.

The Chanukah lights remind us that Torah is not merely something we study. It is something we can **love** and **taste**, especially when we learn it with **kedushah and taharah**.

## The Inner Keys: Banim and the Secrets of Torah

I told you that the **Baal HaTurim** on **"בן זקנים"** gives more than one explanation.

He says **זקנים** is a *notarikon* for major divisions of Torah, but also that the word has the numerical value of **רז**, an allusion to **רזי תורה**, the secrets of Torah.

Now, how does a person reach the inner depths of Torah? How does he receive the ability to understand what is **inside**?

I want to give you a *mashal* from the **Zohar**, as the *shiur* brings it, about **the inner keys—מפתחות פנימיות**. The exact *Zohar* passage needs a *mareh makom*, but listen to the beautiful idea.

A person may allow a stranger as far as an entrance or outer room. A more familiar guest may receive a key to the house, but not the private rooms. Someone especially close may enter still farther. And a **son** may be trusted with the **innermost keys**.

So too with Torah. There is the outer meaning, and then the **inner understanding**. The deeper access is given through a relationship of **closeness**.

And what does the *nusach* of **Al HaNissim** say about Chanukah?

**"ואחר כך באו בניך לדביר ביתך."**

Afterward **Your sons** came into the innermost chamber of **Your house**.

Why emphasize **"בניך"**, Your children, and **"דביר ביתך"**, the inner chamber?

Of course in its immediate meaning the prayer speaks of Klal Yisrael entering and restoring the Beis HaMikdash. But perhaps the wording also hints to the deeper *yesod*: those who approach Hashem as **banim** are given access to the innermost treasures.

The **dvir** is the inner place of the Mikdash, and in this *derush* it becomes an image of **the inner rooms of Torah**.

A son does not receive the keys because he has declared himself important. He receives them because of **a relationship**: love, belonging, closeness to his father. The more a Yid builds that closeness through *kedushah and taharah*, the more deeply he can enter the world of Torah.

We say **"השיבנו אבינו לתורתך"**: bring us back, **our Father**, to Your Torah.

The Torah is a gift from Hashem. We ask to receive it as **His children**.

And this brings us to an important correction in how people sometimes think about *taharah*. It isn't only a question of guarding against **arayos** or improper sights.

It is also a question of **middos**.

You want to perceive the pure light of Torah? Then your **character** must be part of that purity. Let me show you from Yosef HaTzaddik himself.

## Kedushah Means Good Middos, Not Only Avoiding Arayos

Let's look at **Yosef HaTzaddik** and his answer to **Eishes Potifar**. He says:

**"ואיך אעשה הרעה הגדלה הזאת וחטאתי לאלקים"** (Bereishis 39:9).

How can I commit such a terrible wrong and sin against Hashem?

What is his first explanation? He has just said that his master entrusted him with everything in the household. The **Sforno**, on the passage, brings out the terrible **ingratitude** it would be to betray a man who trusted him.

**"לשלם רעה תחת טובה"**—to repay good with evil.

Do you hear? We naturally focus on the prohibition of *arayos*, and of course that is central. But Yosef also recognizes the **middah** involved: how could he betray the person who had done so much for him?

That is the *kedushah* of Yosef. It is not merely the avoidance of one physical *aveirah*. It is a **purity of the entire person**, including gratitude, loyalty, and character.

I remember a story my grandfather told me about the **Alter of Slabodka**. A certain *bachur* usually prepared his porridge. One day that *bachur* needed to leave the yeshivah for a family occasion, so another student took over.

The substitute thought, "I will prepare a better porridge!" He put in a little more butter and sugar, hoping the Alter would appreciate how much more delicious he could make it.

But when the Alter understood the motivation, he exclaimed, in the story as it was transmitted, **"Chazer! Treif!"**

People were astonished. Was there forbidden food in the porridge? No! The point was that the student was trying to **outdo another person**. The added sweetness carried an intention of **gaavah** and competitiveness.

**Bad middos are also treif.**

Not literally the same dietary prohibition as eating non-kosher food, *chas veshalom*. But in the language of *mussar*, a person can poison even a beautiful act through jealousy, pride, and cruelty.

So when I say **Torah must be learned with kedushah and taharah**, I don't mean only protecting one's eyes and thoughts from arayos. That is certainly important. But **kinah, sinah, and gaavah** can also obstruct the spiritual purity needed to appreciate Torah.

A man can study Torah and still have ugly middos. If he refuses to refine himself, he may be unable to experience **the true beauty of what he learns**.

The story about the Alter is an oral family tradition and should be checked before publication as independent biography, but the *yesod* is clear.

And I want to show you what the other side looks like: **great people who truly tasted the sweetness of Torah**.

## The Sweetness of Torah: Rav Baruch Ber and the Chazon Ish

I heard a beautiful *maaseh* about **Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz**. He worked for a long time on a difficult **Rashba**. Finally, after tremendous effort, he understood the *peshat*.

He was overwhelmed. "Ribbono Shel Olam," he exclaimed, in the story as I heard it, "how sweet is this Rashba!"

And then he caught himself. "No, Ribbono Shel Olam, **all Your Torah is sweet**—not only this Rashba!"

What happened? At the moment that the difficult Rashba became clear, he **tasted** the sweetness of Torah. And that experience awakened him to the beauty of **the entire Torah**.

This is what we mean by **"מצות ה' ברה מאירת עינים"**. The learning becomes clear, and the eyes are illuminated.

There are also stories in **Maaseh Ish** about the **Chazon Ish** and the extraordinary pleasure he took in Torah learning.

In one account he developed a beautiful *chiddush* and wanted to reserve a fuller appreciation of it for **Friday night**, when a person has a *neshamah yeseirah*. People save a special wine or food for Shabbos. The Chazon Ish, according to the story, saved **a precious understanding in Torah** for Shabbos.

And in another account he kept repeating a passage of Gemara about **askufah**, the threshold between one *reshus* and another in Hilchos Shabbos.

Someone asked why he kept repeating the same words instead of moving on. He said, in essence, **"I cannot separate myself from it; it is so sweet."**

It is like someone who loves a particular cake. He wants another piece and another piece. Don't tell him to try something else; he is enjoying this one!

That is what Torah can be for a person who really understands and loves it.

Now go back to **Chanukah**. We eat the **sufganiyah** with its sweet filling. I am not telling you not to enjoy the food! Enjoy it. But while you are eating, remember **"ומתוקים מדבש ונפת צופים"**.

The sweetness of the doughnut is a *mashal* for **mesikus haTorah**. The light of Chanukah represents a Torah that is pure, joyful, clear, and sweet.

And now perhaps we understand why the seudah of Yosef was linked by *remez* with **Chanukah**. The Torah says **"וטבוח טבח והכן"**. It was a meal prepared in Mitzrayim, but a meal in the world of Yosef—a life of **kedushah** even in that environment. The Chanukah meal too must not be merely about the pleasure of food.

What does the **Rema, Orach Chaim 670:2**, say? A festive gathering becomes a **seudah shel mitzvah** when it includes **shiros vesishbachos**, songs and praises to Hashem.

That is the *yesod*: the food is enjoyed, but the real joy is **praise of Hashem and the light of Torah**.

There is another *remez* attributed to the **Me'or VaShemesh** on **"אלקים יחנך בני"** (Bereishis 43:29), what Yosef said to Binyamin. The word **"יחנך"** can suggest a gift of favor, and the letters are developed as an allusion to Chanukah. This is homiletical, not the literal reading, and the precise comment needs printed verification.

But in our *mahalach*, I find the words especially beautiful: **"בני"**, my son. In *Al HaNissim* we say **"באו בניך לדביר ביתך"**, Your children entered the inner chamber. The *banim* are the ones entrusted with the keys to the depths of Torah.

So when Chanukah comes, I want you to experience **both its light and its sweetness**.

Remember Reuven who saved Yosef, even though he could not see the future consequences. Remember Yosef who took his father's Torah into Mitzrayim and guarded his *kedushah*. Remember the pure oil of the menorah and the clarity of **ohr haTorah**.

And when you eat your sufganiyah, think not only of the sweetness in the pastry, but of **how much sweeter Torah can be** when learned with purity, good middos, effort, and understanding.

May we all have a **freilichen, zissen Chanukah**—a joyous and sweet Chanukah, filled with the true **simchah and mesikus of Torah**.