Chanukah in the Geulah - Rabbi Menachem Cohen shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast of Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Happy holiday, happy Chanukah! Today, with Hashem’s help, we’re going to talk about everything connected with Chanukah and the true and complete Geulah. We know how important it is to learn the laws of Chanukah and to know about the holiday. That applies to every holiday, right? Our Sages instituted the study of the laws of each holiday. Moshe Rabbeinu already instituted that the Jewish people should begin studying thirty days before a holiday and study its laws on the holiday itself, so they would know them well. It also puts us in the atmosphere of the holiday, the atmosphere of Chanukah. And we know how important it is to learn about the true and complete Geulah. As the Rebbe of Lubavitch, Melech HaMoshiach shlita, says, this is the easiest, most direct, and fastest way of all the ways of Torah to bring the true and complete Geulah in actual practice. So how good and fitting it is to do this important thing: to learn about Chanukah and how it and its laws relate to the true and complete Geulah. As we know, Chanukah is about adding light, about illuminating. It’s also connected with the dedication of the Beis Hamikdash. The rededication of the Beis Hamikdash took place on 25 Kislev, when the Chashmonaim came after their victory over the Greeks. So it’s deeply connected—perhaps more than any other holiday—with the Beis Hamikdash and the miracles that took place in the Second Beis Hamikdash. And of course, it prepares us for the dedication of the Third Beis Hamikdash. So, as with Chanukah, every addition of light—a little more light, one more small thing, one more small action—brings us toward the great light of the true and complete Geulah. A little light dispels a great deal of darkness. We dispel the darkness and add light. That is the principle of Chanukah, and it’s the principle that brings us to the true and complete Geulah, when light will reach its fullest intensity and darkness will be completely nullified. Now we’ll turn to a few things—a few questions and answers

02:18 Speaker 2 about Chanukah and the Geulah. The first, central question is: Will we celebrate Chanukah in the true and complete Geulah, or will it cease? We know that it says all the festivals will cease, except for Purim—and some also include Yom Kippur. As for Chanukah, the Rambam does not mention that Chanukah will not cease. But on the other hand, Chanukah isn’t mentioned either... Let’s put it this way: When it says the festivals will cease, it doesn’t mean they will disappear entirely. It means they won’t shine as brightly as they do today. Today, the light of Chanukah—or of any holiday—is a great light, a very lofty revelation. But in the true and complete Geulah, there will be such great G-dly light throughout the entire world that the holidays won’t stand out, like a candle at midday—“shraga betihara,” in the language of the Gemara, a candle at midday. But what about Chanukah specifically? Well, this is very interesting. The Ben Ish Chai, the great Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, writes something very interesting in his book Ben Ish Chai. He says: “The miracle commemorated through the Chanukah lights will not apply after Moshiach comes.” Why? Because, he says, we will no longer light Chanukah candles. Our Sages said, “The mitzvah of Chanukah”—until when?—“its mitzvah extends until there are no more passersby in the marketplace.” As we know, even today, the mitzvah of the Chanukah lights extends until there are no more passersby in the marketplace. There are two explanations of this, and both are cited in halacha: the required burning time is fifty minutes, half an hour, and we light for fifty minutes because that is approximately how long people are in the marketplace, and also because of the time of

04:24 Speaker 2 lighting. As for how late one may light, even today it depends on the place: as long as people are still walking around in the marketplace. But the Ben Ish Chai says our Sages were also hinting at something when they said, “Its mitzvah extends until there are no more passersby in the marketplace.” He says its mitzvah extends until Moshiach comes. Moshiach’s arrival will mean there are no more passersby in the marketplace: the Jewish people will stop going around the marketplace. Why? Because the other nations will do all the physical work for them, so they will no longer be in the marketplace. Consequently, the mitzvah of Chanukah will no longer apply. “Until there are no more passersby in the marketplace”—once the Jewish people really are no longer in the marketplace, there will no longer be a mitzvah to light Chanukah candles. That is what the Ben Ish Chai says. But it should be noted that he is alone in this view. The Ramban writes, and the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach shlita, also writes, that the mitzvah of the Chanukah lights will remain in the true and complete Geulah. What does the Ramban base this on? He points to a Midrash: When Aharon saw the tribal leaders bringing offerings for the dedication of the Mishkan, while he and his tribe were not taking part—all the other tribes participated in the dedication, but he did not—he was disheartened. Hakadosh Boruch Hu then told him, “By your life, yours is greater than theirs.” Why? Because you kindle and prepare the lights, and that will remain forever. How does it say it there? The other things will cease, but the Chanukah lights will never cease. The lights of the Beis Hamikdash will never cease, says the Ramban, and likewise the Chanukah lights will never cease; they, too, will remain in the future. And the whole celebration of Chanukah will remain in the future as well. The Rebbe also explains that, just as Purim was a holiday of mesirus nefesh, and holidays

06:25 Speaker 2 connected with mesirus nefesh retain their full force and celebration in the true and complete Geulah, so too Chanukah is a holiday of the Chashmonaim’s mesirus nefesh, and therefore it will remain in the future. Interestingly, in one of the Rebbe’s maamarim from 5748, the Rebbe says that there really ought to have been some additional special observance, some additional action, on the second day of Chanukah, because that is when the miracle began. That was when they saw the miracle of the oil in the flask: there was enough for one day, but on the second day they saw that it was still there, and it kept lasting and lasting. So there ought to have been something extra on the second day. That is also 26 Kislev, corresponding to Hashem’s Name. The Rebbe says this is not relevant now; it belongs more to the future. So perhaps in the future there really will be some addition, some particular observance connected with 26 Kislev—some further hiddur or addition on that day, which corresponds to Hashem’s Name, whose numerical value is 26. And perhaps we will indeed merit to see this literally in the true and complete Geulah. What will be the order of lighting the Chanukah candles? On the eve of Chanukah 5752, the Rebbe shlita, Melech HaMoshiach, spoke about the possibility that Moshiach could arrive right now, and that raised a very interesting question. Today, in the time of exile, we light one Chanukah candle on the first day, two on the second, and so on—two, three, four—until the last day, the eighth, when we light eight candles. That’s because the halacha follows Beis Hillel. Beis Shammai, as we know, begin with eight candles, but the halacha follows Beis Hillel. Beis Hillel say the order is one on the first day, two on the second, three on the third. Why? Because we increase in holiness and do not decrease: we add light, we add holiness.

08:41 Speaker 2 By contrast, Beis Shammai disagree with them. We know that when Beis Shammai disagree with Beis Hillel, their opinion is not accepted, and we do not rule like them. But that is Beis Shammai’s position. Beis Shammai say: No. On the first day you light eight candles, on the second day seven, on the third day six, on the fourth day five, on the fifth day four, until on the last day, the eighth day, you light one candle. Why? They say it corresponds to the bulls offered on Sukkos, which decreased day by day. On the first day of Sukkos they offered fourteen bulls, on the second day thirteen, and so on, until on the last day they offered only seven bulls. So here too, the number decreases day by day. That is Beis Shammai’s view. Now, today the halachah follows Beis Hillel, but it says that in the future—and this is brought in Midrash Shmuel and in the name of the Arizal—since, as it says, “Which dispute is for the sake of Heaven and will endure? The dispute between Shammai and Hillel,” between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel. So the question is: What does “will endure” mean? After all, the halachah does not follow Beis Shammai. The halachah follows only Beis Hillel. So what does it mean that it will endure? The answer given is: Yes, but it will endure in the future. Today the halachah follows Beis Hillel; in the future it will follow Beis Shammai. That is what “will endure” means. So if the halachah follows Beis Shammai, it will be exactly the opposite. In the future, in the true and complete Geulah, on the first day we will light eight candles, on the second day seven, on the third day six, until on the eighth day we will light one candle, like Beis Shammai. And the Rebbe says this needs to be examined: Will that happen immediately when Moshiach comes? Suppose it is Erev Chanukah and we hear that Moshiach has come, that the true and complete Geulah has arrived. Do we immediately need to light eight candles on the

10:21 Speaker 2 first day? Or perhaps we need to wait until the Sanhedrin convenes, discusses the matter, and concludes that eight candles should be lit on the first day—and until the Sanhedrin rules that way, we will still light one candle, following Beis Hillel. The Rebbe leaves this as a question requiring further examination. We can discuss it, but in any case, it is clear that in the future, once the true and complete Geulah has arrived in its fullness and the Sanhedrin has issued its ruling, we will certainly light eight candles on the first day, seven on the second, and so on. But that is in the first period. In the second period of the Geulah, at a later stage, it says that all the opinions—after all, “both these and those are the words of the living G-d.” They are all the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So the Rebbe explains in a sicha from 5752 about the laws of the Oral Torah that the halachah will follow both Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel together. We will light eight candles on the first day and also light one candle. Either this will happen miraculously, both at once, or we will simply do two separate lightings. But either way, both will be fulfilled. And it is interesting that the Rebbe says that, in terms of their spiritual meaning, both these views actually apply today as well. Why? Because, as we said, Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel are not merely disagreeing over whether to light eight or one. This is a fundamental question: Are we emphasizing the increase—adding light, increasing day by day—or are we emphasizing the removal of darkness? The bulls offered on Sukkos correspond to the nations of the world, to negative elements: nullifying them, diminishing their negative aspects as much as possible, removing and nullifying those aspects and leaving only the good in them. So Beis

12:11 Speaker 2 Shammai also say eight, seven, six. Why? Because you need to reduce the darkness as much as possible. At first there is a great deal of darkness, so you need eight candles. Then there is less darkness, so you need seven, and so on. Both things, then, need to be part of our service of Hashem: adding light, continually increasing, as we said—we increase in holiness, we ascend in holiness—but at the same time reducing matters of darkness. So at first it is eight, then seven, six, five, and so on, until on the last day just one candle is left to be lit to dispel the darkness. This too is part of the dispute between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel. Of course, as we said, today we light one candle on the first day, and so on, but in the future this will change. How long will Chanukah last? Today we know Chanukah lasts eight days. It begins on the 25th of Kislev and ends, depending on whether Kislev has a full or short month, on 2 or 3 Teves. But there is an opinion—the Minchas Chinuch writes something very interesting. He writes that there is a theoretical possibility that in certain places outside Eretz Yisroel, during the Geulah, we will celebrate for nine days. Why? How did we get to nine days? He says this: When Rosh Chodesh was established on the basis of witnesses—today we establish Rosh Chodesh by the calendar, but in the time of the Beis Hamikdash it was all based on witnesses who came to the beis din. The new month was declared on the basis of sighting the moon. If they saw the moon on the thirtieth day, they knew that day was Rosh Chodesh. If not, the thirty-first day, which became the first day of the new month, was Rosh Chodesh. So it all depended on the sighting. Now, in places that did not know—in distant places outside Eretz Yisroel—they

14:09 Speaker 2 did not know exactly which date the beis din had declared Rosh Chodesh. So there they observed a second day of Yom Tov in the Diaspora. Not only on Pesach, as we do today. There is a difference here, which we will see in a moment. But they observed an additional day out of doubt not only on Pesach, Shavuos, Sukkos, and Rosh Hashanah, but also on Chanukah and Purim. You did not know the date. Today, we observe one day in Eretz Yisroel and two days outside Eretz Yisroel, but we know the date. We have a calendar; we know exactly when Rosh Hashanah is, and so on. So really, we would not need to observe a second day of Yom Tov. Why do we do it? To preserve the tradition, we celebrate a second day. But the requirement to preserve that tradition was instituted only for festivals ordained by the Torah. For festivals ordained by the Sages, such as Chanukah and Purim, we do not celebrate an additional day. In the future, though, when they return to establishing Rosh Chodesh through witnesses, based on the sighting of the moon, an additional day will consequently be celebrated on Chanukah too. Why? Because you do not know when the new month was established. In places that do not know when Rosh Chodesh was, they will observe an extra day out of doubt. They will not know exactly when the beis din established the month. That is what the Minchas Chinuch says. But this is only a theoretical possibility. Why? Because, as the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach shlita says, thanks to technology, people everywhere in the world will know immediately exactly when Rosh Chodesh was established in Jerusalem. Today, within a minute, the news is published all over the world, and everyone knows exactly when Rosh Chodesh is. So there will be no need. There will not even be a need on the festivals ordained by the Torah—not only will there be no need to observe nine days of Chanukah; rather, they will observe

16:02 Speaker 2 Eight days, as we do today. But even on festivals ordained by the Torah, like Sukkos, Pesach and Shavuos, they will observe only one day. One of the mitzvos connected with the Geulah, and also with Chanukah, is the mitzvah of anointing with the anointing oil. There is a mitzvah to anoint the Kohanim Gedolim, the kings and the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash with this oil. We know, too, that King Moshiach is called Moshiach because he is anointed. The anointing oil was a very special oil, prepared once, in the time of Moshe Rabbeinu. Although it was used many times, it remained intact forever. As the Gemara says, “Rabbi Yehudah said: Was there only one miracle associated with it? Its original quantity was twelve log, and from it the Mishkan and its vessels, Aharon and his sons were anointed throughout the seven days of inauguration, yet all of it remains for the future.” In other words, the anointing oil, too, remains intact, hidden away until the time of the Geulah. Then it will be used to anoint the Kohen Gadol and, according to some opinions, the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash as well. As for King Moshiach, will he actually need to be anointed with oil? There is some doubt about this. The Minchas Chinuch raises the question: will he need anointing with oil or not? On the one hand, there is reason to say he will. After all, he is called Moshiach, King Moshiach. Why? Because, due to our sins, the monarchy ceased many years ago, so a new monarchy is beginning now. On the other hand, he is a descendant of David and Shlomo, son after son, generation after generation. So he does not need to be anointed again: he is already a king descended from kings, generation after generation. Even if those kings did not reign, he remains a king descended from kings and does not need to be anointed again. It is an open question, something to discuss. Will he need to be anointed again or

17:47 Speaker 2 not? But there is something very interesting: some commentators explain that the Chanukah miracle, too, took place through the anointing oil. That is what Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Kaidanover writes in his book Kav Hayashar. He says that the oil the Jewish people found on Chanukah was the anointing oil, all of which remains for the future, and that they used it for the menorah, miraculously, for eight days. This also helps us understand where the oil got its ability to keep burning without running out. Why? Because it was the anointing oil, and all of the anointing oil remains for the future. So we can simply say that this is why the oil remained throughout. As the Rebbe says, it was consumed and not consumed at the same time. Its quantity did not go down; it remained there all along. By the eighth day they had managed to prepare oil from new olives, so they had a new supply of oil. But this oil itself remained and remained, and is still here today. Even now, after thousands of years, it is still hidden away, until the complete Geulah comes immediately, when we will take it, find it and use the anointing oil. Some opinions say that in the future everyone will place the Chanukah menorah “at the entrance to their home, outside.” Yes, that is what it says. Everyone will place the menorah outside the entrance to their home. Why? Because today, according to Chabad custom—and many others do this too—we place it at the entrance to one of the rooms in the house. Why is that? The Gemara describes a time of persecution and says, “He places it on his table, and that is sufficient.” That is also how the practice arose of not placing it outside. Although the mitzvah is to place it at the entrance to one’s home, outside, it came to be placed indoors. So our custom is

19:42 Speaker 2 to place it at the doorway of one of the rooms. Similarly, many others place it somewhere in the house, or on the inside of the front doorway, and so on. There are various opinions about this. But the reason is that there were times when decrees forbade the Jewish people to light Chanukah candles, so they did what they could. In the future, though, with the complete Geulah, there will be no decrees and no fear of them. So everyone will be able to place the Chanukah lights outside the entrance to their homes. Interestingly, it is related that some great Jewish leaders, some tzaddikim, prepared a sort of frame for their Chanukah menorah so that, if Moshiach came, they would be ready to put it outside. In any event, we do not see this practice with the Rebbe shlita, King Moshiach. We see that the Rebbe lights in a room. It is not certain; perhaps it will still remain at the entrance to one of the rooms. In any case, this is something that can be discussed. Perhaps with the true and complete Geulah it will change, since there will no longer be any fear of decrees. There will be no fear that the decrees might return, so people will be able to place it outside the entrance to their homes, as the Gemara says. There are some interesting allusions in Chanukah, some interesting acronyms that show how Chanukah is connected with the true and complete Geulah. First, Moshiach: in Hebrew, its letters stand for “We light throughout the eight days of Chanukah.” Here, too, we see a connection to Moshiach. According to some commentators, the oil was the anointing oil. “We light throughout the eight days of Chanukah” spells Moshiach.

21:28 Speaker 2 The Chashmonaim—the ones who fought the Chanukah war and defeated the Greeks. As we say in Ve’al Hanissim, “in the days of the Chashmonaim,” in the days of Yochanan the Kohen Gadol. That is what they were called, the Chashmonaim. The Hebrew letters of Chashmonai can be rearranged to spell “Moshiach Now.” That, too, is connected with the true and complete Geulah. Then there is the dreidel. Many of us have the custom to play dreidel—and Jewish custom is Torah. The dreidel has the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hei and shin, standing for “A great miracle happened there.” Their numerical value is 358, exactly the numerical value of Moshiach. In Eretz Yisroel, many write nun, gimmel, hei and pei on the dreidel, standing for “A great miracle happened here.” The letters hei and pei have the numerical value of 85, and all four letters together have the numerical value of 138—the numerical value of Menachem, the name of King Moshiach. May we all have a happy Chanukah, and with Hashem’s help, may we all meet in the third Beis Hamikdash. We will learn Torah directly from Moshiach, in a way we can see, and we will all see all the miracles and wonders and thank Hashem for all the—how do we say it? “And they lit lamps in Your holy courtyards.” We will light the Chanukah menorah in the third Beis Hamikdash. And as Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu said about the Rebbe shlita, King Moshiach: surely King Moshiach will say that it is permissible for a non-kohen to light the menorah, and so he will tell the Rebbe, “You have lit the lights of the Jewish people so many times, the light of the Jewish people. You will light the Chanukah menorah in the third and threefold Beis Hamikdash,” immediately. Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever.