Transcript
Good morning everyone. פרייליכן חנוכה Freilichen Chanukah. It's great to see you. We're going to do something a little different than we usually do. We normally give an overview of the פרשה Parsha, and if we're lucky we have time to go into some specific פסוקים psukim of the פרשה Parsha. But this week I want to share with you a blend of a message that's both from the פרשה Parsha and that also comes from חנוכה Chanukah. So ענייני דיומא inyanei deyoma really taking the two themes of this week, blending them together and I think relevant to the majority of the people who are here but in a way relevant to every single one of us. So briefly first, just a quick overview of the פרשה Parsha, because it is a פרשה Parsha class and I don't want to, I don't want to deviate too far from what we do. So this פרשה Parsha, פרשת מקץ Parshas Mikeitz, really is a tremendous distinction from last week's פרשה Parsha. In last week's פרשה Parsha, יוסף Yosef is on the descent. יוסף Yosef's life is on the decline. He goes from this handsome, young, up-and-coming dreamer, the apple of his father's eye, to יוסף Yosef's future being in jeopardy. He's absolutely sold literally from his family. He's sent to a foreign land, a foreign culture, learns a foreign language. There he rises to a position of distinction again. Everything he touches turns to gold in the home of פוטיפר Potiphar. And again, a false accusation, and he finds himself languishing in prison. Last week יוסף Yosef is on the decline. I won't say the brothers on, on are being elevated, but the brother's life is stable. In fact, you can't argue that from their perspective, as their life has improved. They've gotten rid of this dreamer, this miserable brother who thinks he's all that, the brother who attracts all the attention of their father. They finally got rid of him. He's out of their hair. And here פרשת מקץ Parshas Mikeitz, we have the exact inverse, the exact opposite happens. The brothers' life is on the decline. There's a famine in the land, there's no food, they're sent several times. And יוסף Yosef's life is on the rise. He's freed from prison. After all, he is remembered. It took two extra years because, we spoke about in last week's אמונה שיעור Amunah shiur, יוסף Yosef took too much initiative. Our mission in life is to find that balance between initiative and faith, between, between relying on השגחה פרטית Hashgacha pratis, השם's Hashem's divine intervention, and our בחירה חופשית bechira chofshis, taking our initiative. חזון איש Chazon Ish asked his תלמיד talmid, the, רב חיים Rav Chaim rather asked his תלמיד talmid, רב שמואל Rav Shmuel. יוסף Yosef in the end of last week's פרשה Parsha, the פסוק pasuk says that he reminds the שר המשקים Sar Hamashkim twice. He tells him twice, please remember me, advocate for me. When you get out of here, please remind פרעה Paro twice, he tells him, הזכרתני his'kartani. I can't find the פסוק pasuk, but twice it says that word, הזכרתני his'kartani. כי אם זכרתני אתך כאשר ייטב לך ועשית נא עמדי חסד והזכרתני אל פרעה Ki im zechartani itcha ka'asher yitav lach v'asisa na imadi chesed v'hizkartani el Paro. Twice he says, remember me. Because he said twice, remember me, חז\"ל Chazal tell us, he stayed two extra years in prison. So רב חיים Rav Chaim said to רב שמעון Rav Shimon, he said, tell me, and what if he said it once? How long would he be in prison? So instinctively we would all answer, how long? One year. If by saying it twice he was in prison for two extra years, by saying it once he'd be in prison for one extra year. רב חיים Rav Chaim said, no. If he said it once, he wouldn't be in prison any longer. Because once you have to say. The opportunity, we all know the famous story, the person who's hanging off the cliff, and a helicopter comes, he says, no, no, השם's Hashem's gonna help me. We all know the story, right? Then השם Hashem he falls and he plummets to his death, and he gets upstairs and he says, God, I have faith in you, where were you? He says, where was I? He sent a helicopter and a fire truck and a, what do you mean, where was I? So when the שר המשקים Sar Hamashkim is being released, it's only appropriate for יוסף Yosef to say to him, listen, when you get out and you have פרעה's Paro's ear, just mention me, remind him of me, remember what I did for you. Taking initiative, that's necessary. If we're unbalanced, too extreme in faith, and no initiative on our part, that's not what the תורה Torah wants. You got to go to a doctor, you got to try to earn a living. We have to make an effort, we have to take initiative. On the other hand, he didn't have to remind him twice. To say it twice was a lack of faith. He did his initiative. That's what they say when the, when the lottery, when the Mega Millions is, you know, we don't play unless it's a billion dollars. I can't live off 100 million. A billion, fine. After taxes and a lump sum payout, anything less than a billion, it's not worth playing. So how many tickets should you buy? So you buy one ticket. Why? Because you got to be in it to win it. You can't sit back and say I want to win the lottery, and you bought zero tickets. You cannot win if you haven't bought a ticket. That's just the rule of the game. You can't win without buying a ticket. On the other hand, statistically, you don't improve your chances at all by buying two tickets. נעבעך Nebach, you stand in line behind some people who don't have the money to even afford the one ticket, they buy 10 tickets, 20 tickets, 50 tickets. They think I have 50 times more of a chance of winning. But 50 times .0000 whatever, is still negligible, nothing. So you haven't really increased your chances. So initiative you have to take by buying one ticket, but if you believe in השם Hashem, if he wants you to win, you'll win it with one ticket. You don't need more than one ticket to win. So when he says you buy two tickets, it's a lack of faith in השם Hashem. יוסף Yosef bought two tickets to get out. He said to the שר המשקים Sar Hamashkim twice, remember me, so that's why two extra years. Had he said it once, he wouldn't have spent any more time in jail. So the שר המשקים Sar Hamashkim remembers him and he gets out when פרעה Paro has these dreams. It's instructive by the way that פרעה Paro has two dreams. What happened in between his first dream and his second dream? If you had one dream and it you woke up startled, in order to have a second dream, what do you have to do? You have to go back to sleep. פרעה Paro wasn't startled enough to be awake. He had no problem falling back to sleep, which is very instructive in its own right. Nobody can solve, except יוסף Yosef, who drops השם's Hashem's name, constantly, שם שמים שגור בפיו shem Shamayim shogur b'fiv, so much so that פרעה Paro is so impressed, he says, have you ever seen someone with such a רוח אלקים Ruach Elokim? Look at the divine spirit in this person. And we know he rises to the viceroy of Egypt, and the brothers come down, and יוסף Yosef orchestrates this plot, and first they have to leave one brother, and then they have to leave בנימין Binyamin, and he plants the goblet in בנימין's Binyamin's backpack, and that's how our פרשה Parsha ends. See, I am capable of doing a very short overview. That is how, that is how the פרשה Parsha, you're wondering if I can, then why can't I do it every week? That is how the פרשה Parsha ends with this false accusation to בנימין Binyamin, all orchestrated by יוסף Yosef, and יהודה Yehuda is about to speak up on, on the brother, on בנימין's Binyamin's behalf. And the question, the overarching question of this entire פרשה Parsha, you cannot read this פרשה Parsha, frankly, you can't read וישב Vayeishev through the end of ויחי Vayechi without wanting to understand what is going on here. יוסף Yosef has been away from his father for 20 years, his brothers. Why not reveal himself right away? Why not reunite? Why not reconcile? Why not send a telegram to his father? And there are many, many different interpretations. The רמב\"ן Ramban says, throughout our פרשה Parsha, that יוסף Yosef believed that his dreams, he was so invested in his dreams, he didn't think that they were just the whims of a young man. He didn't just think Freudian, they represented his innermost thoughts or struggles or anxieties or or temptations. For the רמב\"ן Ramban, יוסף Yosef understood his dreams as a form of prophecy, and that he had a mandate and responsibility, he had a mission to orchestrate and choreograph life until it is the fulfillment of those dreams. And until all the star, until all of them, the other sheaves are bowing down to his, the dreams cannot be fulfilled. And including his father in his dream is deferring to him. So as much as it pains יוסף Yosef, he desperately wants to reveal himself, says the רמב\"ן Ramban. He is eager to reconcile with his father, but he holds out and he shows the self-restraint. Why? Only because he's trying to fulfill the prophecy of his dreams. The עקידת יצחק Akeidas Yitzchak disagrees. The עקידת יצחק Akeidas Yitzchak says dreams, דברי חלומות לא מעלין ולא מורידין divrei chalomos lo maalin v'lo moridim, דברי חלומות divrei chalomos, dreams are insignificant. Don't read too much into dreams. Dreams are foolishness and silliness. Dreams just represent, you know, what you ate for lunch that's still sitting in your stomach. They represent what you watched before you went to bed. They represent your fear, your anxiety, your worry, but dreams don't have truth. Dreams don't contain a level of prophecy. Dreams are silliness. It's had nothing to do with with dreams whatsoever. So what did it have to do with? Why is he restraining himself? Why isn't he revealing himself? I think we shared last week Rav Yoel Bin-Nun says, יוסף Yosef thinks his father's in on the plot. After all, what enabled him to be alone with the brothers such that the brothers who לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom, brothers who couldn't even say hello, couldn't talk to him, now had him all alone in the middle of a field? Who orchestrated that? Who put that process in motion? It was not none other than his father, יעקב Yaakov, who said, could you go out and find your brothers? So, of course, from יוסף's Yosef's perspective, without the benefit that we have of reading the whole חומש Chumash, of seeing all the scenes unfold in parallel, יוסף Yosef doesn't have that luxury. He's sitting in Egypt. All he knows is, אבא Abba said, go check on your brothers. He checks on his brothers, next thing you know he's sold into slavery. Attempted murder, snakes and scorpions, sold into slavery. He thinks all along his father. So when Rav Yoel Bin-Nun's reading of our פרשה Parsha, when is it that יוסף Yosef is ready to reveal himself? What spurs, what precipitates יוסף Yosef to reveal himself? Only when יהודה Yehuda says what? You can't do this to our father. He's already dying, he's lost one son. He's dying, he's empty inside. He's dying. He's, he's inconsolable. Our father's inconsolable from the loss of one son, you cannot do this to him. יוסף Yosef says, what, one second. Back up. What was what was that? Your father's what? He didn't have to do with that? You mean he's he didn't know? That's when יוסף's Yosef's ready to reveal. That's Rav Yoel Bin-Nun. There are many, many readings and interpretations of how to understand entirely our פרשה Parsha, but not for now. Take your hand out. Now we're going to deviate what we normally do instead of looking at specific פסוקים psukim, we're going to look at a specific topic. And this is a topic which is very much in our פרשה Parsha and relevant to חנוכה Chanukah, and as I said, please God, it's relevant to all of us. And it is the notion of Jewish grandparenting. What does it mean to be a Jewish grandparent? And a Jewish grandparent is very distinct, is very different. To be a Jewish grandparent is not just to be a grandparent in the secular sense. And to be a grandparent is not just about genetically being a grandparent. It means what does it mean to be committed to continuity? What is our responsibility to continuity? For those who are not in the position of having children or not yet having grandchildren, but we all have access to the Jewish future through our neighbor's children, our nieces and nephews. So the message, the theme is broader and resonates more broadly. So we begin source number one. ויקרבו ימי ישראל למות ויאמר אל נא תקברני במצרים Vayikrevu yemei Yisrael lamus vayomer al na tikbereini b'Mitzrayim. I'm fast forwarding to פרשת ויחי Parshas Vayechi. And there in פרשת ויחי Parshas Vayechi, יעקב Yaakov anticipates, it's the end of his life, and he calls his grandsons close and he says, I want you to swear. עשה עמדי חסד ואמת אל נא תקברני במצרים Aseh imadi chesed v'emes al na tikbereini b'Mitzrayim. יעקב Yaakov says, do me a favor, do not bury me here in the exile. Don't bury me here. I think it's instructive for Jews. I personally, I already, it's a סגולה segulah for longevity, for אריכות ימים arichus yomim, but my wife and I already have plots in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. I believe that the one place that we can know that our great, great, great, great, great-grandchildren will visit, as secure as we think in South Florida or elsewhere, is ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. And that's יעקב's Yaakov's sentiment. Don't leave me here. Don't leave me here. A couple years ago, I went to Cuba for a day on a humanitarian mission. We brought what's left of the Jewish community, which really is, is nothing. Most of them are intermarried, but we brought them medicines and goods that they can't get. We spent one day in Cuba, which as far as I'm concerned, was half a day too long. So, but we visited, we went with Rav Shmuel Arsek who's a rebbe in Hillel Day School, Katz Hillel Day School, and here at Hadar, and he visited the קבר kever of his grandfather who's buried in Cuba. His grandparents fled Europe and they were in Cuba, and what's unbelievable, we went to the Jewish cemetery in Cuba, his grandfather's headstone is made out of marble, it's magnificent. At that time, there were 15,000 Jews in Cuba, ישיבות Yeshivas, כוללים kollelim, עירוב eiruv, כשרות kashrus, מקוה mikvah, and it looked like the Jewish community of Cuba was on the rise, was thriving, would be there forever. And it was a year after his grandfather died that the revolution took place and so on and so forth. Everyone fled, and his family hadn't been back to visit that קבר kever since. And standing there, I thought to myself, how many Jews throughout history where they were thought, this is it, we're here permanently, marble headstones, beautiful cemetery, they'll visit forever here. How many now instead all of Poland is one big Jewish cemetery, and the cemeteries that were there for centuries, many have been turned over. So I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad if they've already arranged to bury other places anywhere else, but יעקב אבינו Yaakov Avinu felt this sentiment. He said, we're here in Egypt temporarily. I don't want you visiting me here, nor do I want my destiny, nor do I want my afterlife to be among the Egyptian people. So make me a promise, don't leave me here. So says רש\"י Rashi, ויקרבו ימי ישראל למות Vayikrevu yemei Yisrael lamus. כל מי שנאמר בו קריבה לא הגיע לימי אבותיו Kol mi shene'emar bo kreiva lo higia l'mei avosav. Everyone of whom it says his days drew near to die, did not attain the age of his fathers. What does that mean? Yitzchak lived 180 years. Yaakov lived 147. So he wasn't, he wasn't close to the same amount of time. He lived shorter than his father and his grandfather. So you see that in terms of chronologically or longevity, was יעקב Yaakov the one who lived longest of our אבות avos? No. How do we know that? This רש\"י Rashi. He lived shorter. And nevertheless, now come to our פרשה Parsha, source three. כאשר כלו לאכל את השבר אשר הביאו ממצרים ויאמר עליהם אביהם שובו שברו לנו מעט אכל Ka'asher kilu le'echol es ha'shever asher hevi'u mi'Mitzrayim vayomer aleihem avihem shuvu shivru lanu me'at ochel. They had eaten up all of the rations they had brought back from Egypt. There's a famine in Israel, and יעקב Yaakov sends them and he says, the Egyptian economy is doing pretty well, cross the border and come back with some food. But they ate it all up. So he said, I want you to go again, I want you to get more. Says רש\"י Rashi, כאשר כלו לאכל ka'asher kilu le'echol, יהודה Yehuda אמר להם amar lahem, המתינו לזקן עד שתכלה פת מן הבית Hamtinu la'zaken ad she'tichleh pas min habayis. Wait for the old man. Wait for the old man. יהודה Yehuda said, leave the old man alone until the household run short of bread. Who is he talking about? About יעקב Yaakov. How did he refer to יעקב Yaakov? הזקן Ha'zaken. יעקב Yaakov is not as old as his father or grandfather. It's not that he's the old man because he's that member of the family who lived longer than anyone else, and yet he's referred to as הזקן ha'zaken. Source five. וישאל להם לשלום ויאמר השלום אביכם הזקן אשר אמרתם העודנו חי Vayishal lahem l'shalom vayomer ha'shalom avichem ha'zaken asher amartem ha'odenu chai. He greeted them and he said, how is your father of whom you spoke? Is he still in good, good health? When is this פרשה Parsha? Next week. So we went to ויחי Vayechi, to מקץ Mikeitz, to ויגש Vayigash. You're getting dizzy here. So יוסף Yosef reveals himself to his brothers and he says, you said your father is alive. How is that father of his? How is he, how does he refer to him? As הזקן ha'zaken. So we have יהודה Yehuda calls him הזקן ha'zaken. יוסף Yosef calls him הזקן ha'zaken. The רמב\"ם Rambam calls him a זקן zaken. Source number six. He tells us the story of קריאת שמע Krias Shema. הא קורא קריאת שמע כשהוא גומר פסוק ראשון אומר בלחש ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד Ha koreh Krias Shema k'shehu gomer pasuk rishon omer b'lachash Baruch shem kvod malchuso l'olam va'ed. We all know with the exception of Yom Kippur, we say שמע Shema out loud, and when we follow it up with the words ברוך שם Baruch shem, that we say quietly. ובכל זמן ובכל קריאה כדרכה ויאמר השם אלוקיך עד סוף, אבל למה קורין כן Uvchol zman uvchol kriah k'darka v'atem Hashem Elokecha ad sof, aval lama korin kein. And why do we read it thus? Why are we saying that second פסוק pasuk quietly? מסורת בידינו שבשעה שכיבץ יעקב אבינו את בניו במצרים בשעת מיתתו ציוום וזירזם על יחוד השם ועל דרך השם שהלך בה אברהם ויצחק אביו ושאל אותם ואמר להם בני, שמא יש בכם פסולת מי שאינו עומד עמי ביחוד השם, כנין שאמר לנו משה רבינו פן יש בכם איש או אישה וכו' Mesoras b'yadeinu she'b'sha'ah she'kibetz Yaakov Avinu es banav b'Mitzrayim b'shaas misaso tzivam v'zirzam al yichud Hashem v'al derech Hashem she'halach ba Avraham v'Yitzchak aviv v'sha'al osam v'amar lahem banai, shema yesh bachem psoles, mi she'eino omed imi b'yichud Hashem, k'inyan she'amar lanu Moshe Rabbeinu pen yesh bachem ish o ishah v'chulei. So he turns to his sons and he says, who? Maybe someone here is not part of the program. Anyone else not invested? We have someone here off the דרך derech or on their way off the דרך derech? ענו כולם Onu kulam, so they all answer, because יעקב Yaakov anticipates something's not right. I have a תחושה chush, I have a feeling here something's missing. So they all say, ענו כולם ואמרו לו שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד onu kulam v'amru lo Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. They all affirm their commitment. They proclaim that they are absolutely part of the program. כלומר שמע ממנו אבינו ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד Klomar shema mimenu avinu Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Who's the ישראל Yisrael in שמע ישראל Shema Yisrael? It was originally recited as an affirmation יעקב's Yaakov's children and grandchildren to him, שמע ישראל Shema Yisrael, יעקב Yaakov, listen. ה' אלקינו Hashem Elokeinu, we understand who השם Hashem is, ה' אחד Hashem Echad. He is our one and singular God. פתח הזקן ואמר ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד, לפיכך נהגו כל ישראל לומר שבח ששיבח בו ישראל הזקן אחר פסוק זה Pasach ha'zaken v'amar Baruch shem kvod malchuso l'olam va'ed, l'fichach nahagu kol Yisrael lomar shevach she'shibach bo Yisrael ha'zaken achar pasuk zeh. יעקב Yaakov responded, so grateful, so relieved that they were all part of the program, ברוך שם Baruch shem. How does the רמב\"ם Rambam refer to יעקב Yaakov? הזקן Ha'zaken, the old man. Says the מדרש Medrash, source seven, the מדרש רבה Medrash Rabba. אמר רבי הונא בשם רבי אידי אמר קרא ושמחו עם לאת נחלתו וכו' כי בליב שלם ישנת רוח השם וכו' Amar Rav Huna b'shem Rav Idi omar kra, v'simchu am le'es nachlaso v'chulei, ki b'leiv shalem yishnas ruach Hashem v'chulei, v'chulei, v'chulei, go to the bottom. אמר רבי יהודה עוד מן אסתר לחשרה, דאיתרי ישראל, כיצד? כתיב כאן אלה ויאמר ישראל Amar Rav Yehuda od min Esther l'chashveira, de'itrei Yisrael, keitzad? K'siv kan eileh v'omer Yisrael. ישראל סבא Yisrael Saba. The מדרש Medrash refers to יעקב Yaakov as ישראל סבא Yisrael Saba. Now סבא saba here doesn't mean זיידע zeideh in the classic sense of a סבא zaba. סבא Saba means old man, the אלתר alter. The סבא מקלם Saba MiKelm, the סבא מסלבודקא Saba MiSlabodka is the אלתר alter. אלתר Alter doesn't mean the grandfather, אלתר alter means the older person. So here the מדרש Medrash. So we have יהודה Yehuda calls him זקן zaken, and יוסף Yosef calls him זקן zaken, and the רמב\"ם Rambam calls him a זקן zaken, not in this order, the מדרש Medrash should have been first, and the מדרש Medrash calls him סבא saba, the מדרש Medrash calls him זקן zaken. Why is יעקב Yaakov being so disparaged? Old man? That's his nickname? This is a man, by the way, who has no less than two names. יעקב Yaakov or ישראל Yisrael. But neither of those are good enough. The מדרש Medrash, the רמב\"ם Rambam have to come up with a third? יעקב Yaakov doesn't suffice, ישראל Yisrael doesn't suffice. Hey, I have an idea. What should we call the בחיר האבות bechir ha'avos? What should we call the most chosen of the choicest of the patriarchs? What should we call the father of the שבטי קה shivtei Kah? I have an idea. Let's call him old man. Does that sound right? It's horrible, old man. Old man. Now that my beard is white, now that I'm a father-in-law, I get called old man. I just came from my my son's kindergarten חנוכה Chanukah production. So my wife sent a picture of her and me and our son to the family WhatsApp. She said, the grandparents of the kindergarten class, picture. So my wife basically is calling me זקן zaken, calling me the old man. It's a wonderful thing. So why is יעקב Yaakov called זקן zaken? יהודה Yehuda, יוסף Yosef, מדרש Medrash, the רמב\"ם Rambam. So Rav Soloveitchik says the following, source number eight. Says the Rav, in Talmudic and Midrashic literature, Jacob is referred to as ישראל סבא Yisrael Saba, and this term is employed even in modern usage to designate Jews who observe the old tradition. In what manner, we ask, did Jacob distinguish himself that his name became the generic name for an entire people? And why is he in particular called the זקן zaken? And the answer is, says the Rav, that Jacob was the first patriarch to establish direct communication with his grandchildren. He was the first to make a solemn declaration, a historic pronouncement, which is responsible for the sense of closeness we still have with the past, thereby laying the foundation for the dialogue of the generations. He literally conquered time and space when he said to Yosef, your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are mine. אפרים ומנשה כראובן ושמעון יהיו לי Efraim u'Menashe k'Reuven v'Shimon yihyu li. In fact, they received portions in the later division of the Holy Land as did the sons of Israel. Though a second generation removed and nurtured in an Egyptian environment, Jacob equated them with his own sons who had been reared close to him in the Holy Land. אפרים ומנשה Efraim and Menashe are different. They don't grow up in the lap of their grandfather in his secure בית מדרש beis medrash. They grow up in a public school. They're growing up in Egypt. In fact, some מפרשים meforshim understand that the debate between יעקב Yaakov and יוסף Yosef over the hands and the order, and what do you mean you can't see them, was a debate over יעקב Yaakov didn't believe they could represent the continuity, given their upbringing, given their surroundings, given the culture, the climate in which they lived. And יוסף Yosef reassures him, no, no, no, don't worry. Don't worry. The equivalent of as we studied several weeks ago, אם לבן גרתי ותרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי im Lavan garti v'taryag mitzvos shamarti. יעקב Yaakov said it from a position of weakness. Even though I had no work, I got fired every Friday, had to find a new job every Monday, I never ever compromised my values. And יוסף Yosef is now telling his father, even though they grew up in the palace, in the lap of luxury, they had everything, they never compromised their values, ever. So אפרים ומנשה Efraim and Menashe are different, but yet יעקב Yaakov, when he is convinced, יעקב Yaakov treats them, he upgrades them to the level not of grandchildren, but of children, not of grandsons, but of sons. Avraham never spoke this way about Yaakov, that he was to him as Yitzchak. Yitzchak never said it about Ruven and Shimon. Jacob was the first to impart special blessings to his grandchildren. המלאך הגואל אותי מכל רע Ha'malach ha'goel osi mikol ra. He blessed them even before he assembled his own sons for their blessing. He embraced them between his knees and he placed his hands on their heads, signified symbolically that there was a direct transmission from יעקב Yaakov to אפרים ומנשה Efraim and Menashe. No generation gap in the house of יעקב Yaakov. The הלכתי halachic rule that בני בנים הרי כבנים bnei banim harei k'banim is derived from יעקב's Yaakov's declaration about אפרים ומנשה Efraim and Menashe. It is this notion of continuity. It is the notion of responsibility. It's the notion of transmission of values and lifestyle, of vision, of destiny. Of destiny. In other words, in the secular notion, a grandparent is the one who's supposed to spoil their grandchildren. A grandparent is the one who showers them with gifts, who takes them on vacation, who lets them eat chocolate for breakfast or whatever late at night or ignore their bedtime. That's the role of the grandparent, to spoil the grandchildren. You put in your time as a parent to discipline and now that you're a grandparent, step back and enjoy, enjoy the ride. But the Jewish notion of grandparenting is very, very different. When יעקב Yaakov elevates his grandchildren to the level of children, when יעקב Yaakov interacts with his grandchildren and feels the awesome responsibility to transmit to them and to create a sense of continuity, the mission and the role of a grandparent is sacred. The mission and the role of a grandparent is never in retirement, it's never passive, it's not to be loved and adored. There's an awesome responsibility of a grandparent. Avraham and Yitzchak transmitted their spiritual heritage to their sons, not to their grandsons. The latter received it from their fathers, but there was no direct communication between Avraham and Yaakov, between Yitzchak and Ruven and Shimon. The influence of the grandfathers and their grandchildren was indirect. יעקב Yaakov, however, related directly to his grandchildren. He did not need an intermediary or an interpreter. He was a direct dialogue. He leaped over the gulf of generations and transmitted the great מסורה mesorah of Avraham to him directly to Efraim and Menashe, despite the discrepancy of years, the זקן zaken, the carrier of the old tradition succeeded. How appropriate that our people is called ישראל Yisrael or יעקב Yaakov. It was he who created the Jewish community which ensures continuity. What preceded him were patriarchal families. He laid the foundation for a people. Though the covenant was made initially with Avraham, it was not until Yaakov that the secret of perpetuating the mesorah was discovered. The Medrash tells us the sons of Yosef studied with their grandfather daily after his arrival in Egypt. It was the Zaken who listened to their problems, conversed and worked closely with them, played and planned with them. The most effective teacher is not he who lectures his students with detachment, but he who befriends his disciples and together they become co-searchers and co-dreamers in the pursuit of truth. Yaakov knew the secret language of משפחה דורות mishpacha doros, of uniting generations. Some can do it, unfortunately, many others, even noted scholars who are intelligent and inspired leaders, cannot bridge the generation gap. The parent, grandparent or teacher who sensitizes a child to his antecedents is the guarantor of the survival of the מסורה mesorah. Until יעקב Yaakov, it goes to the next generation. But חוט המשולש chut ha'meshulash, it's only when you have a trifold generation, it's only when you have continuity, some momentum, some traction can you believe that there's a future. יעקב Yaakov is the first, and he introduces the idea of intergeneration, דור לדור dor l'dor. יעקב Yaakov is introducing the notion that not the parent and the child unit, but grandparent-parent-child. And thank God we've merited in our day something extraordinary. Great-grandparent, grandparent, parent, child. And in some cases, maybe even in this room, great-great-grandparent, great-grandparent, grandparent, parent, child. For years, for centuries or millennia, Jews never dreamt, many never met their grandparents. My father describes, my father and my grandparents came after Kristallnacht. They left on the last boat out of Germany, and they got over before the war, but they lost all their family. I'm named after two great uncles, Efraim and Chaim. They lost everybody. They lost their parents, they lost everybody. So my father describes when he was a little child, I don't know, three years old, young enough he didn't really understand this, he said when he was a little child, he thought having grandparents was גוייש goyish, because the only ones he knew with grandparents were non-Jews. He didn't know Jews who had grandparents. If you lived in a community of survivors, or even those who came before but the grandparents didn't make it, he said he didn't know any Jews who had grandparents. So due to oppression and persecution, for a long time Jews didn't know their grandparents, and due to health or not the longevity of life but life is too short people didn't know their grandparents. We are living in miraculous times. People know not only, my daughter who just got married a few weeks ago, there were four great-grandmothers. קיין עין הרע, בלי עין הרע Kenayna hara, bli ayin hara. I don't even believe in that, but. It's an incredible, extraordinary, we're living in miraculous, extraordinary, extraordinary times. So what does that mean? That we just have better pictures, the photographer, oh, come quick, we have four generations, take a good picture, make a magnet. Is that what it means? Is that the blessing of the continuity that we have better photo ops? We have better photo ops than they ever had before? It means greater responsibility towards that continuity, towards that tradition. Being a grandparent and a great-grandparent and קיין עין הרע kenayna hara, a great-great-grandparent is not about sitting back and taking it all in. One is never retired from the responsibility of transmission, of transmitting values, and not just of paying tuition, which we know well, grandparents still feel that responsibility, but you don't get away with the check. The check's the easy part. It's hard, but it's the easy part. The harder part is not just to spoil, but is to inspire, is to model, is to transmit, is to create this מסורה mesorah community, is to be relevant, is to be relevant. The Rav continues, contemporary man is so proud of his technological achievements, he has contempt for the past. His pride in progress makes him reject introspection. The man in the street has little relationship with and consciousness of continuity, interdependency between glorious periods of antiquity and the emerging present. Even medieval and modern history, from which not many years separate us, appears mythical, romantic, and elusive. In other words, if you're a child, your grandparent is a dinosaur. They can't figure out how to turn the phone on, and you with your phone, you're printing 3D kidneys. I don't know. So the grandparent, grandchild says, what do I have to do with my grandparents? They're cute. I stroke them on the cheek. You know, they're cute, you know, I visit them. But I have nothing to do with them. They're irrelevant. I can't relate to them. Says the Rav from a secular perspective, that generation gap places an enormous divide between generations and renders irrelevant. But the Jew of the מסורה mesorah has a capacity to live in retrospection. Revelation tradition erased the bounds of time. Distance in time is rendered irrelevant. Thousands of years have elapsed. He walks back and forth from antiquity to modern times. The primary success of the old חדר cheder, deficient in many respects, lays in the spirit of compenetration of a distant past and a dim future with the immediate present. For Jewish boys and girls, Avraham is not a mythical figure, an ever-present inspiration. They experience his tribulations and wanderings, they travel with him from Syria to Canaan, they feel the trembling and fear of Yitzchak during the אכדה Akeida, they escape with Yaakov to Charan, they're imprisoned with Yosef in the pit, they lead the Jews with Moshe through the desert, they sing with דוד Dovid, they rebel against Rome with רבי יוחנן בן זכאי Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai and רבי עקיבא Rav Akiva, they meditate with the רמב\"ם Rambam and are privileged to have רש\"י Rashi as a companion. They are not historical has-beens, they're dynamic living heroes who visit us from time to time bringing instruction, inspiration, and hope. Upon this phenomenon of historic continuum was founded the strength of the מסורה mesorah, conceived as a historic stream of Jewish spirit. It is this ability to span generations that explains the impassioned solidarity of American and world Jewry with the struggle of the state of Israel. Why should a Jew in New York or Chicago who never saw ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael and had heard little about it in earlier years, be so committed to its welfare and preservation? Apparently the Jews who lived in the Holy Land 1900 years ago with רבי יוחנן בן זכאי Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai and the heroes of Masada and Beitar are somehow communicating with us today. And the antenna of the Jew is uniquely sensitive and receptive to distant signals. The lines of transmission are not always clear, but the message has been getting through. The role of a grandparent is to say, the Judaim is not bound by a time. The תורה Torah doesn't expire. It doesn't become outdated. It doesn't need a version 2.0. It doesn't need an app update. It's not a phone that needs an upgrade. But the תורה Torah is timeless. And the grandparent represents the timelessness of תורה Torah. And that was the responsibility, that's what יעקב Yaakov introduced, and that's why יעקב Yaakov is called the זקן zaken. Maybe some of you saw because it went viral in the Jewish world a few weeks ago, רב זאב לעף Rav Zev Leff, who's the Rav of מושב מתתיהו Moshav Matityahu, he was here for Shabbos last year, was a Rav in Miami, grew up in Miami. So Rav Zev Leff was, there was a enormous soccer match in Scotland and the camera was panning the crowd and it found... of Yaakov the Zaken יעקב הזקן Yaakov HaZaken, of being that baal mesorah בעל מסורה ba'al mesorah. He's sitting at the soccer match on the one hand, he's spending time with his grandchildren, he's relevant to them, he's enjoying what they enjoy, he's connecting with what they connect with. He's telling them it's not narishkeit נער'ישקייט narishkeit, stupidity, silliness, bittul Torah ביטול תורה bittul Torah. You enjoy soccer, I'm coming with you to the soccer match. But his nose is also firmly in the Gemara גמרא Gemara. In between, during, because he's not that invested. He doesn't care so much, he doesn't care about soccer. What does he care about? His grandchildren. He actually spoke about it, the clip of Rabbi Leff himself speaking about it came out, came out afterwards. But this is this image, these are the words of the Rav רב Rav who it said about the Rav רב Rav that before his grandchildren would visit him in Boston, he would look up the box score of the Red Sox. He could care less about sports. He didn't know how baseball worked. But he would look to see because he wanted to know that he would have something to talk to his grandchildren about. He would connect to his grandchildren. He could remain relevant. He could remain that baal ha'mesorah בעל המסורה ba'al ha'mesorah, that person to be able to transmit.So Yaakov יעקב Yaakov is called Zaken זקן zaken, says the Rav רב Rav, why? Zaken זקן Zaken doesn't mean old man. Of course, what we know is zaken זקן zaken stands for zeh kanah chachmah זה קנה חכמה zeh kanah chachmah. Zaken זקן Zaken is the one who has acquired a wisdom. Zaken זקן Zaken here, the saba סבא saba, is the grandparent. It means he is the grandparent biologically, but the grandparent also symbolically, from the sense of the baal ha'mesorah בעל המסורה ba'al ha'mesorah, the one responsible for the transmission. There is no generation gap. He gives a bracha ברכה bracha first to his grandchildren, then his children. Grandparents are the carriers, they are the ambassadors, they are the transmitters of the mesorah מסורה mesorah. You can retire from your profession. You can find all kinds of interesting hobbies. But when you're spending time with your grandchildren, it's not, it's not lacking intentionality and mindfulness. It's not just to get on the floor and enjoy or to spoil them on a cruise. It is with an awesome responsibility to play not just a role, but arguably the most significant role, to be the transmitters of that mesorah מסורה mesorah, to be the role models of that mesorah מסורה mesorah. And to do so, one has to remain relevant and contemporary and be able to connect.HaMalach HaGoel המלאך הגואל HaMalach HaGoel, this is the bracha ברכה bracha, Rashi רש\"י Rashi says, yevarech et ha'ne'arim יברך את הנערים yevarech et ha'ne'arim. Menashe v'Ephraim מנשה ואפרים Menashe v'Ephraim are getting their bracha ברכה bracha first before anyone else. Source 11, page eight. Said the Rav, continuing, when it's achieved the mesorah מסורה mesorah relationship between grandfather and grandchild is an emotional intensity, intellectual closeness, in some ways transcends the parent-child relationship. Psychologically, one would not expect a deep identification between two individuals whose great discrepancy of years could easily spawn alienation. Yet, grandparents more than parents are sensitive to the transiency of time and to the pressing need to assure the perpetuation of one's lifelong principles. You know, parents don't have time to be transmitters of the mesorah מסורה mesorah. You know why? They have to pay for that kid's tuition. They got to go to work, and they got to earn the money, and they got to make sure the kid has the latest sneakers and the clothing and can go to the camp he wants to go to and has the technology they want. And for the parent, they're so involved in earning that money, they barely have time to breathe. They don't have time to be transmitters of the mesorah מסורה mesorah. And they're also the ones who have to discipline the child and give feedback to the child when the report card comes in, or he stayed up too late, or ground the child if he crossed the boundary. So there are many reasons that the parent is not positioned best to be the transmitter of the mesorah מסורה mesorah. And it leaves that job to the grandparent. A child is far more than a biological extension, he embodies one's hopes for spiritual continuity. If as is found frequently a bond between old and young is achieved amongst Torah Jews, it's due to the singular awareness of a mesorah מסורה mesorah community which past, present generations are contemporaries. Distance in time is bridged and divergence in outward styles is rendered irrelevant. This is in sharp contrast to the secular scene where generations too often confront each other as cultural antagonists. In the secular scene, cultural antagonists.So this is the theme of, of our parsha, of Yaakov יעקב Yaakov, from here till the end of Sefer Bereishis ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis. Now Yaakov יעקב Yaakov takes on this new role. He's the zaken זקן zaken. Yehuda יהודה Yehuda calls him a zaken זקן zaken. Yosef יוסף Yosef calls him a zaken זקן zaken. The Midrash מדרש Midrash calls him saba סבא saba. The Rambam רמב\"ם Rambam calls him a zaken זקן zaken. Why? He's an old man, they're disparaging, they're making fun of him, he looks like an old man? No. He played the role of the older generation. He was the responsible transmitter of the mesorah מסורה mesorah. But it's also the theme of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah, in which we find ourselves right now. Look at what Rabbi Soloveitchik says in another context, in a book called Days of Deliverance and source 13. The Rambam's רמב\"ם Rambam's account of the history of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah begins in the days of the second Temple. It's a reference not only to the chronological question of when the events occurred, but also to the question of the position of Ner Chanukah נר חנוכה Ner Chanukah within the framework of halacha הלכה halacha. Mitzvos mi'divrei kabbalah מצוות מדברי קבלה Mitzvos mi'divrei kabbalah, commandments of received tradition, were ordained by those chachmei ha'mesorah חכמי המסורה chachmei ha'mesorah, who were at the same time prophets. But mitzvot mi'divrei sofrim מצוות מדברי סופרים mitzvot mi'divrei sofrim, commandments were ordained by the sages, were introduced by the chachmei ha'mesorah חכמי המסורה chachmei ha'mesorah who did not belong to the community of prophets. The duty to observe mitzvot mi'divrei sofrim מצוות מדברי סופרים mitzvot mi'divrei sofrim is not inferior to that of observing mitzvot mi'divrei kabbalah מצוות מדברי קבלה mitzvot mi'divrei kabbalah. Both are binding based on the mitzvah מצוה mitzvah, you shall observe to do according to all that they inform you. Not all mitzvot מצוות mitzvot legislated by the prophets belong to divrei kabbalah דברי קבלה divrei kabbalah. And he goes and he distinguishes between the two. But now go to the second paragraph. Go to the third paragraph for lack of time. At first glance, it's puzzling. Why does the Rambam add it's well known with regard to Purim פורים Purim but not Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah? We know Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah is just as popular as Purim פורים Purim. Every Jew is well informed about both. Yet the Rambam רמב\"ם Rambam considers Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah a holiday which is not known, while Purim פורים Purim is a yom tov yadua יום טוב ידוע yom tov yadua. He introduces Purim פורים Purim as yom tov yadua יום טוב ידוע yom tov yadua and in his Mishneh Torah משנה תורה Mishneh Torah, he doesn't say the same thing about Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah, why not? And the answer is obvious. Yadua ידוע Yadua means the holiday is mentioned in scripture, which is open and accessible to everybody, scholar or simpleton. What's the difference between Purim and Chanukah פורים וחנכה Purim and Chanukah? Purim has a book in Tanach תנ\"ך Tanach. It has the megillah מגילה megillah. You open a Tanach תנ\"ך Tanach, you have access to the story of Purim פורים Purim. What does Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah lack? A book. There's the book of Maccabees, it's not incorporated, it's not included in Tanach תנ\"ך Tanach. Therefore everybody knows of Purim פורים Purim, the megillah מגילה megillah tells us everything. But Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah belongs to Torah She'ba'al Peh תורה שבעל פה Torah She'ba'al Peh, the Oral Law which is transmitted from generation to generation through the chachmei ha'mesorah חכמי המסורה chachmei ha'mesorah. Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah exists only within the context of mesorah מסורה mesorah. There's no document that lends it a normative character. God's words recorded in the written Torah תורה Torah authoritatively can generate the duty to observe Shabbos שבת Shabbos, Pesach, Sukkos פסח, סוכות Pesach, Sukkos, but the obligation to light Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah candles, to say Hallel הלל Hallel, derives not from the written text, but only from the mesorah מסורה mesorah. What obligates me to perform these actions is the fact that previous generations acted in the same manner. The Oral tradition represents not only the continuity of study but of action. Mesorah precipitates the obligation to observe mitzvos מצוות mitzvos. Thus we understand the role of ha'roeh הרואה ha'roeh, the person who simply sees the candles burning. I was that person. I was my nephew's bar mitzvah בר מצוה bar mitzvah was in Eretz Yisrael ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael was in Israel this past Shabbos שבת Shabbos, and I left Sunday night to come back to America. So I had a problem. Sunday night was the first night of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah. We spoke about this in the afternoon kollel כולל kollel yesterday. We spoke at the hadlaka was a mitzvah or a chovah o'stam mitzvah הדלקה מצוה או חובה או סתם מצוה hadlaka mitzvah o chovah o'stam mitzvah. So what do I do? I was going to be flying the first night. What's the halacha הלכה halacha? Where do I light? What do I do? So it was easy for me. My wife was home. So the mitzvah מצוה mitzvah is ner ish u'beiso נר איש וביתו ner ish u'beiso. The mitzvah מצוה mitzvah is really on the home, not the person. As long as my home had a lit candle, I was yotzei יצא yotzei. My wife lit candles at home and I was yotzei יצא yotzei. I even had the benefit of being overlapping in the same halachic הלכתי halachic time zone at one point. My flight that was supposed to take off at 12:45 only took off at 1:10 a.m. So two minutes before we took off was the zman hadlaka זמן הדלקה zman hadlaka here, and I FaceTimed as my wife lit the candles, FaceTime, I was right there answering Amen אמן Amen. It's the ultimate ner ish u'beiso נר איש וביתו ner ish u'beiso. I don't know that it has halachic הלכתי halachic value at all, but it was a ner ish u'beiso נר איש וביתו ner ish u'beiso. I felt included in her lighting on my behalf. But Sunday evening in Israel, long before my flight, first I was with my wife's sister and my brother-in-law and their family. I had a couple of my children with me. And then we went to my sister and my whole family. I went to two Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah lightings and two Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah parties that night, of which neither of them could I light, because I was flying out that night, but what did I recite? A birchas ha'roeh ברכת הרואה birchas ha'roeh. The Gemara גמרא Gemara says ha'roeh tzorech l'varech הרואה צריך לברך ha'roeh tzorech l'varech, that if you see the candles, you make a bracha she'asah nisim ברכה שעשה ניסים bracha she'asah nisim. Even when you are exempt from lighting for whatever circumstances you're exempt, but if you see the candles, it's the only mitzvah we have a birchas ha'roeh. I don't see you put tefillin תפילין tefillin on and I make a bracha ברכה bracha. I don't see you shake the lulav לולב lulav and I make a bracha ברכה bracha. I don't see you light the Shabbos שבת Shabbos candles and I make a bracha ברכה bracha. I don't see you eat matzah מצה matzah and I make a bracha ברכה bracha. There's no other mitzvah מצוה mitzvah that I see you do a mitzvah and I make a bracha ברכה bracha. The one exception is Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah candles. Ha'roeh mevarech הרואה מברך ha'roeh mevarech, I see you light, I make a bracha ברכה bracha of she'asah nisim שעשה ניסים she'asah nisim. Why? Why? The roeh הרואה roeh is not just an onlooker or passive observer, he's a participant in the transmission of the mesorah מסורה mesorah. The person who lights plays a double role. In addition to lighting the candles, he transmits to the roeh הרואה roeh the particular mesorah מסורה mesorah of the Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah candles. There's a double connotation in lighting Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah candles: the lighting itself, and the lighting as a medium of conveying the mesorah מסורה mesorah. As far as the mesorah מסורה mesorah element is concerned, the roeh הרואה roeh is as involved as the one who lights. Takes two to pass on a tradition. So the roeh הרואה roeh too. Because Chanukah, those other mitzvos מצוות mitzvos are only about the person performing them. But Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah and the pirsumei nisa פרסומי ניסא pirsumei nisa, Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah is all about adding light, using the chanukiah חנוכיה chanukiah, the menorah מנורה menorah, as an instrument to transmit a mesorah מסורה mesorah. That's why if you come back, you live alone or you, you live with others, but you come back very late at night and you need to light, you have to wake people to come see. You can't light if there's no one watching. It takes two to tango in the Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah candles. So ha'roeh mevarech הרואה מברך ha'roeh mevarech. I can be yotzei tefillin יצא תפילין yotzei tefillin. I don't need anyone to see me. I can shake the arba minim ארבע מינים arba minim, I don't need anyone to see me. I can blow shofar שופר shofar, I don't need anyone to hear me. But when I light the Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah candles, I need a spectator, I need an onlooker. Why? Because the Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah candles represent this transmission, represent the giving from one to the other, represents the continuity, the passing of the baton בטן batan, the passing of the light and the increasing of the light. That's why the one mitzvah מצוה mitzvah where they're ha'roeh mevarech הרואה מברך ha'roeh mevarech, the one who sees makes, the one who sees makes a bracha. A participant in the transmission of mesorah. Chanukah is the yomtov יום טוב yomtov of mesorah מסורה mesorah. There is no Torah She'ba'al Peh תורה שבעל פה Torah She'ba'al Peh in Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah. What else is the difference when it comes to Chanukah and Purim חנוכה ופורים Chanukah and Purim? Purim פורים Purim has a book in Tanach תנ\"ך Tanach. Where else does Purim פורים Purim have a book? In Shas ש\"ס Shas. Maseches Megillah מסכת מגילה Maseches Megillah. Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah neither has a book in Tanach תנ\"ך Tanach, nor does it have a masechta b'Mishnayos מסכתא במשניות masechta b'Mishnayos. We've discussed previously. Why not? Why didn't Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi רבי יהודה הנשיא Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi make a Maseches Chanukah מסכת חנוכה Maseches Chanukah? Why no Maseches Chanukah מסכת חנוכה Maseches Chanukah? We have Maseches Megillah מסכת מגילה Maseches Megillah. There is an ancient tradition, the Ta'amei HaMitzvos טעמי המצוות Ta'amei HaMitzvos brings down that Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi רבי יהודה הנשיא Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi who descended from Dovid HaMelech דוד המלך Dovid HaMelech was bitter at the Chashmonaim חשמונאים Chashmonaim for stealing the monarchy, and he got even by not incorporating Chanukah into a Mishnah משנה Mishnah. That's a tradition that's brought down, I think in the name of the Chasam Sofer חתם סופר Chasam Sofer. Problem is no one's ever found it in the writings of the Chasam Sofer חתם סופר Chasam Sofer, but moreover, it makes no sense for several reasons historically, but it also makes no sense practically because Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi רבי יהודה הנשיא Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi mentions Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah in eight or nine Mishnayos משניות Mishnayos throughout Shas ש\"ס Shas. Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah is mentioned in the Mishnah משנה Mishnah, there's no masechta מסכתא masechta dedicated to it. Why that is probably has more to do with censorship and avoiding persecution historically than it does with any intent of Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi רבי יהודה הנשיא Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi. Right? But the bottom line is there is no Maseches Chanukah מסכת חנוכה Maseches Chanukah. And others suggest that there's no Maseches Chanukah מסכת חנוכה Maseches Chanukah because Chanukah is the yomtov יום טוב yomtov of the mesorah מסורה mesorah, of Torah She'ba'al Peh תורה שבעל פה Torah She'ba'al Peh. Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah celebrates that notion of the oral transmission of the interpersonal relationships, of intergenerational. It represents continuity. Not something that's in a book that anyone has access to, but something I heard from my parents, my grandparents that requires a direct communication. So there is no Maseches Chanukah מסכת חנוכה Maseches Chanukah. There's no book of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah in Tanach תנ\"ך Tanach, there's no book of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah in Shas ש\"ס Shas. It is the yomtov יום טוב yomtov, it is the holiday of Torah She'ba'al Peh תורה שבעל פה Torah She'ba'al Peh. And that's why the way you do the mitzvah מצוה mitzvah, if there's no one around to hear the megillah מגילה megillah, can I read the megillah מגילה megillah for myself and be yotzei יצא yotzei? Yes. It's better pirsumei nisa פרסומי ניסא pirsumei nisa, b'rov am hadras melech ברוב עם הדרת מלך b'rov am hadras melech. It's better to have many people hearing the megillah מגילה megillah, but I'm yotzei the megillah יצא המגילה yotzei the megillah if I read the story to myself. But Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah, says the Rav, ha'roeh mevarech הרואה מברך ha'roeh mevarech, you need both sides because it's all about transmission, it's all about giving one to the other, it's all about continuity. Source 14, page 10. R' Shlomo Kahan-Kahana רבי שלמה קאהן-כהנא R' Shlomo Kahan-Kahana. There's such a thing as teaching and there's such a thing as giving over. Giving something over to someone is much deeper than teaching. Torah תורה Torah says Moshe משה Moshe received the Torah תורה Torah on Har Sinai הר סיני Har Sinai and he came down, but it does not say he taught the Torah תורה Torah to Yehoshua יהושע Yehoshua, it says u'msarah ומסרה u'msarah, he gave it to Yehoshua יהושע Yehoshua. This is the deeper depth there is. Sometimes one meets someone who can and one can study with for 10 years. They can teach you for 10 years, but they don't give anything over to you. Sometimes you meet someone and maybe they don't teach you so much, but they give something over to you. Reb Mendel of Vorka ר' מנדל מוורקא Reb Mendel of Vorka, the son of the Rebbe רבי rebbe was a Rebbe for 40 years, in those 40 years he only spoke eight times. Even those times on a teaching level he didn't say anything. One time he was sitting with his Chasidim חסידים Chasidim for 14 hours at the end he said, Hashem Echad ה' אחד Hashem Echad. And then he said happy is the one who knows that Hashem ה' Hashem is one, meaning God is one. On a teaching level he didn't say anything. But when he said Hashem Echad ה' אחד Hashem Echad, he gave it over. We need someone to give over yiddishkeit אידישקייט yiddishkeit to us. We need someone to give over to us, not to teach us that there's one God. Torah תורה Torah says that Yaakov יעקב Yaakov, Yisrael ישראל Yisrael loved Yosef יוסף Yosef more than all of his children. Naturally today on the low level we are, the father loves the son, he says to him, man, oh no, he would never say man, that would be too far out. He says, this is, remember the author of this. He says, son, I want to do something special for you. Buy you a trip to Bermuda. But what does it mean Yaakov יעקב Yaakov loved Yosef יוסף Yosef more? Listen what Rashi רש\"י Rashi says. All the things which Yaakov יעקב Yaakov learned in the Yeshivas Shem v'Eiver ישיבת שם ועבר Yeshivas Shem v'Eiver, he gave over to Yosef יוסף Yosef. He taught all his children the same information, but to Yosef יוסף Yosef, he gave it over. The Beis Yaakov בית יעקב Beis Yaakov, the Ishbitzer אישביצער Ishbitzer says the most unbelievable thing. Sometimes the holy prophets knew everything clearly and sometimes they knew everything but it wasn't clear. The Midrash מדרש Midrash says Yaakov יעקב Yaakov loved Yosef יוסף Yosef more than all of his children. It also says Hashem ה' Hashem says to Yisrael ישראל Yisrael, I love you. This is my humble explanation. What did Yaakov יעקב Yaakov give over to Yosef יוסף Yosef? He gave over to him that he should know that Hashem ה' Hashem says I love you. Knowing that God loves you is something you cannot get via teaching. It has to be given over to you. So the thing is like this, Yaakov יעקב Yaakov didn't have a clear prophecy because he was not to know that Yosef יוסף Yosef was to be a slave. But Yaakov יעקב Yaakov knew that Yosef יוסף Yosef needed something special because he was the first Jew in exile. Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah is the one holiday that has no tractate in Gemara גמרא Gemara. Every the holidays have a long tractate, even Purim פורים Purim. Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah is only about a page and a half in the Gemara גמרא Gemara. Chanukah is a holiday of giving over. It says in Krias Shema קריאת שמע Krias Shema you should teach your children when you sit in your house, when you go on your way. Teaching is at home, but giving over is on your way. There's no time for teaching on the way, only for giving over. Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah's teaching and giving over became one. In Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah I have to put lights at the door of my house so that the house shines in the street. When you teach someone, you're not sure his light will increase, but when you give over to someone, you know his light will grow. That's why each night of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah we kindle one more candle to shine into the world until all the streets of the world are full of light. Taught in the house of love and prayer San Francisco, Chanukah 5733 סן פרנסיסקו, חנוכה ה'תש\"ל\"ג San Francisco, Chanukah 5733. The notion between teaching and giving over. Teaching is cerebral. It's information. It's in the brain. It's intellectual. Giving over, experiential. Giving over is a feeling, a warmth, an affection, a love. That's what grandparents give over. They don't just teach. It's a beautiful image and a beautiful sight when grandparents sit and learn with their grandchildren. It's lovely. But when they give over, making a bracha, benching, preparing for Pesach, lighting the Chanukah candles, greeting the Shabbos. What a grandparent gives over is much more than just what they teach. That's part of this yomtov of Chanukah, this yomtov of, the Chanukah of, the yomtov of Torah She'ba'al Peh.Dayan Moshe Swift דיין משה סוויפט Dayan Moshe Swift was a dayan דיין dayan in the London beis din בית דין beis din. He has a wonderful book called Moreshes Moshe מורשת משה Moreshes Moshe, which I happen to have bought off of eBay. Page, source 15, page 11. Not so readily available, but it's a fantastic sefer ספר sefer. Dayan Moshe Swift דיין משה סוויפט Dayan Moshe Swift, he died in 1983, the London beis din בית דין beis din. There's a debate in the Talmud תלמוד Talmud between Shammai and Hillel שמאי והלל Shammai and Hillel regarding the procedure of lighting the candles. Shammai שמאי Shammai says we begin the first night of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah, eight lights, and we go from eight to one. Hillel הלל Hillel says no, we begin with one and we increase from one to eight. The menorah מנורה menorah is a glow with eight lights on the last night. Where lies the logic of their argument? the rabbis wonder. The explanation is succinctly stated, k'neged yamim hayotzim v'yamim ha'nichnasim כנגד ימים היוצאים וימים הנכנסין k'neged yamim hayotzim v'yamim ha'nichnasim. Shammai שמאי Shammai wishes to look forward to the days to come. On the evening of the first day of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah, there are eight days to come. On the second, there's seven, and so on. Each day that passes is gone. It's done. It's gone. There's no memory. Shammai שמאי Shammai is living where? The future. How many days are there left? First night, we're so excited. Eight days left. Second night, seven days left, and so on. It's the incoming days, the future. However distant it may appear, but it's assured. Hillel's הלל Hillel's philosophy was different. K'neged yamim hayotzim כנגד ימים היוצאים k'neged yamim hayotzim. There can be no future unless the past is carried forward. When the first night of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah passes, the second day arrives, kindle a new light for the second day, but we rekindle the light of the first day. When the third day comes, we rekindle the previous two days. Today's light cannot be kept a glow unless it burns with the light of yesterday, and tomorrow's light is not assured unless today's light accompanies it. Isn't this fantastic? I love this insight. No wonder that Hillel's הלל Hillel's opinion has been universally accepted. No new light will burn unless the old light stands at its side. No younger generation can succeed unless it stands side by side with the old. But this we must keep uppermost in our minds. It's the new light that's kindled first when we make the bracha ברכה bracha on the Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah lights. The old die out. They cannot survive unless they first see to it the light of today. The youth of the generation is a glow at the faith and tradition of the old. This chiddush חידוש chiddush will change the way you light Chanukah candles forever. Magnificent. Magnificent. Shammai שמאי Shammai says yesterday is yesterday, it's old, it's gone, it's distant, there's no memory, it's done. So what's all of life? It's the future. The future. First night I got eight days left, second night I got seven days left, and so on. Hillel הלל Hillel says, you know, not so fast. Not so fast. There is no future if you've forgotten the past. There's only a future if it's built on the shoulders of the past, if it's continued continuation of the past. So what do we do? First we light yesterday's candle and then we add today's candle. But which do we make a bracha ברכה bracha on first? Today's candle. Because yesterday's candle is yesterday. It's relevant. You can't have today without yesterday. It's relevant. But it's today's candle that we're celebrating because it's today's candle that's going to light tomorrow. So it's implicit, integrated into the very way that we light, we pasaken like Beis Hillel בית הלל Beis Hillel, is also this notion of continuity, of transmission, of intergenerations. I don't think we'll live to have eight generations living at once, but this candle is the children, the parents, the grandparents, the great-grandparents, and all their lights are burning side by side. And the truth is, while we may not have all eight living at once, we could have all eight represented at once, to know our family eight generations back, to see this candle is this child, the parent, the grandparent, the great-grandparent, the great-great-grandparent, and to look at a menorah and to see eight generations. That's why we are still here, and that's why we're confident about where we are going. But how do we do it? And what's that role of grandparents? How are you that zaken זקן zaken? And why can we be so confident on Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah that we'll light tomorrow's candle? So I think the answer is the Gemara in Shabbos גמרא בשבת Gemara in Shabbos, source 15. The Gemara in Shabbos גמרא בשבת Gemara in Shabbos says, Amar Rav Huna, ha'ragil b'ner havyan lo banim talmidei chachamim אמר רב הונא הרגיל בנר הויין לו בנים תלמידי חכמים Amar Rav Huna, ha'ragil b'ner havyan lo banim talmidei chachamim. A person who habitually kindles the Shabbos and Chanukah lights will have sons who are Torah תורה Torah scholars. Exactly which lights is a machlokes מחלוקת machlokes, is Rashi רש\"י Rashi, is it the, is it the Shabbos שבת Shabbos candles? Is it the Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah candles? Ha'ragil b'ner הרגיל בנר ha'ragil b'ner. If you have a habit of lighting the candles. But then the Gemara continues, ha'zahir b'mezuzah zocheh l'dirah na'ah הזהיר במזוזה זוכה לדירה נאה ha'zahir b'mezuzah zocheh l'dirah na'ah. If you're careful with mezuzah, you'll have a beautiful home. Ha'zahir b'tzitzis zocheh l'tallis na'ah הזהיר בציצית זוכה לטלית נאה ha'zahir b'tzitzis zocheh l'tallis na'ah. You're careful with tzitzis, you'll have a nice tallis. Ha'zahir b'kiddush ha'yom zocheh u'memalei garbei yayin הזהיר בקידוש היום זוכה וממלא גרבי יין ha'zahir b'kiddush ha'yom zocheh u'memalei garbei yayin. If you're careful when you make kiddush, you'll merit to have wonderful kegs of wine. So the Maharsha מהרש\"א Maharsha picks up a discrepancy. Anyone else notice it? When it came to mezuzah, tzitzis, and kiddush מזוזה, ציצית וקידוש mezuzah, tzitzis and kiddush, what was the word, what was the instruction the Gemara גמרא Gemara used? Ha'zahir הזהיר Ha'zahir, be cautious, be vigilant, be careful. And when it came to the candles, what word did the Gemara use? Ha'ragil הרגיל Ha'ragil. Why? Says the Maharsha מהרש\"א Maharsha, source 16, בכל הני נקט לשון הזהיר, במזוזה ובטלית בקידוש משום דכולהו חובת איש יותר מאישה. מה שאין כן בנר דעיקר מצוה באישה. לא קאמר על גבי איש, רק הרגיל, דהיינו שמרגיל את אשתו להיות רגילה בנר... ולגבי האיש שפיר קתני עלה קמיה B'chol hanei nakat lashon ha'zahir, b'mezuzah u'v'tallis b'kiddush mishum d'chulhu chovas ish yoser m'isha. Ma she'ein kein b'ner d'ikar mitzvah b'isha, lo ka'amar al gabei ish, rak ha'ragil, d'haynu sh'margil es ishto lihiyos regila b'ner... u'l'gabei ha'ish shapir katani alei kamei. So the Maharsha raises the question, he gives his own answer. He says a zahir is talking about the mitzvos incumbent on men, but the lights, the Shabbos candles are incumbent on the woman, so ha'ragil is that the man should accustom himself to be vigilant that his wife light the candles. So the Maharsha מהרש\"א Maharsha asked the question and he gives his own answer. But the Shem MiShmuel, the Sochatchover, gives a different answer, source 17. Says the Shem MiShmuel, the Shem MiShmuel, he quotes the Maharsha's question, and then he says, two, four, five lines down, יש לומר שלכאורה צריך להבין לשון הרגיל, משמע שעושה מתוך הרגל, והרי העושה מתוך הרגל הרי זה מגונה Yesh lomar she'lichora tzrich l'havin lashon ha'ragil, mashma she'oseh mitoch hergel, v'harei ha'oseh mitoch ha'hergel, harei zeh meguneh. Hergel הרגל Hergel means habit. Habit is negative. Habit, rote, somebody who just does something is a davar meguneh דבר מגונה davar meguneh. You're on autopilot, you're a robot. You're not mindful, you're not conscious, you're not conscientious. Ha'ragil means you're on autopilot. You formed a habit. You're just going with the motion. As the pasuk פסוק pasuk says, mitzvas anashim melumada מצות אנשים מלומדה mitzvas anashim melumada, you've just trained your body to go through the motions. So you close the siddur, you take the three steps back at the end of Shemoneh Esrei שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei, you have no idea, you don't remember saying one word. Now, we have videotape. Security cameras will show that you said every word. But you don't remember saying one word. because it's mitzvas anashim melumada מצות אנשים מלומדה mitzvas anashim melumada. We have a habit. A person forms a habit. When I moved houses, I remember it was a week after I had moved from Captiva to Thornhill Green, and I was driving home from somewhere. The next thing I know, I found myself in the driveway of the Captiva house. I laughed and then I went to my new house. Why, how did that happen? I didn't know I moved. My foot on the pedal and my hands on the steering wheel were ha'ragil, hergel הרגיל, הרגל ha'ragil, hergel. They were accustomed, rote, mitzvas anashim melumada מצות אנשים מלומדה mitzvas anashim melumada. הפרש ענין היוונים כוונתם במעשיהם לטומאה. טימאו כל השמנים וטימאו בנות ישראל ha'peirush d'inyan ha'yevanim, kavanasam b'ma'aseihem l'tumah. Timu kol ha'shmanim v'timu bnos Yisrael. The Yevanim's whole goal was to contaminate, to impurify. How do they accomplish that? כשגברה מלכות בית חשמונאי ונצחום ונפש ישראל ביופי להמשיך אחר השם יתברך כשרף אש... לא זו מה שנרצה עניינם למעלה, בא הנס בנר ושמן... הנר שלהבת עולה מאליה... המשכת למעלה... והאש אוכלת בכל רגע ורגע בחיות חדשה k'shegavra malchus Beis Chashmonai v'nitzchum, v'nefesh Yisrael b'yofi l'hamshich achar Hashem Yisborach k'saraf eish... lo zu mah she'nirtzah inyanam l'maalah, ba ha'nes b'ner v'shemen... ha'ner shalheves olah mei'eileha... hamshachas l'maalah... v'ha'eish ocheles b'chol rega v'rega b'chayus chadasha. What is a fire? The flame looks like it's continuing. The flame looks like it's constant. But there's new oil being drawn into the wick every moment. It's being re-energized by a sense of newness and freshness at every moment. So externally, it looks exactly the same. The flame looks permanent. It looks like it's continuing. But underneath the surface, there's new oil, there's new fuel that's driving that flame at every moment. And says the Shem MiShmuel, the Sochatchover, that's our mission. The davening on the outside looks the same, the Shabbos on the outside is the same, the mitzvos on the outside are the same, but the his'chadshus התחדשות his'chadshus, the fuel, the newness, the freshness on the inside. ועל פי זה יש לומר... הרגיל בנר היינו שיהא רגיל בעניין התחדשות... הרגיל כעין V'al pi zeh yesh lomar... ha'ragil b'ner haynu she'yehei ragil b'inyan his'chadshus... ha'ragil k'ein. What is ha'ragil b'ner הרגיל בנר ha'ragil b'ner? The only thing that you should have a habit of is never having a habit of anything. That's the Shem MiShmuel's pshat. Ha'ragil b'ner הרגיל בנר ha'ragil b'ner, be ragil רגיל ragil in ner נר ner. Ner נר Ner is the symbol of nothing being rote, nothing being habit, everything being fresh and fueled anew. So the candle, the flame is the symbol of newness, freshness. Ha'ragil b'ner הרגיל בנר ha'ragil b'ner means the only thing that you should do by rote is that you never do anything by rote. The only habit you should have is that you never do anything by habit. It's fantastic, no? That's the Shem MiShmuel's pshat in ha'ragil b'ner הרגיל בנר ha'ragil b'ner. If we want grandchildren who are on fire, what's the answer? We have to be on fire. If we want grandchildren who are inspired and passionate and represent the future, the brightness, the illumination, the continuity of our people, then we have to be on fire and we have to illuminate. To be a transmitter of the mesorah is to not just give information, it's to give over. It's to give over an experience, it's to give over excitement and passion and enthusiasm and joy, the geshmak גישמאק geshmak of being a Yid יד Yid. That is timeless, that has no time gap, that has no generation gap. That's our responsibility. We'll end here, but the rest of the sources speak to the halachic הלכתי halachic responsibilities. The Gemara in Kiddushin גמרא בקידושין Gemara in Kiddushin talks about the obligation of grandparents to teach Torah to grandchildren. The Maharshal, the Shach, the Rama מהרש\"ל, ש\"ך, רמ\"א Maharshal, Shach, Rama on the next page say, you may not like this part, but that grandparents have an obligation to pay tuition if the children can't afford. It's a halachic הלכתי halachic obligation of grandfa, it's actually only the paternal grandparents have a halachic הלכתי halachic obligation to pay the tuition of the grandchildren if the parents can't afford. Just wait till the schools get a hold of that psak פסק psak and start sending you the invoices and billing you. But in the other direction, grandchildren have a responsibility towards grandparents. The Rama רמ\"א Rama gives two opinions about whether grandchildren are obligated to honor grandparents. The mitzvah of kibbud av v'eim כיבוד אב ואם kibbud av v'eim. Does kibbud av v'eim כיבוד אב ואם kibbud av v'eim apply to grandparents? Rav Sternbuch רב שטרנבך Rav Sternbuch paskens yes, through the parents, Rav Sternbuch רב שטרנבך Rav Sternbuch has a psak פסק psak, has a teshuva siman resh ayin zayin תשובה סימן רע\"ז teshuva siman resh ayin zayin at the end. So we saw that both our parsha פרשה parsha, Yaakov, Yisrael, zaken, saba יעקב, ישראל, זקן, סבא Yaakov, Yisrael, zaken, saba, and the holiday of Chanukah חנוכה Chanukah have in common, this is the period of the year in the darkness of the deep winter, the frigid cold of the deep winter, this is the time of the year that we renew and we create a fresh spark, and we remind ourselves of our responsibility, whether we are literally grandparents or figuratively we're all grandparents when it comes to the responsibility of the transmission of our sacred Torah She'ba'al Peh תורה שבעל פה Torah She'ba'al Peh. Have a great Shabbos.
