Chanukah: Hodaah, Recognizing the Giver, and the Hidden Light of Geulah

Transcript

No, I like shiurim that we go straight to the point. We don't beat around the bush. לעניין, מה זה חנוכה, מה היסוד של חנוכה? So the truth is the Rambam says, התקינו חכמים שבאותו דור, פרק ג', הלכה ג', ימי שמחה והלל. Simcha is happiness, happiness, and Hallel, praise. Simcha and Hallel. Now I know the difference between simcha and Hallel. Simcha is להיות שמח בו. Hallel is to praise Hashem. וענין את החילוק בין שני הלשונות, between the two expressions, simcha and Hallel. מובן, נכון? אחד נובע מהשני. בסדר, זה בשביל הלמדנים. נגיד פשוט, שמחה זה להיות בשמחה. כתוב, שמחה והלל. Simcha is a lohalel, and Hallel is a losimcha. עוד פעם, קבעו שמונה ימי חנוכה, simcha v'hallel. Simcha is a simcha, and Hallel is a Hallel, and I understand the difference between the two. If you look in the Al Hanisim, in Al Hanisim it says a little different. קבעו שמונה ימי חנוכה אלו בהלל והודאה. ספרדים have u'v'hodaah. Ashkenazim have, ... Chanukah eilu, l'hodos u'lehallel, okay? So, b'hodot, l'hodot u'lehallel. Whatever the reasons why the nusach is a little different, but it's the same point. Ma chiluk bein hodaah v'hallel? Todah, no? Praise and praise. In English, what would they say? Thanksgiving and praise. Hodaah, thanksgiving and praise. Todah, it's hodaah milashon todah, thank you, because that's what—how do they say it in English? No, Rafi, what would you say? L'hodos means to thank, maybe. L'hallel is to praise. Thank you, and l'meshabeach, shasita, maybe. Yachol lihyot. L'hodot u'lehallel, l'hodot u'lehallel, maybe. Because otherwise, what's the difference between hodah and hallel? Let me read you the Rambam. The Rambam in perek daled, halacha yud. The Rambam says, Mitzvas ner Chanukah mitzvah chavivah hi ad me'od, v'tzarich adam l'hizaher bah. You have to be careful. Why? K'dei, in order, l'hodia hanes. L'hodia is to make known, know, l'hodia, to make people know. The nes, ulehosif b'shevach hakel, and to add in the shevach, the praise of Hashem, v'hodiyo lo al hanisim she'asa lo. So hodiyo means, I guess, thank you, and shevach, I guess, is Hallel. Shevach is the same word as Hallel. So here the Rambam uses a different lashon. The hoda'ah part, I see, right? Hodiya, hodiya means thank you, lehodot, thank you. What about Hallel? Hallel he calls what? Shevach. Lehosif shevach, to talk in abundance of praise, and that's Hallel. But he also says, k'dei lehodia hanes. Now where does lehodia hanes come from? I guess it comes from the din of pirsumei nisa, no? So when it says, v'kavu shemoneh asrei yemei Chanukah eilu, l'hodos u'lehallel, is not about pirsumei nisa, right? It's talking more about the praising part, right? I mean, I guess, because there's another thing which would be a... יש עוד נקודה שזה...

Pirsum hanes. Is that not me'ikar hatakanah of the Chag? Maybe it's just a prat. Lehodos u'lehallel is the ikar. And the lehodia, to notify, pirsumei nisa, is just a prat in kiyum hamitzvah of hadlakas ner Chanukah. You maskim? I mean, that's what it says here, right? If it was tiknu, they u'mesaken, lehodos u'lehallel, what about the part of lehodia hanes, pirsum hanes? And the answer is, that's not takanah. That's maybe a takanah on how to do the mitzvahs ner Chanukah, but it's not a takanah in the yesod of the Chag. They were kovea not lefarsem es hanes, but rather what? Lehodos u'lehallel. That's how I would say what, peshuto. Od dilma, or maybe we could say that lehodia is a chelek, part of the ikar of the kvius of the Chag. I, we say, v'kavu shemoneh yemei Chanukah b'hallel u'hodaah, and we don't say u'lefarsem es hanes. The answer might be, might be, that in hodaah we have lehodia. In hodaah we have pirsumei nisa. And I'll explain to you what I mean. How do I say thank you? For a nes. So poshut you can come and say, I said the words thank you, right? I want to know if in the nusach of anywhere, does it say the word todah? It's interesting, I wanted to know. You know, אני שואל שאלות שאף אחד לא עומד בזה, וזה החיסרון שלהם, לא החיסרון שלי. Tell me, Raffi, you found the word todah anywhere? In Al Hanisim, in the tefillah, in the ...? Yes. Sometimes the actions speak louder than words. Ah, now you're saying ma hoshia. See, you just came in, you're already taking over the whole shiur. Great. That's what I'm trying to get at. Sorry. I'm being happy, I'm appreciating that you jumped to that level, that you're able to say good, yeah? I'm thinking to myself, maybe there's different ways on how to say thank you. For example, if someone gives you a gold watch, if you don't appreciate the fact that you got the gold watch, you know what you do? You keep it in your cubby. If you want to show appreciation for the gold watch, for example, my mother-in-law comes, let's say in my case not a gold watch but a tie, right? So I have a hundred of them already. She comes every Monday and Thursday, she comes. So I have a hundred ties, right? But she bought me another tie. So what do I do? What I do is I wear that tie on Shabbos to show that I appreciate the matanah, right? So could be להודיע את הנס is the way I say what? Todah. That's how I say thank you for the nes. B'maaseh. The fact that I'm mefaresem the nes, the fact that I beautify it, I glorify it, I pay attention. Hey, yisro, yisro, yisro, the tie, yisro. Everybody look at the tie, right? What am I trying to say? Thanks to the mother-in-law who got me the tie. I'm trying to bring out my appreciation and thankfulness that I got the tie. So maybe the lehodot is the lehodiach. It's part of the pirsumei nisa. Why am I saying this? Why am I saying this? Why am I saying this? You know, that's one way of how to show appreciation, is by paying attention to the matanah, to the present. There's another way of saying thank you. And you know what that is? Hakaras hatov.

When you say thank you, what do we call it? We call it hakarat hatov. I have to show appreciation, hakarat hatov. What does the word hakarat hatov mean? Does it mean todah latov? But rather, what does it mean? Recognition of the tov. Part of saying thank you is recognizing that the nosen gave. Again, let's say I'm thankful for the tie, but I don't have a proper recognition for the nosen. For example, I walk around and I say, I'm so thankful, I'm so thankful שיש לי עניבה כזו, so thankful. בלי להדגיש ובלי לשים הכרה למי נתן לי. Could we come and say, but you said thank you. Is thank you directed in the maaseh of the thanker, in the act of the person who's saying thank you, or is thank you that it's you, that I'm makir that it's you? Don't say it that way. Is the thankfulness my feeling that I got it, or the thankfulness is my understanding that you gave it to me? I'll even prove it to you. You know, I never liked the word thanks for the tie. You took the you out of it, and that's—it's done b'davka. I hold there's a b'davka in it. How do you give me something you didn't like? You wouldn't say the thanks, so it has to be the you, even if you don't like it. The opposite. It's something I like, so I'm thankful for the tie. The idea is not to be thankful for the tie. The idea is to what? You. It's the person who gave you the tie. I can't say together. It's both. It is both. I understand it's both. Again, would you be yotzei, Thanks for the tie? Now, of course, it's because I said it to you, meila, yesh kinui l'nedarim, מסתמא I meant, you know, like נזר עובר לפניו. But in the nusach of hoda'ah, you missed the whole hoda'ah. The hoda'ah is not thanks for the tie. You know, the holiday is called Thanksgiving, right? What's Thanksgiving? That you give thanks. You know, there's no to whom there. Tohu though. And because it is, from Moshe paskens, that's what Moshe is saying, there's no tohu, there is no tohu. It's Thanksgiving, okay. Of course they mean—what? Government countries, whatever you want. But you're missing my point. It's shayach to be thankful for something, but yet miss the whole yesod of a thank you. It's not thanks, it's thank you. Again, let me repeat it one more time. A person could have— a person could have much expression, gratitude, and let's use the word simcha. Simcha. I'm happy with what I have. You know, Chazal say, Nigila v'nismecha. Eineni yodea, I don't know.

Whom I happy with? ... it has to be with Hashem, right? My simcha is ... Some people can be happy in a matzav, but the happiness isn't from who you got the matzav from. A lot of people are very happy on Shabbos, they're very happy on Yontif. But you know what they lack? They lack that it's supposed to be happy with Hashem. The Hashem part, of course you're happy eating and you're coming and you enjoy the day. You could be thankful in gratitude and feeling, but without properly designating the nois. You hear this, Rafi? You hear what I'm saying? You hear what I'm saying? Todah. You know, a lot of people thank. You know why they thank? They thank because, as a person who gets, they feel they have to say thank you. The person gets, he feels that he owes a thank you. But it's not necessarily that it's the hakarah that the other person, that you owe him something. They can be thankful. What are you saying? What are you saying? Maybe, but let's simplify it. There's definitely a two-pronged psychology behind the thank you, to use those words. יש שני שלבים ושבילים ועניינים בתוך כל תודה. השמחה מה שאני קיבלתי, וגם את ההכרה וההערכה למי שנתן לי את זה. Right? I told this too many times that Rabbi Yerucham used to say, רואים לפעמים אדם, a person, he wants to say thank you, and he מרבה בתודה, thank you, thank you, thank you. What does the other guy say? אין בעד מה, אין בעד מה, don't worry. There's no reason to thank me, don't worry. So what do you think the pshat is? The pshat is that he's being a nice guy, and he's being a nice guy in return saying, You don't have to say thank you. Says Rabbi Yerucham, You don't know what you're talking about. That's not what's going on. This person is saying thank you because he wants to פטור himself from the שיבוד that he owes for the person that did him the favor. He thinks by saying thank you twenty times, now he owes him nothing. And the other guy is saying, לא, לא, לא, לא. Maybe he feels guilty for not being able to give it back, so he has to say thank you, thank you, thank you. That's what I'm telling you. It's instead of giving it back, he says thank you. So you know what that thank you is? What kind of a thank you is that? It's one-sided. It's his happiness that he got. Without properly, properly being marich the noisen's chelek of it, and the chiyuvim and the achrayus that come from having to pay back someone that gave you something. B'kitzur, after everything's said and done, b'kitzur, after everything's said and done, there's a thank you which is, it's novea, it's coming from the person who got the good. And then there's a part of a thank you which is מצד the noisen, the achrayus and the shibud that you owe the noisen by recognizing that you owe him something. The hardest thing is, says the Chofetz Chaim, l'hakir hatov, hakaras hatov, because hashlamas hatov, says the Chofetz Chaim, will come anyway. The trick is not the hashlama. The thank you that you want to pay back is normal. People want to pay back for good they got, but they're lacking in the hakarah of who gave it to them. That's why הניסיון זה להכיר את הטוב, לא להשלים את הטוב, Chofetz Chaim. This is this.

Because there's two dynamics that go into every todah. There's me, my expression of gratitude, of happiness that I got it. And then there's the second part, which is the responsibilities and the shibudim of the hakarah that someone else gave me something. Lehodot, lehodia et hanes, to be modia the nes. You know, the nes Chanukah. Nes Chanukah, I'm going to soon show you, was an interesting type of nes. It was an interesting nes. And that is, and that is, that the nes sheboi was not overwhelming from simcha. It wasn't a nes that brought everybody out to simcha. Purim was not like that. Purim was one day complete annihilation, and the next day, ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר, jubilance in the streets. Yeah? Yemaskin that. One day Purim. The day before Purim, it was, sak v'efer yutza, right? He was crying in the streets and giving out for aveilus. And the next day, what was it? Purim. Purim, happiness, yeah? And that's why it's mishteh v'simcha. The Bach, kavu'a zeh l'mishteh v'simcha, because it was happiness. Mashenkein Chanukah lo kavu ella l'hodos u'lehallel. And that's what the Bach says. Why? So the Bach says a cheshbon, because the ikar was the ruchniyus and not the gashmiyus. What's wrong with making a seudas hoda'ah for ruchniyus? What's so bad? I think maybe either this is what the Bach means, or you can say, chutz mihaBach. The simcha wasn't a real simcha, like I'll soon show you. You know what it was? It was hoda'ah to be makir minatan, and that's why it's b'ruchniyus, to be l'hodos l'HaKadosh Baruch Hu for giving us. So I'm explaining to you because obviously you didn't understand one word that I said, so let me say it again. If there's simcha, rejoicement, so you rejoice by making a seudah. I don't believe Chanukah, except the Rambam uses the word simcha, but I don't believe that Chanukah... It was about simcha. They were not happy on Chanukah. I'll prove it to you. Want me to prove it to you? It says clearly in the Gemara that they came, they fought, and then they went to the Beis Hamikdash and they lit, u'leshanah acheres, and the next year they were kovea Chanukah. Tell me, why did they wait a whole year to be kovea Chanukah? Huh? Why did they have to wait a whole year? Why couldn't they be kovea Chanukah right away? Do you know that the war was mesares giborim b'yad chalashim, v'rabim b'yad me'atim. They lost the gedolim. They lost big people in the war. Purim, nothing. Purim was a complete joyous result. As a matter of fact, for twelve years, twelve years from the first milchamah, they were still fighting battles. They weren't finished. Nah, they weren't finished. Shteim esrei shanah, it was up and down, up and down for twelve years. When it was chazar malchus l'Yisrael, that they, taka, had peace and tranquility, it was after twelve years of fighting. So there wasn't l'hodos, l'hallel. What were these—

So happy about. Shanah acheres, the next year, in retrospect, they looked back and they said that even though it wasn't the most joyous event, like Purim, Sasson v'simcha, they didn't take time to be kovea Purim yisorah right away. There was a tremendous simcha and outpour of happiness, sasson, simcha yekar. They recognized something. They realized something. They realized something. They kiyemu. Makarah zu chiyev otam לעשות חנוכה. That's what they made Chanukah. Let me ask you a question. How big was the nes if they still were milcham fighting? What was so big about it? It wasn't over. Even a year later they were still fighting, no? Twelve years, you just walked in. So why do you wake up five minutes later? I just said it. Just walked in. That's exactly what I just said. And the answer is that they looked back and they said there was something very special about what happened last year this time. Even though it wasn't a complete salvation, ad daina yom milchamot. Let me ask you a question. They lit the menorah b'taharah. Yeah, tell me, what happened to the rest of the Beis Hamikdash? What happened to everything else? What happened to the rest of the— the whole thing was charuv, u'partzu bo pirtzos. So wait till you make a Chanukas habayis and be excited about it. I'll say, Yolida candle, right? It liku ner, נכון? Avu, what are you excited about? The whole thing's in ruins. It's in shambles. If you want to make a holiday, make a holiday when everything is quiet. The wars are over. The Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt. And the teretz is that they saw something. They were makir something. You know what they were makir? They were makir that there was a neis over here. They were makir that Hashem gave them something. Hashem did. Hashem's hand gave them something. That hakarah was what they said, L'shanah acheres kavua. Let's go make a simcha out of this. Let's go make a Yom Tov. So what was the Yom Tov? Kavu'uhu v'asuhu yemei hallel v'hodaah, to say thank you. It's not a holiday. It's not a Yom Tov because of a tremendous big happy event that took place. It wasn't so big and it wasn't so happy. It was that they recognized that there was a neis and Hashem gave them something. You with me? You hear what I'm saying? Are you masking? Not so much. Why not? Well, why would you make a Yom Tov in the middle of a war, that the war is not over yet? The war was not over. I mean, that you know, right? You look at your seforim. So you're asking that it's not true or it's not true? The whole thing was, yesterday walked in, they found the ... so it קומט out the war was finished somewhat. You just said, you just said somewhat. So I don't see it. So why didn't you wait till it's not somewhat, but completely what? Because what they wanted, the Beis Hamikdash, they got. Oh, they did. The Beis Hamikdash was functioning and everything was fine the next day. So I'm going to show you how you don't know what you're talking about. Itliku neiros, v'chatzos kodshecha. Was the Beis Hamikdash intact? So what do you want? So why argue with the fact? Again, don't you think that— I just say Chazal is a modern-day war, right? And we're fighting for boundaries. Even if the war continues, once you overtake your territory again, that's a cause for celebration. That's not celebration, the only celebration. Not the only, but that is already like a— Let me tell you, tell me when they put up the flag. No, I'm giving an example. Yeah, but they didn't put up the flag yet. The war continued. That's the flag. Maybe to help them get stronger, no? They see the light. This is ours, to give them psychologically. What do you say? What do you say? No, Avadi doesn't answer the next year. The next year, zicher means that they didn't chapped it the first year. According to you, I don't know what your kasha.

Chapped the first year. They didn't chapped it the first year. Maybe they chapped it, they just wait until next year, that zman, Chaf Hei, then say, you know, they can't do the holiday after the fact, after the eighth day, but they'll start after the eighth day. No, they prepared the year before for the next year. Hashem, ma shemedabrim po? Lama, lama lo? I need to get this up in Yemeni. What language? Arabic? What do they speak? ... אני רוצה להגיד, לא כמו שהם. הם רוצים להגיד, היה משהו מיוחד, חנוכה, לחמו, ניצחו, six-day war. It was an unbelievable miracle, and victory, and they came back and they got the Kotel, and... You look at the history, it was just the beginning of a very long battle, and a long, a long distorted uphill battle. The Beis Hamikdash was completely in shambles. They had to even, according to the Chasam Sofer explains, they had to take the menorah out because it was tamei. There was nothing intact in the Beis Hamikdash. There was no Beis Hamikdash. And lefikach, it took them a year to say, you know something, last year this time this happened, that's the beginning of something good. It wasn't just that, oh yeah, we won. A year later they noticed something. So maybe like you're saying, they noticed that that was the beginning of good things to come, maybe. Or maybe they realized what they had from that day. It wasn't so much the what they got, it's that the one who gave it to them was trying to give them something. You know, sometimes you take out a cheap thing, right? It's not what it is, but it's what? Who gave it to you. Example: your wife is not going to buy you a nice... Why does she buy you a card, right, on sale from the pharmacy? It's cheaper there, right? But you still take it out. You know why? Because the issue is not so much what, but the issue is who gave it to you. I believe that Chanukah was not so much what, but it's who gave it to you. I base my word on the Knesset Yeshua. The Knesset Yeshua says that why did the Rabbeinu Shalom make a miracle to Nes Tahor, who needed it, to Mehutra? Says the Knesset Yeshua that there was a reason for it, and that was to show them that I still love them, I still love them, because the Yevanim were trying to say, Ein lachem chelek b'Elokei Yisrael. We're not together anymore, and the Rabbeinu Shalom said, No, no, no, I want to show you chavivus, and that's why Ner Chanukah is mitzvah chavivah hi ad me'od, very dear mitzvah. What's so dear about it? Because it's chavivus. It was meant to show love. Ner Ma'aravi, right? The menorah was a sign that Shechinah shorah b'Yisrael. It's a love, love, love present, okay? Full of hearts. Present comes stamped with full of hearts from the Eibishter, right? The recognition that there was a neis. It wasn't so much what I got is what Chanukah is, and that's l'hodos u'lehallel. That's what means to be modeh. The whole Yom Tov is not about simcha. Simcha is what you have. A person can be very happy. A person can be very happy with what he has, but he doesn't necessarily need to recognize the neis to be happy. But when it's not so, but rather it's what the chashivus, the importance of it is, who gave it to me. So that's more about what? Not simcha, but more about hoda'ah. Harachah has to do with how you view it that gives its importance. Kavu, they were kovea not so much for a party, for a simcha, for a bash, but rather what is it? L'hodos u'lehallel. I'd like to discuss a few more points with you.

You know, we spoke from the Chidah, Tamar and Yehuda. I'm not going to repeat most of it, but that Tamar and Yehuda is the story of Chanukah. We said over from the Chidah. You can look in the Torahs Chidah, you can look it up yourselves. Why? Haker na l'mi hachosemes, mapsilim. Chosemes is the oil, even though pashut means the ring, but it could also mean a chosemes, right, from the oil, seal. Psilim, the clothing, the Maccabim walked around with clothing, mi kamocha ba'eilim Hashem. Mateh, the stick, could also mean the mateh, the Kohanim, the Chashmonaim. And haker l'mi, to who? Because l'mi is mi kamocha ba'eilim Hashem. This we added. We added these two points, the haker and the mi, because the yesod of Chanukah was l'hakir. That's what we spoke about. You weren't here that Sunday, maybe. Ah, you're missing big stuff from the Chidah. This, rabosai, is good to hold in your pocket. You know why? Because if you ever want to speak anywhere on Chanukah, remember Rabbi Wolkin taught you this, because this is a diamond, mamash a diamond. The sugya of Tamar and Yehuda is Chanukah. ככה כותב בחיד״א, בספר חדרי בטן. He says why: חותמת ופתילים. Hamateh, chotemet is the oil. Ptilim, the clothing of Yehuda. Ptilim could also mean the clothing of the Maccabim. And the mateh is the shevet of the Kohanim, and that's why he says הוציאה ותישרף is a remez for ner Chanukah, that what? You take it outside and you light it in the chatzer. Hotziu v'tisaref. Kach katuv b'Chidah, and we added that that's the pshat hakerno, bakara, lemi, lemi. What's lemi? Mi kamocha ba'eilim Hashem. That's what we added to this. So we spoke about the inyan of recognizing the yad Hashem when it's confusing and not clear. We spoke about the inyan of malchus, Tamar, Yehuda, Dovid HaMelech, Mashiach. Let me show you Rambam. The Rambam says, you know what's so good about Chanukah? That we're so happy and we're so joyous, the miracle, of course, and don't forget the Yevanim did evil things to us. They pashtu yadam b'mamonam u'vegufam. Also, after we won the war, heemidu melech min haKohanim, and v'chazar malchus l'Yisrael yoser al masayim shanah. The malchus came back for more than 200 years. Now, we all know the Ramban. Ramban says this was not a good thing; this was a bad thing. Yeah? Was this a good thing or a bad thing that the malchus, the Kohanim, the Chashmonaim took over? The Ramban says it was a bad thing. But the Rambam seems to say that it's one of the good things. The Rambam mashma shezeh mehadevarim, right? Shezeh mehadevarim hatovim, right? It's from the good parts of Chanukah. He's saying all the reasons why we're happy. So I'm asking you a question. Does the Rambam mean that now we had freedom? Does the malchus l'Yisrael mean that therefore we weren't under the malchus Yavan and therefore we were free? Is this like a hemshech? They did terrible things to us because we were under their rule, chazar malchus l'Yisrael, and we're not under their rule anymore. I don't hear it that way in the Rambam. I hear it as a maalah bifnei atzmo, shehamalchut chazrah l'Yisrael. The zechut, the privilege, that the malchus came back l'Yisrael. Yes, almost. What's so special about that? What does that have to do with Chanukah? Oh, so now you're saying something else. It doesn't mean physical, but it means something about the malchut, yeah? Okay. Remember I told you Tamar, Yehuda—Yehuda was the melech, right? So we see that there's something about the melech and the malchus with Chanukah. What does the melech and malchus have to do with Chanukah? I'll tell you very simple. You know, it says in all the sifrei drush and Kabbalah, but the sefarim on the inyanim, malchut d'ara k'ein malchut d'rakia.

No, but they explain that the point of the malchus here is to establish and to show and to improvise that there's also malchus Shamayim. In Yiddish we say, ishpigeltach. It's like a mirror. It's a splitting mirror, which means that when you looked at the melech, you right away thought, melech, malchei hamelachim, that there's a melech and there's a melech on top of that melech. Someone once asked my grandfather, chassidishe guy, he asked my grandfather, What Rebbe you go to? So my grandfather says, The same Rebbe your Rebbe goes to. The havanah is that even the melech should have a melech that he goes to. So the melech also has a melech, and that's the eibishter, right? So the malchus is a symptom that there's a malchus Shamayim in this world. Golus is that we don't see the malchus Hashem. Yeda kol paul ki atah paalta vyavin kol yetzur ki atah... It's one of what? Malchiyos, right? One of the malchiyos is, Veyomer kol asher nishamah bapa, Hashem Elokei Yisrael, melech, malchuso bakol mashalah. You say molech, we say melech. Melech, malchuso bakol mashalah. Yes, that's two different girsaos. We spoke about it. Malach hamal, we spoke about in the shiur once. Okay, now the point being, what's the point? The point is that the malchus shechazra is pshat is malchus Hashem chazra. Don't forget, what did the Yevanim want? The Yevanim wanted that we should have Torah, the lifestyle of the Jews, all good, but just take Hashem out of the picture. Just take Hashem out of the picture. Why? Because they believed that who is the malchus, who is the leader, who is the Adonei haaretz? They are. They're in power. They're in power. So the chazra malchus l'Yisrael is a symptom that HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Mi kamocha ba'eilim Hashem, haker na, l'mi hachosemes. Who did all this? So it's not so much what was done. Chanukah is not about what was done. Chanukah was what? Who did it. Purim was about what was done. תמיד Hashem's name in the Megillah. The story of Purim is about the nes, the tremendous miracle. Nister, not a good. The identification by Chanukah of who did it is the l'hodos u'lehallel. That's the ikar of the Chanukah. That's why it's a seudah. Chanukah is not more than l'hodos u'lehallel. Who gave it to us? Hashem loves us, and therefore He gave us Chanukah. Now, how much? Okay, so let's discuss this now. Remember I told you that from Tomer came Malchus Beis David, and what was that? Ohro shel Mashiach, the light of Mashiach. And I explained to you in the shmooze two weeks ago, the ohro shel Mashiach is the pshat that in the golus, in the darkness, you don't see Hashem, Mashiach is about lighting it up, giving ohr, giving understanding to the cheshkas hagolus by showing that there's a yad Hashem and there's hashgacha pratis. It says in the Medrash that Tomer Yehuda, HaKadosh Baruch Hu hayah oisek boirei ohro shel Mashiach, the light of Mashiach. The Chanukah, which is interesting, has to do with malchus, like I show you. It has to do with Tomer Yehuda. It doesn't have anything to do with Mashiach. There's a mefurasher rekeach that quotes a Medrash. Remember I asked you, how come the Rambam says how many candles do you light on Chanukah? I mean, there's no how many candles you light on Chanukah. There's how many candles you have to light each night of Chanukah.

There's no sum total of the candles on Chanukah, till I found the Rokeach that says yes, there is. The Rokeach brings from a Medrash, v'kamah neiros — what are you, how many are you supposed to light? Lamed-vav. Throughout Chanukah it's 36 candles. You know there's a reason for the 36. Or haganuz, the light that was hidden, lit for 36 hours, says the Rokeach, till it was taken away. Lamed-vav shaos, there was 36 hours. Chanukah, says the Rokeach, there was a tremendous light that Hashem brought to the world, and then Hashem said, Uh-uh, the world can't handle it. So what did He do with it? He put it away for the tzaddikim. Where did He put it? Where did He put it? In the Torah, Or haTorah. The Or haTorah is the or haganuz. Does Chanukah have anything to do with the or haganuz? Yes. Does it have anything to do with Torah? Does anything to do with Torah? Does it have anything to do with Torah? Yeah, Chanukah. No, we know that it has to do with Torah, right? Good, good, good. You have to put on the right glasses. You walk in and you don't wear the glasses to see the 3D, you're not going to see it. Don't try to tell you. There are certain glasses that you see. Okay, now listen carefully. The Rokeach uses the lashon that it's the or haganuz sheyoir k'shiyavo haMashiach. That's his lashon. Moshiach comes, and we get back to our haganos. So what's Chanukah? It's a Chanukah. It's a training that we should be ready for the אור הגנוז in the future. So the 36 candles. Very keiach. Take it out. Look at the very keiach. How are we training? You look, you see, you start getting, oh, this is the אור הגנוז. It's not interesting. The Gemara in Baba Basra says that when Moshe Rabbeinu, when Moshe Rabbeinu, when Moshe Rabbeinu had a kshera kushya, he had something difficult learning, he went to the menorah. Ah, the menorah, you're saying, has what? It has the ohr, the אור הגנוז, Torah, tzaddikim. There's a lot of combinations over here, okay? Now, so Chanukah, for the time when Moshiach comes, which the ohr will be the אור הגנוז. What did I tell you Chanukah is about? The ohr and the choshech, which is the same thing as the ohr, ohr shel Moshiach. We have the miniature, we have the preview, preview. You know what? Let's bring out the rekeach, because, you know, I'll tell you what it is. I could get away with this easily, you know what I mean? I could say it is beautiful and it's eloquent, but my thing is to teach. I want you to know. It's more important for me that you should see the rekeach, and so go ahead, find the rekeach, read it, and then he brings from the Medrash Aggadah. Let's go. You hear? What, what, what? ... difficult to understand. Understand what? Maisha Rabbeinu. Maharal says that whenever Moshe Rabbeinu had a kushya on a sugya, haya holech l'ner haMaaravi, mistakel bo, u'miyad... he had or, the light, lit up, or haTorah. You hear? Or haTorah, or haTorah. Very interesting. Oiro shel Mashiach. You gotta read it, you know? You have it? Okay, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. ... Thank you. It's a good example. ... Thank you, thank you.

This is the one here. It says like this. Harei lamed-vav shekasuv sham, v'neir ner b'hiloi, ner alai roshi. Chein remez. What is the remez for? Lamed-vav shaos sheshimsha ha'oyreh b'maaseh Bereishis, ha'or kutal Hashem tagin. Daled pe'amim tes heim lamed-vav keneged lamed-vav shaos, u'lamed-vav neiros. I saw a lashon that says, b'Moshiach comes. That's gonna light. So we should never say thank you for the ... we should say thank you in general? Maybe it's the end of that medrash. He's quoting here a medrash. I saw the medrash in the sefer. That's what I saw. Okay. Okay, now, with this, I think we can understand something interesting. Ready? Chaken ba'u banecha l'dvir beisecha, afinu eschel v'tir. Right? Hello? Yeah? ... again. ... ולעםך ישראל ... ולפורקן ... ולתירס ... right? A sisa teshuah gedolah furkan kayom hazeh. And then it says, v'achkein bo bonecha. Who wants to translate furkan? Kayom hazeh. What's kayom hazeh? Rafi, what are you timing? You're learning something. Hu shoel, ma zeh kayom hazeh? Furkan, right. V'la'amcha Yisrael asisa teshuah gedolah furkan. What is a furkan kayom hazeh? Now, what does furkan mean? Does anybody know what furkan means? Teshuah means a yeshuah, right? We were in a matzav sakana, and then we have a yeshuah. What is furkan? Redemption. Redemption. What redemption are we referring to, and what's kayom hazeh? The what, the what, the what, the what? I just told you that Ner Chanukah is a mini. It's a mini series of when Mashiach comes. It's a preview of when Mashiach comes. He doesn't—he just—where? Where do you have it? Where? Kayom hazeh, shekein nosa... chayev serekech. He doesn't say what the reason is. So when you get... listen. So what's a furkan kayom hazeh? Yeah, u'la'amcha Yisrael asisa teshuah gedolah ufurkan kayom hazeh. You know, we say a lashon, kayom hazeh, tevienu, al har kodshecha, v'samchenu. When we talk about the future, what lashon do we use? That it should happen today, kayom hazeh. So, asisa teshuah gedolah ufurkan kayom hazeh, like the purkan that we want today. Chanukah is a mini, it's a mini, it's a preview of the ohr haganuz for when Moshiach comes. It has to do with malchus. It has to do with the malchus of Moshiach, and that's why v'chazarah malchus l'Yisrael yoser michamishim shanah. Malchus. Yehudah, Yosef, Yehudah and Mechaykim bein... Now I want to say another vort, and with this I'll stop. You know, when Yankev Avinu wanted to start a yeshiva in Mitzrayim, Vayishlach Yehudah lefanav Goshen. Zogt Rashi, l'hasis lo beis talmud. Why would he send Yehudah? Malchus. You need a yeshiva. So the famous vort, you know the famous vort, beis talmud, you know the famous vort.

Yosef set back egla arufa, something that he learnt with his father 22 years previous. So, figure to himself, what yeshiva in the world, in 22 years, is still holding the same ...? It can only be Beis Talmud. So therefore he said, Las is like Beis Talmud. What's the pshat, said the Yehuda? Why would he send Yehuda? The answer, rabboisai, is, you know what Yehuda is about? It's not about the learning, Yissachar's learning. Yehuda is about malchus, establishing, instituting HaKadosh Baruch Hu's light in the galus. He's sending, yeah, hu sholeach lagalus. He's sending to the galus Yehuda, the light, the ohr haganuz, Melech HaMashiach. It's all related. You know, what do we say? Tishbi yetaretz kushyos v'ibayos, right? Who's Tishbi? What is Eliyahu? Eliyahu is posek, I mean, what he's the biggest posek. What does Eliyahu have to do with anything, huh? You ever think about it? I don't know. I went to look in literature, like in the Tanach, in the Midrashim. Was Eliyahu like an outstanding gadol, ...? I don't know, I'm stumped here, but I'm saying, what's, huh? He was wise, he was a navi, he was a tzaddik. I'm not saying, I'm sure he was. Teretz is, has to be Moshiach, the ohr haganuz. Yo is going to announce Moshiach is coming, and all the sfeikos of Torah, all the questions, everything will become clear. Yishlach Yehuda lefanav. To Golus he sends down Yehuda to bring the ohr haTorah. Of course, the learning of Torah, who's going to do that? That's Yissachar's job. Yissachar is supposed—who's supposed to give the shiur? I want to know, who gives the shiur, huh? Levi. Levi, Tumecha v'Urecha l'ish chasidecha. Who's going to make with the finger and say over a blatt Torah? Yissachar. Yissachar's not... Levi. Yissachar is... clear? Huh? Both of them, okay? So what is Yehuda? Yehuda is the ohr haTorah, the ohr that's meyashev all the sfeikos and all the choshech. That's Yehuda. That's taka b'zoicheh light. Taka we have me'ein, a taste of the ohr, the ohr haganuz that's in the meoros hachanukah. Wonderful, wonderful.