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Prepare For Chanukah - The Light and the Splendor

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Rabbi Daniel Glatstein Official avatar
Rabbi Daniel Glatstein Official

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this Tower class is brought to you by torahanytime.com and welcome everyone to a special the light and the Splendor event in honor of the umptive of chanukkah and in honor of the safer the light and the splendor actually now art school is offering 20 off on all of our humble swarm you could get the light and the Splendor at artscroll.com the mystery and the Majesty the revealed and the concealed on Purim and the Darkness and the dawn on the three weeks and tishma of the royal 20 off tonight's event is dedicated to the yamta fakhanika in honor of the safer delight and the Splendor I want to thank the hosts of tonight's event I want to thank my dear friends ravilan merav ravian aboff for hosting tonight's event whatever you could do to help especially in helping enroll public school children in yeshivas now is the time of the year where the ivanim they try to make us forget the Torah they wanted and in our times as well the forces of evil the education system of the culture that we live in is making great attempts so whatever you could do to support haza can help them enroll you're creating so whatever you could do to help out hazak ha tonight's event is sponsored by chickens for Shabbos go to the adeliezer side and please click the icon for agunus please help out those in Cloudy soil that need it most those who are we are most responsible for without the milamden without the rabayam for our children then we don't have the Next Generation so please again go to the other side please click the icon for agunos almanos and malamdim and you can have a helic and supporting uh those in Cloudy Israel who need it most all the money goes directly to help these families that are really dependent on it at this special event I want to discuss what is probably the most well-known question in the entire gamut of Jewish literature this is the question that is attributed to the basically safe actually was asked by reshining before the basically safe it's found in the State Fair and that is why is Hanukkah celebrated for eight days after all the gemara tells us that the vendum contaminated all the oil on the and when the hashmaniam returned to the base hamikdash they searched for Pure oil and they found one flask of oil that had enough oil to last for one night and miraculously lasted for eight nights so simple mathematics tells us that there were seven days of a miracle the miracle was needed for the oil to burn for an additional seven days why then do we celebrate Hanukkah for eight days when the miracle only continued for seven days this is a question that Scholars and students have pondered since the very Inception of the antifa why celebrate eight days when only seven days was miraculous and many many answers have been offered to this question there's an amazing safer called Nera lemaya that offers 100 answers to this question and recently a safer has been published with 500 answers to this question one of the most well-known and widely used answers is to my humble opinion the most difficult this answer is given by the altar of kelm and the author of kelm in his safer um he brings the following answer based on the story of the daughter of rabihanina Banda was very poor and his household had a subsist on very meager Provisions one Friday night after Shabbos had already entered sorry khanina noticed that his daughter was crying he sent my daughter Fairfax veins to why you crying and she said Tata Tata I used vinegar in the Shabbos last I used vinegar instead of oil they're gonna definitely go out very soon they are not going to burn they're not going to light so says don't worry don't sweat it Michelle he who said that oil should burn he can also say vinegar should burn well was uttering the fundamental principle that the fact that olive oil burns and can be used as full fuel is no less miraculous than a vinegar would burn it's just we're accustomed to the fact that olive oil always Burns and we're not accustomed to vinegar burning so we call it nature and we take it for granted and we assume that that's what happens but fundamentally it is not any less miraculous for olive oil to burn than for vinegar to burn says the altar of come since we have this great idea and great teaching that nature is at its root just as miraculous as the supernatural we have seven days of chanukkah to celebrate the miraculous burning of the oil for an additional seven days after all there's only enough oil to last for one night but we tack on an extra day and that is to teach that even the first day was a miracle the fact that oil burns period is miraculous we're used to it we're accustomed to it we expect it we take it for granted but it is no less Supernatural and miraculous and therefore we have seven days to celebrate what we consider Supernatural and from there it's supposed to give us insight that even the fact that oil burned on the first day is likewise equally miraculous but Marsha Feinstein in the darasa like base page half base also gives the same answer of the altar of kelm and he uses this answer the altar of kelm to answer a difficulty in the alham if you look in the alanisim we talk about the military Victory no mention is made at all about the oil nowhere is it mentioned that which Sigmar tells us that they found only enough oil to last for one day and it burned for eight days the only thing we say in the alanism is candles they lit Lambs scissors with the same approach to the altar of kelm the objective of the supernatural Miracle of Hanukkah is to come to the recognition that that in which we are accustomed to and we call Teva is no less miraculous so we saved to teach to indicate that the lighting of an air is just as worthy of Celebration the fact that Hashem created a process that the juice of an olive could burn and create fuel provide fuel that is equally wondrous and miraculous so this idea that the Supernatural is supposed to give us Insight that even nature is miraculous it was really written and penned by the ramban many centuries earlier the ramban writes famously at the end of parasha's boy the ramban writes his Immortal words for some him from the great and obvious Miracles a person comes to recognize hidden Miracles they are the very foundation of the hotel for a person does not have a share in the Torah of Maisha Naman until we believe that because miraculous there's no nature all the phenomena or the processes that we're familiar with and we could name them we could predict them evaporation respiration digestion circulation the fact that we have a name for them and that we're accustomed to them does not make it any more any less miraculous so the purpose of the open Miracle of the oil was to come to recognize and to teach that even the fact that oil burns period is a miracle this deductive reasoning this inference says of David Cohen explains a the phraseology and the pismine ivanai said gathered upon me CH hashmanim in the times of the name they breached the walls of my Towers they contaminated all the oil from the leftover jugsa Miracle occurred for you saw called the name BINA men of deep understanding of deductions they enacted song and music and praise says if David Cohn why do we refer to khalisa on the times of chanukkah as binay Bina men of understanding men of deduction men of inference says of David kind because really Hanukkah should have been seven days like the base Joseph asks that the oil burning was only miraculous for seven days but cloudy Israel used deductive reasoning and they said yes it was Supernatural that this oil which did not have the requisite amount still burned for an additional seven days but from there we need to come to realize that even Teva what we call nature what we label a name what we could predict that itself is miraculous men of understanding for eight days the reason why Hanukkah is eight days is because they utilized Bina they utilized understanding they utilized deduction now I was always bothered by this approach of the outer of kelm and ramasha certainly it is true certainly it is a fact it is a tenet of Judaism says that from open miracles we need to come to recognize and understand and appreciate that nature is also miraculous and therefore not only do we celebrate seven days of the miraculous burning of the fire but we also celebrate the fact that fire burns period but what has this got to do with Hanukkah I mean this seems like a very um underhanded answer to the question is this a very satisfying answer I mean we could we could utilize this idea idea and teaching really for any yamtif what is it what does it have to do with Hanukkah why don't we have not eight days of Pisa seven days that the the Jewish people who didn't have time to let their bread rise and they had what to eat and an eighth day for the fact that Hashem gives food in general or we should have nine days of circus we should have the first part of sukkas to celebrate the miracle of ananiyakovide and then another day of circus to celebrate that we have a house over our heads why don't we have an extra date to celebrate the splitting of the sea we should have uh one day uh to celebrate the spilling of the sea and another day to celebrate the miracle of water in general yes we understand the purpose of the open Miracle is to recognize and to to have a Muna in the hidden miracle in in the concealed in the what what we call Teva but why now why do we dafka appendage and Tack on an extra day of Hanukkah to all of a sudden celebrate the idea of Teva being a miracle as well but dear friends herein lies the very secret of chanukkah a very basic element of the mystical dimensions of the Torah is that there are ten sphere ice ten Divine manifestations with which Hashem created and runs the world the names of the spheroys are cassar BINA or gedula giveura tiferas quotes RAV who says Hashem created a world with 10 statements the Marsha understands that this is referring to the ten spheroes with which Hashem created and runs the world now the subject of the 10 spheroids is the quintessential example of an esoteric teaching of the Torah that is misunderstood and is liable for Distortion the most important thing we need to know is they they are not physical manifestations heaven forbid of God but rather emanations or manifestations of the Divine now each sphera each Divine emanation is associated with a particular yamtif sanuka is associated with hoyid Khan Freelander explains the media of hoyd comes to fruition as and is expressed fully to its full capacity on the yomptif of chanukkah certainly these are very deep Concepts let's try to explain it and understand it in accordance with our capacity okay before we do that we're going to take a brief moment to remind everyone that this year is dedicated by the very worthy organization chickens for Shabbos who are dedicated to feed our Nations neediest and those who we are responsible to help the most families of malam them families who really need it most and whether it's providing food or other needs of the family or tutoring or other basic necessities in order for the family to function and in order for the children to grow up happy and healthy so if you want to make the children of Hashem happy please go to the analy as our website click the icon for aguna is and please help those in Claud Israel who need it most and we wish all of your families only good health and may Hashem provide you with all of your needs now now that we learned that the media of hoid comes to fruition on Hanukkah the teaches that this gives us additional insight as to why chanukkah's eight days after all the spheroids are Cassara BINA said so since eight days long now what exactly is Hyde in there are two words that seem synonymous these words are HUD and Hadar for example is who maintain that there are synonyms however yeah mayor of Mayor lives the great poison the great commentator on the Tanakh the basalevi writes that there are certain that nobody was able to explain other than the malbum and the malbum explained it one of the great principles of the malbum is that there are no Sheamus there are no synonyms synonyms every word has a precise Nuance of difference and meaning here's a prime example says and the malbum writes this in many places he writes Us in the safer Carmel the Malvern writes this impartials excuse me the album says there is a fundamental difference between and Hadar Hadar refers to external beauty attractive appearance shape Hadar and asteroid is called pre-ates it has shape it has color it has bumps these are characteristic of external beauty we say with an abundance of people it brings Beauty to the king Hadar refers to external beauty there are many people who on the other hand do not have objective Beauty their outer appearance or presentation is not appealing is not that Pleasant but they have an inner beauty to them perhaps because of their humility or their wisdom or their good character it lends them an air of beauty it's not external but some kind of internal Splendor that comes from their very essence that is called is ziv panimi inner splendor huh nowadar are not just Concepts that refer to the physical Universe where Hadar is the external beauty of something and hoyd is its internal splendor but are really two outlooks on life in general the world can be seen in two lights one could look at others at events and see the outside The Superficial way that it seems one could look at another human being and judge them based on their objective appearance their hygiene their cleanliness and their the way they're formed groomed this was the world view of the ivanum the ivanum glorified the human body building Body Sculpting muscle tone they were the way that a person is judged and they look therefore at the phenomena of the universe in the exact same way the evonim believed that this world what you see is what you get what you could measure what you could weigh what you could study what you could see what you could computate what you could calculate that's the world that's the externalities of the world the ramban rights in taras Hashem tamim on page 147. muzzle the mouse of the wise men of nature who follow the ideology of the Greeks they deny anything that cannot be experienced by the senses however this was not the approach of the Jewish people the Jewish people look at the world and they say just because somebody's appearance is not objectively appealing that doesn't diminish from the beauty the person has because we value the midos of the Soul what maybe you can't put your finger on humility wisdom the soul qualities the Jewish people judge another person not by their objective look but by intangible qualities that another person may have they're Middle East they're good character lends a certain Aura and heir of internal Splendor that shines forth from the soul but we don't only look at people in that vein we look at events that transpire in the same vein we don't just say well there's certain laws of politics or science evaporation condensation precipitation we don't say Well when there's enough moisture in the atmosphere so then the moisture condenses and when the wind blows it blows the clouds on the dry land and that's when it rains no we believe that there's an inner Splendor an inner working to the universe we believe that when a person arrives timely to Tila and davins with Havana and has the right thoughts when putting on Talus and villain that that affects the ecosystem that affects that affects the economy so while yvon believes the economy has hard fast and set rules we believe that there's an inner mechanics of of the world it's dependent on our deeds and our actions that we Buddhism controls through the guise of nature in a supernatural way all the laws of the universe We Believe azaramban says we believe there's no such thing as nature Nature's a facade nature is a veil we don't believe that it automatically rains we don't believe that there's certain patterns that just repeat themselves no we believe that even though we can't see it and we can't measure it and we can't calculate it and we can't computate it artilla controls the security of our people and the world artfila is control the economy our liminal Torah controls our welfare that's the height of the universe is not Teva Teva is the external shell of this world we believe in Hyde we're a people of Hyde where people believe that there's an inner mystical quality in the way that the world runs through the college baraku the battle between yavan and Israel is the battle between hoyd and Hadar between Teva and Ness and therefore the entire purpose of chanukkah is through the open Miracle to come to the realization that there is no Teva that even the hidden Miracles are miraculous that's the whole purpose of Hanukkah the whole function of Hanukkah is to debunk yavan who believes only in Hadar we believe that through Hada we have to come to hide we believe that through the open Miracle the entire purpose of Oak and miracles is to come to the recognition of Misha Marla Shem Envy you'd like the whole purpose of Hanukkah is that through the seven miraculous days of the oil burning we come to the recognition that the fact that oil burns period is a miracle laughs foreign writes that the media of Hyde comes from the word gratitude and in the context of what we are presenting it is so Illuminating often a person is resistant to having gratitude Hashem once I have gratitude to Hashem for because I make a paranasa of course I make a paranasa I went to school I went to college I got a degree I worked hard I schmitzed I put in the work so of course that makes six figures that that's how the world works when people work hard when people study when people learn to trade and then people roll up their sleeves and they go out to work and they work a long day they make the money they bring home the cash I have to have gratitude that's the way the world Works what if they have gratitude that I have a family I got married that's what happens when you get married you have children and when you go to work you buy a car and you have a house that's the way the world works in a world of superficiality in a world where we just look at the externalities and we say well this is the world the way the way the world Works in a world of Hadar there's no gratitude ingratitude abounds because when a person looks at the world as everything is a natural process then we have expectations this is the way things ought to be then gratitude abounds but we are not a nation of Hadar we are a nation of Hyde We Believe that just because I planted doesn't automatically mean something will grow it's only because of the great kindness of the Creator and God of the universe that he he has blessed me with crops that's why I have the great Bounty of a fruitful produce yes I got married but who helped me find my wife yes I got married but it's only with great rachame that Hashem and His Infinite Mercy has blessed me with children yes I go to work but many people go to work and it just doesn't materialize sashem in his infinite kindness has bestowed me a livelihood when we look at the world as Hadar Teva natural processes this is the way the world operates this is the way things go then we're ungrateful there's ingratitude but somebody who lives in a world of Hyde where we don't look at the way things seem to be but we recognize that there is an inner working of this universe which is Guided divinely by the hand of Hashem who provides Us in his kindness in his Mercy in his that's where Haida comes from of course Haida is an expression of the Meda of because in a world where we appreciate that we can't take anything for granted even the fact that Shemin lights that's a miracle everything in my life is a miracle it's a miracle that I have clothing it's a miracle that I am able to see it's a miracle I could hear these words of Torah it's a miracle that Hashem blessed me that I could understand beautiful Torah thoughts it's a miracle I have a chair to sit on it's a miracle to have a family it's a miracle that have livelihood from the sphera of hoyd emanates the Great characteristic of Haida Hanukkah is when the media of comes to fruition and therefore Hanukkah is designated and therefore I thank all of you for giving me the opportunity to share with you some thoughts about the safer the light and the Splendor and the reason why it's called the light and the splendor is as we mentioned that the purpose of the seven miraculous days of Hanukkah is to appreciate the inner splendor of the miracle of Hanukkah and that is the miracle that oil could burn in general this is not tangential to Hanukkah this is the very essence of Hanukkah as the ramban says this is the essence of all miracles the whole purpose of Hanukkah isina with understanding and deductive reasoning and therefore I thank you for listening uh to purchase a safer please go to artscroll.com where this safer as well as the others Farm the concealed and the revealed on Purim the mystery and the Majesty on the yamana rum the darkness and the dawn on the three week Satish above are all available at 20 off also there's a brand new safer unless published by you could get it at our site Rabbi dg.com it's available with free shipping it's over 700 pages of new ideas on safer shamas Hashem I hope everybody enjoys I want to thank kazak for hosting tonight's pre Hanukkah matsoi Shabbos event in honor of the new safer I thank my dear friends for hosting and arranging tonight's event and of course for tonight's sponsors chickens for Shabbos please go to the aunt Eliezer side and click the icon for malamdim by the way the mug enough rum brings down Minogue Israel is to be mafarnes the malamdim on chanukkah so you could be makayem a family in Cloudy Israel that are supporting and enhancing and enabling our families please go to the adelia's side click the icon for bless you and your family with good health from your children wishing everyone thank you very much you've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by torahanytime.com