וַיִּשְׁלַח פַּרְעֹה וַיִּקְרָא אֶת יוֹסֵף וַיְרִיצֻהוּ מִן הַבּוֹר וכו' (בראשית מא, יד).
We have often used the principle of the Shlah HaKadosh and R' Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin that if there is ever a festival during the week, it is hinted to in the parshat hashavua preceding it. How much more so if the parsha is in the middle of the festival, like it is this year.
The Mefarshim give many hints to Channukah in parshat Mikeitz. As you all know, I am fond of gematriot - so here are a couple of additional hints of my own. The gematria of חֲנֻכָּה (in "milui" format - חית נון כף הא) is - וַיְרִיצֻהוּ מִן הַבּוֹר. If you liked that one, the next one is going to "blow your socks off". The gematria of וַיִּשְׁלַח פַּרְעֹה וַיִּקְרָא אֶת יוֹסֵף וַיְרִיצֻהוּ מִן הַבּוֹר is the same gematria as אֶל מוּל פְּנֵי הַמְּנוֹרָה יָאִירוּ שִׁבְעַת הַנֵּרוֹת (במדבר ח, ב).
In this shiur we will be discussing the Menorah and Channukah, while also throwing in a few tidbits from the parsha.
As we all know, the central theme of Channukah is lighting the Channukiyah - in memory of the miracle of the oil of the Menorah in the Beit HaMikdash. In modern times, the main theme of Channukah has been "engineered" to focus more on the military aspect, the victory of Yehudah Maccabee over the Greeks on the battlefield. However, as we shall soon see, this is not only factually incorrect (the true and final victory was eventually achieved by Yehudah's brother Yonatan - nineteen years after Yehudah's death), but is a malicious attempt to divert attention from the true essence of Channukah, which we will be exploring in this shiur.
The legend is well known. When the Chashmonaim defeated the Greek army and recaptured Yerushalayim, they returned to the desecrated Beit HaMikdash in order to relight the Menorah but could find no pure, untainted oil, save for one lonely jar that was sufficient for only one day's lighting. However, a miracle occurred, that the one jar of oil sufficed to light the Menorah for eight days.
If we examine the texts in the tefilot and zmirot of Channukah, they relay the essence of the miracle. Let's begin with עַל הַנִּסִּים –
בָּאוּ בָנֶיךָ לִדְבִיר בֵּיתֶךָ וּפִנּוּ אֶת הֵיכָלֶךָ וְטִהֲרוּ אֶת-מִקְדָּשֶׁךָ וְהִדְלִיקוּ נֵרוֹת בְּחַצְרוֹת קָדְשֶׁךָ וְקָבְעוּ שְׁמוֹנַת יְמֵי חֲנֻכָּה וכו'
The Chashmonaim, who were Kohanim (מַתִּתְיָהוּ בֶן יוֹחָנָן כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל חַשְׁמוֹנָאִי), came to the Beit HaMikdash, cleaned out the desecrated Heichal, purified the Mikdash and lit lights (the Menorah) in the Kodesh.
The popular zmira מָעוֹז צוּר goes into slightly more detail –
יְוָנִים נִקְבְּצוּ עָלַי אֲזַי בִּימֵי חַשְׁמַנִּים וּפָרְצוּ חוֹמוֹת מִגְדָּלַי וְטִמְּאוּ כָּל הַשְּׁמָנִים וּמִנּוֹתַר קַנְקַנִּים נַעֲשָׂה נֵס לַשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים בְּנֵי בִינָה יְמֵי שְׁמוֹנָה קָבְעוּ שִׁיר וּרְנָנִים.
The Greeks made all the oil טָמֵא except for a small remnant, for which a miracle occurred for Am Yisrael, who are called שּׁוֹשַׁנִּים בְּנֵי בִינָה. As a result, the eight-day festival of Channukah was instituted.
I have one simple question.
Undoubtedly, when the Greeks desecrated the Beit HaMikdash, they surely desecrated all parts of it – the Mizbeach, the Shulchan Lechem HaPanim, the Mizbeach HaKetoret, etc. Why does the narrative of Channukah in Chazal specifically focus only on the oil and the Menorah? Surely the Kohanim had to also purify the solet for the Lechem HaPanim, the Ketoret, the wine for the Nesachim, etc. No mention is made of any of these.
There are two possible answers. The first is that the Greeks only desecrated the oil for the Menorah and not the other parts of the Avodah in the Mikdash, or that they desecrated all the other parts, but Chazal chose to focus only on the oil and the Menorah. Either way, the question is why? Why specifically the Menorah? What is so special about the Menorah in this context?
To understand this, we need to examine the Menorah a little. The details of the Menorah are given in parshat Truma –
וְעָשִׂיתָ מְנֹרַת זָהָב טָהוֹר מִקְשָׁה תֵּעָשֶׂה הַמְּנוֹרָה יְרֵכָהּ וְקָנָהּ גְּבִיעֶיהָ כַּפְתֹּרֶיהָ וּפְרָחֶיהָ מִמֶּנָּה יִהְיוּ. וְשִׁשָּׁה קָנִים יֹצְאִים מִצִּדֶּיהָ שְׁלֹשָׁה קְנֵי מְנֹרָה מִצִּדָּהּ הָאֶחָד וּשְׁלֹשָׁה קְנֵי מְנֹרָה מִצִּדָּהּ הַשֵּׁנִי. שְׁלֹשָׁה גְבִעִים מְשֻׁקָּדִים בַּקָּנֶה הָאֶחָד כַּפְתֹּר וָפֶרַח וּשְׁלֹשָׁה גְבִעִים מְשֻׁקָּדִים בַּקָּנֶה הָאֶחָד כַּפְתֹּר וָפָרַח כֵּן לְשֵׁשֶׁת הַקָּנִים הַיֹּצְאִים מִן הַמְּנֹרָה. וּבַמְּנֹרָה אַרְבָּעָה גְבִעִים מְשֻׁקָּדִים כַּפְתֹּרֶיהָ וּפְרָחֶיהָ. וְכַפְתֹּר תַּחַת שְׁנֵי הַקָּנִים מִמֶּנָּה וְכַפְתֹּר תַּחַת שְׁנֵי הַקָּנִים מִמֶּנָּה וְכַפְתֹּר תַּחַת שְׁנֵי הַקָּנִים מִמֶּנָּה לְשֵׁשֶׁת הַקָּנִים הַיֹּצְאִים מִן הַמְּנֹרָה. כַּפְתֹּרֵיהֶם וּקְנֹתָם מִמֶּנָּה יִהְיוּ כֻּלָּהּ מִקְשָׁה אַחַת זָהָב טָהוֹר. וְעָשִׂיתָ אֶת נֵרֹתֶיהָ שִׁבְעָה וְהֶעֱלָה אֶת נֵרֹתֶיהָ וְהֵאִיר עַל עֵבֶר פָּנֶיהָ.
The pure golden Menorah is a seven stemmed "candelabra", consisting of one central stem (קָנָהּ) and on either side of this central stem, three additional stems (קָנִים), making a total of seven stems. This seven-stemmed structure rests on a base (יְרֵכָהּ).
Besides the stems, the Menorah contains three other elements – "cups" (גְּבִיעֶיהָ), "knobs" (כַּפְתֹּרֶיהָ) and "flowers" (פְּרָחֶיהָ), which are located on and are part of the stems. The repetitive layout of these additional elements on each stem is - three cups, followed by one knob, and finally one flower. Lower down on the central stem there are additional cups, knobs and flowers. In total there are 22 cups, 11 knobs and 9 flowers in the Menorah.
The Torah repeats the word מִקְשָׁה twice, saying that the entire Menorah structure was one integral unit, i.e not built in sections and stuck together. It had to be poured (in a mold) into one unit, or sculpted from a solid block of gold, into its final form.
Chazal and the Mefarshim tell us that every aspect and facet of the Menorah comes to teach us one thing and one thing only – that the Menorah is symbolic of the Torah!
The Gemara, which we have just celebrated the siyum masechet of in Daf Yomi (Bava Batra 25b), says - אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק הָרוֹצֶה שֶׁיַּחְכִּים יַדְרִים וְשֶׁיַּעֲשִׁיר יַצְפִּין וְסִימָנָךְ שֻׁלְחָן בַּצָּפוֹן וּמְנוֹרָה בַּדָּרוֹם. Wisdom is located in the "south", the southern end of the Heichal, where the Menorah is located. The Menorah is a symbol of the wisdom of the Torah. Another Gemara (Brachot 57a) says - הָרוֹאֶה שֶׁמֶן זַיִת בַּחֲלוֹם יִצְפֶּה לְמָאוֹר תּוֹרָה.
The Ari HaKadosh says that every aspect of the Menorah symbolizes the Torah.
There are seven stems (קָנִים) in the Menorah, corresponding to the first passuk of Sefer Breishit, which has seven words –
7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
הָאָרֶץ | וְאֵת | הַשָּׁמַיִם | אֵת | אֱ-לֹקִים | בָּרָא | בְּרֵאשִׁית |
There are eleven knobs (כַּפְתּוֹרִים), corresponding to the first passuk of Sefer Shmot –
11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
בָּאוּ | וּבֵיתוֹ | אִישׁ | יַעֲקֹב | אֵת | מִצְרָיְמָה | הַבָּאִים | יִשְׂרָאֵל | בְּנֵי | שְׁמוֹת | וְאֵלֶּה |
There are nine flowers (פְּרָחִים), corresponding to the first passuk of Sefer Vayikra –
9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
לֵאמֹר | מוֹעֵד | מֵאֹהֶל | אֵלָיו | ה' | וַיְדַבֵּר | מֹשֶׁה | אֶל | וַיִּקְרָא |
The height of the Menorah is 18 tefachim high. According to the Ari z"l, it was not a full 18 tefachim, but rather 17 tefachim plus a little bit extra, So there are 17 full tefachim plus a bit. This corresponds to the first passuk of Sefer Bamidbar –
17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
לֵאמֹר | מִצְרַיִם | מֵאֶרֶץ | לְצֵאתָם | הַשֵּׁנִית | בַּשָּׁנָה | הַשֵּׁנִי | לַחֹדֶשׁ | בְּאֶחָד | מוֹעֵד | בְּאֹהֶל | סִינַי | בְּמִדְבַּר | מֹשֶׁה | אֶל | ה' | וַיְדַבֵּר |
There are 22 cups, corresponding to the first passuk of Sefer Devarim –
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר מֹשֶׁה אֶל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן בַּמִּדְבָּר בָּעֲרָבָה מוֹל סוּף בֵּין פָּארָן וּבֵין תֹּפֶל וְלָבָן וַחֲצֵרֹת וְדִי זָהָב
The Chatam Sofer says that the 6 branches (on the sides of the central branch), correspond to שִׁשָּׁה סִדְרֵי מִשְׁנָה.
There are 37 masechtot in the Talmud Bavli, gematria לַהַב – the flame of the Menorah.
These are but a few examples, the list goes on and on.
As we see, the Menorah is synonymous with and a symbol of the Torah. The purpose of the Menorah is to radiate the light of the Torah throughout the world. As long as the Menorah was burning, the world was filled with the Torah. For this reason, the light of the Menorah has to be perpetual, it can never be out.
The central stem of the Menorah is called the נֵר מַעֲרָבִי and it burned perpetually, by a miracle. The passuk says וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ שֶׁמֶן זַיִת זָךְ כָּתִית לַמָּאוֹר לְהַעֲלֹת נֵר תָּמִיד (שמות כז, כ). This is the source of the halacha to have a light constantly burn in our shuls – the נֵר תָּמִיד.
Under normal circumstances the remaining six lights of the Menorah, which were lit each day בֵּין הָעַרְבָּיִם, before nightfall, remained lit the whole night until the following day, when they would go out. Each day the Kohen would perform הֲטָבַת הַנֵּרוֹת, cleaning the lamps, preparing the wicks and oil for the upcoming lighting that evening. Except for the נֵר מַעֲרָבִי. It did not go out and all the Kohen had to do was top up the oil in it.
If for some extreme reason the נֵר מַעֲרָבִי did go out (like in the case with Channukah), the fire used to relight it had to be taken from אֵשׁ תָּמִיד on the outer Mizbeach, which was also miraculous. Chazal say that in the last 40 years before the destruction of Bayit Sheini, this miracle no longer continued and the נֵר מַעֲרָבִי had to be relit every day.
The Greeks did not destroy the Beit HaMikdash, like the Babylonians and the Romans did. They sought to empty it of all meaning. As it says in עַל הַנִּסִּים –
לְהַשְׁכִּיחָם תּוֹרָתֶךָ וּלְהַעֲבִירָם מֵחֻקֵּי רְצוֹנֶךָ.
The Greek exile was not physical, it was spiritual. The Greeks were not mindless brutes like the Babylonians and the Romans, they were scholars. Think of Socrates, Plato etc. Like their predecessors and successors, they wanted to destroy Am Yisrael, but their approach was more subtle, more malicious and … more effective. They studied the Torah (they had it translated into Greek for precisely this purpose) so they could understand the source of its strength.
The Greeks wanted to reduce the Torah and the mitzvot to nothing, to make them completely devoid of substance and meaningless. They took three iconic mitzvot that embody kedusha – שַׁבָּת, מִילָה, חֹדֶשׁ, Shabbat, brit milah and Rosh Chodesh and forbade them. These three mitzvot are the source of all spirituality and blessing in Am Yisrael. Without them, the Beit HaMikdash became meaningless – there is no weekly cycle, no monthly cycle, no festivals, no korbanot (cannot be eaten by anyone who is uncircumcised). This is why it is customary to say חַג שָׂמֵחַ on Channukah (as opposed to Purim), the word שָׂמֵחַ is rashei Teivot for שַׁבָּת, מִילָה, חֹדֶשׁ. They defiled the very symbol of the Torah – the oil for the Menorah. They did not need to destroy the Menorah itself, but simply ensure that there was no oil to light it. No oil, no blessing of Torah.
If there is no blessing of Torah in Am Yisrael, the Torah is forgotten and Am Yisrael assimilate. The Midrash says that the Greeks forced the Jews to renounce HKB"H –
גָּלוּת יָוָן שֶׁהֶחְשִׁיכָה עֵינֵיהֶם שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּגְזֵרוֹתֵיהֶן, שֶׁהָיְתָה אוֹמֶרֶת לָהֶם כִּתְבוּ לָכֶם עַל קֶרֶן הַשּׁוֹר שֶׁאֵין לָכֶם חֵלֶק בֵּא-לֹקֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (בראשית רבה ד, ב).
They would make them sign on the horn of an ox, that they renounce HKB"H and the Torah. Why davka an ox horn? Here we have another connection to this week's parsha. The שׁוֹר is a symbol of Yosef Hatzaddik (בְּכוֹר שׁוֹרוֹ הָדָר לוֹ) who symbolized prosperity in Am Yisrael - Yosef is the מַשְׁבִּיר. The Greeks wanted to deprive Am Yisrael of their source of the blessing and prosperity. This was not some barbaric act of physical genocide, it was a well-thought-out, surreptitious, spiritual "final solution".
How successful were the Greeks in their strategy? How many Jews rallied to Yehudah Maccabee's call? A small handful – because almost all of Am Yisrael were Hellenized and practically indistinguishable from the Greeks.
Ultimately, however, the Greeks failed. They failed to douse the spark of Torah in Am Yisrael entirely, even if the Menorah was doused. And why was this? This brings us to the enormous chiddush of this shiur. Even without the Menorah in the Beit HaMikdash, Torah can still burn bright because –
Every Jew embodies within themselves a Menorah!
If we examine the structure of the Menorah above, we see this same structure echoed in each and every Jew –
Our anatomical structure echoes that of the Menorah. The spine is the central stem, the נֵר מַעֲרָבִי, emanating from the brain (the repository of knowledge), the legs, arms and peiyot (males) / fallopian tubes(females), are the six stems on either side.
The repeating pattern of שְׁלֹשָׁה גְבִעִים מְשֻׁקָּדִים בַּקָּנֶה הָאֶחָד כַּפְתֹּר וָפֶרַח is similarly echoed. In the legs and arms there are three (interlocking מְשֻׁקָּדִים) joints (Hip/Shoulder, Knee/Elbow, Ankle/Wrist) resembling the three גְבִעִים. When the hand is balled into a fist, it resembles a knob (כַּפְתֹּר). When the hand is opened, fingers apart, facing upward, it resembles a flower (פֶּרַח). Similarly with the foot and toes. The three גְבִעִים in the peiyot are represented by the three areas of the head where it is forbidden to shave (pate, sideburns, beard). The skull resembles a knob (כַּפְתֹּר) and the hair the flower (פֶּרַח). The fallopian tubes comprise three parts (isthmus, ampulla, infundibulum). The ovary resembles a knob (כַּפְתֹּר) and the fimbriae connecting to the ovary are the flower (פֶּרַח).
You will notice that we are an "inverted" Menorah, facing downward instead of up. The reason is that we parallel the מְנוֹרָה שֶׁל מַעְלָה. Down here on earth we have a מִקְדָּשׁ שֶׁל מַטָּה, in Heaven there is a מִקְדָּשׁ שֶׁל מַעְלָה, a mirror image of the elements of the Mikdash on earth. Each of us is equivalent to the מְנוֹרָה שֶׁל מַעְלָה radiating the light of the Torah down here to earth. Similarly, our purpose is to also radiate the light of the Torah down here - throughout the entire earth.
Try as they might, the Greeks could not totally douse this flame, because it exists in each of us in varying intensity. All it needs is the appropriate trigger to fan it into a full-blown flame. An example of this is the story of Yosef Meshita (see shiur on Acharei Mot 2024).
The story of Channukah is not about oil, Menorahs, valor on the battlefield – it is about the triumph of the Torah against all odds.
Today we find ourselves in a very similar situation to the Greek exile. How many of Am Yisrael today are "Hellenized", Rachamana litzlan. The proportion of Am Yisrael who are loyal to the Torah, by comparison, are but a handful, just like with Yehudah Maccabee and we know how that turned out – it was a miracle and we and the Torah triumphed.
It all needs the correct trigger to fan the spark into a shining light. That trigger starts with Channukah. What an incredible chag Channukah is! It is the only chag that every Jew around the world, regardless of how close to or far removed from Judaism they are – celebrate the chag Mehadrin min HaMehadrin!
Not all Jews buy a super Mehadrin Lulav and Etrog on Sukkot (for those who buy Arba Minim at all). Not all Jews eat shmura matza on Pesach (for those who eat matza at all). But what a wonder – on Channukah, every Jew (even many non-Jews, like former president Obama) light Channukah candles using the most stringent of the Mehadrin standards. By all rights we should light one light each night, instead we light one the first night, two the second, three the third etc. until eight on the eighth night. This is the most מַחְמִיר opinion (שיטת הלל, רמב"ם הלכות מגילה וחנוכה פ"ד ה"א) and every Jew, regardless of how strong or faint the spark isת does so. That in itself is a miracle.
This tells us that somewhere deep down there, the spark still remains. If that spark is confronted with the appropriate trigger, it will burst into a shining, full blown light. I believe that we are currently experiencing that trigger, worldwide.
BeSiyata DiShmaya this trigger should continue and proliferate throughout world Jewry, giving rise to an unprecedented return to the Torah and HKB"H.
Each should try to do their small part, which together make a formidable miracle. Some are fighting on the front, some are taking care of things at home, some are doing chessed, some are inspiring Torah values, studying and teaching … Each are an essential cog in the entire "machine" that is the Twelve Tribes.
B"H we are conducting a brand-new workshop over Channukah that teaches people all about the use of oil in the Mikdash, both in the Menorah and in the Menachot. We were zocheh to build an authentic, life-size model of the Menorah for this purpose. Thanks to my cousin and talented sculptor Mark Forman for helping in this mission.
B"H we will be zocheh to host many, many families whose spouses are fighting on the front line and inspire them with the real miracle of Channukah. Thank you to all those who kindly helped sponsor this operation.
This is Am Yisrael at their best … and it only gets better. עוֹד יוֹתֵר טוֹב וְעוֹד יוֹתֵר טוֹב.
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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