Parshat Miketz/Chanukah

2 Tevet, 5777/December 31, 2016

Vol. 8 Num. 17

This issue of Toronto Torah is sponsored by Rabbi Dr. Moshe and Esty Yeres
on the yahrtzeit of Estys father, Rabbi Dr. Yisroel A. Frankel ztl
" " ' "

Chanukah: Its All About the Hallel

On a hypothetical list of Top eight
practices most commonly associated
with Chanukah, Hallel would likely
feature ninth, behind lighting, latkes,
dreidel, sufganiyot, gelt, Maoz Tzur, Al
HaNisim and sfinj. Rambam
apparently disagreed, though; in his
Mishneh Torah code of law, Rambam
chose to locate the rules for Hallel in
the Laws of Chanukah, rather than in
the Laws of Tefillah (prayer). Further,
he described Hallel first, before
addressing lighting the Chanukiah.
Why did Rambam emphasize the
connection between Chanukah and
Hallel?
Hallel or Chanukiah?
First, it is worth noting that the
Chanukiah may not have originally
been part of the Chanukah
celebration. As noted by Rabbi
Yitzchak Yehudah Trunk (Chasdei
Avot 17:17) and Rabbi Betzalel Zolty
(Mishnat Yaavetz 73:1), among others,
the Talmuds description of the history
of Chanukah omits the Chanukiah
entirely: When the Greeks entered the
Sanctuary, they contaminated all of
the oil in the Sanctuary, and when the
monarchy of the house of the
Chashmonaim mustered strength and
defeated them, they searched and
could find only one jug of oil marked
with the seal of the kohen gadol. There
was only enough to kindle for one day,
but a miracle occurred and they
kindled from it for eight days. The next
year, they established them and made
them Yamim Tovim, with Hallel and
thanks. (Shabbat 21b)
This passage, among other sources,

led some sages to suggest that our

lighting of the Chanukiah was
instituted only with the destruction of
the second Beit haMikdash, to continue
the light of the Menorah and thereby
commemorate the victory of the
Chashmonaim. Even without this
contemporary re-write of popular
understanding, though, the point
behind it is indisputable: the explicit
emphasis of our sages description of
Chanukah, in the Talmud, Al haNisim
and beyond, has been upon Hallel. This
emphasis is one reason to include Hallel
in the Laws of Chanukah. Looking
deeper into the nature of Hallel, though,
we may find a stronger connection.
Hallel: Processing the Miracle
The Talmud asks why we only recite a
partial Hallel on the 7th day of Pesach,
and it explains that Hallel is triggered
by a festival involving a unique korban,
but the korban of the 7th day of Pesach
is the same as the korban of the rest of
the week of Pesach. (Arachin 10a-b)
However, Rabbi Yosef Karo (Beit Yosef
Orach Chaim 490) suggested a different
explanation for this partial Hallel,
noting the Talmuds observation that Gd did not wish for songs of praise as the
Egyptians drowned on the 7th day of
Pesach. (Megilah 10b) Why do we need a
second explanation?
Rabbi Aharon Kotler (Mishnat Rebbe
Aharon, Pesach pg. 3) explained that
there are two types of Hallel: The ritual
of a festival, and the reaction to a
miracle. The 7th day of Pesach should
require Hallel under both of these
banners, but it loses the ritual because
of its korban, and it loses the reaction

Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner

to the miracle because the Egyptians
drowned.
Chanukah does not warrant the ritual
of a festival; as a post-biblical
celebration, it has no korban. Instead,
as noted in the Talmud (Arachin 10b),
the Hallel of Chanukah is our response
to a miracle. We may suggest that this
sort of Hallel is not actually a prayer;
rather, this breed of Hallel is a reaction
to a wondrous event, processing the
moment as an act of G-d lest its
religious import be lost. As Rabbi Kotler
wrote, Even regarding that which a
person sees with his own eyes he
needs to interpret for himself that which
he sees, and to establish it in his mind.
The Jews of the 2nd century BCE knew
no prophet; no message from G-d
interpreted the military victory and the
miracle of the oil. Our Chanukah
celebration acknowledging G-d was a
true fulfillment of the mission of Hallel,
the Jewish nation spontaneously
recognizing what Hashem had done for
us. This is the logical home for Hallel in
Rambams Mishneh Torah, and so he
placed its laws at the front and centre of
our Chanukah celebration and this
act of Hallel should remain the essence
of our Chanukah celebration today.
In the 20th century, we merited to
witness still more miracles, and our
ancestors established Hallel as a means
of understanding the Divine hand in
those events, too. May we soon witness
the completion of our redemption, and
sing Hallel as a nation once again.
torczyner@torontotorah.com

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Book Review: Aggadah lMaaseh

Aggadah LMaaseh
Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Brandes
Beit Morasha and the Eliezer Library,
Hebrew, 2005 (Vol. 1), 2011 (Vol. 2)
Who is the author?
Rabbi Yehuda Brandes currently heads
the Herzog College in Alon Shvut. He
previously headed Beit Morasha, the
Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
and Leadership, in Jerusalem. He was
among the founders of the Maaleh
School of Television, Film, and the Arts,
was the principal of Himmelfarb High
School in Jerusalem, and serves on the
AMIT networks spiritual-pedagogical
committee as well as the national
plenum of the Bnei Akiva youth
movement. His books and articles
discuss a broad range of topics, from
Talmud and halachah to Jewish
thought and education. Rabbi Dr.
Brandes is a graduate of Yeshivat
H a Ko te l a n d r e ce i ve d r a b b i n i c
ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of
Israel. He holds a Ph.D. in Talmud,
received from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem in 2003.
What is the goal of the book?
In
an
interview
(http://
bit.ly/2hgWEdv), Rabbi Brandes
describes the goal of the work: The
book illustrates that aggadah has a

substantive role in the shaping of

halakhah. Aggadah is not merely a lull
in halakhic discourse, nor is it merely
a supplement of ideological and moral
aspects. Instead, it accomplishes two
central things: First, it helps our
understanding of the ideas underlying
the halakhah, thus framing the course
of the halakhic discussion. Second, it
creates the tiny details of Talmudic
thinking and halakhah, which the
language of halakha is not refined
enough to address. In English, you call
this fine-tuning.
Throughout the two volumes, Rabbi
Brandes shows how the aggadic
material is also normative, in the
sense that it lays out principles for
action. Hence, the title of a book is a
play on the phrase halachah
lmaaseh practical halachah. This
book is about practical aggadah.
What topics are covered?
Each volume has a methodological
introduction, explaining the role of
aggadah in shaping halachah, and in
generating norms through its own
language. Rabbi Brandes explores the
language and tools of the aggadah,
and how they are similar to and
different from those used in legal
discourse. In the body of the book, he

Israels Chief Rabbis: Rabbi Yitzchak Nisim

Rabbi Yitzchak Nissim
1896 Baghdad, Iraq 1972 Jerusalem, Israel
Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, Sephardic, 1955-1972
Life
Rabbi Yitzchak Nissim was born in Baghdad, on the first day
of Chanukah; he was named Nissim (miracles), a name he
used later as a family name. Even as a young man he was
known for combining deep and vast Torah knowledge with a
strong sense of practical wisdom. He was in contact with the
great sages of the generation in Eretz Yisrael, Germany and
Poland, sending and receiving letters from them.
In 1925, he and his wife, Victoria, made Aliyah to Jerusalem,
with a months-long journey. In Jerusalem he learned from
Rabbi Kook, Rabbi Alfandari and more, making his living in
business. Rabbi Nissim ran for a Knesset seat in 1951 in a
religious party headed by Rabbi Eliyahu Ki Tov, but they
were not able to pass the electoral threshold.
In 1953, Rabbi Ben Tzion Uziel asked Rabbi Nissim to
replace him as Sephardic Chief Rabbi when the time would
come; Rabbi Nissim agreed, and in 1955 he was appointed as
Chief Rabbi. Rabbi Nissim served in this role until 1972,
when, as a consequence of political events, a time limit was
established for the Chief Rabbi position.
Rabbi Nissim passed away on Tishah BAv, 1981.
Legacy
Rabbi Yitzchak Nissim set a primary goal of reintroducing

Rabbi Jonathan Ziring

returns to these methodological points,
showing, for instance, how aggadah
celebrates dialectic and complexity and
does not need to reach conclusions. He
also shows how it communicates using
contradictory stories which illustrate
different poles of the spectrum in each
issue.
The first volume covers topics that
relate to family, society, and service of
G-d. It addresses Talmudic passages
relating to prayer, honouring parents,
parental obligations towards their
children, and marital life and intimacy.
The second focuses on the individuals
interactions with the general populace,
not just his relatives. It covers issues
of onaat devarim (hurting others with
words), halbanat panim (embarrassing
others), tzedakah (philanthropy), and
the relationships between teachers and
students, Jews in the Land of Israel
and Jews in the Diaspora, and Jews
and non-Jews.
Overall, the book opens up new ways
of understanding familiar and
unfamiliar texts.
jziring@torontotorah.com

Rabbi Baruch Weintraub

Torah and mitzvot to those Jews who had drifted away from
them. He was not shy about reaching out to the most
radical socialist kibbutzim, which were explicitly antireligious. He approached them not as a saviour, but as a
fellow Jew, and therefore he was accepted and respected. In
one of these visits, Rabbi Nissim said, There are no real
Apikorsim [heretics] here The term secular we are using is
also not good. The builders of the land and its defenders are
engaged in holy work. In some of the kibbutzim he had
much success, even to the point of sending mashgichim
from the Rabbanut to kasher their communal kitchen. He
did the same with factory workers in the city and university
students, building bridges above the widening chasm that
was opening between religious and non-religious groups in
Israel.
However, as much as Rabbi Nissim sought peace and the
joining of hearts, he nonetheless stood his ground where he
deemed it necessary. A famous case in point is the 1964
visit of Pope Paul VI to Israel. Paul refused to meet Israeli
officials in Jerusalem, meeting them instead in Megiddo, a
step that was seen by many as intended to disgrace the
Jewish state. Rabbi Nissim refused to give in, insisting that
if Paul wanted to meet him, he should come to Jerusalem.
At the time, this position was strongly criticized, and
portrayed as fanatical and dangerous. Later, however, it was
widely accepted that Rabbi Nissim was the only official who
had stood up to the pope and upheld national honour.
bweintraub@torontotorah.com

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Biography

Torah and Translation

Rabbi Avraham Y. Kook

The Contamination and the Antidote

Rabbi Netanel Javasky

Rabbi Kook, Ein Ayah to Shabbat 21b

[The following is excerpted from a longer

biography by Rabbi Netanel Javasky.]
Rav Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook
was born in Latvia in 1865. Recognized
as a prodigy at a young age, he joined
the famed Volozhin Yeshiva, and
developed a fond relationship with the
Rosh haYeshiva, Rabbi Naftali Zvi
Yehuda Berlin (Netziv). His stay in
Volozhin was under two years, but the
Netziv is quoted as saying that had the
entire Volozhin Yeshiva been founded
just to teach Rav Kook, it would have
been a worthwhile endeavour. His
brilliance
and
inquisitive
nature
combined to lead him to the study of
subjects not commonly explored in the
traditional Yeshiva settings of the time,
including Tanach, philosophy, Hebrew
language and mysticism. Becoming a
Rabbi at the age of 23, Rav Kook, in his
early years, served the communities of
Zaumel and then Bausk.
In the early years of the 20th century,
immediately before emigrating to Israel,
Rav Kook published three articles on the
topic of Israel; the ideas in these articles
would form a basis for his philosophy on
this subject. In 1904 Rav Kook became
Rabbi of Jaffa, and his broad impact was
instantly felt. He had great respect and
love for all Jews, and considered them all
as pioneers in the spiritual redemption.
Rav Kook explained that the Jew was
made up of two components: the inner
pintele yid and the route which he has
set out upon with his actions. Even if
one was weak in the latter, there was
still the heart and soul of a Jew that
could be loved and encouraged. Rav
Kooks love and affection towards the
secularists was often seen by his
opponents as compromising Halachah,
supporting those who were anti-religion.
Rav Kook was in Europe during the
outbreak of World War I, and he used
the opportunity to spread his desire that
religious Jews settle the Land and
influence its development. Soon after his
return home, he was appointed as the
first Chief Rabbi.
Rav Kook wrote prolifically on Jewish
thought and the development of the
Jewish land; new works of his writings
continue to be published today. In 1924
he founded Yeshivat Merkaz haRav named posthumously in his honour known today as the bastion of Religious
Zionism and as a place which has
become synonymous with the teachings
of Rav Kook. Rav Kook passed away in
1935, but his influence continues to be
felt to this very day.

Call our office at: 416-783-6960

Translated by Adam Friedmann

,
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...

,
,
,
,
, .

...

,
,
,
,
,

,
,
.
,
,
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.

Because when the Greeks entered the

sanctuary they defiled all the oils in the
sanctuary. And when the Hasmoneans
became strong and defeated them, they
searched but found only a small jug of
oil, marked with the seal of the Kohen
Gadol. (Talmud, Shabbat 21b)
The relations between Israel and the
nations of the world, their wisdom,
customs, and ideas, has already been
outlined by our Sages. (i.e. We are free to
adapt their proper customs and must
avoid their improper ones)... However,
following their proper customs requires
extra care lest one be tempted to follow
their improper ideas as well. The
foundation to rely on in these activities is
that Israel must guard its spirit with
utmost care It must see that the
general spirit of the nations does not
enter its inner life. Because once the
spirit of the nations enters into the inner
life of Israel, there is nothing that can
stop it
We have learned that once the Greeks
even just entered the sanctuary, once the
foreign spirit penetrated inward to the
very life of Torah and sanctity to attack it
and change it ever so slightly after their
own style, already then, all the oils in the
sanctuary were rendered impure. After
this they (i.e. the Greeks) would leave no
corner untouched, and like snakes
venom the foreign and destructive flow
would proliferate throughout the body of
the nation...
This is among the wonders of the Perfect
Intellect, that even if the beliefs which
branch from the foundational depths of
the Torah, such as the unity of G-d and
belief in Him, were damaged by the
struggle
with
the
Greek
yoke,
nevertheless, just as the Kohen in the
nation of G-d is established to teach the
laws of G-d, to be a role model of a life of
sanctity and purity in order to be a sign
for whole nation, so too does each
individual in Israel possess an element of
priesthood. This is because they are, in
general, a nation of priests and a holy
people. This is the inner world of the
Israelite, whose parallel at a national level
is the Kohen Gadol who enters the most
inner parts (of the Temple), to serve in
sanctity, on the sanctified day, separated
from the physicalities of life. The Greeks
were incapable of defiling that small jug,
bearing the seal of the Kohen Gadol. They
could not uproot from Israel its deep
internal bond with G-d, the Lord of Israel.

The 613 Mitzvot: #560The Mamzer

Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner

The term mamzer refers to the child of a prohibited union.

There is some debate regarding which relationships produce
mamzerim; in practice, mamzer refers to a child of adultery
or incest, such that his parents could not have married
each other halachically. Devarim 23:3 states that this
mamzer may not marry among the Jewish nation; Sefer
haChinuch lists this as the Torahs 560th mitzvah.
Our sages have long been perplexed by the Torahs harsh
treatment of the mamzer, particularly when marriage is the
only measure taken against him. As the Talmud (Horiyot
13a) notes, a mamzer who is a Torah scholar is treated with
greater honour than an unlearned kohen gadol; we take the
mamzer on his merits. The mamzer participates in all
mitzvot, and even inherits from his parents. Why, then, is
the mamzer excluded from most marriages?
Sefer haChinuch takes a simple approach, writing, There
is no doubt that the parents [sinful] nature is hidden in
the child. This argument is troubling, though; the
mamzer has not actually sinned, regardless of his
potential!

Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 3:49) adds a second argument,

framing the prohibition as a deterrent: To inform the
adulterers that their deed would cause their children
irreparable harm.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (Commentary to Devarim 23)
positions the mamzer as a victim of societys spiritual needs.
With these laws [defining permitted marriages] G-d elevated
His nations marriages from the realm of the merely
physical, and brought them into the spiritual-ethical sphere
expressed via kiddushin. This is why the mamzer [who
embodies a violation of that spiritual-ethical sphere] is
excluded from the society of G-d.

The Talmud (Eduyot 8, Kiddushin 71a) indicates that in the

future, certain mamzerim will be re-admitted to the
community. This led Rama (Shulchan Aruch Even haEzer 2:5)
to rule that where a family has become accepted despite
having problematic lineage, one should not advertise their flaw
to the general public.
torczyner@torontotorah.com

Weekly Highlights: Dec 31 Jan 6 / 2 Tevet 8 Tevet

Many of our regular classes are on hiatus, but opportunities remain!
Time
Dec. 31
After hashkamah
Before minchah
After minchah
6:00 PM
Sun. Jan. 1

Speaker

Topic

Location

Special Notes

Adam Friedmann

Parshah Analysis

Clanton Park

R Jonathan Ziring

Daf Yomi

BAYT

R Mordechai Torczyner

Refurbished Idols

BAYT

Yaron Perez

Parent-Child Learning

Shaarei Shomayim

Not this week

Chanukah Day 7

Rabbis Classroom

Chanukah Day 8

8:45 AM

R Jonathan Ziring

Responsa

BAYT

Not this week

8:45 AM

R Josh Gutenberg

Contemporary Halachah

BAYT

Third floor

R Mordechai Torczyner

Wasted Prayer?
The Tefilat Shav

Yarchei Kallah at
Yeshivat Or Chaim

9:15 Breakfast
Preparation
10:15 AM Shiur

Adam Friedmann

Gemara Arvei Pesachim

Clanton Park

Men

R Mordechai Torczyner

Ezra: Who is a Jew?

Shaarei Shomayim

2:30 PM

R Jonathan Ziring

Narratives of Vayikra

carollesser@rogers.com

8:00 PM

Adam Friedmann

Why do we do?

Shaarei Tefillah

R Mordechai Torczyner

Shoftim: War with Midian

57 Heatherton Way

Note new address

for this week

R Jonathan Ziring

Laws of Onaah

Yeshivat Or Chaim

Advanced

9:15 AM to
11:15 AM
Mon. Jan. 2
8:30 PM
Tue. Jan. 3
1:30 PM
Wed. Jan. 4

Not this week

Thu. Jan. 5
1:30 PM
Fri. Jan. 6
10:30 AM

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