The Day That Brings the Holiday's Message to Its Peak: 'Zos Chanukah' in Light of Chassidus

00:00 What message do we take from Chanukah for the whole year? We know that every holiday brings something special, something unique that it gives us, and we live with that message all year. Chanukah has many interesting and important aspects, but it has a particular message—especially this year, at this time, in the circumstances we find ourselves in. I think that this year Chanukah gives us special strength and a wonderful message for this time in particular. Let’s begin with something remarkable that is explained at length in the works of Chassidus, and before that in the works of Kabbalah—and, as we’ll soon see, even in works of halachah: there is a very deep, inner connection between Sukkos and Chanukah. In particular, there is a connection between the last day of Sukkos, Shemini Atzeres, and the last day of Chanukah, Zos Chanukah. This year, Shemini Atzeres was the beginning of the war. So we all have the greatest hope that, since the days of Chanukah are in a sense a continuation of the days of Sukkos, and since today we’ll learn the profound explanation Chassidus gives of what Chanukah represents and how it connects so deeply with Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres, this will give us even more hope and confidence that this very Chanukah we will merit to see that the light is good. We will merit to see the transformation: how the darkness that began on Shemini Atzeres this year, with this terrible war, turns to light. May we already merit a complete victory and the complete Geulah, and be able to say wholeheartedly and without reservation, “For the miracles, for the salvations, for the consolations, and for the wonders” that Hakadosh Boruch Hu performed for our ancestors in those days, at

02:33 this time—at this time quite literally, this year as well. Let’s begin with a short story from 5738. In 5738, 1977, the Rebbe, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, suffered a heart attack on Shemini Atzeres. It was very severe. The doctors said his chances of recovering and coming through it were very, very small. There was tremendous fear and tension. Chassidim prayed all over the world, and each did whatever they could through prayer, mitzvos, and good deeds. Through great miracles, we merited that the Rebbe recovered on Rosh Chodesh Kislev. And when did he hold a thanksgiving meal? On Zos Chanukah. On Zos Chanukah that year, the Rebbe asked, very modestly and quietly, without making a fuss, for a meal to be prepared with challah and wine. The Rebbe held a special meal of thanksgiving for the miracle. At that farbrengen, the Rebbe gave a remarkable explanation of the connection between Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres and Chanukah and Zos Chanukah. So, as we said, “in those days, at this time”: may we too merit to see this Chanukah the great miracles of deliverance following the Shemini Atzeres we experienced this year, 5784. Now, at the most basic level, we see a connection right before our eyes: Sukkos has eight days, and Chanukah also has eight days. So there is a connection in the number eight. It’s an unusual number for a holiday. Some holidays last one day; others, like Pesach, last seven days. Sukkos, in the Torah, lasts eight days, and the holiday the Sages instituted to commemorate the miracle when the Hasmoneans defeated the Greeks also lasts eight days.

05:16 That is the connection in their number. But of course, the shared number comes from something much deeper. The number eight represents something. Sukkos has eight days together with Shemini Atzeres, and Chanukah likewise has eight days. There is certainly a deep inner connection. And on Sukkos, Shemini Atzeres is a special day. On the one hand, it is called Shemini Atzeres, meaning that it is the eighth day of Sukkos. On the other hand, we know that the Gemara says Shemini Atzeres is a festival in its own right. It has many laws and halachos of its own, to the point that we say Shehecheyanu. The Gemara lists six respects in which Shemini Atzeres is a festival in its own right. So on the one hand, it is called the “eighth,” meaning that it follows what came before. On the other hand, it is a remarkable day in its own right, a unique day that expresses something special in relation to the preceding days. The same is true of Chanukah. There are the eight days of Chanukah, and there too we have Zos Chanukah, the day corresponding to Shemini Atzeres. Zos Chanukah is considered an exceptionally special day, even in relation to Chanukah itself. Its very name, “Zos Chanukah,” expresses that there is something special here. “This.” Why is it called Zos Chanukah? It’s an interesting question. The simple reason is the Torah reading. As we know, each day of Chanukah we read in the Torah about the offerings of the tribal leaders at the dedication of the altar. On the last day, the eighth day, part of the Torah reading contains the words “This was the dedication of the altar.” Because of those words, the day is called Zos Chanukah. But of course there is something much deeper. It isn’t merely because the reading contains those words that

07:16 the day was called Zos Chanukah. The name tells us that the depth, the inner meaning, and the full force of Chanukah are concentrated specifically in its eighth day. What does this day really mean? And what does the number eight represent? Another connection between Sukkos and Chanukah concerns sunset. As we know, the halachah says—and the Gemara says—that the mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles begins after sunset. In fact, one may not light them before sunset. The mitzvah is specifically after sunset: “Its time is from when the sun sets until people have left the marketplace.” That is what the Gemara says. In other words, the mitzvah of the Chanukah lights begins precisely after the sun has set and is no longer visible, and its time continues as long as people are still out in the marketplace. The Gemara adds: What does it mean, “until people have left the marketplace”? There are all sorts of people there. Whose departure does it mean? The Gemara says, “the feet of the Tarmudai.” This refers to people known as Tarmudai. The Tarmudai were a people whose members were very lowly laborers. They would come to the marketplace at the end, when everyone else was leaving, the market was closing, and the shops had shut. People would leave bits of wood in the street, and the Tarmudai would still be out collecting that wood for their livelihood. That was their work, and they were the last people in the marketplace. That defines the hours for lighting the candles. Here too we see a connection to Sukkos. What is it? The halachah also says that when placing the s’chach—after all, the central mitzvah of a sukkah is to place s’chach over the sukkah

09:26 And the schach placed over the sukkah must be thick enough that the sun does not show through. “A sukkah with more sunlight than shade,” the Mishnah says in tractate Sukkah—if too much sun comes through the schach, that is not acceptable. We try to put on enough schach to create shade, because that is the essence of the mitzvah: shade, not sunlight. So we see another interesting similarity between Sukkos and Chanukah: in both, we try to keep the sun out. On Chanukah, it is from sunset onward, and on Sukkos, too, the shade must exceed the sunlight. These are halachic points that we can see. But when we look at the Gemara, we find something else interesting. The Gemara in tractate Shabbos records a dispute between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel about how many candles to light on Chanukah, and in what order. The Gemara says that according to Beis Shammai, on the first day of Chanukah we light eight candles, on the second day seven, decreasing each day. Beis Hillel disagrees and says: No, the opposite. On the first day of Chanukah we light one candle, on the second day two, and each day we add another candle, until on the eighth day we light eight. Of course, the halachah follows Beis Hillel. In fact, the sefarim say that the word “Chanukah” alludes to “eight candles, and the halachah follows Beis Hillel.” In other words, we light eight candles, but we do it Beis Hillel’s way, adding a candle each day. But when the Gemara examines the reasoning, we find something interesting. The Gemara gives one reason why Beis Shammai says that the Chanukah candles should decrease, going from more to fewer—a rather unusual approach. Why does Beis Shammai say that? The Gemara says that Beis

11:45 Shammai’s reason is the bulls of the festival—the offerings the Jewish people brought on Sukkos. If we look in the Torah, it tells us about the offerings brought in the Beis Hamikdash on Sukkos. We recite their details each day in Musaf on Sukkos. The Torah says that on the first day of Sukkos they offered thirteen bulls, on the second day twelve, and so on, decreasing each day. Therefore, on Chanukah too, the number decreases, like the bulls of the festival. Beis Hillel says no. There is a principle: “We ascend in matters of holiness and do not descend.” We always go upward, not downward, so we add a candle each day, the opposite of Beis Shammai. And here we see something remarkable. True, the halachah does not follow Beis Shammai, but Beis Shammai’s view is a Torah view. The Gemara says in tractate Eruvin, “These and those are the words of the living G-d.” Beis Shammai’s words are the words of the living G-d. Their view has a place in the Torah, in the Divine will, even though in practice we do not follow it. So Beis Shammai’s reasoning is genuine; it is a real reason. What connection did Beis Shammai find between Chanukah and Sukkos that led them to compare the candles to the bulls of the festival? What is more, Beis Hillel’s disagreement with Beis Shammai is not because Beis Hillel says Chanukah is unlike Sukkos. Beis Hillel does not dispute the comparison itself. Yes, Chanukah is similar to Sukkos, and on that basis we might have followed the same pattern. But because of the principle that we ascend in holiness, the Sages decided to increase the number instead. The Gemara accepts the basic idea that Chanukah is similar to Sukkos; it does not reject or refute it. So here we see clearly that there really is an inner connection between the festivals. And this raises the question: what is

13:48 the deeper connection between the two festivals? Here the Rebbe comes and explains it. As we mentioned earlier, at the Chanukah farbrengen on Zos Chanukah that year, the Rebbe explained it in a most remarkable way: this is about the power of a Jew. How does a Jew illuminate the world? After all, the message of Chanukah is the power of holiness against impurity. As we say in Al Hanissim: “In the days of Mattisyahu, son of Yochanan the Kohen Gadol, the Chashmonean, and his sons, when the wicked Greek kingdom rose up.” The Greek kingdom came and wanted to bring darkness into the world, to bring impurity into the world. They wanted “to make them forget Your Torah and turn them away from the statutes of Your will.” They were strong, they were many, and they had all the power and force. The Jewish people were then in a weak state, both physically and spiritually—few and weak—and the question was what would become of them. There was fear and an existential danger to the Jewish people, because their spiritual existence was at risk, and from that, of course, their physical existence as well, since it ultimately became a war. And then the great miracle happened through the strength of the Chashmoneans, the Maccabees, who stood firm with mesirus nefesh. Mattisyahu and his sons stood with the mesirus nefesh of “Whoever is for Hashem, come to me!” and “Who is like You among the mighty, Hashem?” They went forward with the strength of faith. They stood with the power of Jewish mesirus nefesh, revealing the depths of their souls, and so they made no calculations. By the laws of nature, there was no way to win. Why go to war? But they made no calculations. They went to war and won, until they found the flask of oil sealed with the seal of the Kohen Gadol. In other words, the symbol of Chanukah is light’s victory over darkness, holiness’s victory over impurity—the victory of the unlimited Divine power,

16:15 the eternal strength of the Jewish people, as it stands against the darkness and overcomes it. And as the light grows stronger, the darkness grows weaker and weaker. That is the story of Chanukah. And it is connected with Sukkos in essentially the same way. How many offerings were brought on Sukkos? Seventy bulls were offered. If we count from the first day of Sukkos through the last, the number decreased each day, as we said: thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, down to seven. Add up all the bulls, all the animals offered over those seven days of Sukkos, and the total is seventy. The Gemara says: the seventy bulls correspond to the seventy nations of the world, whose power grows weaker, diminishing from day to day. What does that have to do with Sukkos? The Midrash explains that Sukkos follows Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On Rosh Hashanah there is judgment, and in that judgment the Jewish people and the nations of the world stand before the court. It is Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgment, when the question of who will prevail is decided. Then the Satan comes and tries to prosecute—these are the days of judgment, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. And when a Jew blows the shofar—as we discussed during Tishrei, we learned that blowing the shofar expresses the Jewish core, the cry of the soul, a Jew’s mesirus nefesh expressed in the simple cry, the simple sound of the shofar. When a Jew awakens the power of his teshuvah and his faith, Hakadosh Boruch Hu moves from the throne of judgment to the throne of mercy. Then the victory in the battle begins, and that victory is complete on Yom Kippur. As is known, on Yom Kippur, when a Jew is in shul and recites the verses, “Shema Yisroel, Hashem Elokeinu”

18:39 Hashem is One. At the end of the day: “Shema Yisroel,” “Blessed be the Name,” “Hashem is G-d.” A Jew’s soul awakens, along with his connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and then, during the Ten Days of Teshuvah, we crown Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King. These are days when a Jew crowns Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King, and through this we bring about victory in the battle. It is a victory of holiness over impurity, a victory of G-dliness—a victory for Hakadosh Boruch Hu that leads a Jew to take on the mission: This year I am going to bring light into the world. This year, through Torah and mitzvos, I am going to transform the world and make it a brighter place. Then comes Sukkos. When a Jew offers the sacrifices on Sukkos, the number of festival bulls decreases from day to day. That means the power of evil, the power of darkness, the power of impurity, grows weaker each day. That is one side of it: it expresses how evil is weakened. But there is something deeper here. We do not merely weaken the power of evil and impurity. On Sukkos, something is transformed: the nations of the world recognize the strength of the Jewish people and see how the Jewish people are a light unto the nations. They come to understand, on the contrary, that the whole world was created for the Torah and for the Jewish people. As Rashi says on the first verse, “Bereishis, G-d created the heavens and the earth”: Bereishis means two “firsts.” The Torah is called “first,” as in “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem,” and the Jewish people are called “first,” as in “the first of His harvest.” When a Jew stands firm with the pride of Yaakov that awakens within him during Tishrei, he brings about not only the breaking of the kelipah, of darkness and evil. He brings about something deeper. He causes the whole world

21:00 and the nations of the world to recognize and know, as we say in the prayers: “All the inhabitants of the earth will recognize and know that to You every knee shall bend,” and so on, “every tongue shall swear.” The whole world will recognize and know the true reality of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is why on Sukkos we say the complete Hallel every day. In Hallel we say the wonderful verses, “Praise Hashem, all nations; extol Him, all peoples. For His kindness toward us has been overwhelming.” All the nations praise and extol Hakadosh Boruch Hu. For what? “For His kindness toward us has been overwhelming.” They see the kindness. They see the miracles and wonders Hakadosh Boruch Hu performs for the Jewish people. Then the nations, too, acknowledge that the Jewish people are Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s people. They all recognize the Creator of the world and recognize the Jewish people as His chosen people. Through this, the Jewish people become a light unto the nations. The whole world becomes a brighter place, a more humane place, a place with more justice and integrity. For the Jewish people are a symbol of justice and integrity, a symbol of holiness, a symbol of purity. That, in essence, is the festival of Sukkos. On Shemini Atzeres, something wonderful happens. That is Sukkos; then comes Shemini Atzeres. The Midrash says that among the sacrifices of Shemini Atzeres there was one bull. No more numbers: one bull, corresponding to the Jewish people. In other words, on Shemini Atzeres the strength of the Jewish people is revealed—the fact that they are above the whole world. The essential bond between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu, a bond above all of existence and the entire world, is revealed. That is why Shemini Atzeres brings the greatest joy. This is the meaning of “for you”: “Shemini Atzeres shall be for you”—for you, the Jewish people, in particular. For then the essential bond between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and the Jewish people is revealed, and this happens after all

23:12 the work a Jew does in the world to illuminate it. Then the essential depth of a Jew’s bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which is above the world, is revealed. That is the extraordinary joy of Simchas Torah on Shemini Atzeres. That is Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres. Then comes Chanukah. What happens? Sukkos is a festival in the Torah. This is how things are set out in the Written Torah. But history unfolded. Over time, “because of our sins, we were exiled from our land.” When the Jewish people are in a good, wonderful position, all this is clear—that is Sukkos. But when “because of our sins” intervenes, it leads to “we were exiled from our land.” Then the Jewish people experienced all the darkness of exile: the Babylonian exile, the Persian exile, the Median exile, and finally the Greek exile. The Jewish people entered a period of redoubled darkness, a period of decline, and things became harder. Would the darkness overpower us? This is the power of Chanukah. Chanukah comes to complete Sukkos and reveal its depth. It is not only about the good, pure, beautiful times when we had the Beis Hamikdash, when we made the pilgrimage there and had the festival sacrifices, when we went up to the Beis Hamikdash to offer the seventy bulls and the whole world could feel and see the extraordinary strength of the Jewish people. As Tanach tells us about the time of King Shlomo, people came to him from all over the world, bowed before him, and wanted to hear his wisdom and see the power and G-dly holiness that shone in the Beis Hamikdash. Then, of course, it was all very, very apparent. But in exile, in a time of darkness, in the Greek exile, when the Greeks thought they would rule over the Jewish people and cause them “to make them forget Your Torah,” Chanukah arrives and reveals a Jew’s extraordinary inner depth. Even amid the darkness of exile, “when the sun sets”—the setting sun symbolizes the fading of sunlight, the fading of light, days of darkness, a period of darkness—and precisely at sunset we light the candles.

25:28 This is remarkable. The menorah in the Beis Hamikdash was lit during the day, not at night. According to halachah, its lamps had to be lit at plag haminchah, while there was still daylight. On Chanukah, as we said earlier, halachah says to light specifically at night. What does this symbolize? It symbolizes that in a time of darkness, when darkness is intensifying—especially in the redoubled darkness at the end of the days of exile, where we are now, when “darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the nations”—in the most difficult period of exile, the verse says, “Upon you Hashem will shine.” For a Jew, at the time of greatest darkness, Chanukah comes and symbolizes that precisely “when the sun sets,” a Jew lights a candle. And not just one candle, but eight. Here we arrive at the number eight. Eight symbolizes what is above nature. Eight symbolizes the infinite, the extraordinary, unlimited strength a Jew possesses and receives from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Seven represents the seven days of the week; seven symbolizes nature. All the numbers associated with nature are connected with seven. But eight symbolizes the supernatural, the miracle, the unlimited power a Jew has because he is connected to the Unlimited, to the Infinite. So even when the darkness is at its thickest and most difficult, a Jew is not intimidated. He lights a candle, and with the little candle he lights, he breaks through the darkness and transforms it into light. Here, too, there are the two stages we mentioned earlier. First, as the Gemara says, “From when the sun sets until foot traffic ceases in the marketplace.” The Rebbe made a wonderful point about this. As we said, sunset—precisely when the light fades—is when a Jew lights a Chanukah candle. Until when? “Until foot traffic ceases in the marketplace.” So the simple meaning of “ceases”

27:35 In the sense of bringing something to an end: breaking it, destroying it, nullifying it. “Until foot traffic ceases in the marketplace”—putting an end to the foothold of the rebels. We said that the marketplace represents the public domain. The marketplace is associated with the Tarmodians. The books explain that the Hebrew letters of “Tarmod” can be rearranged to spell “rebellion”: rebellion against the sovereignty of Heaven. The Chanukah lights come and put an end to the power of rebellion against Hakadosh Boruch Hu. They weaken it, destroy it, erase it—the rebellion of the nations of the world that want to rebel against Hashem, against Judaism, against the Jewish people. They erase it. That is one side of it. But now comes the second explanation, an even more wonderful one. The word “to bring to an end” also evokes the soul’s longing, as in “And the heavens and the earth were completed.” It can mean the opposite: “My soul longs, indeed it pines.” Through the power of the Chanukah lights, a Jew brings about a transformation in the world, so that all the darkness in the world and all the nations of the world will come to recognize and know. They, too, will feel a longing—a yearning and a deep desire to connect to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and to the Jewish people. And today we are living in a time when we see this in the most remarkable way. We are approaching the days of Moshiach. When Moshiach comes, one of the things all the prophets tell us will happen is, “For then I will transform the peoples to a clear language, so that they may all serve Him with one accord.” As the Rambam writes at the end of Hilchos Melachim, when Moshiach comes, he will bring all the nations of the world to serve Hashem together. We are approaching that time. In this recent period, during these last months of war, on the one hand we see evil being brought to an end. More and more, it is being destroyed and erased. May we merit to see it end completely this Chanukah. At the same time, we also see these nations beginning to recognize the great holiness, strength and light within the Jewish people, and wanting

29:53 to draw closer to the Jewish people. They want to embrace the faith that Judaism radiates and offers. This is the remarkable power of the days of Chanukah. And this is also the message for us. What do we take from these days, especially as Zos Chanukah arrives? As we said, this is the eighth day, when the number eight shines forth with its immense, unlimited power. Precisely when all eight Chanukah lights are lit, when we reach the fullest depth of the days of Chanukah, the remarkable power of Chanukah is revealed. It gives us this remarkable message: A Jew finds himself in darkness. He looks out at the street, and what does he actually see? There is no light; there is darkness, and the darkness keeps growing. We are in exile, in a darkness that is doubled and redoubled, and the situation out on the street is hardly heartening. From this, we need to take the message of the candle, of its light, of the power of the Chanukah lights. That light puts an end to rebellion and darkness. More than that, it transforms the darkness into light, holiness and delight. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu help us take the message of the days of Chanukah and illuminate the darkness. May we recognize the remarkable power each of us has in the little candle within our soul—the flask of oil sealed with the seal of the Kohen Gadol, which represents the soul’s power, the infinite power of the number eight. With that, we can go out and illuminate the world, transforming all its darkness into light. And may we soon merit to see the great light of the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. As the Gemara says, when Moshiach comes, the harp in the Beis Hamikdash will have eight strings. The Gemara says that in the Beis Hamikdash the harp had seven strings, but at the time of Moshiach’s coming it will have eight strings. This represents the number eight, the infinite and unlimited. May we merit already

32:03 to see the harp of Moshiach, together with the Beis Hamikdash and the Kohen Gadol lighting the Menorah there. Then we will see the great joy: “Praise Hashem, all you nations; laud Him, all you peoples. For His kindness has prevailed over us, and the truth of Hashem endures forever. Halleluyah.”