Page 56 - HaMizrachi #15 2019 Chanuka USA

Rabbi Dr. Jerold Isenberg

A LESSON FOR THE AGES

very schoolchild knows that Chanukah lighting, that was not the courtyards. There the warriors, tamei
Chanukah celebrates the mira- case. Kohanim and non-Kohanim, hold-
Ecle of the pach haShemen – the ְ ing torches and, being careful not
small jug of pure oil, which lasted for As we read in Al Hanissim: ּוא ָּ ב ,ך ָּ כ ר ַ ח ַ א ְ ו to transfer any tuma, lit the wicks –
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eight days. Yet the only reference to ך ֶ תי ֵּ ב רי ִ ב ְ ד ִ ל ךיֶנ ָ ב – the battle to return ך ׁ ֶ ש ְ ד ָ ק תֹור ְ צ ַ ח ְּ ב תֹורֵנ ּוקי ִ ל ְ ד ִ ה ְ ו. The Kohanim
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lights in Al HaNissim, the main tefil- the Beit HaMikdash to Jewish control then carried the lit neirot back into the
lah outlining the history of the chag, is was waged by valiant warriors, among
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ך ׁ ֶ ש ְ ד ָ ק תֹור ְ צ ַ ח ְּ ב תֹורֵנ ּוקי ִ ל ְ ד ִ ה ְ ו “They kindled them Yehuda HaMaccabi and his heichal and placed them on top of the
lights in Your holy courtyards.” What brothers Shimon and Yonatan, them- Menorah.
is the significance of this phrase? selves Kohanim. Even in their state
of tuma (impurity), as the Rambam Rav Ariel’s interpretation demon-
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Rav Ya’akov Chaim Sofer, grandson of indicates, they could enter and secure strates that the crowning, public act
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the Kaf HaChaim, identifies six possi- the Beit HaMikdash and ך ֶ ל ָ כי ֵ ה ת ֶ א ּוּנ ִ פּו – of returning the Beit HaMikdash to
ble answers. One of the best known, eradicate the appurtenances of Avoda its holy glory was not accomplished
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cited in the name of the Chatam Zara. Then ך ׁ ֶ ש ּ ָ ד ְ ק ִ מ ת ֶ א ּור ֲ ה ִ ט ְ ו – once just by a few elite Kohanim. As an
Sofer (no relation), is that lights were purified, the individual Kohanim exemplary expression of communal
lit in the courtyards to expand public who had scrupulously remained in a Hakarat HaTov – appreciation – it
recognition of the miracle. While state of tahara began to reinstate the was shared with those who had placed
explaining the enigmatic phrase in Avodot HaKodesh (Temple Services). their lives on the line for G-d, people
Al HaNissim, this does not address In order to reestablish the service of and country. Those who had faced the
the absence of references to the pach the Menorah, the Kohanim found
haShemen or the Menorah. seven tahor metal bars which they horrors of war, and with G-d’s help,
achieved victory. With the sparkle
Rav Yisrael Ariel, of the Temple Insti- inserted into an eighth, creating a of triumph in their eyes, they were
tute, provides a most creative and makeshift Menorah. Oil was next, yet able to share in the act of rekindling
novel answer to this question. Citing they could only locate a single jug with the light of the Beit HaMikdash – an
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the Rambam, he explains that there sufficient oil for only one day. Mirac- act that would remain for thousands
are two daily tasks associated with the ulously, this would last for the eight of years, a supreme symbol of the
Menorah in the Beit HaMikdash. The days needed to secure a new supply of strength of G-d, Torah and His love
first – hatava – consists of removing tahor oil. The Kohanim added wicks
the remaining oil, wicks and ash of the and then the process of hatava was for Klal Yisrael.
previous day’s lighting and refilling complete. Until this very day.
the oil in the ner (referring to a cup Then, Rav Ariel explains, comes the
that holds oil, not a candle). A fresh extraordinary lighting. The Jewish
wick is then placed into the ner. This army, which included many Kohanim, 1 Chukei Retzoncha, 3:2.
task is mandated to be performed by had been fighting the raging battles 2 The Mikdash Siddur, Chapter 29.
a Kohen who is in a state of tahara and were decidedly not in a state of 3 Hilchot Biat HaMikdash, 9:5,7,8.
(purity). The second task is hadlaka tahara. Yet, utilizing the seldom-used
– lighting the ner. In theory, this task leniency associated with the actual 4 Hilchot Beit HaBechira, 7:23.
can be performed by a Kohen who is hadlaka, the Kohanim inside the
not in a state of tahara, or even by a heichal (sanctuary) removed the Rabbi Dr. Jerold Isenberg is Chancellor
zar (a Jewish non-Kohen). Usually, oil-filled, wick-in-place neirot from Emeritus of Hebrew Theological College and
Kohanim tehorim would perform both the tops of the newly formed Meno- Executive Director of Mizrachi – Religious
hatava and hadlaka, but at the first rah, and carried them outside to the Zionists of Chicago

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