Parshas Chayei Sarah — Shabbos Mevarchim Kislev
1. In many years, as in this year, Parshas Chayei Sarah is read on the Shabbos that blesses the month of Kislev. As is known,[1] the weekly Torah portions are connected with the time in which they are read; it is therefore understood that this parsha alludes to the theme of the month of Kislev.[2]
The special content of each month, by which it is distinguished from other months, is in most cases[3] connected with the special days (festivals, etc.) of that month,[3*] which influence the whole month. We find this explicitly regarding the month of Adar: because of the days of Purim in it, the whole month was "transformed" into a month of "joy" and "festivity."[4]
From this it is understood in our case that the content of the month of Kislev is connected with the festival of Chanukah,[5] which begins on the twenty-fifth of Kislev[6] — and we find an allusion to the miracle of Chanukah in Parshas Chayei Sarah:
Chanukah was established because of the miracle of the cruse of oil[7] — "they found only one cruse of oil… and it contained only enough to light for one day; a miracle was done with it, and they lit from it for eight days."[8] And such a miracle is found also with Sarah and Rivkah, as our Sages say[9] (on the verse[10] "And Yitzchak brought her into the tent, Sarah his mother") that the (Shabbos) candle they lit was "burning from Shabbos eve to Shabbos eve."[11]
Nevertheless (and especially since the miracle of Chanukah brought about that a special festival was established because of it), it is understood that in the miracle of Chanukah there is something new compared with the miracle of the candles of Sarah and Rivkah.[12]
It is forced to say that the advantage lies only in this: that from the cruse of oil of the days of Chanukah (which "contained only enough to light for one day") they lit for "eight days," while the candles of Sarah and Rivkah burned miraculously for only[13] (a bare) seven days — for this is not a difference in the nature and quality of the miracle, but only in quantity, in how long the miracle lasted.
2. The miracle of Chanukah is explained, in general, in two ways:
a) A miraculous addition took place in the quantity of the oil, until there was enough oil for all eight days — whether in the manner that each day, after the lamps were filled, the cruse remained "as full as at first," or because each day "they found the lamps full of oil" (as in the two views in the Beis Yosef[14]).
b) The miracle was in the quality of the oil: the amount of oil that by nature could suffice to burn for only one day burned for eight days; that is, each day an eighth of the oil in the cruse was burned up —
[as the Beis Yosef[15] says, that the oil in the cruse was divided into eight parts and each night only one part was poured into the Menorah; or, as the Pri Chadash[16] explains, that on the first night all the oil was poured into the Menorah and each night only one eighth of the oil burned up].
According to this it seemingly follows that the inquiry above — whether the miracle of Chanukah is of the same kind as the miracle of the candles of Sarah and Rivkah — depends on these two ways:
According to the second way, both miracles are of the same kind — a qualitative addition in the burning power of the oil (in both cases the lamp burned far longer than it can burn by nature).
[And the difference between them is that (a) on Chanukah there was a greater addition[17] in burning power (for eight days), as above; (b) on Chanukah there was a separate miracle each day — the Menorah had to be lit every day — whereas with Sarah and Rivkah the candles burned seven days in a row.]
According to the first way, however, the miracle of Chanukah is of a different kind: the existence of more oil was created miraculously, which is not found with the candles of Sarah and Rivkah.
But according to this way too, there was nothing new in the nature of the Chanukah miracle — for this kind of miracle is also found earlier (explicitly in the Written Torah, in the Prophets[18]): the miracle of the "jug of oil" with Elisha.
3. In each of the two ways above there is something not smooth:
According to the way that the quantity of the oil was increased, there is the well-known question:[19] how could the lamps of the Beis HaMikdash be lit with miraculous oil, when it is written,[20] "pure olive oil… to kindle a lamp continually"?
[And the answer given is that "olive oil" does not mean oil that is (pressed) from an olive, but oil that has all the properties of "olive oil" (its light is clear,[21] etc.).]
According to the way that the change was in the quality of the oil — that each night an eighth of the oil in the cruse burned up — it is also not smooth.[22] The law[23] regarding the Menorah is "Give it its measure, so that it burns from evening to morning, etc., and the Sages set it at half a log," besides the matter that a vessel of service should be "full" (as is understood from the law[24] that "vessels of service… sanctify only when full"). According to the above, it follows that from the second day on, "give it its measure"[25] was not fulfilled (and the lamps were not filled with "the complete measure needed for the purpose"[26]).
And on the other hand, it follows from this that on each day (except the eighth) it was not "its measure, so that it burns from evening to morning," but on the first day eight times as much,[27] on the second day seven times, and so on.
4. One may suggest a third way of understanding the miracle of Chanukah, in which the above questions do not arise, and according to which it will also be clear that the miracle of Chanukah contained something new (in the matter of lighting lamps) whose like we do not find:
As brought above (section 2) from the Beis Yosef, the Chanukah miracle — according to one view — consisted in this: "they put all the oil in the lamps… and in the morning they found the lamps full of oil."
It may be said that the meaning of this is (not that the oil burned up and the lamps then filled up again with oil miraculously, but) that the oil burned and at the same time nothing at all was diminished from it[28] — as our Sages say (in general) of the "fire from Above," that "it burns but does not consume."[29][30]
And it should be noted: even if we say that the lamps of the Menorah could be lit with miraculous oil (since it has the properties of olive oil, as above), it is understood that the (fire and) light of the Menorah[31] must be such as comes from the "oil (for illumination)."
It follows that in this miracle there was a thing and its opposite:
The natural fire (and light) of lamps, which comes from oil (and the like),[32] must involve the consumption of the oil;[33] and on the other hand, nothing at all was missing from the oil[34] — consumption and non-consumption at one and the same time.
This is a matter of "the most impossible of impossibilities"[35] — like the miracle of "the place of the Ark was not included in the measurement,"[36] in which both opposites existed at once: the (place of the) Ark had a measure, as stated explicitly in the Torah,[37] "two and a half cubits its length…," and together with this, its place was "not included in the measurement."
5. A deeper point in this:
In the matter of "the place of the Ark was not included in the measurement," the emphasis is not only that the Ark contained both opposites — "measure" and "not of the measure" — at the same time, but more: the "not of the measure" came about specifically through the Ark's having a (specific) measure. Had the Ark not been of the exact measure stated in the Torah, there would not have been the holiness of the Ark, etc., and consequently not the miracle of "not of the measure."
So too with the miracle of Chanukah (according to the above explanation): the miracle came about specifically through lighting the lamps of the Beis HaMikdash according to law. And since by law the light of the Menorah must come from oil, whose property is to be consumed in fire, as above, it follows that the miracle of "they found the lamps full of oil" (that the oil was not diminished) came about specifically through its being the oil's nature to be consumed.
6. The connection of this kind of miracle specifically to Chanukah will be understood by first introducing the difference between the three ways of explaining the miracle mentioned above — (a) an addition in the quantity of oil; (b) an addition in the quality of oil; (c) two opposites — consumption and non-consumption — at the same time:
In the first way, the miracle is seen only in the first moment, when the oil is added miraculously; afterwards it burns in a natural way.
And although the miracle of the oil bears on the lighting — for without the miraculous oil there would have been nothing with which to light the lamps of the Beis HaMikdash, so that the very burning of the lamps (with that oil) is connected with the miracle — the miracle is not openly evident. The proof: one who does not know where the oil came from does not know that a miracle happened here.
In the second way, since the small amount of oil burns much longer than it does by nature, one sees the miracle (also) while the oil is burning. Nevertheless, it is only the effect of the miracle that is seen during the time the oil burns; the miracle itself had already taken place at the moment G‑d changed and strengthened the quality and power of the oil.[38]
But in the third way, which is a matter of "the most impossible of impossibilities," the miracle itself takes place anew at every single moment.
7. These three ways — like every matter in Torah — are also found in a person's service of G‑d.
The difference between nature and miracle in a person's service is this:[39] "nature" is service according to reason and understanding — service measured according to the measures and limits of the nature and being of the person (according to how much he understands and feels, etc.); "miracle" refers to the service of accepting the yoke [of Heaven] and self-sacrifice, which is above reason and understanding — one does not take one's own wishes into account (and certainly not nature, understanding, feeling, etc.). One fulfills the Supernal Will, even to the point of self-sacrifice.
Although all service must be founded on acceptance of the yoke and self-sacrifice — in the words of our Sages,[40] "one should first accept upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and afterwards accept upon himself the yoke of the mitzvos" (for a created being cannot rely on his intellect and feeling always to lead him to serve in accordance with the Supernal Will, and therefore service according to reason and understanding must be founded on acceptance of the yoke of His Kingship) — there are in this several levels and ways:
One way is that the feeling of accepting the yoke and of self-sacrifice (the "miracle" that is above nature) is only at the beginning of the day, at the time of the Shema, whose content is "to accept upon himself the Kingdom of Heaven with self-sacrifice"[41] — and afterwards, during the day, the service is according to reason and understanding.
And although the feeling of accepting the yoke and self-sacrifice at the beginning of the day must and does leave an impression on the whole day, so that the service according to reason and understanding (during the day) too should be as it ought, in keeping with the Supernal Will — the acceptance of the yoke and self-sacrifice itself (the "miracle") is then concealed in him;[41*] what he is occupied with and immersed in during the day is the service according to reason and understanding.
A second way is that the feeling of accepting the yoke and self-sacrifice from the beginning of the day shines openly in his service throughout the whole day, to the point that it is "fixed in his heart constantly, truly day and night, never departing from his memory."[41*]
This does not mean that all day long he stands in a mode (and is engaged in the service) of self-sacrifice; it is only that in his service throughout the day the (remembrance of the) self-sacrifice from the time of the Shema shines in him and is felt, and this helps him in the service of Torah and mitzvos (which is the main part of his service during the day).
A third way is that always, all day long, he stands in the mode of self-sacrifice; he is immersed in the service of self-sacrifice, and consequently all his service during the day is in keeping with the mode of self-sacrifice.
As Rabbi Akiva said: "All my days I was troubled[42]… when will it come to my hand that I may fulfill it?"[43] He stood in the mode of self-sacrifice not only at the time of the Shema, but "all my days" — always, in all his matters, he had the mode of self-sacrifice.
8. These three ways depend on the spiritual state and situation one finds oneself in:
When the years are as they should be, and the light of holiness shines openly in the world (and in service — the level of tzaddikim), it is enough that there is the mode of self-sacrifice in the Shema at the beginning of the day.[43*] Since there is no darkness, this too (the impression of the self-sacrifice) suffices to ensure that the later service according to reason and understanding will be as it ought.
But when there is a state of "darkness shall cover the earth," the mode of self-sacrifice at the beginning of the day is then not enough (since later it is only an impression, concealed). Then it is required that the feeling of self-sacrifice be felt openly throughout the whole day;[43*] specifically through this can one overcome the darkness. And in this there are two ways:
One way is when the darkness of the world hides and conceals G‑dliness only to the extent that the world (olam, from the word he'elem, concealment), by its nature and existence, conceals and hides the light of holiness. In this state, since it is so arranged by nature, a person's main service is service according to reason and understanding (the nature of his animal soul); only, in order to remove the concealment and hiding of the world, so that it should not disturb a Jew's service, the feeling of self-sacrifice must shine in him openly throughout the whole day.
But when the darkness of the world grows greater, to the point that it opposes the light of holiness — until Jews are placed in distress and captivity, and the world prevents and hinders Jews from serving G‑d — then a Jew's main service must consist in fighting the darkness of the world, breaking the darkness until transforming the darkness into light. And this service requires standing in a constant mode of self-sacrifice, at every step, throughout the whole day.
9. This is also the explanation of why on Chanukah the miracle was in the manner of "the most impossible of impossibilities" — a new miracle at every single moment: for so it was then with the Jews in their spiritual service:[44][44*]
Because of the great darkness in the days of the Greeks (who "rose up… to make them forget Your Torah and to make them transgress the statutes of Your will"[45]), the Jews stood in open self-sacrifice — "the weak against the mighty, etc." — to fight the darkness.[46] And the Jews' mode of self-sacrifice brought about "and Havayah (with an added vav) illuminates my darkness"[47] — the Havayah that is above hishtalshelus, Who specifically "illuminates my darkness," refining and transforming the darkness (of exile).[48]
And this came down into the miracle with the cruse of oil "that was lying with the seal of the High Priest" — which points to a level "that the external forces cannot touch at all," because it is "the Essence of the Emanator, utterly above all of hishtalshelus."[49] Therefore the miracle itself was in a manner that has no hold in nature and hishtalshelus — "the most impossible of impossibilities."
10. According to this we will also understand the connection of the above to the other festival in the month of Kislev — the day of Yud-Tes Kislev, which is "the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus":[50]
When we are in the darkness of the "heels of Moshiach,"[51] when the darkness grows greater from day to day, it is specifically then necessary to reveal the level of "oil" in the Torah — the inner dimension of the Torah, up to the secrets of secrets of the Torah,[52] the level of the yechidah point in the Torah[53] — which arouses and reveals the yechidah point of a Jew,[54]
and in a manner of "your wellsprings shall spread outward"[55] — that the wellsprings should be (also) "outward," and in a manner of spreading,
for specifically through this the matter of "and Havayah illuminates my darkness" is accomplished — even of this darkness — until the promise "and the night shall shine like the day"[56] is fulfilled: the darkness of exile is transformed into light, truly soon.
(From talks of Motzei Zos Chanukah 5735 and 12 Tammuz 5726)
Key Lesson
The Chanukah lights burned without the oil being consumed — a new miracle at every moment — because the Jews of that time stood in self-sacrifice all day long against the darkness of Greece. In the deepening darkness before Moshiach, it is not enough to accept the yoke of Heaven only at the morning Shema; one must live with that self-sacrifice throughout the day, and spread the "oil" of the Torah — the teachings of Chassidus revealed on Yud-Tes Kislev — until the darkness of exile turns to light.