Chanucah 5773 - Federation Of Synagogues

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The Power of Hashem All of our observances of the festivals throughout the Jewish year deal with becoming more aware of Hashem, acknowledging more and more His presence in our lives, and expressing gratitude to Him. Each of our festivals however, expresses a different aspect of this awareness. What is our celebration on Chanukah? Is it not of the נס – the miracle of the victory of Maccabees? But though Jewish sovereignty was re-established, was it such a great accomplishment? We see from history that eventually the state leadership was fraught with corruption and the society was far from ideal and within only a matter of several hundred years the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. The miracle of Chanukah was on a spiritual level and this was emphasised with the miracle of the oil lasting beyond its material limitations. And indeed in our Amidah prayer of Thanksgiving on Chanukah, it is not so much the victory of the Maccabees over the Hellenists that is emphasised but rather Hashem's deliverance of the “strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure”. True power is from Hashem as we read from the Haftarah of Shabbat Chanukah, “Not by (your) might, not by (your) power, but by My spirit, says Hashem”. When we have this awareness as represented by the light of the Menorah and pure intention as represented by the purity of the oil, only then are we truly empowered. It is this principle that our observance of Chanukah imbues in us, the essence of which existed before the historical events of the Maccabees. And we can see this in the culmination of the final and eighth day of the Festival, known as זאת חנוכה which according to our Sages corresponds to Shimini Atzeret – the Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly. Where seven represents sanctity within the here and now, the number eight represents transcendence, beyond limits of the physical world of time and space, the miraculous. The Hellenists did not wish to enslave the body of Yisrael but rather the soul of Yisrael. By transcending these imposed limitations, through observance of Torah, the generation of the Macabees succeeded in ensuring the passing on of the flame of Judaism from one successive generation to the next despite all the ups and downs of our history. May we merit to continue this miracle. חנוכה משמחת Happy Chanukah Rabbi Nathan Asmoucha – Croydon & District Synagogue It Beats Me... "At the end of two years, and behold Pharaoh dreamt that he was standing by the Nile" [Bereshis 41:1]. Pharaoh is very disturbed by a dream wherein seven skinny cows eat seven fat cows. None of the wise men of Egypt can interpret the dream for him, and this troubles him even more. In recent times we have been exposed to politicians of all political persuasions telling us their dreams. Starting with the success of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech, many party political speeches speak about dreams for a better future. But we all know that these people did not REALLY have those dreams while they were sleeping. It is not as if they woke up one morning and said "Wow! I had a dream that would be perfect to speak about at the next party conference." I am sure that if they truthfully told us their dreams, we would be less surprised if they really were about seven fat cows and seven thin cows. It reminds me of the joke we used to play on our teachers at this time of year and ask them the following: On a recent archaeological expedition in Egypt, seven bovine carcasses were found on the bank of the river Nile. Which set of cows were they from? After hearing out the logic for why they should have been from either set of cows, we always had the last laugh and exclaimed "It was a dream!" Rabbi Shimon Schwab gives us fascinating insight into the psychology of a ruler/dictator. Pharaoh had probably never lost a fight in his life. His belief was that the strong ALWAYS overpower the weak. "I am the king. I have the power. I can impose my will on whoever I wish, because no one can do anything against me and certainly noone will ever beat me." 2
The dream disturbed Pharaoh so greatly because it went totally against his mindset. He felt that it MUST be telling him something important. It must have foreboded a terrible message. This threatened his power and he HAD to get to the bottom of it. Rabbi Schwab takes this one step further and points out that Parshas Miketz and the story of Pharaoh and his dreams always coincides with Chanukah. It is not a coincidence (nothing ever is!). One of the major themes of Chanukah is the idea that "the mighty fell into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few", as we say in the addition of Al Hanissim to the Amidah and Birkas Hamazon. The Makabim were but a small minority yet they managed to fight off the power and might of the Ancient Greeks and restore the Beis Hamikdash to its glory. Rabbi Yehuda Aronovitz – Loughton Synagogue Fiona's latkes 3 medium potatoes Small onion 1 tsp salt Pepper 1/2 tsp sugar 2 eggs 5 tbsp flour 1 tsp baking powder. Oil for frying. Grate potatoes and onion, add salt, pepper, sugar and beaten egg, flour and baking powder. Fry in hot oil. Delicious fresh and freezes well too. Rebbetzin Gitty Aronovitz <strong>Of</strong> Flames and Souls HAVE you ever noticed how difficult it is to sit and do nothing? In a waiting room or on a train, we find it nearly impossible not to search for something to look at or read, as if we need to be constantly stimulated. It is a phenomenon that suggests a yearning for something beyond our present reality. Judaism calls this phenomenon the neshamah, the soul that is embedded in us, which is given expression in the story of Chanukah and our remembrance of past miracles. The Greeks, who tried to destroy Jews and Judaism based their actions on the philosophy of the physical, celebrating beauty and elevating logic as the yardstick against which all had to be measured. However, while Greece taught the holiness of beauty, Judaism teaches the beauty of holiness. This holiness has its root in the soul, as the verse in Proverbs says, "The candle of G-d is the soul of man,"(20: 27), and it is this idea that comes to the fore on Chanukah. The candles we light contain in their simplicity a fundamental concept of Judaism. The flame represents the soul, the very essence of a person while the candle is the body, just the necessary receptacle. A flame is the only physical entity that defies gravity: it reaches ever upwards, like the soul of man which constantly strains for the heavens. The natural state of the soul is to grow and just as the more the flame burns, the lesser the candle becomes, so, too, the more the soul grows, the more the physical diminishes. This neshamah phenomenon also contradicts the Hellenistic idea of "what you see is what you get," which denies the existence of any greater value than surface appearance, while the Jewish view is better encapsulated by the saying: "There's a lot more than meets the eye." Our immediate reality is not necessarily the ultimate; so much more is hidden, waiting to be discovered. 3
Page 1: בס ‏"ד lite “Hamaor Lite”
Page 5 and 6: בראשית ‏)א ב(‏ וְהָ
Page 7 and 8: “The mitzvah of lighting the cand

Chanucah 5773 - Federation Of Synagogues

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