CHANUKAH AND PURIM HIDDEN WITHIN THE OLIVES AND GRAPES

                        There are two popular holidays in the Jewish
calendar that can be celebrated even as we perform our ordinary weekday
activities.  Even though they have no
special Yom Tov or Shabbos requirements they do much more than just
commemorate  events in history. Chanukah with
its lighting of the menorah with, ideally, olive oil and Purim, in which wine
is the drink of choice, have concealed within these days of joy and celebration,
like olive oil that is extracted from olives and wine that exudes from grapes,
heretofore untapped hidden powers that can aid us to help to rectify and
elevate the entire creation.

              How is this achieved
and why is it necessary? When Adam and Chava ate the forbidden fruit, violating
the specific commandment of the Creator, the yetzer hara became internalized
causing an admixture within all mankind of tov and rah. Since four of their
five senses – of touch (feeling), sight, hearing and taste – acted as accomplices
to the primordial sin, we need to now use those very same senses, in the
performance of mitzvos and acts and chesed, to rectify this cosmic error which
continues to reverberate throughout the generations.

               Partially because of a lack of enough sensitivity
and an increase in senseless enmity (sinas kinom), that was a major
cause of the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash, our Sages wisely gave us
specific additional mitzvos that focus on strengthening our sense of
awareness thereby reawakening our sensitivity in our relationship
others. How can this best be achieved?

               We can learn how to rekindle
the proper feelings between each other, through the teachings of the
holiday of Chanukah which call for bending over and lowering ourselves, as the
naros are ideally below ten tefakim, so as to be able for the flame of the helper
candle, known as the shomus, to touch the Chanukah neros until that are lit up.
So too in our relationship with people sometimes it is necessary to bend
over
in order to share our soul’s “flame” help kindle – ie. inspire
– our brethren. The “message” hidden within the Chanukah lights is so enlightening
that it even has the ability to remove the surrounding darkness for those who
are still out in the shuk  – ie. – the
marketplace of spiritual obscurity, thereby inspiring them to be included in
the mitzvah when they joyously proclaim: (Sheasa nesim la-avosanu ba-yamim
ha-haim bizman ha-zeh.
 that Hashem made
miracles for our forefathers in this time.

 After
Chanukah rekindles our feelings for others and gives us clearer insight
on
how to be best be of help to them, Purim in its own unique way teaches
us not only how to be good listeners, while hearing the reading of the
Megilla, but to also learn how to hear – ie. understand – the true needs
of others so as to best share our blessings with them. How is this achieved? We
accomplish this through the other three mitzvos of the day which are sending gifts
– of food that need no preparation – to friends, giving charity generously and
opening the “doors” of our homes and hearts for a tasty  meal and flavorable  experience.

    Sending  readymade foods to friends perhaps on a
deeper level sends a message to all our acquaintances that just as this food
needs no preparation, we are always ready and  prepared to accept you just as you are.

                May we, through these
mitzvos, once again regain the proper level of love and respect between all of
us, thereby meriting the final Bais HaMigdash soon in our days.

 

 

 

 

 

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

THE LIGHTS OF CHANUKAH – A NEW SPIN

B.S.D.                                                                                             

              Chanukah, unlike the Yomim Tovim, seemingly requires very little of us; we are not asked to refrain from most of our daily tasks. We achieve this zeman’s spiritual goal by lighting the menorah on each of the eight nights of  Chanukah,  at the appointed time, and in so doing we declare the ability of  the compassionate Creator to rekindle our (neshamos) souls even as we experience the depths of  galus.

What is the theological “technology” that enables  a relatively small flame that burns only  for a brief period of time to light up the “spiritual darkness” that envelops the world?

  It is well documented that light and sound can have a profound effect upon the human psyche, affecting health and mood.  Alternative medical practitioners, utilizing these principles, have developed light-wave and sound-wave therapies which are growing in popularity. It is claimed that these therapies allow the body and psyche to “re-balance and realign” themselves.

To us, as Jews this should come as no surprise as we have been blessed  with the holy Torah that has guided us with the inner secret wisdom of spiritual rectification at its source– at the level of soul. Thus we begin our year on Rosh Hashanah with a unique (mitzvah) commandment in that through listening to the sounds of the shofar we become spiritually retuned in harmony with the Creator’s  “blueprint”, in plan and purpose, for our neshamas.  This supernal “sound wave therapy” helps to guide us in our spiritual journey throughout the New Year.

Due to the harshness of the long galus, Chazal have added to our “prescriptions” of spiritual antidotes, a subtle but highly effective “lazer light wave therapy.” The precisely directed (neiros) lights of Chanukah possess the inner illuminating power to dispel even the most obscurant darkness. 


         Now let us examine more closely the flames of  Chanukah and their profound symbolism.  Chanukah represents a bonding of the spiritual with the physical, as seen through the menorah holding the oil and the wick as the flame hovers above. What is the significance of the flame always ascending upward above the wick, the oil and the menorah? This is a physical expression of a spiritual truth that reveals the relationship between the neshama and the (guf) body.  Even as the flame hovers over the wick and the oil unlocking their energy bringing  forth a radiant light into this world, so too the neshamah infuses the body with lofty goals that reveal spiritual treasures previously hidden within the creation. Without the fuel, the wick and the menorah – the flame would not exist but without the flame – the fuel, wick and menorah would remain inert elements.

         To what does this compare?  When Moshe Rabbanu ascended to Heaven to receive the Torah, the angels protested saying that the Torah should remain  in Heaven.   Moshe responded that the mitzvoth of the Torah could only be fulfilled in this world by human beings that were given (bechira) freedom of choice.         This means that down here on earth there are certain “spiritually conducive atmospheric conditions” that don’t exist in the heavens.


                 Through this mitzvah of kindling the light of  Chanukah beginning from 25th of Kislev, (which is alluded to by the 25th word of the Torah being – ohr – light) we our privileged to tap into the “light from Above” – the (Ohr ha-Ganuz) hidden light. This supernal beneficence at this auspicious time brings with it insight, clarity and purification.

               Oh yes, before we conclude, let us also not forget to enjoy and appreciate the latkes or other fried foods that will be served on Chanukah. This custom celebrates the role of the flask of pure oil found in the restored Bais Hamikdash. Shemen zayis symbolizes wisdom. Perhaps by eating these foods fried in shemen zayis on Chanukah we are simultaneously proclaiming, as well as benefiting from the plentiful flow of Divine wisdom that is available at this auspicious time.

                   (Shemen zayis is the desirable component of one of the praised seven fruits of Eretz Israel (shivas ha-minim). It is obtained by squeezing the olives with intense pressure. A well know (moshal) example compares the potential within each Jew to the untapped value with the olive, in that our best achievements are often produced when we are under pressure to meet a challenge.)                      May our eight day dosage of ner Chanukah’s “supernal illumination” revitalize us, helping to dispel the “darkness” of (galus) the exile and ushering in  the long awaited final (Geulah) redemption, shining in radiant splendor, soon in our days.     

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

KEYING INTO PACHIM KETANIM – PARSHA VAYISHLACH

 

        After Yaakov and his family crossed the
Yabok River, Yaakov returned  to retrieve pachim ketanim — small flasks.
There, the Sar of Esau confronted him; what followed was the definitive battle
for supremacy between the forces of good and evil. This battle continued to
rage throughout the night until finally, Yaakov emerged victorious at which
point he was informed of what his new name would become.

           The stage was set for this momentous
battle by Yaakov’s interest in recovering some small flasks. What could the
Torah be hinting to when it informs us that the pachim were small? What
relevance does their size have to the lessons in this episode?

             Although many people assume that
“bigger is better”, sometimes we find that very low-key events or small items
actually are the “key” to accessing new horizons of achievement and success.

             A key is a relatively small and
inexpensive item, but it serves to open important doors. Without one’s keys a
person could find oneself without entry into ones own home, car or office.

                Like keys that open physical
doors, the words of holy Torah open mental and spiritual portals, therefore let
us try to “key-in” on the meaning of the name uttered by the Sar of Esau when
he announced: “No longer will it be said that your name is Ya’akov, but YiSRAL,
for you have striven with the Divine and with man and have overcome.”
(Vayishlach 32:29). 

  
      The Creator entrusted the “key”
to insights and wisdom embodied in our holy Torah to Avraham Avinu. This
tradition (“key”) was handed down to his son Yitzchok, who later gave it to his
son Yaakov. Apparently at that time since the Bnei Yaakov were beginning their
transition from a single family into a nation of millions, it was deemed the
appropriate time for the Creator in His infinite wisdom to, so to speak, design
within the developing Bnei Israel a tamperproof supernal combination lock for
the Torah that only the Jewish people could access.

              What is this mystical combination code that
binds us with our unbroken tradition all the way back to the Avos? We know that
a person’s name reveals his or her spiritual essence, purpose and potential. Therefore
it behooves us to unlock one of the deeper meanings within the name given by the
Creator to the entire Jewish nation as well as this same name given for our
holy land. The Ari Z’l  reveals in a few
short words one of the mystical secrets of our national name by informing us
that the five (osios) letters of the name Y’SRAL are the acronym – roshei
teivos – of the names of our three Avos and four Imahos: The Yud of  Yitzchak and Yaakov is coded
within the Yud of Y’SRAL; the S of Sarah within the Shin;
the R of Rivka and Rachael within the Raish, the A of Avraham
within the Alef and the L of Leah within the Lamed. Imbedded
with our Nation’s name and the name of our land is the spiritual genetic
combination of all our Avos and Imahos! The name Y’sral, the “key” –
combination code – to our existence is an example of a single word in the Torah
that contains worlds of meaning and value. 

         May we, the Bnei Y’sral, soon merit the final
geula allowing all of us to once again live peacefully in our promised land –
Eretz Israel.

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

THE STRADIVARIUS WITHIN OUR SOULS

                      

       What would you answer if someone sincerely
asked you: “What is the need of all the myriads of Jewish laws and customs,
after all aren’t they just traditional rituals of our forefathers without much
significance for us now in the 20th century?” Let us use the
following paradigm to try to explain how so called “rituals” like (Kiddush) the
blessing of wine on the Shabbath and holidays, the washing of the hands and
saying the blessing over the (challot) bread have essential meaning and purpose
for all of us at all times.

            Just as our bodies, minds and
emotions need vitamins, minerals and other necessary nutrients from the food we
eat for nourishment, so also to maintain the “health” of our souls we need to
be nourished from the spiritual “nutrients” that are encased within that very
same food we consume. How can we therefore explain the concept of spiritual
nutrients and their absorption?

                 Just as the food needs to be healthy
and we need to have good digestion in order to benefit from the food we eat, so
also the spiritual essence of the food needs to be healthy – which means to us
kosher – and we need to have good “digestion” at the spiritual level in order
to “absorb and assimilate – ie. – benefit – from what we consume.

       Therefore the question is: What is it
that we need to do in order to allow the spiritual components in the food to
become available for us? Just like in order to be able to enter and benefit
from the use of your home, if it has a combination lock, you need to first
press all the right buttons in the right order, so also in order to open up the
“pathway” of spiritual “absorption” we need to follow the precise spiritual “combination
codes” in order to access the “soul nutrients” within the food we eat. This means
that every detail of our laws and customs are not just rituals but are essential
steps that “unlock” thereby making available the spiritual value imbedded with
the food we eat.

          Therefore
even though we are the ones who say the blessings, it is actually us who are the
recipients of those very same boundless blessings that are channeled back to us
when we live our lives according to our holy Torah.

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia