Page 50 - HaMizrachi #25 Chanuka 2020 USA

THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND RAV KOOK’S TEACHINGS

Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein

The Jews, The Greeks and

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

hanukah celebrates Jewish Kook, this is what Chazal sought to do light of Torah to the world. This is part
uniqueness. The Chashmonaim with the Greek culture of their time. of the messianic vision in which the
Cfought against the inroads that Instead of a categorical rejection, they nations of the world will look to the
Greek religion, culture and wisdom noted the beauty of Greek language Jewish people as leaders of spirituality
had made amongst the Jewish people. and expression and sought to harness and morality, and as models for how to
In this sense, their victory, symbolized these elements to better understand live meaningful lives. 8
by the small but steady flame of the and teach Torah. 4
menorah, represents the fact that the In this regard, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks,
eternal light of Torah will outlast all On the flipside, Chanukah teaches zt”l, embodied Rav Kook’s message of
the opposing outside forces. us the value of exporting Torah ideas Chanukah. On the one hand, he had
to the public square. The Talmud a firm conviction in the uniqueness
If taken to the extreme, this message relates that ideally the menorah is to of the Jewish people and of the Torah
can lead to an isolationist mindset. be placed outside of the house such which he projected in his writings
One can argue that we successfully that it can light up the street. It is only and talks. Simultaneously, though,
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fought against the Greeks and defeated when the non-Jews in the thorough- he practiced these positive forms of
them militarily and spiritually. The fare become antagonistic to the Jewish engagement with the outside world in
spoils of the war are that we can now people and it becomes dangerous to an optimal fashion. He was fluent in
lead our ideal Jewish lives as “a nation light outside that we are allowed to the “Greek” of our day and used his
that dwells alone,” interacting as little move our menorot indoors. knowledge and eloquence to relay the
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as possible with the world around us. Torah to Jews in a contemporary and
In this telling, the lesson of Chanukah Rav Kook explained that the menorah relevant manner. And he proudly and
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is to disconnect and disengage from represents the light of Torah. When- self-confidently projected the Torah’s
other nations in order to develop the ever the non-Jewish world is receptive vision into the public square of ideas,
pure spirit of Torah. to listening, we have a responsibility to reaching millions of people across
Background illustration of Rav Kook courtesy of www.gedolimcanvas.com
shine the light of Torah on the issues the globe and inspiring them with the
By contrast, Rav Kook developed a of the day. We must be confident that Torah’s vision. This Chanukah, may we
more nuanced approach to the issue “[Torah] is your wisdom and under- too be inspired by the teachings and
of engagement with the outside world. standing in the eyes of the nations,” examples of Rav Kook and Rav Sacks.
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Even as he forcefully highlighted the and continue to teach and lead until
unique nature of the Jewish people the Torah’s light impacts even the last
and their Torah, his writings on Cha- straggler in the street. It is only when 1 Bamidbar 23:9.
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nukah find space for a positive engage- the non-Jewish public becomes hostile 2 Ein Aya Shabbat 2:12.
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Ein Aya Shabbat 2:5, 2:13; Orot HaKodesh 2,
ment with the world around us. to the Jewish people that we reluc- page 403.
tantly bring the Torah indoors and it 4 Ma’amarei HaRe’iyah, page 476-477.
This engagement is bidirectional. On becomes a private light for our com- 5 Shabbat 21b.
one level, we need to import the best munity alone. 6 Ma’amarei HaRe’iyah, page 150-151.
elements and modes of expression 7 Devarim 4:6.
from the outside world into Jewish It is no coincidence that in the Land 8 For similar themes, see Rav Kook’s address at
thought and life. This process can of Israel the custom of many Jews is to the opening ceremonies of the Hebrew Uni-
bring to the fore certain aspects of the light the menorah outdoors. According versity (Ma’amarei HaRe’iyah, page 306-308).
Torah that were hitherto in the back- to Rav Kook, it is when we are back in
drop and can aid in expressing the our Land with our own sovereign state Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein is a fac-
timeless Torah values in a contempo- that we regain the self-confidence and ulty member of Michlelet Mevaseret
rary and compelling fashion. For Rav opportunity to proudly espouse the Yerushalayim and Yeshiva University.
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We need a new generation of Jews committed to the dialogue between sacred
and secular if Judaism is to engage with the world and its challenges.
50 | RABBI SACKS