"And you shall eat, be satiated and bless
Hashem your Lord over the good Land (i.e. the Holy Land) in which He has given
to you" (Devarim 8:10).
Rav Avira stated... the
Heavenly angels questioned Hashem regarding a seeming contradiction that
appears in the Holy Torah: "On the one hand You wrote - 'I am a Lord who
will not show favor [in judgement]' (Devarim 10:17), but on
the other hand You also wrote - 'Hashem will show favor to you' (BaMidbar
6:26)? The Holy One answered them: "How can I not show favor to the
Jewish people? For I have written in the Torah 'you shall eat, be satiated and
[then] bless Hashem your Lord', and yet they already bless me after eating even
an olive's worth (approx. 30 grams) and an eggs worth (approx. 60 grams) [which
is much less than their being fully satiated]!" (Berakhot 20b).
With this source Rabbi Meir
established the law of reciting a blessing after eating just an olive's worth
of food (i.e. 30 grams), while Rabbi Yehudah established the blessing only
after an egg's worth (i.e. 60 grams). Jewish law rules in accordance to the
opinion of Rabbi Meir - an olive's worth.
Since food is what keeps
body and soul together, it goes to say that when this act is conducted properly
and in balance (i.e. not to overeat) it enables a true existence and
perspective in life. Thus an olive's worth (i.e. 30 grams) even though not at
all satisfying, is enough already to give the soul productive energy to use in
the performance of Mitzvot.
And when after eating even
such a minimal intake of food, one then uses this energy to say words of praise
and glory to Hashem - this then activates the reciprocal praise and glory that
Hashem takes in the Jewish nation. With this, Hashem, as it were, gives over the
heavens and earth in their hands so that they can guide and direct nature
according to their own will, thus leading to "super-natural" wonders
and miracles taking place. This results in people "seeing" the glory
and splendor of Hashem hidden behind creation, which is the general attitude
and lifestyle of truly living in the Holy Land - the Land of Israel.
________
Based on all this, we can
understand a more profound insight and depth in the miracle of the Chanukah
story, message and festival:
The Menorah served to
illuminate the rest of the world with the light and Divine favor that was
generated through all of the holy items and devotions performed in the Holy
Temple.
This involved the High
priest lighting the Menorah daily with pure and untainted "olive"
oil. This was specifically used to show and demonstrate to the entire world
that the goal of the Holy Temple is basically to reveal Hashem's Divine favor
in this mundane world of concealment, and that this can also be achieved on a
personal level through minimizing one's food intake to even an "olive's
worth", and then to praise Hashem using this energy.
Thus, it was specifically
the High priest who lit the olive oil Menorah lamp, since "Hashem will
show favor to you" - which is generated by eating and blessing Hashem even
after an "olive's worth" - is part of the priestly blessings (above
BaMidbar 6:26).
However, the Greeks sought
to undermine this glory, trying to take away from the Jewish people their
ability to reveal and even "control" Hashem's Divine favor. With
their decrees to prevent the Jews from observing Shabbat, sanctifying the New
Moon, and performing the Mitzvah of circumcision - 3 events in life which
reflect the pride and glory of Hashem in His holy nation - the Greeks hoped to
throw the Jews into a spiritual "panic". With this accomplished, they
hoped to "stress-out" the Jewish nation, which would eventually
affect the quality and quantity of their eating, thus blemishing the
"olive's worth" of their sustenance.
This is hinted to in the
Hebrew work for Greece - Yavan - which is etymologically similar to quicksand -
Yeven Metzula: by making the Jews sink into a spiritual "quicksand",
this would cause them to lose control and thus eat whatever and however etc.,
thus leading to the concealment of Hashem's Divine favor.
Due to this, Matityahu the
High priest along with his five sons - all Cohanim/priests - felt the heavy
responsibility to restore the nations ability to reactivate Hashem's Divine
favor, since it was their responsibility to bless the nation with this
blessing (above BaMidbar 6:26).
This led to the
"super-natural" victory of this small Macabee/Cohanim army over the
massive Greek empire. For these weren't your regular weaponed-trained soldiers!
Matityahu and his sons were tzadikkim of the highest caliber totally immersed
in the holiness and service of the Holy Temple. Thus they went out to battle
with the blessing of "Hashem will show favor to you".
When the victory was won
and the Cohanim gained full control again over the Holy Temple, one of the
first things they looked for was pure "olive oil" to rekindle again
the Menorah. And yes, the next miracle was that they found a container of pure
and untainted olive oil sealed with the insignia of the High priest! Since this
was the whole purpose of the Temple - to illuminate the world with Divine Favor
through Rabbi Meir's "olive's worth" - it was considered a big
miracle.
The next miracle was that
the olive oil was only enough to kindle the Menorah for one day, yet it continued
to burn for a total of 8 days. The number 8 corresponds to the eighth Sefirah
(spritual energy from Above) called Hod-Glory. For when Divine Favor is
revealed through super-natural miracles this leads to both the glory of Hashem
and the Jewish nation to be revealed.
With all this, it is now
understood why Torah law states that it is best to use "olive oil" to
light the Chanukah candles - i.e. to reveal Rabbi Meir's
"olive's" worth.
For this reason too, the
only thing permitted to do with the Chanukah lights is to "look" at
them (as opposed to using their light to read a book etc.). This looking is
basically "seeing" the revealed glory and splendor of Hashem and the
Jewish people which is re-revealed through the Chanukah festival every year.
In line with all this we
see why the days of Chanukah are called days of praise and thanksgiving. For
with the awareness of the "olive's worth" activated, leading people
to become properly concerned and aware of keeping in-check their quality and quantity
of eating, this also results in properly praising and thanking Hashem for the
sustenance that He gives us.
For this reason also, Torah
law states that if words of praise and thanks to Hashem are recited in any meal
prepared during the Chanukah festival, it becomes a Mitzvah to partake of that
meal - i.e. that the food eaten then is in the category of Rabbi Meir's
"olive worth" of food (even though one actually eats more than 30
grams of food during this meal).
May we truly merit this
year to connect to the powerful light and awareness generated by the Chanukah
candles, and may we be inspired to begin again to enhance the holy quality of
our eating, as this is the main means of revealing Hashem's special love to the
Jewish nation, Amen.
________________
As Chanukah is a special time for sending support to
the needy (known in Yiddish as "Chanukah Gelt"), if you would like to
send support for families in need here in Yerushalayim (including me and my
family), please follow this paypal link: CHANUKAH
SUPPORT.
As a token of appreciation for your support, please also submit your full
Hebrew name (if applicable) and mother's name, and I will (bli neder) add your
name to my 40 day davening list which also includes sporadic prayers at the
Holy Cites here in the Holy Land.
SHALOM
AND CHANUKAH SAMEACH
Meir
Elkabas
