I received a beautiful Chanukah gift this year from Emet Outreach’s Learning Program. It was a new sefer by Rabbi Moshe Weinberger, Founding Rav of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere. There was so much inspiration packed into this sefer, that this writer felt compelled to share some of the beautiful ideas with our readers. The sefer is titled By the Light of the Fire.
Rabbi Weinberger shares that the sefer is based on a few of the Chanukah drashos he gave over the past 31 years in Aish Kodesh, and he dedicated the sefer in memory of his mechutan.
He shared that, during Chanukah, we can detect the Or HaGanuz, the hidden light of Creation. “We can see it in our learning, in our davening, in ourselves, and in each other.” He noted that the 36 candles of Chanukah correspond to 36 hours that Adam and Chavah saw reality illuminated by the Or HaGanuz.
Chapter headings in the book correspond to the nights of Chanukah, with subheadings according to themes he is discussing. The first chapter is titled, “Night One, Where Are You?” This chapter discusses the opposing views of Hillel and Shamai and how to understand them. Rabbi Weinberger writes, “The more we understand the spiritual world, the more we comprehend the love Hashem has for every single Jew. He shares how our role is to try to find ways to bring Jews back to Hashem. The next section is titled “Night Two” and he discusses the concept of light in depth. He writes that Hashem wants us to look at all the light in our lives and acknowledge all that we have and to be grateful for what Hashem gave us. While a dreidel is still spinning, and we are in the middle of our lives, we can’t see what is written on it. When we stop the dreidel, we see “A great miracle happened there.” Hashem wants us to understand this, as we sit by the candles quietly and think about all the miracles, He has performed for us.
Rabbi Weinberger wrote: “Reb Leibele Eiger zy”a once said that the concept underlying the halachic preference to light the Chanukah candles outside the house dates back to Yaakov Avinu. Yaakov would stand outside, by the doorway, looking out into the darkness, looking and waiting for the tzadik, for Yosef. Is he coming back home? Is he returning?”
Rabbi Weinberger explained that, on the first night of Chanukah when we light one candle, it reminds us that Hashem’s candle is the soul of man (Mishlei 20:27). We remember, like Yaakov waiting by the door, that Hashem is our Father, waiting for us to return to Him. He is waiting for us to find that hidden tzadik inside of us.
He then discussed the disagreement between Hillel and Shamai. Hillel said to increase the number of candles each night, while Shamai taught that we should decrease them as the oil was slowly diminishing.
Rabbi Weinberger wrote that the smarter we are, the more we must use our intellect to shine the light of Chanukah and of G-d into other Jew’s lives and to lift them up, as opposed to looking down on others who aren’t as observant or don’t know as much about Yiddishkeit.
Rabbi Weinberger wrote that what makes tzadikim wise is they continually look for new ways to defend and uplift Hashem’s children, their brothers and sisters. They keep davening for us and search for ways to bring us out from the dark exile. He added that while we aren’t tzadikim, we still can, in our own way, as parents, teachers, rebbeim, neighbors, and friends, lift others up and advocate for them and be careful not to judge or put others down.
He explained that this is the nature of the disagreement between Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel. Shamai’s opinion was exacting and strict because he discouraged converts and chased them away. Hillel had great humility and drew converts closer with mercy. He didn’t push them away even when they said crazy things like tell me all of Torah standing on one foot, etc. “He drew them close with his wisdom and his wondrous humility.” He pointed out that Hillel’s name is related to the word hila which means light. Hillel taught that we should add to the light of other people. Yosef was known as being extremely holy and pure. His name means to add, because he always worked to add holiness to others and not to drive them away.
He shared that Chanukah means inauguration, and it has the same root as the word for education, chinuch, which inaugurates children into a life of Yiddishkeit. Chanukah’s focus is on the future, and that is one reason children love Chanukah so much. They tend to not have much history and only the future.
Each of the lights on the Menorah in the Beis HaMikdash symbolized something different. One was light of Torah, love, t’filah, kindness, and others. He writes, “The Menorah models the value and beauty of multiple ways of being, enhancing and balancing one another in one all-encompassing form.”
The Menorah was made of one piece of solid gold, which reflects the idea that all the lights come from one underlying truth. Chanukah is the only yom tov that was established for the purpose of giving thanks. When Yaakov was victorious over the angel of Eisav, the angel conceded that Yaakov had the right to the blessings he received from Yitzchak. “During Chanukah and whenever the nations of the world threaten us, we stand strong against this. They will ultimately be forced to admit our status and uniqueness as G-d’s chosen people.”
He shared a famous story about when the Baal Shem Tov took some chasidim with him to a frozen lake near Mezhibuzh. He gazed for a long time at the many peasants who were etching crucifixes into the ice. He told his students that water gives life only if it is warm and flowing. He warned his students not to study Torah in a cold intellectual way, like secular subjects. “Yiddishkeit means to be lichtig and warm.“ If it freezes over, it becomes impure.
Rabbi Weinberger wrote how Yosef overcame the test of Potifar’s wife because he saw the image of Yaakov’s face. “The Chanukah candles are for us like the face of Yaakov in the window, cheering us on and telling us, “You can win!”
I definitely recommend this wonderful book! Thank you, Hashem, and thank you, Rabbi Weinberger!
By Susie Garber
