If you are reading this on Chanukah, great; I hope you’ll find something useful here for Chanukah! If it’s already post-Chanukah, don’t worry - there is still plenty to gain from this article.
Let’s begin with a famous question from the parsha, Vayigash. Yaakov Avinu arrived in Mitzrayim. Yosef prepared his own chariot (not befitting his position), but he overlooked his honor in order to hurry to greet his father. They met, and Yosef falls on Yaakov’s shoulder, crying. Yaakov doesn’t. Rashi brings the medrash which explains because Yaakov was saying the prayer of Shema. Why right then? It was the time for the mitzvah. In that case, why wasn’t Yosef saying Shema? Several answers are given, among them that Yosef was busy with the mitzvah of honoring his father and was therefore exempted from saying Shema at that moment.
Why couldn’t Yaakov Avinu wait a moment, or say it sooner? One answer is that Yaakov Avinu needed to say Shema at that moment, right away. But not only because of the time of day. Rather, it was at that great moment when he saw Yosef alive and well, and (basically) king of Mitzrayim, that he had a complete realization that Hashem was completely in charge and running the show the entire time. At that most awesome moment he felt like we will all feel at the time of the geulah, when we will all see this with clarity and proclaim Hashem echad u’shmo achad, Hashem is one! (Like we say at the end of Aleinu.) We will have complete clarity that everything, especially all the bad was truly good for us. Yaakov felt it then, therefore he felt the great need to be mekabel malchus shamayim, accepting upon himself Hashem’s Kingship right then at that moment, as a form of thanks and praise to Hashem! Not to lose a second from being able to thank and praise Hashem at the moment of his greatest realization and happiness.
We always need to thank Hashem for everything. This is the basis of Klal Yisrael, and the focus of our tefilah. Our tefilah is really two parts: hoda’ah and bakashah, thanks and requests. We can only make requests after we realize how much good we have already received, and are filled with gratitude for all that. Then we attempt to ask for more, which will come with a little more humility.
Contrast this with the Yishmaelim and their method of tefilah. It is all demands - like a business deal. I’ve done ABC; I deserve to receive! I praised you; now I’m deserving to receive! Hagar complained and wasn’t grateful for receiving Avraham from Sara, and Yishmael was a copy of that, full of complaints and claims.
A ba’al teshuvah (who now lives in Kiryat Sefer) had once been a radical Yishmaeli. When asked if there’s any concept of tefilah based upon hakaras hatov in the tefilos, he answered no. Everything is about “give me because I do for you.” Hakaras hatov is not part of their tefilah.
The Pirkei D’rebbi Eliezer says that Yishmael, which translates to “G-d hears,” is really referring to Klal Yisrael crying out because of the pain and suffering Yishmael will cause them at the end of days (current events). We will cry out to Hashem for help, and He will hear our cries.
But what if our tefilos aren’t be so focused and sincere? Don’t worry; Yishmael’s tefilos were also very shallow. When he lay under the bush, he groaned, and his crying was to Hashem - but he didn’t do anything else. And Hashem listened to him. So too, Klal Yisrael cries out from the anguish caused by them, and our tefilos are answered even if we don’t have the best focus and intent.
This is actually our strength to combat and overcome the Yishmaelim. We say in Hallel, hodu…ki l’olam chasdo. We recognize all the good which Hashem does for us, we thank praise Him and thank Him for it, and that only then can we attempt to ask for something. They don’t have this, and they are causing us to cry out. This is what gives us the power to be saved from them.
On Chanukah we say the full Hallel all eight days. Hopefully, it’s more than just five more minutes of davening (six, if the chazan has a cold!). Some women may not understand this fully, but the yetzer hara’s test for men in shul includes the slightest delay or extension of the davening. Five minutes is a looong time. But if we recognize the amazing miracles Hashem has done for us, and we realize how much we need to thank Him for all the miracles, then we should be saying Hallel with great simchah, full of appreciation for all Hashem has done for us!
The wars and victories of the Chashmonaim against the Greeks were amazing open miracles. Josephus depicts the Maccabeem as cunning and powerful warriors, who used guerilla tactics to surprise and defeat the superior Greek armies. It wasn’t so. Rashi in parshas V’zos Habrachah brings says that there were only 13 Chashmonaim who fought and defeated the Greeks! They were Cohanim, untrained for war. But they were moser nefesh, willing to die al kiddush Hashem, to fight against the Greeks decrees against Torah and mitzvos. Even when there were more Jews who joined them, the main fighting was the 13 individuals! There were miracles in all their victories!
When the Cohanim found the small amount of pure oil, and they lit it and it burned eight days, that was a hidden miracle which was only seen by a few. They could even have had used impure oil. Hashem made this miracle for them as a nes shel chavivus - a miracle just to show how much He loves us.
Based on these miracles, our response needs to be one of extreme thanksgiving. This is the reason we say the full Hallel on all eight days of Chanukah. Chanukah is when we all do the mitzvah of lighting mehadrin min hamehadrin, doing it the best possible way (lighting eight candles!). We focus on the great signs of chavivus, specifically on Chanukah.
This past week, there were five ballistic missiles fired from Yemen towards Eretz Yisrael, including one towards Yerushalayim around 2 a.m. Friday night. B”H, that one caused zero damage, aside from waking up and scaring millions (some people told me they slept right through it). There were other missiles fired toward Yerushalayim on Shabbos afternoon, with no damage. Plenty of fear though. B”H, nothing happened. Miracles. And perhaps, all their attempts and failures to hurt us (thousands of attempts, missiles, etc.) are signs of Hashem’s chavivus for us.
The crazy number of weapons they keep finding in Lebanon is mindboggling. All weapons that were meant to be used against Klal Yisrael.
We must always see the good Hashem does for us, all the time, and thank Him for everything we have already received from Him. Especially on Chanukah at the time of the great miracles, and even after Chanukah when we return to our “regular” tefilah, we should merit to keep ourselves uplifted by having these thoughts clearly before us. Let us try with however much of Chanukah that we have left to take advantage of this opportunity to recognize and verbalize saying thank you to Hashem for all the amazing and extra miracles He’s done for us! We should all merit to have our tefilos answered, with the good news of Moshiach’s arrival very soon!
Adapted from shiurim given by R’ Yisrael Altusky shlita, Yeshivas Torah Ore, Yerushalayim. Shiurim can be heard at the Kol Halashon website.
