Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
This is a collection of shiurim to help us prepare to light the Aish Kodesh (holy fire) of the Channukah menorah. It offers new insights on the pnimiut of these important days.
We're learning in the month of Kislev, לעילוי נשמת לוי בן יוסף, שלמה לייב בן רפאל גדליה, בתיה פייגא בת ישראל, sponsored by the Gontavniks in honor of Eliana's bat mitzvah and their anniversary and also l'refuah of שושנה יונה בת איידל and for Hila bas Ilana and for by the Finns להצלחה ושמירה עליונה לכל החיילים הצדיקים and for the refuah shleima of the chayalim that still need refuah shleima, דוד נתנאל בן איילה האהובה, צבי דוד בן תמר מלכה, רועי חיים בן מירב, אחיה בן יעל חיה, טוב שמואל בן אביבה נאוה, and אברהם יעקב בן דבורה פייגא. Okay. I want to do something very special today, very different than what we're used to. This is a teaching from Rav Ginsburgh but in a language that we could actually somewhat relate to, I believe.
Chanukah, this is just a really important hachana for the day, the hachana l'Chanukah is endless, endless. And the mitzva of Chanukah, like feeling that Chanukah vibe is like basically like half an hour maybe, and the rest of these eight days is just like, okay, it's Chanukah. But when you realize what the pnimius of Chanukah could be about, the eight days becomes so rich, so, so rich, so filled with more than we could imagine. So the basic question I want to put out there now is whose, whose, whose simcha is Chanukah? Whose simcha is Chanukah? Is it our simcha or is it Hashem's simcha? And obviously we're going to look at it through this angle that we're going to see today that it's obviously, I'm already giving you the answers, it's obviously both, but how is it both? How does it come out to be, how does it manifest as being both? And therefore, I davka chose this piece because it seems to me that there's an inyan here that I think, I know from speaking for myself, I would love to adapt, I would love to integrate, I would love for it to become part of the way that I view life, but definitely the kavana by the by the neirot, the kavana by the candles.
I don't know about you, I get very overwhelmed with all the things I think I'm supposed to be learning and and reading and looking at and having in mind. And I I want to be a little bit more free this year to just actually אין לנו רשות להשתמש בהם אלא לראותם בלבד, you know, just to like sit there and be like, this is this is just awesome. This is incredible. The last two Chanukahs have been a shtickel dreadful.
When we're saying brachos like בימים ההם בזמן הזה. I think Hashem will still will reveal to us that there there really were miracles of biblical proportion that took place the last two Chanukahs. Needless to say, like I mentioned Friday night in shul, with this footage that just came out of the hostages lighting Chanukah candles, something deeper has to give, and that's what I hope we're able to connect to today, b'ezrat Hashem. So Rav Ginsburgh, this is, this is three minutes from like a five hour shiur.
But it is a section that was set off to the side, so therefore, thank you so much. So therefore, it's okay, we're going to we're going to b'ezrat Hashem have a have a good one with this. Ariel, if you need a. So basically, we all know that there's two mitsvot, there's two nissim that took place, two miracles, two nissim took place on the holiday of Chanukah that we commemorate and that we speak, we speak about.
The mefarshim, halachically speaking, the famous kasha of the Beis Yosef, why is it eight days? It shouldn't be seven days. It's a famous kasha that sfarim v'sfarim have been written about this inyan. But basically, these two miracles that took place was the war, the war of רבים ביד מעטים, טמאים ביד טהורים, רשעים ביד צדיקים, all of that stuff. But we also have the holiday of nes, of the the miracle of nes pach hashemen, of the jug of oil.
Let's see how he brings it to light for us.
שני ניסים אלו לאבותינו בימי חנוכה, nes echad mufla, one miracle was one is wondrous, galui, seems to be more revealed, בהנהגה שלמעלה מן הטבע, going above and beyond nature. Now you think he'd say now that that miracle that's above and beyond nature is which one? The oil. You'd say that that was it.
Nes pach hashemen. And I thought that that was a typo. I had to reread this a few times, but when he says, when he speaks about a nes, a miracle, that's above and beyond nature, he actually speaks about the war, the physical struggle between the Chashmonaim and our and our and our enemies.
שבו and this, in this miracle, ענה השם לצועקים עליו והושיעם.
Hashem answered those that were screaming to him and redeemed them.
נתן רבים ביד מעטים, טמאים ביד טהורים. Nes acher, another miracle, גם הוא נס שלמעלה מן הטבע. Thank God he said that, because if he would have said the pach hashemen was be'toch ha'tevah, that's already, right? But he says no.
The second miracle is also above and beyond nature, the nes of pach hashemen, והוא נס פך השמן שדלק שמונה ימים. The eight days. So he's saying over here, make it clear, two miracles, both are above and beyond nature. So many people try to justify the on a rational level, the the the victory of 1948 and 1967, trying to explain it in in in terminology that's basically removing Hashem from the picture and just saying there was some type of very smart, successful military operation that was able to take over and win in 1948 and 1967.
But you know if we learn a little bit the numbers there, the numbers game that we were talking about in those days, it does not make any rational sense be'toch ha'tevah. You could say that if you learned a little, if we learned a little bit about the master plan behind October 7th, it is completely me'al ha'tevah that this state, this country wasn't completely demolished and destroyed when you get a little bit a bit more familiar with the pieces at play and what was going on, mamash. So it's important for the rest of the shiur to relate to that military victory as one that's me'al ha'tevah, not just the nes pach hashemen that's me'al ha'tevah, above and beyond nature, but the military victory as well. But one of them came about crying and screaming to Hashem.
One of them came about screaming and saying, ריבונו של עולם, הצילנו נא, הצילנו נא. Save us, save us, save us. And one of them didn't come like that. Was anyone crying to find pure oil? Hm? Maybe.
Maybe, but we have no reference of that in the in the in the Ketuvim. In fact, le'hefech. Why? Why wasn't there any, at least that we know of, any screaming and crying that there should be pure, uncontaminated oil? So we'll get to that in a second. But regarding the the military victory, for for for sure we know there was davening, strong davening.
But regarding the inyan of lighting the menorah, we don't see people screaming and crying, Ribbono Shel Olam, we need to light this menorah, you have to give us pure oil, and we'll understand why in a second. Slicha?
שהיה יותר מתיוונים מאשר יהודים?
אה, זה מעניין.
אני לא לא לא לא חשבתי על זה.
אולי בסוף תגידי מה את חושבת, אבל בינתיים לא.
עוד לא. Ha'peleh, the wonder, that שבנס, second paragraph, שבנס השני הוא שלכאורה לא היה בו צורך. There was no need for a miracle like the second miracle.
שלא כן and he'll, why?
שלא כנס הניצחון, שבו הייתה תשועה והצלה גדולה.
There needed, when it came to the the the miraculous victory of the Chashmonaim, you needed a big miracle and a big hatzalah, a big, big, a big hatzalah. But when it comes to pach hashemen, הרי את מצוות הדלקת הנר יכולים לקיים על פי דין גם בשמן טמא. This is a very important thing and it it it puts the frame of the of the of the holiday, of of the miracle, it puts it into a very specific framework. There is a concept that's called Tumah hutrah be'tzibbur.
This is a halachic concept that says if you don't, if something needs to be lit for the klal, but the only thing that you have is something tamei, al pi halachah you are allowed to use that for the lighting of the menorah, meaning, there was no need for there to be this abundance of shemen zayit zach in order for Chanukah to happen. That was not a need in order for the story to continue. Let's say they would have been. military victory and they would have lit with whatever shemen tamei, whatever impure oil they had.
You know what would have happened? It would have lasted eight days. Would have been okay. And we also know that there's a klal, and this is hard for us to accept, but lema'et benisa adifa is the language of Chazal, that when Hashem doesn't need to perform miracles, he'd rather not do that. And we spoke about this in one of the, no we spoke about this in one of the men's shiurim last week.
No, we spoke about it with the wives of the kollel, this this this one. That when God doesn't need to perform a miracle, he'd rather not perform a miracle. Why is that? Why is it better? Why is it better for someone to not perform a, why is it better for Hashem to not perform a miracle when he doesn't need to? Because let's let's face it, when Hashem performs a miracle and then everyone starts to believe in him, so Hashem is kind of saying, yishar koach, right? No, it's not it's not the biggest deal, right? Lema'et benisa adifa. It's the language of, you'll see it through Chazal.
So here it seems that Hashem chose to kind of go out of bounds of that and say, no, no, no, here, I'm davka going to do another, I'm going to do a miracle over here even though there's no chiyuv for this miracle. This doesn't have to be. It would have been fine. And Chanukah would have been Chanukah.
It would have been a very different Chanukah if it was just a military victory. I mean, imagine what the the songs would be very different. The Torahs would be very different. There would be a very different energy, right? I don't know, trying to think about it, what would be what would it what would the songs sound like? What would, a lot of minhagim would be different.
I don't know, I hate to start going through the whole cheshbon of everything. But it would still would have been Chanukah. Still would say Hallel. You'd still light the menorah.
It'll probably be more, well that's the tikkun we're trying to change. It'd be it'd be more like Israeli Independence Day. Probably than. No sufganiyot.
No. It'd be boring, right? There'd be another barbecue in the winter this time. Yeah, I guess so. U'pliah, so the question is, Rav Ginsburgh says, אם אין צורך במעשה הנס, if there was no need for this miracle of the oil, לא להצלת הגוף ואף לא להצלת הנפש, we have to ask ourselves, מדוע עשה השם ככה? Hashem, what did you have in mind? What did you what what what's the point? Why did you do this? We want to know.
What are you telling us by performing a miracle that wasn't needed? Kivyachol, so to speak. U'pliah nosefet, another wondrous thing is revealed, מתגלה בנס השני מצד מהותו, שאינה כנס הראשון. There's something also wondrous that's revealed in the second miracle, the miracle of the oil, that's not like the first miracle.
נס הניצחון הוא נס גלוי.
It's a revealed miracle. Shidud ma'archot ha'tevah. It's amazing how much chashivus on a miraculous level he's giving this this first miracle. You know what shidud ma'archot ha'tevah means? It literally means like robbing and stealing, like flipping over the laws of nature.
Wait a second, doesn't that seem like that's more the second miracle? Again, I had to read this inside to make sure I wasn't reading this wrong. He's saying that the military victory was a shidud ma'archot ha'tevah. Shidud milashon lishdod, it's like you're you're you're... Yeah.
Ken. Ken. Even better. Yeah, even better than Rob, yeah.
What do they call shodedei ha'yam? Pirates? Yeah. Shidud ma'archot ha'tevah.
והוא שייך לניסים הגדולים שנעשו לעם ישראל במשך הדורות, כמו קריעת ים סוף, chatziat ha'yarden, shemesh b'givon dom v'od. He's saying over here something crazy.
The miracle of the war is like Milchemet Amalek, is like all these, sorry, is like crossing of the Red Sea, is like then crossing the Yarden in the time of Yehoshua, crossing the Yarden, shemesh b'givon dom, when the sun ceased from setting, also in the time of of Yehoshua. Now, why is he saying that the military victory here is on that level of a of a of a miracle? So what's amazing, amazing about the time that we're living in, if we listen closely to some of the families of the hostages, we'll hear something incredible. And I shared it in shul a few months ago. The father of Avinatan Or.
He is one of the 20 that were that that came home by Hoshana Raba. So a week or so after, after they returned home, so the week after after Sukkot, he was speaking at some type of, I don't know if it was a Haknasat Sefer Torah, some event probably in honor of Avinatan returning home. And he said that the pele, the greatest miracle that took place from this whole saga for him and his family, is not necessarily that they came home, is that if you learned about the real tna'im, the real conditions that they were kept in and what they went through, the fact that they stayed alive is even a greater miracle than them coming home. And he said, the fact that they stayed alive in these conditions, he equated it to exactly what Rav Ginsburgh just said here, Krias Yam Suf and I forget what other miracles he said, but like, me'al ha'teva, me'al ha'teva, it really, can you imagine? I mean I don't want you to, but for a second, to be in these tunnels with these murderers, with these animals, and and stay alive for two years.
So this is why, this is how it's easier for me to understand how he's saying that these miracles, which seem to be not messing around with nature, really was above and beyond nature. These bodies that made it, these physical bodies that made it through these two years, be'emet, it's like walking on the moon. It's like, it's like, me'al ha'teva, just above and beyond nature. It really is.
Le'umato, נס פך השמן הוא התגלות מה שמעל הטבע בכלי הטבע עצמו. Now he says something very interesting. The miracle of pach ha'shemen is a revelation of something beyond nature within the actual vessel of nature itself.
אין כאן ניצחון רב רושם של העל טבעי על הטבעי.
There's no great impression here of the supernatural over the natural, ella, hitmazgut shketa. Okay, this is important, these two words. You know what le'hitmazeg means? Does anyone know how to say that properly in English? To merge? Merging. Integrating? Integrating, but merging.
I was thinking of an emulsion kind of. Take it. Emulsion. Whatever you whatever you need to understand the word hitmazgut, what it means here is two things coming together, but it's a shketa.
It's quiet. The the military victory is loud. It's loud, l'einei kol. Hitmazgut shketa means like something quietly and peacefully merging together, me'al ha'teva and teva, but doing it quietly without big proclamations, without headlines, and he says over here she'eina nikeret, you can't even tell that it's happening, ella la'mitbonen, only to one that is looking at it with calmness and depth, with introspection, hitbonenut.
Meaning there's certain things in life that are happening that are happening that are tremendously me'al ha'teva, beyond nature miracles, of miracle miraculous nature, and they're happening subtly, quietly, and they're happening and you can only notice it if you stop to pay attention to it. That's what he's saying over here. That was the miracle of nes pach ha'shemen, שבה הטבעי משנה את פניו, where nature changes its face, ומגלה את מה שמעליו בתוכו הוא, and reveals that that which is above it is also within it. So I know it's, he's speaking here, this is the only paragraph that's a little bit harder to understand word for word, but for all intents and purposes of of of this shiur, again, I want you to know, I want you to pay attention, bless you, I want you to pay attention to to to to the following thing.
There are constantly things in our lives that are much more reminiscent of which nes? The first or the second? The military victory or the nes pach ha'shemen? The second. The second. Rav Ginsburgh is basically hinting to us these types of things happen all the time, it's the mitbonen that will notice it. It was, it's the one that's going to take time and pay attention to notice these things if they're happening or not.
By the way if, chevra, if you're cold you could turn on the the heater. Do you want the heater on? Yes please. Shoshana, maybe you should move, you're away from the window, maybe you should move over here. You have a good It's already too hot, but I'm just saying, you're shaking so just I think it's better to sit over here.
Okay. This is very important for us, like the holiday of Chanukah is coming to point out to us and this is a tefillah that we say by the candles that Ribbono shel Olam, all those deep, deep changes that are above and beyond nature, within nature that are happening all the time that I just don't see and notice and pay attention to, I'm davening that I make a big deal out of it, that I should notice it and not just wait for the big nitzchonot of the milchama in order to get me going and feel like, wow, Hashem's running the world. That's important. That's a very, very deep avodah.
Like when do we notice miracles like Pach Shemen in our lives? When do we notice them usually? After they happen. When you look back. I I would disagree. I would say you don't you know, you know how many miracles we don't we have no concept of that that have happened? We could look back now and not even see them.
No, I mean, if someone would go and study like the six day war, not just I'm learning about it, there was a war, whatever, but really study it, you would feel like, like, like as I was saying before, you know the numbers, you know the facts, you know, everything was so That's the first miracle. I'm talking about the second miracle. The things that are not big, they're not things that you could even learn. It's not like numbers.
Like that we all woke up this morning. So, so those types of things and like, and and higher, right? So obviously, after a physical ailment when things aren't working the way they've been working until now, and then something breaks down, then I look back and be like, you mean that those things happen automatically? You mean the heal these healing things just take place like because this goes into here and this, you know, Rav Kook writes that medicine will really, really come into its truest form as a Godly revelation when teshuva is like the swept when teshuva is like the waves of of the pulse of the nation, right? So we look at things today, we're like, oh, how were they healed? Oh, the doctor prescribed the medicine. But wait a second, how did that medicine come to the world? Oh, because the scientists sat and there was medical research and they sat and they figured things. Who put the chochma, right? Who put the chochma in the mind of the person that's dealing with medical research to think that maybe if I do that, it's all be'einei hamisbonen.
It depends on the eyes of the one that's going to take their time and look deeper into something. So that's one example, but there are a lot of, there are a lot of things that are like this, especially with certain relationships and the way we are, since this is usually a chinuch shiur, it's, it could be miraculous in the field of chinuch when you realize that there are certain things that in the beginning I've looked at my child, they looked at me, and I said מה עניין שמיטה אצל הר סיני, ma kesher beineinu, right? There's no way there's going to be any merge merging here, especially not a quiet one like you said. If there's going to be merging it's going to be loud and tumultuous and everything. And you realize slowly, slowly, rega, יש פה התמזגות שקטה שרק ניכרת בעיני המתבונן that can only be recognized by the eye of the one that's going to stop and look and see like, wow.
Al pi teva, according to nature, this level of relationship should have never been able to exist because we were set for milchemet olam shlishit. We were set for World War III. Me and my kid. But that's al pi teva.
But me'al ha'teva is like, we actually have a beautiful back and forth. This is, yeah, it's not always perfect, but this is amazing. It's like, yesh po that, he says that's the level of like me'al ha'teva, but it will only be recognized when when to the person that's looking for it. Yeah.
But then what does this say about our days as a klal? Not as like individuals. We all look at this war and you have to force them to see it. Like we're saying as if it's like Kriat Yam Suf and because we're choosing to look at it that way. But how many aren't? Like as a klal, I can't worry.
I know, I know. I know, but I can't I can't. You're talking about Chanukah or this war that we're talking about? No, like the war right now, like with everything me'al ha'teva but we're in it now. 'Cause we're in the hell of the war.
We're still yeah, meaning you're still not It's not out. Halevai. Not not not for sure. Not for sure.
Not for sure, nachon. You want the klal to come and recognize yad Hashem in this amazing thing. Chevra, do you do you mind turning off the heat? I'm sorry. It's mamish You're the one.
It's right right it's right on me. It's like Okay. So again, we have the two different miracles. He flipped it over for us.
But now let's go and see what's common. B'domeh.
שתי הפליאות הן משורש אחד. Really both wonders that took place are from one root.
לנס הניצחון הייתה דרישה מלמטה. For the, for the war, for the miracle of the war, there was a demand that had to come from below. Hayta drisha milmata. Down here in this world we had to scream and cry out to Hashem.
What is it reminiscent of, that it had to come down, it had to start from coming from down here below? Yetzias Mitzrayim. Yetzias Mitzrayim is the same thing. The geulah doesn't start to, doesn't start to move until there's ויזעקו ותעל שועתם אל האלוהים. That's when it comes to these physical release of from bondages, right?
היה בו צורך עובדתי והשם נענה לצורך הזה.
God answered this tzorech, this need, ושבר את הנהגת הטבע בכלים שלמעלה מן הטבע. and he, and he broke down the way nature works when you have a strong military against a few schleppers, a few hippies that are figuring out how to use a gun, and the hippies win. That means there was a change of nature, yes? It does.
לנס פך השמן לא היתה דרישה מלמטה.
But when it came to please let there be a Hashem a miracle here of oil, we don't see that anyone was screaming for this.
לא היה בו צורך עובדתי. There wasn't a factual need for it to happen in order for Chanukah to take place like we learned. They could have lit the menorah with just contaminated oil and it would have been fine.
ואכן יותר משהיה הנס הזה מענה לצורך, more than this second miracle being answering, like functioning as an answer to a need, היה התגלות יזומה של השם יתברך בתוך כלי העולם הזה. Rav Ginsburgh says there was a plan here. Hashem said, okay, now I want to come and show up. I want to show up through the second miracle, through the nes pach hashemen.
You didn't demand it from me and it would have been fine had it not been. But it was Hashem choosing to say, I'm here. I'm here. Now with the first miracle, was it Hashem choosing to say I'm here? Not as much because we learned that when you did indeed daven and cry out, Hashem answers.
It's a certain level of I'm here. But when I don't ask for it and Hashem says I'm choosing to come here and say I'm here, it's a completely, completely different type of of miracle.
הניסים הגלויים באים כדי לשבר את הרע. Revealed miracles come to completely break down and remove evil, like we say l'maan yechaltzun yedidecha, we say this at the end of every shmoneh esrei, in Elokai netzor, right? l'maan yechaltzun yedidecha.
Yechaltzun means, does anyone know? To be secure, to... le'heichaleitz, to be saved. l'maan yechaltzun yedidecha so that your, your friends, your, Hashem, yedidecha, will be like heichaltzu, will be rescued, will be rescued. Bederech agav נהנים מהם דורשי השם.
And the ones that, the ones that call out to Hashem, they they they enjoy this, בראותם בתוכם את יד השם הגלויה, when they see yad Hashem revealed.
אך הגילוי אינו מטרתם ומהותם של הניסים הללו. But the revelation of Hashem being Hashem is not the purpose of those miracles. What's the purpose of those miracles? Immediate salvation.
Immediate salvation. Yes. Isn't that inherent in every, in every yeshua that there is, that there's a miracle that Hashem comes and saves us? Like from waking up in the morning to what we saw in Aza? Talui b'einei hamisbonen. It depends on the eyes of the, of the eyes of the one that's gonna look at it for it.
In the emes l'amito, of course. But the revealed miracles, the real revealed ones, he's saying over here, what function do they play l'maiseh? What do they, what do they end up doing? They help, meaning they, they, they, they redeem. l'maan yechaltzun yedidecha, there's a salvation. You're rescued.
You're saved. The purpose of those miracles are not to say Hashem's saying, hey, I'm here. That's an end. Those that believe in Hashem, they're not shocked, they're thankful, but they're like, well everything's Hashem, so it happens to be, thank you, but that's not the purpose of those miracles.
He says here it's not a maaneh l'tzorech. The real need of the revealed miracles is end pain. The purpose of those miracles is not Hashem revealing himself. You understand the difference between the two? Basically you're saying that the miracles that are here for Hashem to say, hey I'm here, are the ones that only if you choose to see them, we'll see them.
One million percent. 100 percent. I still don't get it. You have to learn how to look at it.
You have, essentially everything's a miracle. Everything's a miracle but sometimes we see them because they're so bolet, they're so, you know, beyond what we, the regular schedule of how things work that it's like, oh, you know. And that, I think is what you're saying, like that comes because we need it, because if there's some immediate need for Hashem to swoop in and, you know, pick us up and take us out. Yeah, but that's the Pach Shemen also.
It could it wasn't. No, that was the war. It wasn't, that was the war, but to get back to what you're saying, is that exactly, and that the purpose of those like of the miracle you're describing is that Yidden are suffering, let it stop. Like that that that's what it was.
Yidden are suffering, let it stop. So instead of being focused on Yad Hashem is so revealed, I'm just like, phew. We made it out of that one, right? Made it out of that one. But really the the tzaddikim are, by them there's no difference between the two, it's everything's Hashem anyway.
There's no need for a greater gilui. Everything is elokus, everything is Godliness. You know, a Chabadnik once told me, he said, you know what what song like he really doesn't connect to? This shows the basic difference between Chabad and Breslov. He said, the song that ואפילו בהסתרה שבתוך הסתרה He said, what what's a hastara? What's a hastara? What's a ההסתרה שבתוך הסתרה? These are not concepts we we grapple with, these are not things we we struggle with.
This is Lubavitcher speaking, right? The Breslover is like, what's not a hastara? Every everything is concealed. What's what's revealed, you know? What's revealed even? So it's it's very interesting when you look at it in that in that terminology. So again, on the nisim, the second to bottom paragraph, הניסים הגלויים באים כדי לשבר את הרע למען יחלצון ידידיך בדרך אגב נהנים מהם דורשי השם כאשר באשר הם רואים בתוכם את יד השם הגלויה אך הגילוי אינו מטרתם ומהותם של הניסים האלו The purpose and the essence of these grandiose miracles, like the military victory, the revelation wasn't Hashem is in everything. It's more like, wow, davening's a real thing.
That that that's what those miracles are. Davening is real. That that that's what it should bring out. But now, and to me this is, I mean, we we have such access to both because of the times that we're in, but this now, you know, as far as I know none of you were taking a gun and walking to the battlefield tonight, but well for some of you that's what like getting your kids together by the neiros may feel like, but you know what I mean, it's not like the, but to light the menorah, yes, this is what we, this is what everybody does.
And and this, the next paragraph, now we can take this to our neiros tonight.
כשהשם יתברך רוצה להתקרב לעמו but when Hashem wants to come close to his people, להאיר להם ולשכון איתם to to illuminate and to dwell with them, אין צורך בשבירה ובשידוד מערכות there's no need for this crazy revealed change of everything.
אז בא העל טבעי ושכן בתוך הטבע עצמו the supernatural comes and peacefully, bless you, and quietly dwells within nature itself. That means, like the he's describing here, the neis of the Pach Shemen.
התגובה של המתבונן בנס כזה היא פליאה עצומה The response to one who's willing to do the work and daven to Hashem to notice these things, to notice the quiet mergers that are taking place constantly within us of ma'al ha'tevah within tevah, of beyond nature within nature, for them that's a much more bigger plia. It's a plia of the nes. It's a plia of the nes. that it's a wonderment of the of the soul.
ומתבונן בדבר שסבר שהוא מכיר you pay close attention to something that you were under the assumption that you understood, recognized, and knew, ופתאום מתגלה לו מציאות שונה לגמרי מזו שהוא הכיר. And immediately, what's revealed to you? A completely new reality, something newer than what you thought you knew to be. What prevents a person from being surprised in this world? What prevents a person from being shocked that things aren't the way that they were certain that they are? Back to every, it always comes back to yeshus. It always comes back to gaiva.
It always comes back to this inyan. The real humble ones are not shocked when things things that they thought are, aren't. They're not shocked by that. I would say that when it comes to living amongst people and getting to know people, part of our defense mechanisms is to be able to say, well, they're like that, they're like that, they're like that, and I'm like that, so therefore this will work, this won't work, that will work, this won't work.
But then, when you live in a world that's infused with Toras HaBa'al Shem Tov, you're not shocked when that may not be like that, they may not be like that, and I may not be like this. But it's not this wow, they changed, a military victory. It's neis tachas shemen. It's this quiet, subtle merger of supernatural to natural.
That's the pnimius of the of this second of the second neis. Is it getting clearer now? So the lens through which you choose to see it. Sorry? It's the lens through which you choose to see it. Right, but it entails like it's not just the lens through which I choose, it's also the choices of life that I'm making in terms of my avodas hanefesh of of how I'm working on myself.
And if I if I believe I'm still in a process and that means that things aren't necessarily and people aren't necessarily exactly what I've needed to label them in order to know how to deal with them in this world. That's what the neis pach hashemen is coming to to to to bring up. Now, I'm not saying it that I'm not saying it that it works in a bad way, meaning you shouldn't use this to say, this person that I thought is really sweet and good, I don't know. Maybe they're actually, you know, maybe they're really well, no, we believe so much, the basic tenant of Chasidus is that today's Tanya, there's a nefesh Elokis in every single person, meaning we we believe in this godly soul, חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש.
It's a big celebration in the Tanya today because it's like the first time out of many times the word mamish is used, you know, like really, it's really, it's a real thing. We believe in the inherent good of every person in Am Yisrael. And when I believe in the inherent good of every person of Am Yisrael, don't be shocked if you take your time and look deeper into that person and their evolution and your evolution with them, that that which you thought would be impossible becomes possible. But he says over here, b'einei hamisbonen, the one that's willing to to not rush with definitions, that brings a plia, that brings a big wonderment to the soul.
But now we'll wrestle with it. Forget about this outward look for a second, now go into tchunos hanefesh. You know, characteristic traits of your that you have and be like, listen, at a certain age I discovered this is who I am and this is how I act, and I'm doing the best with what I have. But I'm not going to set my goals too high because I'm just going to set myself up for disappointment.
But I stick with the avodas hanefesh. I stick with calling out to Hashem when I really feel I need to be saved. Then Hashem will say, you know, you're you're calling out to him because you know that I'm the only makor, the only source of salvation. I'm going to come and I'm going to take any shemen tamei that you have inside of you and make it into shemen tahor too.
Even though you'll be fine working with with what you have, I'm going to I'm going to light you up. I'm mamish going to come down like we say, למטה מעשרה טפחים, beneath, like it says the Shchina never came down lower than ten tfachim, but Chanukah candles is the only exception where this light is drawn down even lower than ten tfachim because Hashem has a ratzon over here to come and say, I want to dwell with you. So the concept of v'shachanti b'tocham. For sure.
I mean that's that's the terminology. Nachon. Okay, so now then, just to end over here. So now in Rav Ginsburg, magic, but not magic.
In Rav Ginsburg's wondrous way of looking at the Torah, look what he says.
אפשר לומר ששני הניסים הללו מרומזים בשם החג חנוכה. I want to explain to you something, because I just saw it live happen on on Wednesday, on Tuesday night live again. The students of Rav Ginsburg know that at the end of one of these big chunks, there's always going to be the most incredible either play on words or a gematria that's just going to like blow you away, like out of this world.
But to really appreciate it, you have to do the work of sitting there for God knows how long and rack your brain and and have to really work very hard. I always look at the guys that are those guys that are, you know, transcribing live everywhere he's saying in different languages and everything, and I always see them like before, they're going like this, right? But really what's happening in their minds that that it's like there's these exercises to be like, okay, we're about to mamish go on a, like run a marathon. But at the end, there's going to be a lollipop. So the lollipop at the end is where we're at here and this was had it easy on you today because this is just a small piece, right? So look what he says, and it's not even so beyond like some of the other ones, but it's so exactly what he said.
אפשר לומר ששני הניסים הללו מרומזים בשם החג חנוכה. Both, both miracles are alluded to in the name Chanukah. Kayadua, yeshno ha'remez, Chanukah, chanu kaf-hei. They parked on the 25th of Kislev, meaning what? What do you mean they parked? The end of the war happened on the 25th of Kislev.
We parked. Chanu, we, the plural. We landed, we parked our cars in kaf-hei. And that's that's the first miracle.
בכ"ה בכסלו חנו ישראל ממלחמתם.
אולם אמנם בכתבי האריז"ל מופיע רמז שונה. But by the Arizal, there's a different hint and it says Chanukah is the letters chana kaf-vav, which means, chana, kaf-vav is what? 26. shem Hashem, that shem Hashem comes and parks.
He comes and says, oh, you thought it was just you parking in the end of the war? Is there room for me here too? Chana kaf-vav. The Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei comes and parks and says, I want to be here right now. And all you got to do is pay close attention, look at the candles.
ואין לנו רשות להשתמש בהם אלא לראותם בלבד.
And this is why one of the deeper mystical tfilas of the nerot, of meditations on candles is meditating on the flickering of the candle. Notice that it's in a constant state of trying to ascend up, as the Tanya will say this in a few weeks I think, a few days, I don't remember. That's the, that's the ner Hashem nishmas adam, like this is who we are. We're always constantly wanting to go up.
But the tfila is Hakadosh Baruch Hu, let me please not get too impressed by the moments that you called, I called out to you and you answered me to be saved from something. Let me be completely mind-blown by noticing small, subtle changes that needed beyond this world, supernatural powers to merge into the mundane in order for something to happen, because that's the way you wanted it to be. That's Chanukah, chanu kaf-hei, we parked, we ended, the war ended and we rested. But it's also chana kaf-vav, that the 26, the Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei comes and says and this is exactly where I am too.
נראה שהרמז הראשון מכוון כנגד הנס הראשון נס הניצחון. It seems that the first remez is against is corresponds to the first miracle, the miracle of victory. B'kaf-hei b'Kislev chanu Yisrael, on the 25th of Kislev, we, we, we parked, like he says, שקודם לכן נלחמו והיו שרויים בצרה ובחוסר מנוחה. V'ata nachu mimilchamtam.
That before that, we were fiercely in a fierce, fierce, fierce battle, and we were in a tzara and we were restless.
ועתה נחו ממלחמתם. But now they rested from their war.
ואילו הרמז השני מכוון כנגד הנס השני.
But the second remez here, the second hint here is regarding the second miracle, נס פך השמן שבו חנה. where Hashem so to speak comes and rests.
ירד ובא להתגלות בתוך עמו בלי הזמנה מתוך צרה או כל צורך אחר. This is the most important line of this teaching.
That Hashem comes down and reveals himself within his people without an invitation that really emanated from from from tzaros or any other need. It is Hashem saying, this is where I choose to to this is where I choose to be, and this is where I choose to show you that there everything's a miracle, there's no teva, there's no m'al ha'teva, it's all Hashem, it's all elokus. Bilashon Chazal, now Chazal had a phrase for this, להראות חיבתן של ישראל There are moments. There are moments in life by Chanukah it shines brighter than ever.
By Chanukah Hashem is saying, I want to show, I simply just want to show how much I like you. That's why I always madgish that when Chazal used the word chibah, they could have used the word ahavah, leharot ahavato l'Yisrael. But the lashon is davka chibah, להראות חבתן של ישראל to show you how much you're liked. That Hashem is saying, I'm I'm I'm here because I know in my heart of hearts that the more that you let yourself pay attention to the subtle things in life, to not the not just the big, big things, that'll be more wonderous to you than big and revealed miracles.
So I want to give us a bracha to have patience with this teaching and not to like not to take it to the candles tonight and be like, okay, now we're going to notice the second type of miracles in our life. No, now we're going to daven to be people of hisbonenus, to be people of deep contemplation. We're going to be people that are going to go to a much slower pace with Hakadosh Baruch Hu and not be like we are with the scrolling, where everything's fast and next and the thumb is next, next, next, next. But rather, wait a second, I want to notice Hashem.
I want to notice these things in life that I didn't even ask, I didn't even daven for them. And yet, you wanted to come and be part of this. I didn't even daven for it. I didn't cry for it.
I didn't scream for it. Reb Zalman used to always say, I remember so often, did any of you did like ask Hashem choose like before before you woke up to daven to wake up this morning? So all these things that you didn't necessarily invite or ask for or daven for, לקבל את זה שזה דרך הטבע to just accept that this is how nature works, so mazal tov. But you're not part of Chanukah. You're not part of the second miracle of Chanukah.
You may be part of the first miracle of their tzaros, and I daven and I scream and it works. You're part of Chanukah. But you're not part of Chanukoh, or how do you say it? Chanukah. Chanuku, well that's that's weird.
Chanukah. Chana Hashem.
חנה יקוק. That that that you're not part of.
And we want to be part of both. So I want to give us a bracha to have that hatzlacha in patience and in taking time and looking at so many different things in our lives where there was a pach shemen that was tamei, that Hashem Yisborach came and actually decided to make a miracle, even though yeah, life could have go on gone on. But Hashem said, no, no, I want to shine davka through here and to find all these one night, each night to find one nekudah in life that you look back and say, al pi teva, now al pi teva over here means based on my behavior and the home I grew up in, it's an easy one to always blame on, the home I grew up in, it shouldn't have made sense that I'm like this. Todah.
Every night. So I'll end with a very special story. And it's important to do this every night. And even to take upon yourself that you're not going to light the second night until you've come to the realization of what happened first night.
There was a the the brother of of Reb Chaim of Volozhin, his name was I think his name was Reb Zalman of Volozhin. Nefesh HaChaim's brother, right? He was also a student of the Gra. And by them, their toros were very much big, they were very big on kinyan hamidos. Hopefully everyone is, but that means acquiring traits, not just learning about them, but not moving on in life before I acquire traits that I'm working on.
So Reb Itzil of Volozhin said, you know what's so bizarre is that can you imagine if like if you lit Chanukah candles, like the first night one, then second night two, but you decided you don't really need the first candle anymore during the second night and you just put out the first candle and just stayed with the second one. Then on the third night, you decided you lit all three, but then the first, you realized I just have to, whatever, it's more important right now to to focus on what I'm thinking about now, I don't need the first one or the second one. We don't act like that. So he said like the the deeper kavanah of of lighting the menorah is that every night when I light something, I say that I'm fully with this midah right now that I'm davening over.
And Hashem Yisbarach only a miracle will allow me to light this next light tomorrow night. Meaning, only a miracle, like I need to do a kinyan on what I'm davening for right now, and I don't want to move on in life unless this which I'm davening for right now has fully, I'm fully in, I'm fully absorbed with it and it's become part of my life. And then tomorrow night, I'm going to take that one and then move vaiter to the next one. And they say that those candle lightings that have that kind of consciousness of these middot, of this davening over the middot, these types of candle lighting end up really with a full menorah at the end of the day, and you could say zos Chanukah and zeh ani, and this is me.
This full picture of someone that was misbonen every single night with something that was so important for them. So here we have an easy access to it because we could say, listen Hashem, I don't want to just get through Chanukah again and I don't want to go through Chanukah and enjoy some nice dreidels and stuff. I want to notice, Hashem I'm davening to you, I want to notice the subtle things in life, the the the successes and the and the hatzlachos that have happened without me even paying too much attention to it, 'cause I didn't really cry over it or daven over it. So I guess I wouldn't call it a success, I would just call it a godly revelation that happened in my life.
And absorb it and take that with me to the next night. And then the same thing till when I get to the eighth night, I have seven middos, I have, I have seven different worlds of wow, you blew me away Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and this is what I'm coming to light the full menorah with. And I think that'll be a completely different Chanukah experience. It should be a lichtige, it should be a warm, beautiful, miraculous Chanukah filled with only good news for Klal Yisrael.
Amen.