Ahavat Yisrael

Daily learning Sefer Ahavat Yisrael with Rabbi David Sutton - Brought to you by itorah.com

Today we will share one last Ahavat Yisrael thought related to Chanukah. As we mentioned, weread the Nasi'im/princes on Chanukah. One ofthe reasons for this is that right after the 12 Nasi'im comes Parashat Baha'alotcha ,which talks about the Menorah. What's the connection between the lighting ofthe Menorah and the Nasi'im ? Rashi tells us, in the beginning of Baha'alotcha that Aharon HaKohen had what is called Chalishut HaDa'at. He was down.He said, " My tribe is not connected to the 12 Nasi'im offerings? So Hashem said, " Don't feel bad. You have somethingbigger than they have. And that is the miracle of Chanukah ." The questionalways is How is Chanukah the answer to the fact that they have the Nasi'im ? Rabbi Aaron Walkin, in his sefer Aaron Haim, page 301, answers that what bothered Aharon about the Nasi'im was their Achdut . Each one of them brought the same exact offering.No one tried to outdo the other. No onesaid, " I'll do more flowers. I'll have a better wedding. I'll have a biggerparty." Everyone kept tothe same exact program. They didn't try to outdo each other. There was tremendous achdut . They boughtcaravans together- six caravans and they chipped in, two together, to show thatthey weren't trying to steal the wholeMitzvah. Everything about the Nasi'im indicated Achdut . So Aharon felt bad- Where was his tribe ? And the answer was, he would get themiracle of Chanukah. Because, as we mentioned, Chanukah has in it, the aspectof Achdut/unity , as we we discussed this past week- the many hints of unity in the miracle of Chanukah. And he further brings down that it says about the Menorah that there's Kaneh Echad/one main branch which everything comes of, andthat symbolizes the unity of the Jewishpeople. Furthermore, the Menorah cannot be made piecemeal. It has to chiseled out of one block , which was a miracle. And that one block is further symbolism of the oneness ofthe Menorah. So that's what it means that Aharon was told, " Yours will last forever." The Nesi'im's unity was a one-time thing, but Aharon HaKohen has the miracle of Chanukah, which lastsforever. And as we see, Chanukah is a time when families get together. Such is the Achdut aspect Chanukah. Have a wonderful day.

Today we will share a Hanukah related thought from the great Klausenberger Rebbe. The Rebbe points out that the miracle of Hanukah took place during the era of the second Bet Hamikdash, as we know. He says that the issue of Sinat Hinam was already brewing then, and that was part of the reason they got into trouble. Therefore, after the miracle of Hanukah, they strengthened themselves in the area of Achdut/ unity. He says there are two very interesting things about the mitzvah of the Menorah. Number one is that we do it outside. Our other Mitzvot are inside. The Seder is in the house, and Succot is inside the Succah- we don't see what's going on in anyone else’s house. But the menorah is on the outside. Number two is that there are three different levels of kiyum mitzvot of Ner Hanukah There's a regular level- where you light one candle, then there's one per night, then there’s one per person…different levels. We don't find that with other Mitzvot. We don’t get three options of of matzot- grade A grade B or grade C. The Torah has one level of Matzot. Additionally, we don’t have different levels of Megilat Esther. So what is it about Hanukah that has that three levels? He answers both questions with the same point- that since they had perfected their area of unity and they were no longer jealous of each other, it enabled that, firstly, we could put the menorah outside. When jealousy shows up, people think, “ How come he has a silver menorah and I only have copper?” But we don't have to worry about that when it comes to Hanukah. Secondly, I don't have to worry that he thinks he's better than me, because he’s doing a higher level Mitzvah. So whereas people may think- “ What? He eats yashan- he thinks he's better than me? He eats chalav Yisrael, he thinks he's better than me?” we didn't have that problem with Hanukah, because again, there was no jealousy. And with this he explains a Midrash, which is based on the Pasuk from Shir Hashirim, that is difficult to understand: הַֽדּוּדָאִ֣ים נָֽתְנוּ־רֵ֗יחַ וְעַל־פְּתָחֵ֙ינוּ֙ כׇּל־מְגָדִ֔ים literally means, “The Dudaim (a certain type of flower), gave a smell, and on our doorsteps are all kind of delicious delicacies. The Midrash says that the Dudaim gave a smell refers to Reuven, because he was the one that brought the Dudaim to his mother, and he saved Yosef from the pit. And on our doorstep there are delicacies refers to the Ner Hanukah that we put outside on the doorstep. What's the connection? A lot of rabbis speak about the connection between Reuven and the Ner Hanukah.The Klausenberger Rebbe explains, beautifully, that Reuven saved Yosef. As the Gemara in Berachot 7b says, Leah pointed out, “ Look how special my son is. Esav tried to kill Yaakov, and here Reuven is helping his would-be competition, Yosef (who would be the Bechor from Rachel, over the Bechor from Leah). He's helping him; He's uniting with him; He's trying to save him.” This connects to the miracle of Hanukah, when we light outside, because we're no longer worried about jealousy on Hanukah. Again, a beautiful connection between Achdut and the miracle of Hanukah. Have a wonderful day.

Today we have another thought about Ahavat Yisrael in relation to the holiday of Hanukah, which comes from the sefer Akedat Yitzhak Al HaTorah , from one of the Hasidim. He writes that Matityahu was the Sadik HaDor, and the job of the Sadik HaDor is to unite the hearts of Jewish people. That's why Matityahu’s cry was, “ Mi L’Hashem Elai/ Who is to Hashem come to me.” When he gathered together the Maccabim , he was trying to gather Jewish people together. He says that the only reason they won the war was because of their Achdut/unity, which is symbolized by the pach shemen/ vessel of oil. How so? We know that oil rises above water, but only when all the oil is united. If you blend the oil and water, the oil gets mixed into everything else, and you won't see the oil rise to the top. It’s only when the oil is all together that it can rise above. That's what it means that when they Jewish people are B’Achdut/united, they go above all nations and no one can impact them. Just like a bundle of sticks- one single stick can be broken, but when you put them all together, they cannot be broken. Anytime God wants to bring beracha on the Jewish people, there needs to be a vessel to hold the Beracha, and as the Mishna says, God did not find a vessel to hold the Beracha for the Jewish people, only shalom/ peace. Shalom is what brings all of the Beracha on the Jewish people. He quotes the sefer Noam Elimelech, which says on the pasuk, ‘ they graze in the marsh ,’ that it can also mean ‘ the Jewish people graze in tranquility when they're in brotherhood.’ Furthermore, in the same pesukim talking about the dreams of Yosef, it says that the during the time of the Plenty , the cows were fat cows. Rashi says, it's a sign of the good years, that each one looks good to the other one, that “I don't look at you in a tight way .” When there's a famine, they're all thin and each one looks at the other one like they're thin. They can't enjoy the other person's success, because they don't have anything. But when everyone's happy with each other, thar means it's a time of success. That's the simple explanation. But he brings a deeper explanation: He says, when everybody looks good at each other; when everyone has a good eye toward each other, and there's love and brotherhood in the world, that's a sign that there will be satiation in the world- not a sign that it is currently. That good trait of looking at your friend with a good eye, not competing and not being jealous, will bring the Beracha. So when you see a time that everyone's getting along, then you know there will be beracha. We read about Yosef and the brothers reuniting all during the holiday of Hanukah because that's part of the job of Hanukah- to bring that Achdut/togetherness between the brothers. And as we said, we also read about the 12 tribes of the Nesi’im during these days, all to indicate that important brotherhood. Furthermore, the Haftara talks about the uniting of Yehuda and Yosef. B’Ezrat Hashem we will have the Achdut necessary to bring the Beracha to the world.

Moshe Rabbenu, in Shemot 33,16 says וְנִפְלִ֙ינוּ֙ אֲנִ֣י וְעַמְּךָ֔ We ( the Jewish people) should be separated from the rest of the world. And right after that, God introduces the 13 Attributes of Mercy, which is a special covenant called the Covenant of the 13 Attributes that is made specifically for the Jewish people. This is what bothered the Greeks. They were bothered by anything that made the Jewish people stand out, apart from the rest of the world. These 13 attributes are what separate us. The way we describe our keeping the 13 attributes of mercy is to ‘ Go in the ways of God .’ Just like He is Rachum , we have to be be Rachum, just like He is Hanun we have to be Hanun . We must act in those ways, but why? Because of the rule that a son emulates his father. The Jewish people are called children of God, and therefore we are the ones that emulate God. We are the ones that live up to the Tzelem Elokim / image of God. The Tomar Devorah tells us that this why we have to live up to and emulate those 13 traits of God. With this, the sefer Yerach L’Moadim, from Rabbi Yerucham Olshin, the Rosh Yeshiva of Lakewood explains a custom brought down by the Magen Avraham, on Shuchan Aruch, brought down by the Mishna Berura and the Kaf HaChaim, that it's customary for young, poor children to go collect money on Hanukah. That's really where the famous Hanukah gelt comes from. Some people want to say it's a Gentile custom, but it's not. It was really for the poor. The custom might have been to just give it as gifts, but there was a concept of giving money to children. Of course, they didn't want to differentiate wealthy and poor when giving money to children. And what's the reason? It’s based on Rambam in Hilchot Matanot Ani’im , chapter 10, Halacha 2, which says, all Jewish people are like brothers, like it says, you are children of God. If we're children of God, we're all brothers. And if a brother doesn't have mercy on his brother, who will have mercy on him? And who are the poor of the Jewish people looking up to? To their Jewish brethren, that are going to help them. Therefore, the Rambam says that the Mitzvah of Sedaka clearly comes from the concept of being children of God, and therefore being brothers to each other. And if the point that the Greeks were trying to obliterate was the fact that we are children of God (and therefore brothers to each other), we must go out of our way and strengthen ourselves in the trait of being brothers and children of Hashem, by specifically giving Sedaka during the holiday of Kislev. That's an important Ahavat Yisrael connection to the holiday of Hanukah. Have a wonderful day.

As we're now in the month of Kislev, we will speak a little bit about Hanukah in order to get ready. The Ben Ish Chai quotes the Arizal that when one says the berachot of the Nerot Hanukah, he says LeHadlik Ner Hanukah, unlike Shabbat when we say LeHadlik Ner Shel Shabbat . He answers with a Kabbalistic reason: Because we want to spell out the letters נחל N a H a L (using the first letters of each word L eHadlik N er H anukah) which means stream . And this stream is a two way stream- One stream stands for N afshenu H ekita L Hashem/Our souls are waiting for God's salvation . So we're hoping to God- that's a Bitachon indicator. The other stream is N otzer H essed L ’Alafim/ God protects and watches over our good deeds for 2000 generations, which are the 8 th and 9 th attributes of the 13 Attributes of God's Mercy ( El Rachum V’Hanun etc). What is the significance of this? He says that on each day of Hanukah, a different one of the 13 attributes is aroused. Day one is El , day two is Rachum , day three, Hanun…. etc . When we hit day eight, it’s Notzer Hessed/God watches our kindness, and L’Alafim is trait nine. Notzer Hessed L’Alafim/God watches the kindness for 2000 generations. Even though it's two separate traits, it's really one unit. And so, with the 8th unit comes down the 9th, the 10th, 11th, the 12th, and the 13th, which is all on the eighth day of Hanukah, and it’s called Zot Hanukah. That's why it's such a special day- because all 13 attributes come down. (Similarly, when we read the sefer Torah on Hanukah there are 13 different readings, so to say. There are the 12 tribes, and there's the also the tribe of the Kohanim, which is the 13th tribe, if you break it up that way. We do one Nasi/prince each day. But on the eighth day we do the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11, 12 th and 13 th , which correspond to the attributes) Our goal is to understand what exactly the connection is, between the 13 attributes and the holiday of Hanukah. And they explain as follows… In the Mishna Masechet Middot (chapter 2, mishna 3) it says that there were different boundaries and gates around the Bet Hamikdash. One of them was called the Soreg , which was only 10 hand-fists high. It didn’t really serve the purpose of a real wall. But it says that there were 13 breaches made there by the Greeks when they came to the Bet Hamikdash (as we sing in Maoz Sur - they made breaches in the walls). Furthermore, it says that when we won the war, we filled in those breaches. The people would go to each breach and bow down in thanks to God that we won the war. So the question is, what exactly is the significance of these 13 breaches in this wall? Rav Gedalia Schorr z’l explains, in his Sefer Or Gedalia , that the purpose of this 10 hand-fist high wall was to designate an area where goyim were not allowed to go. (There were certain areas in the Bet Hamikdash where contaminated people couldn't go, where non-Kohanim couldn’t go, and a certain point where no goyim were allowed to pass). This bothered the Greeks. They felt, with their philosophy, that they were equal to the Jews. So why couldn’t they go past there? They specifically made 13 breaches in those walls, in order to, so to say, break the differentiation between Jew and goy. But there's a deeper significance- Why the number 13, why didn’t they make 11 or 12 breaches? The answer is, because it corresponds to the 13 attributes of mercy that God has for the Jewish people. That's what they were trying to separate. One of the differentiating factors between the Jews and the goyim is that Hashem deals with us with these special 13 attributes of mercy. And that's what happens on Hanukah… We'll continue tomorrow with the significance of Hanukah and its connection to these 13 attributes. But the first thing we have to know is that the 13 attributes have to do with the 13 breaches that the Greeks made in the wall.

We continue with the trait of God called She’erut Nachlato, that God views the Jewish people as relatives, and it hurts God when we're in pain. The Gemara In Masechet Hagiga says When a man is in pain, what does God say? My head hurts. My arm hurts. And that's talking about sinners . So it’s surely so when a Sadik is suffering. Rav Chaim Volozhin, in his Sefer Nefesh HaChaim ( Shaar ב perek יא ) says, “What does it mean, ‘My head hurts and My arm hurts?’ He says, that connects to the tefilin that we wear on our head and arm..” The Gemara in Berachot 6A says just like we wear Tefilin, God, kal v’yachol wears Tefilin . It’s all about connection, the connection between God and the Jewish people. Our tefilin says Hashem Echad , and God’s tefilin says Mi K’Amcha Yisrael, Who is like the Jewish people , Goy Echad who is great like the Jewish people…that are connected to God like relatives. So God's Tefilin are full of praise for the Jewish people. Just like our tefilin praises Him, His Tefilin praises us. Tefilin signifies that connection. Therefore, when a man is in pain, it's as if, kal v’yachol, God's not connected. It means God's head and arm hurts. He doesn't feel the connection to the Jewish people when we're in suffering. And that's why the Benei Yisaschar says in Ma’Amar ה , of Hodesh Av, an unbelievable thought. Why is it that many people have the custom not to wear tefilin on Tisha B’Av? Because that’s the day, that, as if to say, God's not wearing His tefilin either, because if we're in such suffering, obviously there's a disconnection. And therefore, we don't wear the tefilin. This concept, of looking at everyone as our relatives, is talking about a stranger. You have to treat a stranger like a relative. But it's more than that. The Gemara in Sanhedrin 76B says that someone who loves his neighbors, and Mekarev Et K’rovav/brings his relatives close to him, and he lends a poor man at a time of difficulty, on him, it says, ‘You'll call out and God will respond to you.’ This is based on a pasuk in Yeshaya which is talking about what God wants on a fast day. He wants us to give to the poor. He wants to bring the poor into our homes. He wants us to cover the naked. And the words that say what God wants when He is talking about all this kindliness, is Don’t ignore your flesh and blood On that, the Gemara says that you have to put extra emphasis on the relative . Sometimes we're nice to the strangers, but we don't have that same connection to our own relatives. As the saying goes, charity begins in the home. It's not enough to give that stranger money. But the Gemara says, Mekarev Et K’rovav bring your relative close. (Sanhedrin 76B explaining Yeshaya 58, which we actually read on Yom Kippur) A person may wonder- How come my prayers aren't being answered? Well, maybe because you're not being Mekarev Et K’rovav bringing your relatives close. There's a story of a rabbi who had a wife and bunch of young children. He was learning in a Kollel (and he eventually became a Rosh Yeshiva). Every day he would get there at a quarter to 10 when the Kollel started at nine o'clock. And the rabbi in charge of the Kollel said, “ Where are you?” He answered, “ Every day I leave my house, and I'm on my way to get here on time. Then I pass by a house with a widow with six children and I just can't leave. So I go h elp her get the kids ready to go off to school. And I get here to a quarter to 10.” “Oh wow! I'm sorry.” And then the young Kollel rabbi says, “ I want to correct this a little bit. It's actually my wife and her six children, but I can only help a widow? I can't help my own wife? That's the concept Mekarev Et Krovav Have a wonderful day.

We're continuing this concept that the Jewish people are connected to God cause we're related. The pasuk in V’Etchanan 4,7 says כִּ֚י מִי־ג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל אֲשֶׁר־ל֥וֹ אֱלֹהִ֖ים קְרֹבִ֣ים אֵלָ֑יו כַּיהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ בְּכׇל־קׇרְאֵ֖נוּ אֵלָֽיו Who is a great nation that God is related to? Whenever you call out to Him, He responds. Which means that because we're related, He responds to our prayers. Asks the Brisker Rav on Shemot 33,19, What do you mean? Goyim can also pray and Goyim can do teshuva, as we see in Yonah. And in Melachim א chapter eight, Shlomo Hamelech says, וְגַם֙ אֶל־הַנׇּכְרִ֔י When the goy comes, his prayer is answered. And Yeshaya 56 says, My house is the house of prayer for all nations. So we see that goyim can pray. So what does it mean that ‘O nly we are considered the ones to close to God and related to God and we can pray?’ The Brisker Rav answers that the Gemara in Rosh Hashana, page 18 says, “ This power that responds to us always, is for the Tzibur /group There's a special power of a Tzibur . And when there's a Tzibur praying or doing Teshuva , it's immediately answered. That’s the special power of the Tzibur. He says that only the Jewish people have the power of Tzibur . What does that mean? That means that regarding Goyim, when there are 100 people in a room, it's just 100 individuals in a room. There is no connection because they're not inherently connected. It says their souls come from Olam HaPiud/ the world of separation . However, the Jewish people come from Olam HaAchdut/The world of connection. That's why the Jewish people are symbolized by Reshut Hayachid , private property , and the goyim are Reshut HaRabim/public property. All Jewish people are in one private household. We are one big happy family, whereas the goyim are out in Times Square, with no inherent connection. They’re outside. So only the Jewish people have the power of the Tzibur . And that's the power of the 13 Attributes of Mercy, where it says V’Yaavor Hashem al Panav Va’Yikrah… the Gemara says that Hashem put on a Talet like a Shaliach Tzibur , and showed them the power of the prayer. He says, whenever the Jewish people sin follow this, And I forgive them. Why does the Gemara say that God was a Shaliach Tzibur? To show that this is a power that only works with the Tzibur . That's why we can only say the 13 attributes of mercy with 10 people in the room. If you are stuck at home praying, you have to say it with proper te’amim/cantillation. You can't say it alone, because this is something that is only said by a Tzibur . And like it says about Yaakov Avinu, 60 soul (written in singular) whereas regarding Esav, it says 6 souls , because their souls are individuals. They're not connected. There's no power of a Tzibur . A Tzibur is everyone together. A pneumonic of Tzibur צבור is צ דיק ב נוני ר שע Tz addik, B enoni, R asha, all Jews are together in one Tzibur . When we come to pray on Yom Kippur, we let everyone in. We allow even the sinners to come in, because we need the power of Tzibur . And that is because of the concept of Am Kerovo , We are the ones that have the power of closeness, of relation, as one body, as one soul of the Jewish people. And we have to act like that. We have to treat every Jew like that. Because if we don't act like that, we don't arouse God acting like that as well. Have a wonderful day.

AY 331 We are all Related We're talking about trait number four of God, called L’she’erit Nachlato, which means Hashem considers the Jewish people as His relatives. And regardless of what they're doing or not doing, or what they're deserving of, He can't see their pain and has to alleviate it. How does that apply to us? Says the Tomar Devorah, That's how we have to act with our friends, because we are all connected, our souls are connected. Our bodies might not be connected, but our souls are connected. He says that's why there's a concept in Shevuot 39A, כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה We are all responsible for each other. Why? In his words, “ Every person has a piece of his friend inside of him. I have 600,000 pieces inside of me. And therefore, when I sin, I'm impacting all those other 600,000 pieces of my soul that everyone has inside of me. The reason someone else can say kiddush for me if I need to hear it is that he has a little bit of me in him, and I have a little of him in me. We're all connected, we're all related. That's why we're responsible for each other. If I see someone else sinning, I can stop him, because when he sins, it's making a hole in my boat- again, because a little bit of him is inside of me. This is an unbelievable concept. And it’s not just poetic prose; this is real fact. Anytime a rabbi adds the word mamash , it means for real. That means we're not saying this in poetry. We are for real. We are really considered relatives. He says, מפני שממש יש בכל אחד חלק אחד מחבירו For real , each one of us has a portion of our friend in us, and if that's the case, I have to want the benefit of my friend, and my eyes should be good on my friend's respect, as dear as mine. Why? In his powerful words, שהרי הוא – הוא ממש ומטעם זה נצטוינו He is literally me. And that's why V’Ahavta L’Re’echa Kamocha-I have to love my friend like I love myself, because his good is my good and his loss is my loss. Therefore, I want my friend to be successful. I don't want to ever say anything negative about him. Just like God doesn't want to see our degradation, or our pain and negativity, because of the relationship. And that's how we have to treat each other. Again, when we see someone else in pain, וירע לו ממנו כאלו הוא ממש היה שרוי באותו צער או באותה טוב I have to feel like I’m in that same pain, and the opposite, if he’s celebrating, I have to celebrate as well. This are unbelievable concepts that we have to really put into our consciousness. This is not just a flowery way of speaking. If we had eyes to see, we would see the connections, and the feelings that we should have, should be based on that real connection. Have a wonderful day.