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Harav Hagaon Shmuel Wolman Shlita

Chanukah and Yosef Hatzaddik: Above and Beyond

Parashas Mikeitz/Chanukah

Harav Hagaon Shmuel Wolman shlita

The sefarim hakedoshim note that it is no coincidence that the parashiyos about Yosef Hatzaddik are read on Chanukah. In fact, the Kadmonim point out that there’s a passuk in Mikeitz that contains two remazim to Chanukah: וּטְבֹחַ טֶבַח וְהָכֵן. The ח ofטֶבַח  and the word וְהָכֵן spell the word חנוכה, and the gematria of וּטְבֹחַ טֶבַח is 44, corresponding to the neiros of Chanukah (including the shamash for each night). Clearly, there’s a very strong connection between the Yom Tov of Chanukah and Yosef Hatzaddik.

How do we understand this association?

The Gemara famously asks: מאי חנוכה, and Rashi explains that the Gemara is asking: Which nes prompted Chazal to establish the Yom Tov of Chanukah?

The Gemara seems to answer that it’s the nes of the pach shemen, which is perplexing. This was certainly a supernatural occurrence, but without minimizing the nes, why was it more significant that any of the other miracles that occurred over the generations? We know that ten nissim occurred consistently in the Beis Hamikdash, and the Ner Hamaaravi burned steadily, in a supernatural way. Furthermore, the Midrash Tanchuma cites R’ Chanina S’gan Hakohanim’s statement that he lit the menorah on Rosh Hashanah and it stayed lit the entire year.

If so, why was the nes of the pach shemen so unique that Chazal deemed it worthy of making a Yom Tov and a mitzvah of hadlakas ner Chanukah to commemorate it?

Another intriguing point about the nes of Chanukah: When we discuss the nissim of Yetzias Mitzrayim, or even Purim, we strongly emphasize the tefillos that triggered these miracles, whereas regarding the nes of Chanukah, we cannot help but notice the omission of any mention of tefillah being the source of the nissim.

 

Repairing the Missing Element

Apparently, Chazal were not simply responding to the magnitude of this nes, but rather, they identified something about the background leading up to the nes that was worthy of commemoration for the generations to come. The other nissim in the Beis Hamikdash were a function of the palpable hashraas haShechinah there, which had supernatural manifestations. Miracles like those do not yield a lesson for generations, whereas the context of the nes of the pach shemen in the story of Chanukah does yield such a lesson.

We often imagine that the Yevanim just happened to start up with the Yidden and persecute them on two fronts: they waged war against them, and they defiled all the oil in the Beis Hamikdash, to prevent the Yidden from lighting the menorah. Hakadosh Baruch Hu then made a nes to save us from these two evil plans. But the Bach offers a fundamental insight into the events leading up to the nes of Chanukah: The decrees of the Yevanim were a direct outcome of a weakening in avodah on the part of the Yidden, and what triggered the Eibishter’s response, in the form of great miracles, was the teshuvah of the Yidden, who began to exhibit mesirus nefesh in their avodas Hashem.

R’ Yerucham understands from the Bach that the original weakening in avodah was specifically in the area in which they eventually did teshuvah: They were willing to keep Torah and mitzvos up to a certain point, but they were not willing to push themselves beyond their comfort zones and be moser nefesh for it — and this triggered the gezeiros of the Yevanim. Therefore, what prompted the nissim was not tefillah, but rather the renewed mesirus nefesh for avodas Hashem that the Yidden displayed through their willingness to wage war for Hashem’s sake. In the trying environment of רבים ביד מעטים and גבורים ביד חלשים, they stretched themselves beyond the rules of nature, even searching for oil when it was impossible. This mesirus nefesh, even without specific tefillah, triggered miracles. When we rise above our natural limitations, then, middah k’neged middah, the Ribbono Shel Olam responds in kind, with a hanhagah that transcends nature.

We can now appreciate that although the nes of the pach shemen is rivaled by many other miracles in both magnitude and duration, those nissim did not spawn a Yom Tov and mitzvos hayom because there is no reason to relive them and no lesson to glean from them for all generations. The nes of Chanukah was unique in the background of the tzarah that precipitated it and the incredible power of mesirus nefesh that triggered the yeshuah.

Since Chanukah commemorates the yeshuah that came about directly through our mesirus nefesh, the avodah of Chanukah is to ensure that our avodas Hashem is not merely okay, but is performed with full mesirus nefesh. Anything less allows the Yevanim to gain power over us.

Chanukah is all about taking our avodas Hashem to the next level — not just getting by, but giving it our all — and then some. Chanukah is when we realize that in Yiddishkeit, mesirus nefesh is not merely a madreigah, but an expectation. At the same time, it also has the power to create a supernatural course of existence.

It is no wonder, then, that the concept of mehadrin min hamehadrin is emphasized in relation to the mitzvah of hadlakas ner Chanukah more than any other mitzvah. Moreover, the Mechaber discusses mehadrin min hamehadrin as if it’s a basic requirement in ner Chanukah, which conveys to us how fundamental it is to give it this mitzvah our all and go above and beyond the baseline obligation.

The mitzvah of ner Chanukah involves another unique phenomenon: Chazal enacted a special takanah of how to light neiros Chanukah in a situation of sakanah. Shouldn’t the halachah be that in a time of danger a person is patur? And yet Chazal considered it imperative to find a way to fulfill the mitzvah of ner Chanukah even in the face of sakanah. Because that’s the essence of Chanukah: serving Hashem with mesirus nefesh, while going above and beyond the basic obligations.

Yosef Hatzaddik: The Source of Mesirus Nefesh

This power of mesirus nefesh that Klal Yisrael exudes is rooted in the middah of Yosef Hatzaddik. Indeed, Chazal describe in detail the l’maalah min hateva type of nisyonos that Yosef experienced in Mitzrayim, especially with Eishes Potifar. And the Midrash tells us that every hatzlachah that Yosef enjoyed in Mitzrayim was a direct outcome of his mesirus nefesh. The wording of the Midrash is: משלו נתנו לו — he earned it through his mesirus nefesh.

Yosef Hatzaddik implanted in every Yid this ability to go beyond one’s natural kochos and serve Hashem with mesirus nefesh. Where does this koach of mesirus nefesh for avodas Hashem come from? The passuk in Shir Hashirim says: כִּי עַזָּה כַמָּוֶת אַהֲבָה, and the Midrash explains that the manifestation of that intense love is כִּי עָלֶיךָ הֹרַגְנוּ כָל הַיּוֹם. When we see supernatural mesirus nefesh for avodas Hashem, that is a display of tremendous ahavah, which is the root of this ability to give all your kochos and then some for the Eibishter’s sake. This level of love is referred by Chazal as chavivus.

The term chavivus appears, in the verb form chovev, in the passuk: אַף חֹבֵב עַמִּים כָּל קְדֹשָׁיו בְּיָדֶךָ וְהֵם תֻּכּוּ לְרַגְלֶךָ, and the Ramban explains that it refers to the ability to serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu with mesirus nefesh despite a difficult environment of yissurim, as implied in the words וְהֵם תֻּכּוּ לְרַגְלֶךָ. That middah of chavivus — חביבין יסורים — is an even higher level than ahavah, and is indicative of the strong relationship between Klal Yisrael and the Eibishter. We’re not just His servants — we are His banim chavivim. And that is why the mitzvah of ner Chanukah is described by the Rambam as chavivah ad me’od.

With this mitzvah, we commemorate the avodah that was done with mesirus nefesh, which displays our chavivus toward Hakadosh Baruch Hu and His mitzvos, and also heralds the hanhagah of nissim that we get in return from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, who then displays chavivus to us.

This idea sheds light on the emphasis, in Al Hanissim, of ואחר כך באו בניך. Indeed, the whole story of Chanukah highlights our chavivus as בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַה’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.

Maintaining the Idealism of Youth

How do we tap into this middah of Yosef to go the extra mile and push ourselves beyond our limits?

In this regard, the navi refers to Klal Yisrael as a naar (Hoshea 11:1): כִּי נַעַר יִשְׂרָאֵל וָאֹהֲבֵהוּ. Why is this a compliment to Klal Yisrael, and why is it the source of Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s love for us? R’ Yisrael Salanter explains that although the Torah generally respects old age — זקנה implying זה שקנה חכמה, as with age comes understanding and mature thought processes — there’s still something unique about the fresh idealism of a young lad. A young person doesn’t suffer from complacency, and is not jaded by his own failures. Keenly aware of how far he still needs to go, he’s full of fresh kochos to give it his all, and he’s ready to push himself to his limits and beyond. This stems from an ahavah, a chavivus, a freshness, and that is the praise of Klal Yisrael that the navi is highlighting as the root of Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s love for us.

The Torah describes Yosef as a naar — וְהוּא נַעַר, and the sefarim hakedoshim explain that this can be understood as a praise of Yosef: He possessed that exceptional quality of freshness, of pushing himself to recognize how much more there is grow and much more there is to do in avodas Hashem. That’s what propelled Yosef to be able to feel the ahavah and chavivus and push himself with mesirus nefesh beyond his kochos. This could be the root of Yosef’s outstanding middah of being moser nefesh l’maalah min hateva.

We can now fully appreciate the unusually deep connection between the avodah of Chanukah and Yosef Hatzaddik’s middah of mesirus nefesh. But we’re also afforded a new insight into the avodas hayom, and especially the avodah of hadlakas ner Chanukah, in which we perform numerous hiddurim, while reveling in the stories of the incredible mesirus nefesh that Yidden throughout the generations have displayed in fulfilling the mitzvah of hadlakas ner Chanukah, even in times of sakanah. We must internalize how fundamental mesirus nefesh is in our avodas Hashem, for a Yiddishkeit that involves just getting by, as one goes through the motions, is missing the most fundamental part of the relationship of ahavah and chavivus to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and his mitzvos.

May the Eibishter give us the siyatta d’Shmaya to internalize this concept, which can not only invigorate our avodas hayom of Chanukah, but can also revitalize our entire relationship with the Eibishter, so we can feel that we are banim chavivim, as we put our whole heart into our Yiddishkeit. And that is the message that secures our next generation, as Chazal promise: הרגיל בנר הויין ליה בנים תלמידי חכמים.

Gut Shabbos and a freilechen Chanukah.

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