The Drones are Watching | Rabbi Yechiel Spero

It was in the elder years of my uncle, the Slonimer Rebbe, the Nesivos Shalom, זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה, and the custom in Slonim, as is in many Chasidishe courts, that the Chasidim come, they travel, they join and accompany the Rebbe when he kindles his Menorah and he says Divrei Torah and Zmiros. It was that year, Chasidim gathered from all over the country in Eretz Yisroel, but the Nesivos Shalom was very weak, he was frail, he wasn't feeling well. And they sent out a message that, unfortunately, the Rebbe will not be able to come down to join the Chaisidim with the candles. And instead, a Minyan was ushered into the home of the Nesivos Shalom. And as a family member, I had the זכייה to be there, by that Minyan. Hard to describe the Kedushah, the feeling of the way the Nesivos Shalom made the Brachos, the way he lit the Menorah, the way he said the Zmiros. And when it came to the time that he usually says Torah, it was clear to us that he won't say Torah, because he wasn't feeling well, but he signaled that he wants to say something. And then he said, I have no Ko’ach, I’m so weak. I just want to say one Vort. And he said the following. The Rambam writes, The Mitzvah of Ner Chanukah is a very beloved Mitzvah. It's a Lashon that the Rambam doesn't write by no other Mitzvah. And it's not the custom of the Rambam to elaborate on emotions in a Sefer of Halachos. And what does it mean, חביבה? What's this word, חביבה? The Rambam could have written, מצוה גדולה, מצוה יקרה, מצוה קדושה, מצוה אהובה. It's a very great, dear, holy, beloved Mitzvah. What is this word, חביבה, a word of love, of passion? And he explained, I want to connect one connection. The Mishnah says in Avos, How beloved are Yidden that their relationship with the Ribono shel Olam is like beloved children to a father that loves his child. And the explanation in this Vort is In the דור of Nes Chanukah a terrible thing happened. That it's the first time that it broke into Klal Yisroel, that Yidden became part and attached to the culture of יוון, and they became מתיוונים. And they lost their relationship with the Ribono shel Olam. But when the Chashmona’im went out to fight the Yevanim and overcame them and defeated them and conquered them, that awakened for a Yid to understand that you're for always and ever a beloved child. That's the relationship between you and the Ribono shel Olam. As the Nesivos Shalom writes, Therefore, we say in v’Al HaNissim at the end, and he explains, אחר כך, after the Nes Chanukah, that the Ribono shel OIam showed them such miracles, באו, they came to the realization, בניך, we’re children to You, the Ribono shel Olam. There's nothing that could tear us away from You, that could take away that passion, that love. And this is what we sing in Maoz Tzur, We got to understanding that we're בנים, we’re always and forever children. Because sometimes a person feels I've done certain things that took away my connection between me and the Ribono shel Olam. I’m no longer a son. I lost that special relationship. I'm no more a child. I'm no more beloved upon the Ribono shel Olam. Chanukah teaches you and ignites the truth, and it reveals and demonstrates, and that's the חביבות of Ner Chanukah, that you're forever and always a beloved son. חביבין ישראל שנקראו בנים למקום. There's nothing that could tear you away.