Chanukah: The Illuminated Mind

The following is based on the Sfas Emes the Shmuzen of R' Yaakov Meir Shechter Shlit'a. Feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos Kodesh - just please not during Tefilos!

The Neis, the miracle of Chanukah was historically the final event to be turned into an established Chag. The burning of the Menorah for eight days served as the last open miracle before the beginning of the exile that we still experience today.

All of the Sfarim HaKedoshim explain that the significance of this is that the light of Chanukah is the Chizuk, the source of strength that we need to carry on through the Galus and make our way to the Geulah. God sends us into the Galus with Chaunkah to protect us. The inner energies of Chanukah will provide us with what we need to make our way out and rebuild the Beis HaMikdash. Chanukah is our lifeline.

We want to tap into this, we want to access the history-shifting force of Chanukah, and we want to rebuild the Temple with it. Be we are yet to understand the dynamic of this connection. What about Chanukah will bring us back to the Beis HaMikdash?

So we need to identify two things: First, what is the Temple? We must seek to clarify the contours of its nature. What did it stand for and what spiritual vacuum is left in its destruction? Second, what is Chanukah? What is the inner meaning of the Mitzvah of the holiday? With the answers to two questions then our question will answer itself.

The root of the Beis HaMikdash is found the Torah HaKedoshah’s prototype for what a sanctuary is all about. The Mishkan that was built in the desert served as the archetype for a House for Hashem’s imminence amongst the people.

So how did we get the Mishkan?

Rebbe Nachman MiBreslev explains that when one does an Aveirah he brings within himself a Ruach, a spirit, a presence of Kfirah, of heresy. Similarly, the Kutzker Rebbe used to say that any Aveirah that a person does is really two Aveiros, for in the moment of the sin the person ‘conveniently forgot’ about the existence of God as to justifify the sin and therefore such an outlook is the beginning of Avodah Zara – idol worship.

At Har Sinai, when the Jews sinned with the Golden Calf they brought within their midst a spirit of Kfirah and Hester that was never previously experienced. It was the deepest fall in their young history.

Moshe Rabbeinu pleads for their forgiveness. He is not only asking Hashem to spare their lives – he is asking for much more. He is asking to spare their souls. He is beseeching Hashem to remove the heresy that injected itself into the veins of the people. He is asking God to cleanse the people of their spiritual corruption and touch their minds with Godliness once more.

So what is God’s response? How does Hashem show that He has forgiven and is ready to restore His presence amongst the people? He says, Let’s build the Mishkan. That is the sign of the forgiveness.

Why is this the indication of God’s return to the people’s awareness? The dynamic is as such: The Passuk says – V’Asu Li Mikdash V’Shanchanti B’Socham – And they will make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell amongst them. Note that the verse does not say that Hashem will dwell in the sanctuary itself; that’s not the point of the Mishkan. The physical building in which there is a concentration of God’s presence is merely an external manifestation of the fact that God’s presence is resting in the hearts of the people. They are living with an awareness of the Creator. Their decision making processes are totally shifted and altered by a wave of holiness. Because God dwells in them, there is a physical manifestation that takes the form of a building.

It thus emerges that the destruction of the temple serves as an equally external manifestation of the reverse. Once Hashem’s presence no longer touches the hearts and minds of Am Yisrael then the structure that is designed to house His aura is automatically rendered useless. The building can stand but it will be an empty shell. When we gaze at Har HaBayis and see Churban, it is a reflection of a Churban in the inner framework of the people.

Geulah means returning to the state of mind where I sense Godliness inside of myself. When the people will attain V’Shachanti B’Socham then V’Asu Li Mikdash will happen by itself.

But we began with the assumption that the historical placement of Chanukah as the final holiday comes to show us that it will pull us through the exile and into the redemption. The question now becomes: How?

Well, we need to hone in. For it is obvious that Chanukah revolves around the Menorah. The Mitzvah of the holiday is the lighting of the Menorah. So really it emerges that candle lighting is the vehicle of redemption. The light of the Menorah is the one aspect of the Beis HaMikdash that wasn’t destroyed. The Avodah of Hadlakas Neiros Chanukah was handpicked by Hashem to be the central driving force of salvation.

Why the Menorah of all of the many vessels of the Beis HaMikdash? Why specifically the lamp? What’s so special about candles? Why is the Menorah divinely ordained to be the tool that will bring us back to V’Shachanti B’Socham?

So we need to ask: What’s a candle? We have a Pasuk in Mishlei that on the surface seems incomprehensible but when clarified will hopefully shift our perspectives towards a deeper understanding of the Menorah, our Neshamos, and how to achieve Geulah.

‘Ner Hashem Nishmas Adam Chofesh Kol Chadrei Vaten – The Candle of God is man’s soul, God searches out man’s inner-chambers.’ What in the world is going on here? God has a candle? What, He’s in the dark? He’s looking inside of men? What’s he looking for?!

Let’s say I’m in a dark room. It’s so void of light that I’m blocked off from having any basic level of perception of items that are in my immediate surroundings. I have no way of identifying, associating with, mentally extending myself into anything near me. I’m frozen where I am without any means of intellectually moving forward. So I light up a candle. The flame empowers me to begin to perceive things that were previously unattainable. My mind can now move outward and interact with the once locked-off world.

Hashem is in the same situation. He wants V’Shachanti B’Socham. He wants to extend Elokus into us. He deeply seeks to send forth His holiness into our lives. But there is a problem. We are dense and coarse. We are made of physical bodies that have a natural tendency to reject the unfamiliar realm of spirituality. So in such a situation He has no way of reaching into us. What will make such a thing a possibility?

The soul. The Chelek Eloka MiMa’al. An expression of celestial holiness that has been engrained into the human experience. Ah, now there is a way. Now, through the Neshamah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu has a way of extending His Presence to my inner-chambers, every limb, every last fiber of my being. My mind can become infused with Godliness because in the same way that I extend myself in the dark room with a candle, God extends Himself through my Neshamah. Ner Hashem Nishmas Adam.

This is the role of the Menorah in the Beis HaMikdash. Normal windows let light in. But Chazal explain that the design of the windows of the Beis HaMikdash was to let light out – proving an entirely different purpose. The Beis HaMikdash needs no exterior source of illumination. To the contrary – it lights up the rest of the world.

What is the light of the Beis HaMikdash? We explained that the Beis HaMikdash stood for something. Its presence was a message. The Beis HaMikdash declared, “Hashem is real. He’s inside of you. Live accordingly.” The Menorah is literally the source of that light. The purpose of the Menorah was to take the message of the Beis HaMikdash and deliver it to the people – to deliver it to the world.

Now everything comes together. The Menorah serves as the vessel that delivers to the world the message upon which a House of God stands. Thus if we need to attain that consciousness of V’Shachanti B’Socham in order to achieve the Geulah then there is no better vessel for the job than the Menorah. It is specifically the Menorah that equips us with the state-of mind needed to rebuild the Beis HaMikdash. The light of the Menorah envelops us in the vibrations of redemptive energy. With the proper focus it helps me reestablish and rediscover my relationship with my soul. And it is the communal attainment of that relationship that will build the Beis HaMikdash.

In my soul is the potential to attain and relate to Godliness in the confines of my personal life. The Menorah serves as the tool to help me access that consciousness. When I light my Menorah I am transported into the inner world of the Beis HaMikdash and the elevated state of existence that comes with it. This will bring the Geulah.

We should be Zocheh,

Ashreinu!

The Nine Days: Beneath the Surface

The following concepts have been adapted from and inspired by Reb Tzadok HaKohen. Feel free to print this out to read over Shabbos Kodesh, just please not during Tefilos!

This Shabbos Kodesh is Shabbos Mevarchim Chodesh Menachem Av, meaning that this week we will announce the onset of the new month of Av that will arrive this upcoming Monday.

Chodesh Av is serves as the pinnacle of anguish in the Jewish calendar. The center of our connection to Hashem, the center of the universe as a whole, the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed twice in this month. The repeated demolishment of the universe’s religious center leaves a scar in the fabric of time that we re-enter and re-experience every year in this season. So as we cross the threshold into this difficult stretch of t we need to ask ourselves – what’s the meaning of it all?

We are told that each month has a number of factors that generate the characteristics that form the month’s ‘personality’ so to speak. It is this identity from which all of the events in the month emerge.

The Kabalistic Sources tells us that the month of Av emanates from the letter Tes and the sense of Shmi’a, hearing. A delicate study of each of these factors will hopefully reveal their unifying theme. Let’s discover.

Let’s begin with the letter of the month – Tes. The Gemara in the ninth Perek of Brachos says that he who sees a Tes in his dream should expect Tov, good things, to occur in his life. Why does Tes signify Tov? The answer is that the first time that the letter Tes appears in the Torah it forms the word Tov. “VaYar Elokim Es HaOr Ki Tov.” ‘And Hashem saw the light, for it was Tov – it was Good.’ Because we know that the first appearance of something in the Torah defines its nature, Tes is forever the symbol of Tov.

Chazal revealed to us that before the creation of the world the letters of the Alef-Beis approached one by one and requested from God be the letter with which the world was created. When Tes steps up – I’m Tov! Create the world with me! God says that although Tes is the manifestation of Tov, it’s not designed for this world. True Tov is saved for the next world, as the Passuk says in Tehilim, “Mah Rav Tuvcha Asher Tzafanta L’Yreiecha” ‘How abundant is Your good that You have treasured away for those who fear You.’ Hashem declared that Tov in its very nature has to be stored away; it is waiting to be revealed in the proper time.

This is the reason that Chazal explain that the Or Ki Tov, the Light of Goodness was immediately stored away after its creation. It was Tzafun LaTzadikim, treasured away for the righteous in Times to Come. Why? Because Tov, by the very spirit of its existence, is meant to be veiled.

We learn from Tes that true Tov is only experienced via existing in universe devoid of it. Taking the world at surface value is missing the point. Those who are aware that the darkness of the universe is merely a mask are the unique few who will merit to recieve the Light at the end of the tunnel of history. Tes is not merely Tov, it is the existential Good that is discovered by penetrating past reality’s dark mask.

It is Chodesh Av brings darkness to the world. The Beis HaMikdash is called Oro Shel Olam, the light of the world. From it shined forth God-consciousness. Its destruction was the extinguishing of that Light. Therefore the tragedies of Av generate the darkness of our lives. Without the Beis HaMikdash perceiving God becomes exponentially more difficult. That destruction creates a mask in the world.

Obviously, in darkness our sense of sight is taken from us. But as we have experienced in our own lives, when we take a frightening walk in a pitch-black forest, in those moments when our sight is robbed from us another sense heightens in its place. When we can’t use our eyes our hearing sharpens. Perhaps on a different level we have surely felt that to truly vibe with the song playing in our headphones we need to close our eyes as to shut out visually perceived world.

Our eyes only have skin-deep perception. The nature of sight is that it is surface level. That, on the other hand is contrasted by hearing. When a person speaks he is emitting nothing from the external levels of his presence. The breath is channeled from inside. The sound is formed inside. The thought being expressed is coming from inside. Therefore, when you listen to a person’s words you begin to relate to their internal world. When it comes to communicating, seeing a person’s face and lip-reading is a far more difficult task than not seeing them but being able to listen. This is because the sounds coming from within a person are a much more honest revelation of his essence than his body is. Shmi’a is intrinsically deeper.

This is not only the physical level of sight versus hearing. It applies on the spiritual level as well.

The Geulah Asida is ultimately dependant on spiritual Shmi’a. The Passuk asks, ‘When is Mashiach coming? He’s coming HaYom – today.’ Today? Yes, Today. “HaYom Im B’Kolo Sishma’u” Mashiach comes today if you listen to Hashem’s Voice. Now we understand that by Hashem’s ‘Voice’ we mean His internal will and ‘hearing’ means to sense it beneath the surface. Geulah means becoming aware and sensitive to the makeup of reality. Geulah comes by perceiving, understanding and ultimately revealing that which is hidden beneath the surface – spiritual Shmi’a.

But when we say redemption what do we mean? We mean that the Tov becomes revealed again! It means that the light of God-consciousness is restored to the world. Thus at this stage we understand why Tes correlates to Shmi’a. If true good is only beneath the surface then only one sense truly gets us to that level.

The Passuk in the beginning of Bereishis describes the terrible state of the universe before the creation fully came into form. V’HaAretz Haisa Tohu VaVohu V’Choshech Al Pnei Tehom – And the land was Chaotic and Desolate and Dark upon the surface of the Abyss.  Say Chazal in the Midrash, these four descriptions: Chaotic, Desolate, Dark and Abyss are references to the four agonizing exiles that the Jews will undergo. Those negative energies are weaved into the fabric of reality. But the Passuk doesn’t end there, “V’Ruach Elokim Mirachefes Al Pinei HaMayim” – And the Spirit of Hashem was hovering upon the surface of the waters. Continue Chazal – this fifth component of Ruach Elokim that follows the first four is a reference to Rucho Shel Mashiach, the redemptive spirit of the Messiah. The depth of it is as such; Specifically through the process of entering and overcoming Tohu, Vohu, Choshech and Tehom can one fully experience Rucho Shel Mashiach.

And this is depth of what the Gemara means when it says that Mashiach is born on Tisha B’Av. If Av’s letter is Tes whose numerical value is nine, then it serves logic to say that the month’s theme expresses itself most boldly on the Tes, the ninth of the month. That day is Tisha, the ninth of Av. That means that Tisha B’Av, the most tragic and darkest day of the year is specifically the day from which the most Tov and most light will sprout. When Am Yisrael pays attention to the Tohu, Vohu, Choshech and Tehom of Tisha B’Av, a little bit more of Rucho Shel Mashiach is born into the universe.

When we keep our perceptions shallow we rob ourselves of pleasure in this world and the next. We can’t enjoy this world because we are consumed and distracted by our day-to-day bothers, and we can’t enjoy the next world because we will have missed out on the opportunity to become sensitive to godliness.

But when we begin to see world in a deep way, when we choose to realize that the difficult moments are there to be entered into and overcome then we place ourselves on a path to achieve greatness. The darker the situation the more Tov must be potentially possible to attain. When we begin to listen to the vibrations of the universe in this way we not only refine ourselves to but we also push history in direction that it should be moving.

Av affords us the opportunity to enter into the darkest depths, to perceive that which is hidden beyond the surface. We can either get lost in our sorrows or we can take a moment to use the difficulty of the situation to push us to achieve further in our Avodas Hashem. Hashem should give us the strength and the inspiration that we need to take full advantage of this most profound of moments. For if we can there is no doubt that we will live lives full of Tov and Shleimus, moving closer to the Ribono Shel Olam and ultimately we will be meritorious to experience Rucho Shel Mashiach!

Ki Savo/Elul: Fresh Produce and a New Year

Parshas Ki Savo is always read as we enter into the second half of Chodesh Elul, moving full speed ahead towards the new year. Let’s see what we can take out of the Parsha to enhance our Avodah as we approach the Yomim Nora’im.

The ideas we will discuss are based on the Shiurim of Rav Sitorsky and the holy Sefer Emunas Itecha.

The Parsha opens up by telling us that the upcoming law is connected to entering into the new land, “V’Haya Ki Savo El Ha’Aretz”, ‘And it shall be when you enter into the land etc…’ Our goal is to explain how entering into the new land of Eretz Yisrael thematically mimics our entrance into the new year, via Rosh HaShana.

The Midrash Sifri tells us that Hashem tells the Jewish people, “Be very careful with the Mitzvah of Bikurim, because of its merit shall you remain in Eretz Yisrael.”

So what is the Mitzva of Bikurim? Bikurim are the First Fruits that appear upon any given person’s fruit trees. These special First Fruits are designated to be brought to the Beis HaMikdash.

Other ritual taxations, known as Trumos V’Ma’asros are to be brought to Yerushalayaim or at the very least given to the local Kohen. Why must the Bikurim be entered into the realm of the Beis HaMikdash?

The answer is that just like the Bikurim are a mark of a starting point – so is the Beis HaMikdash. The First Fruits, on a very micro-cosmic level, mark the beginning of one’s produce. The Beis HaMikdash and more specifically the Even Shesiya - the Foundation Stone – on which it stands, mark the beginning of existence as a whole.

Jewish thought teaches that the central point from where physicality started to be, the exact location of existence’s initial existence so-to-speak was the place on the Temple Mount, directly below the ‘Holy of Holies’; a ‘stone’ called the “Even Shesiya.” It marks the very start of everything. And it is in this spot where we build the Beis HaMikdash.

Thus we see how it would be very fitting to bring the Bikurim to the Beis HaMikdash. By bringing the First Fruits to the place where all ‘Firsts’ find their root, we in essence link together an entire cycle of the universe by connecting the start history with the start if this year’s produce. We take a piece of fruit, which by itself will rot away, and we join it to the Beis HaMikdash - something obviously much more significant than a piece of fruit.

The whole idea of Bikurim is teaching us about excitement, zealousness, Zerizus - to take a small spark of initial excitement and attach it to something much greater, to bring that opening enthusiasm into Avodas Hashem.

So where does this idea of Bikurim find its source? All the way back with the Bikurim of all souls – with Adam HaRishon. The first Man contained all the initial excitement we explained just above, and he was meant to be totally attached to Avodas Hashem, and thereby live forever. But on the very same day which he was born, on Rosh HaShana, he ruined his personal manifestation of Bikurim through his sin with the Tree of Knowledge. Through his disobedience to God’s will, the Torah tells us that he caused death to come over the world – the diametric opposition to the excitement of Bikurim - a concept that would have totally not existed at all had he not messed up in the way that he did.

Because what is death really? Death is simply a ceasing-to-be of life force. And life is really an ever-flowing continuum of renewal. One, tiny, new moment linked to a moment that ‘deceased’ an instant before. Life in its essence is constant freshness, excitement, originality, Zerizus. And without that constant sense of ingenuity, we are, on some level – dead.

So with the sin of Adam HaRishon, the Bikurim of all souls, death comes into the world, and as a part of fixing it we are commanded to show our commitment to Zerizus by taking the Bikurim of our fields to the meta-Bikurim of the universe – the Beis HaMikdash.

The Beis HaMikdash thus needs to be an embodiment of Zerizus, and we can see very clearly how this is in fact the cace. Back in Parshas VaYeitze, read how Yaakov Avinu falls asleep on some unspecified mountain and dreams of a majestic ladder which ascends into the heavens. Chazal tell us that this place on which he fell asleep was in fact the Temple Mount. When he awakens he proclaims, “Mah Norah HaMakom HaZeh! ‘How awe-inspiring is this place!’ Rashi explains that Yaakov meant that, ‘Had I known how holy this place was, I wouldn’t have dared to sleep here!’ The Temple Mount is a place of life, a place of invigoration, a place of excitement, not a place for sleeping! Sleeping is a little taste of death, and the Makom HaMikdash is not a place for that.

This also explains the seemingly extreme principles implemented against any Levite caught sleeping on the grounds of the Beis HaMikdash. There was a specially appointed person doing rounds to look for the sleeping Levites, and what was their wake-up call? This man’s job was to light their pants on fire! Wake up! The Beis HaMikdash is a place of exhilaration!

To move forward in our analysis let’s take a moment to introduce a concept gleaned from the Sefer Yetzira. We are taught that corresponding-counterparts can often be found within the context of space (Makom) and time (Zman). For example, what Bein HaMeitzarim, the Three Weeks in which we mourn the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash are in the realm of time – the Dead Sea fills the same role in the realm of a physical location. They both are devoid of life and growth. They are both depressingly barren, and they are low, spiritually and physically (the surface of the Dead see is an amazing 1,300 feet below sea-level!). And while listing every connection would be beyond the scope of this essay, it is important to point out that such parallels run through every level of the Jewish cycle of the year.

So, in regards to our discussion, what is the thematic-counterpart of the Beis HaMikdash in the realm of time? The answer is Rosh HaShana. The explanation is obvious. Just like we explained that space unfolded from the physical place of the Beis HaMikdash, so too time kicked off from Rosh HaShana. If the Beis HaMikdash the direct center of Makom, then the clear corresponding moment in Zman would be Rosh Hashana. They both are the Bikurim, the fresh, first energy of their respective themes.

And to bring it all home, the numerical value of Beis HaMikdash is eight hundred sixty-one. And not so surprisingly, what other term shares that exact Gematria? Rosh HaShana. Do the math.

So if we are told to bring physical Bikurim to the physical Beis HaMikdash, then how are we supposed to bring conceptual Bikurim to Rosh HaShana - the Beis HaMikdash of Zman?

The answer is found in an accepted practice of all Jewish people in these times of Elul. Sefaradim start in the beginning of the month, and Ashkenazim wait until the end, but no matter which sect you find yourself a part of, it is an accepted practice among Jews in this time of the year to get up earlier in the morning and recite Selichos, to beseech mercy and forgiveness in preparation for Rosh HaShana.

What greater Zerizus is there than to get up early in the morning, to take the ‘Bikurim’ of the day so-to-speak, and focus them towards the Beis HaMikdash of Time? In the same way that we take the Bikurim of our physical fields and bring them to the Beis HaMikdash - we take the fresh energy of the start of the day and direct it to Rosh HaShana.

To enjoy Bikurim without bringing it to the Beis HaMikdash is to ride the thrill of the initial excitement of anything without putting it into a greater context of Avodas Hashem. Like we said before – a first fruit by itself will rot – an exciting burst of energy is nice; but it will wear off.

The Avodah of Elul is to take the energy of these exciting times and pump it into Avodas Hashem. Whether it is the Beis HaMikdash in Yerushalayim, the Beis HaMikdash of the New Year, or the Beis HaMikdash in our hearts, we need to take the Bikurim in our lives, the moments of excitement and inspiration and use it to excel as much as we can in our Avodas Hashem inundate our lives with exhilaration and Zerizus in our relationship with the Divine.

B’Ezras Hashem we should all be Zocheh to take advantage of the rest of Chodesh Elul and our lives as a whole – to tap into our Zerizus, our inner ‘Bikurim’ and channel it towards the Beis HaMikdash - on whatever level we can. If we can do this there is no doubt we will live lives of happiness and fulfillment, coming away with a tremendous experience on Rosh HaShana, moving closer to the creator and ultimately the redemption!