פרשת מקץ וענייני חנוכה
This week’s parsha begins with the verse “ויהי מקץ שנתיים ימים”. The Midrash comments that this was the end of Yosef’s “darkness.” The Midrash also adds that every person has “darkness” in life but if a person overcomes his yetzer hara, his darkness will end. We see from here that the more we conquer our yetzer hara, the more darkness we expel. And it would appear that the removal of this darkness would give us a lot of light in our lives.
There are two very important references for light in the Torah. Firstly, in Tehillim 27 it is written, “Though I sit in darkness, Hashem is a light for me.” When one gets close to G-d, he gets Hashem’s Divine light. Secondly, in Mishlei Chapter 6 it says “A candle is a mitzvah, and Torah is light.” What we learn from this is that any step that a person takes to get closer to Hashem and to His Torah results in adding much light to his life.
According to what we have said, we can understand Hanukka a little better. Everybody knows that Hanukka is a “Festival of Lights.” The question is why. The answer is that the Greeks wanted to take away our light. They wanted to take away our Torah and our relationship with Hashem. We mention in the t’filla of Al Hanissim that the Greeks wanted to “make us forget Your Torah and transgress the Laws of Your will.” The Midrash also mentions that the Greeks made the Jews write on the horn of an ox that they had “no portion in the G-d of Israel.” To successfully implement their plans, they decreed that we should abandon in particular the mitzvos of Shabbos, Rosh Hodesh, and bris mila. All of these mitzvos share the common denominator of representing our deep connection to Hashem as the Chosen People. That’s why the Midrash in Breishis Rabba 2:4 calls Greece “darkness.” They made our lives dark by taking away our Torah and connection to Hashem. So when the Jewish people prevailed, the expelling of the Greeks was really an expulsion of darkness. That’s why Hanukka is referred to as a “festival of lights”. A great light came as result of defeating the Greeks. Therefore we should appreciate these days, and take advantage of them as being an optimal time to grow in Torah and closeness to Hashem.
The gemara in Shabbos 21 asks “What is Hanukka?” The gemara then proceeds to tell the story of how the Greeks had profaned all the oil in the Beis HaMikdash except for one jar. The jar only had enough oil to burn 1 day, but a miracle happened, as we all know, and the oil lasted for 8 days. One of the questions that Jews have always asked on this gemara is, “What about the miracle of the war?!!! How about miracle of the few and weak beating the strong, multitudinous, trained Greek army? Why does the gemara make such a big deal about the oil when the main miracle was our survival?” And the real truth is that the use of impure oil wouldn’t even have been such a big deal. The Halacha is that if there is no other oil available, one can use it for the menorah! So why even commemorate the miracle at all? Especially when it doesn’t address the miracle for which we really should be thanking Hashem!!!
The Sfas Emes answers that all of these difficulties are real. The main miracle really was the war. Our survival and regaining the opportunity to keep the Torah without fear is certainly what we are thanking Hashem for when we say Hallel and Al Hanissim. But when Hazal decided to enact decrees to publicize Hanukka, they were compelled to make a remembrance of the miraculous oil. It burned so that all Jews would know that not only will Hashem save us and perform miracles in the face of our enemies when there is danger, but Hashem will even override nature to allow us to perform mitzvos!!! Even if it’s just lighting some candles, if we really desire to keep the Torah and to do mitzvos, Hashem will move mountains to help us. If we look at things this way, the candles really are the main lesson of Hanukka. It’s true we owe much thanks for the miraculous military triumph, but what Hanukka really is trying to give us is an appreciation that we’re not alone in our spiritual battles either. Hashem Himself is constantly trying to help us get closer to Him and keep His mitzvos. Even though we could have lit the menorah with impure oil, Hashem made a miracle so that we could light it in best possible way. We should also take from Hanukka the lesson that we should try to do mitzvos in the most beautiful way we can. Hashem taught us through His miracles how willing He is to help us when we choose to do mitzvos.
We live in times of great spiritual darkness. The yetzer hara is very strong and it affects so much. So many people find it difficult to learn for so many different reasons, be they emotional, financial, physiological, etc. The yetzer hara also has an incredible hold on our youth. Many engage in questionable activities and some people even leave Torah altogether. We have many difficulties of our own, and when we struggle we sometimes slip into despair, thinking we’re fighting a battle we can’t win. This is what Hanukka is for, to remind us that G-d doesn’t only fight the battles of our forefathers. He fights our battles as well. And as long as we do our part and try to keep Hashem’s mitzvos, Hashem will most certainly help and bring us out of the darkness we’re in. When you look at your Hanukka candles, remember that no matter how bad things are, Hashem can do wonders and will turn your darkness into light.
May we all be zoche to get a great light this Hanukka!!!