Yom Tov Insights Chanukah Through the Prism of Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Teachings By Kenneth Brander

hen the Rambam wrote his concluding with the holiday of .* systematically. Therefore, when organiz- W ing the rabbinic holidays, the order cho- magnum opus, the Mishneh , he Rav Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan stated his intended purpose at the outset. Aruch, follows the same order. However, sen was one consistent with the halachic …I, Moses, the son of Maimon the the Rambam and Rav Yosef Karo part ways development of these days. is the Sephardi… relying on the help of the Rock when codifying the rabbinic holidays of holiday where the battle was waged over the ability to add holidays not prescribed [], blessed be He, intently studied all Chanukah and Purim. Rav Karo is consis- in the Torah. these works, with the view of putting tent and codifies the rabbinic holidays in Rabbi Samuel ben Judah said: Esther together the results obtained from them calendar order; first Chanukah (Orach sent to the Wise Men saying, “Commemorate regarding what is forbidden or permitted, Chaim 570-584) and then Purim (Orach me for future generations.” They replied: clean or unclean, and the other rules of the Chaim 586-597). However, the Rambam “You will incite the ill will of the nations Torah — all in plain and terse language, so codifies these holidays in historical order, against us.” She sent back a reply: “I am that the entire Oral Law might become placing Purim before Chanukah. already recorded in the chronicles of the kings known to all without difficulty… consisting Furthermore, the Rambam does not codify of Media and Persia.” (Megillah 7a) of statements that are clear, understandable them in distinct treatises, but as one trea- Our taught: Forty-eight prophets and correct, predicated upon the laws which tise, Hilchot Megillah v’Chanukah, as if they and seven prophetesses prophesied to Israel, are elaborated upon from all of the works were one holiday. Additionally, while the and they neither took away from nor added and commentaries from the time of Judah Mishneh Torah typically limits its focus to anything to what is written in the Torah, the Prince until now…. Therefore I have the halachic dimensions of a holiday, the save only the reading of the Megillah [the called this work Mishneh Torah, for a per- exception is Chanukah. The laws of holiday of Purim]. (Megillah 14a) son will be able to first read the Written Chanukah begin with a full paragraph The establishment of Purim gave legiti- Torah and afterward read this [Mishneh summarizing the story: macy and precedent to the ability to Torah]... and this work may serve as a In [the era of] the , the establish additional rabbinic holidays compendium of the entire Oral Law… Greek kingdom issued decrees against the such as Chanukah. Chanukah’s validity is (Introduction to the Mishneh Torah) Jewish people, [attempting to] nullify their predicated on the institution of Purim. Given his stated objective, there is much faith and refusing to allow them to observe This idea is accentuated in the language to be learned from the content and con- the Torah and its commandments…. They used to codify the rituals of Chanukah, text of the Rambam’s Hilchot Chanukah. [the Hasmoneans] appointed a king from always inserting a legal pointer back to When codifying the chagim, the Rambam the priests, and sovereignty returned to the Purim holiday. lists them in their calendar order, begin- Israel for more than 200 years, until the These days are known as Chanukah. ning with the general laws of Yom Tov fol- destruction of the Second Temple. (Hilchot Eulogies and fasting are forbidden just as lowed by Pesach and , and Megillah v’Chanukah III:1) they are on Purim, and the kindling of Why the change from codifying Rabbi Kenneth Brander is Senior Rabbi of Biblical holidays in a calendar sequence * Since is considered an extension of the Boca Raton and Dean of the to codifying rabbinic ones in a historical , it is codified immediately after the trea - Boca Raton Judaic Fellows Program, a order? Why insert in the Mishneh Torah tises dealing with Shabbat. has no par- community kollel, and the founder of the the story of Chanukah, in an otherwise ti c u l a r mi t z v ot attributed to it. The prac t i c e High School of Broward and Palm legal work devoid of any other holiday and behavior for Shavuot is included in Hil c h o t Beach County. This article is based on story? Yom Tov and the laws dealing with its special various shiurim presented by Rabbi Joseph As stated, the purpose of the Mishneh sa c r i fi ce are found in Hilchot Tem i d i n B. Soloveitchik, zt”l. Torah was to summarize Torah shebe’al peh uMu s a fin , Chapters 7-8. JEWISH ACTION Winter 5760/1999 lights is a … just like the reading God and the Jewish people. Chanukah’s Chanukah] were appointed a festival of of the Megillah. All who are obligated to theme is praise to God. While we rec i t e and thanksgiving. (Shabbos 21b); read the Megillah are also obligated in the Hal l e l on many holidays, it is on …They instituted these eight days of kindling of the Chanukah light. (Laws of Ch a n u k a h that praise is at the core of the Chanukah to give thanks and Hallel, praise, Chanukah III: 3-4) fe s t i va l ’s religious experience. Consider to Your great Name (Al HaNissim); …These The intention of Rav Karo’s Shulchan some of the ref e r ences to Chanukah: lights that we kindle…[are lit in order] to Aruch is not to replicate the Mishneh The following year, these [days of Torah but to summarize the practical laws relevant for the Diaspora Jewish commu- nity. Therefore, Rav Karo omitted all laws dealing with Temple service, Jewish self-government or any other halachic categories not relevant to a Jewish com- munity ensconced within a Diaspora exis- tence. The Rambam, in keeping with his raison d’être, inserts all aspects of the Oral Tradition, including the laws of Jewish kings, commandments limited to the , as well as laws concerning the Temple. Since the Chanukah experience took place after the canonization of the Writ- ten Law, the story of Chanukah is the only holiday in which both the story and the juridical component are part of the Oral Tradition. Therefore, consistent with the stated goals of the Mishneh Torah is the need to include the stories and laws of Chanukah. The Mishneh Torah’s organizational strength raises the question regarding another textual component of Hilchot Chanukah. When the laws of Hallel were codified by the , they were inserted as part of the corpus of chapters dealing with the laws of prayer. The Mishneh Torah did not place the laws of Hallel among the laws of prayers, nor as a component of any of the other Biblical holidays in which Hallel is recited. Rather, the laws of Hallel were inserted as part of the final chapter of Chanukah. Given the Rambam’s organizational meticulousness, one wonders why he rele- gated the laws of Hallel to the final chap- ter of the Book of Seasons, as part of the rabbinic holiday of Chanukah. Rav Sol o veitchik explained that in pr a ye r , the Hal l e l is uni-dimensional, ex p r essed only through liturgy. Howeve r , on Chanukah,Hal l e l is the essense of the ho l i d a y . The theme of Pes a c h is the birth of the nation; Shavuot commemorates the receiving of the Torah; and Suk k o t ce l e - brates the intimate relationship betwee n “Chanukah” - Collage and Watercolor by Naama Nothmann

JEWISH ACTION Winter 5760/1999 give thanks to Your Name…(from the While the theater of experience for our spiritual epicenter. Introducing the prayer recited during the kindling of Chanukah and Shabbat are distinct, each festival of Chanukah in the middle of Chanukah lights; the source is Masechet plays off the other. Chanukah’s holiday Tractate Shabbat is a recognition of the Soferim 20: 6). experience symbolizes taking the light reality that our national aspiration — Hallel is not only seen in its liturgical found in the Jewish home and allowing that of perfecting the public thorough- form but is also displayed through the act it to radiate into the public thoroughfare. fare — is only achievable when the pri- of kindling the menorah. Hallel’s dual All of the laws regarding the menorah’s vate arena is reinforced. Conversely, nature on Chanukah, as a prayer and as location and time of lighting are predi- when the Shabbat experience creates a an action, makes it the holiday in which cated on the pedestrian’s ability to see its Robinson Crusoe mindset — permanent Hallel is seen in its quintessential form. illumination in the public thoroughfare. withdrawal from the world community Therefore, the Rambam specifically Chanukah celebrates the ’ responsi- — it becomes an obstacle to achieving selected the section of the Mishneh Torah bility to be involved in . the divine tikkun olam purpose of the which focuses on the holiday of Yet this goal is only achievable when Chosen People. Chanukah to codify the laws of Hallel. there is also the Shabbat experience. As we usher in this Chanukah season, let Shabbat is celebrated through the retreat us commit ourselves to the required bal- from the public arena of life. Carrying ance between Shabbat and Chanukah as R av Sol o veitchik noted that the objects from the private to the public celebrated by the rabbinic insertion of the single Talmudic location in which the story domain is forbidden (and vice versa); so Hasmonean saga into the Tractate Shabbat; of Chanukah is found in detail is in is carrying any object for four amot in a commitment to the constant calibration Tractate Shabbat: What is [the reason for] the public domain. The experience of of our personal spiritual compass, concur- Chanukah? For our rabbis taught: On the Shabbat is primarily found within the rently focused on the mission of Knesset 25 of Kislev [commence] the days of privacy of the home. It is the Shabbat Yisrael as “a light unto the nations.” JA Chanukah, which are eight…(Sh a b b a t 21 b ) experience which strengthens our home,

JEWISH ACTION Winter 5760/1999