Chanukah Inspiration 2023: The Transformative Journey of Hallel Prayer and Miracle vs Nature Dichotomy

For a short stint of time I actually held the worst job known to mankind, which was a morning vequer, a guy who wakes the kids up for chakras, and this was in a summer camp. And it's obviously a tough job. When the kids have been up until 2 and now they need to be woken up at 7-8 o'clock in the morning, it can be troublesome. Now any good vequer knows that there's two main plans of attack. You can either use the water gun approach and the loud music, shake them, something like that, or you can simply walk in and turn the lights on. Turn the lights on so you can't sleep anymore. It's too bright and hopefully they arise Not always, but hopefully. Now. That is exactly what the great Ripschleime Eager, son of Ripiacchive Eager, says is the entire majos of the holiday of Hanukkah. Hanukkah, when we light them in Naira. Tonight we are walking in and turning on the lights. Rambam, noted in Hilghosh Rosh Hashanun Yemkippur by the Days of Awe. What's the point of Elulun Rosh Hashanun Yemkippur? Uru Yashaynim Mishin Aschem? I'm sorry, it's by Hilghosh Tkya Shaefer, by the laws of the Shaefer. It's to wake us up. It's to say, wake up from your slumbers and forsake the heavily hazman and return to your avaida. That is how we do it during the days of awe and during Hanukkah we have a chance to inspire ourselves without the water guns and without the loud music. We just turn the lights on. See them in Naira tonight. See it and welcome yourself back to the days of awe. It's a different form of the Aseris Yumei Chuba. It's like the Shmaine Yumei Chuba. We can say so, but we don't have to get shot with water guns this time. Don't be like the young kids in the camp that slept through shockers and got docked from leaks that day. Wake up on time, see the light, see the inspiration for what it is, and wake up and return to your avaida session. If you've never had a chance to learn in the Yeshiva, well, now is your big moment. We are going to learn Yeshiva style. Daf choches onward beys imbezech. The taines is where we begin our journey. Ve yam t'varitun shal pesach. T'hoyst vis wants to know what's the difference as to why we say halel all eight days of Chanukah, but on pesach only the first day. H'goi mer halel aval shmaini imbe peysach loi mi shypte leidami le Chanukah besukes. When it comes to Chanukah, you know why we finish halel all eight days. As t'hoyst vis, H'udina lig mor. Halel de kol chaches. Yam im haio. Ha neis vis kadel bahayekol. Echad vechad chad. Vechad yam tif. Each individual day was its own halel day because it was its own day of increasing the miracle. So a halel on each day of Chanukah is recited. Rebello Barchvenko wants to create another plan to answer t'hoyst vis's question to find the difference between halel on pesach and halel on Chanukah. There is something called a mitzvah clullius and a mitzvah proteus is his plan. When it comes to a yantif, do we do a mitzvah? For the sake of? It is specific to that. Yantif Lulav on sukkes, his only sukkes. There's another type of mitzvah perhaps it's followed under this category called the mitzvah clullius, like kiddish you do, on all yantifs, sayingsheheche yantif on all yantifs. Cesar vello Barchvenko. When it comes to Chanukah, the mitzvah of Chanukah is halel. The mitzvah proteus, the mitzvah that is specific to these days, is halel. It's not a halel. That is something that we say like a tefila. That happens on all yom and taibim. There's a mitzvah specific to Chanukah and that is halel. Even rebav rohum ben a rambam tell us in the Shilus of Chubos, my senesim, that halel on Chanukah is a doraysa. Perhaps women are even obligated in it. And one of the biggest proofs to this yasid and I want to build, what we should be focusing on on this haleday is if you're to look in the rambam to find where, in all of his 14 books of halacha, where Hilchos halel would be found. You should look in Hilchos tefila and we know that you can learn a lot about the essence of a law based on where the rambam grouped it, where he put it and what's safer and with which halachos. You would not find Hilchos halel in Hilchos tefila. You would find it in Paragymel of Hilchos Chanukah, because the mitzvah that we're focusing on, the mitzvah that is the as Rebellio Barch Fingal said it, that is the Esrog of Chanukah. The Esrog of Chanukah is halel. Sometimes the days of Chanukah can be what's the abaydah? What do we do? We light minaira at night time. But what else do we do? The mitzvah of Chanukah is halel. In the morning, strap your fillin or prepare yourself to daven, put a talison. If you are supposed to put a talison, prepare yourself mentally for the main mitzvah of the day. The Esrog of Chanukah is the saying of halal. Truthfully, the plan was to talk about a different topic, but I was setting up my minaret last night and you know the little cups that you put in, the little menorah cup thing and there's some foil and everything works. It's like a gel oil and it's easy. I think it's called like easy menorah. But then the oil started to get everywhere and it was falling and there was some glass. It was a messy situation and I was a little bit nesrashel, I was a little bit like ah. And then I thought about this Bach that Rabbi Ruchem talks about, according to my Rami Rottenberg, and now we're gonna build it. Listen to this question from the Peneishua, the Peneishua that I've got all of the Amid base. The Messiah of the Shabbos tells us that, technically, what is the Gresta? What is this great miracle of Hanukkah that they only wanted to use this cohen sealed oil and it was only enough to use for one day but lasted for eight Fracti. Peneishua, the Kivanditima Hutra Bitzibur, when the community needs something, it is mutur to use the Tamei version. Kivanditima Hutra Bitzibur, how you hold it in the Hadlik Bishem and Tamei. They could have used the other ones, so why did they only use this one? It was Shalokalachah. Well, shalokalachah, but, and secondly, if you'll say that maybe still, it was Mahajan, it was beautiful, they wanted to use it the best way and that was this miracle. Well then, even still, miracles were happening constantly Asor and Nisim Nassu. There were ten miracles Laavosin, rebesa and Miktash In Revobo and the Channikotok it says it was biving to Medi. There were constant miracles happening. So what is the greatest celebration about the holiday of Channikot? What's so special? And then you'll find this Bach, this Maharami Rutenberg, you'll find it in Tur. Or Hayim Hilchos, channikot, simon Tufres, ayin. That explains the dynamic and situation. What was going on for the Jews at that point? Al-shahisarashalubah, avodah Seems like the Jews. I'm not sure of the literal translation of Shishrashlubah, but there was a little bit of a taking for granted, maybe a little laziness, maybe some acceptance of the Mitzvahs taking them for granted. And then Hashem sent Gzeiros. Are you taking for granted? Here are the Gzeiros. And then what happened? The Jews were okashchazru b'tchuvah, limisor nafsham, and they became people that were doing repentance. And then, limsor nafsham, they gave up of themselves, or a maister nefish on themselves. They were maister nefish for Hashem, haishim Hashem, al-yodam Hashem, save them. Kohanim Avodah, avodah b'es Hashem. And then, therefore, nasa hanes. And therefore we got this miracle the Mitzvahs, nefish, for the Mitzvahs, what we celebrate. The Mitzvahs nefish to use only this oil. The Mitzvahs nefish to give up of themselves and put their life on the line for this battle for Hashem, for the sake of the Mitzvahs. That's what we celebrate. Miracles, there are constant miracles. See the Rambam at the end of Parashas Bo, even we say by Yomim Mahim B'zman haZedar, are miracles happening? They could have used different oil, yes, but the M'sirahs nefesh zaktavach, the M'sirahs nefish to giving up of themselves, the oil spilling when you're setting up the manayur, the little bit of glass in your finger. It was mechazikmi. Let us get back to what Hashem cares about in our Mitzvahs, which is the M'sirahs nefish, the bitilayish, the giving up of ourselves, the giving up for the sake of Akhlish Bargwin. As Mitzvahs, on today's to-do list, take out garbage, pick up water bottles. Alright, sometimes I can be forgetful, so I'll try to write it down. How fortunate are we. Says the altar of Kelm and his mimer on Pe'alif, in Pe'alif, in Khachma'u-Mussur, that Anchik and that's the Hagedayla the great rabbis gave us to do this in order to remind us not to forget to do the important tasks of the day. And when it comes to Chanukah, keshe'er of the Semen. A sign has been given to us in Asalonah bagalilah and called the Meneiras to teach us lessons Lamanakabalolayno al-Mahakoshamayin, ba'ratun wa-simcha, in order to internalize and to recommit the sovereignty, the yoke of heaven, with Ratzon and with Simcha. When you read the halachos about the Meneira and how strict Khazar wants us to be, it becomes very clear how important the lessons are behind the Meneira. Round the milch is Chanukah parat al-alakhi yud-bayh tal-as-liyafilu anishabh yud-shral. Even somebody who's so destitute, god forbid, that they cannot even afford one candle, is obligated to sell his clothes in order to acquire nair Chanukah, which is an issue of Kavah Dabriah's, which is Daycha. All the lois I say is in the Torah and to misvitharabunan to do this nair Chanukah, but clearly says the altar. How important are the lessons behind it that you even have to sell the clothes off your back, god forbid. When it comes to Kiddush, hayay me nair Chanukah, nair Chanukah comes before Kiddush. Gamar n'chabis daf khaf, gimal alam and alav tells us that because of khashad, we actually at times have to light two Meneiras, because if you have an entrance to your house in the front and in the back, somebody might bekho sheshu, somebody might think that, hey, this family doesn't let me, nair, so you have to light. Two. The lessons of nair Chanukah are so integral and so important that Anchik and Eszakadoyl that Khazal want us to fulfill it, to make sure that we can cross it off our to-do list, that we internalize its lessons. Now, how silly would it be. At the end of the day, if I return and I look down at my list, I return home and I see, get water bottles, take out garbage, and I say, well, look, I wrote it down. I reminded myself, see, I remembered. But if I don't do it then what did I accomplish? The point of the Meneiro is the Misa Mitzvah, but the lessons behind it are what Outer of Kelm tells us we need to take from it. If we stop early and we don't take the lessons, we just do the Mitzvah, well then we leave much to be desired. Khadash Baruch, who runs the world, it's clear, everything is nisim, the Ramban and Siparsha's bow. There's no difference between vinegar lighting and oil lighting. If a candle is supposed to last for one day, it could last for eight days. Because Khadash Baruch, who runs the world, don't stop at just the Maitse Mitzvah, take the lessons from it, internalize it, for clearly they are very important. It was brilliant advice when my father instituted that the family always select one theme that we focus on at each holiday and for Chanukah we're trying to explore the concept of Tevah vs Lemaelamina Tevah, nature vs miracle, why the oil at some times decides to burn for longer and at other times only burns, how Hashem had set up the world and that's something called nace. And when you explore the topic further, I actually believe that this Mara Makom, where Rabbi Rukham discusses it it's at the beginning of Das Chachmo Moser in his introduction is actually the advertisement for the Motivation Congregation. And the whole basis of this whole status and podcast is because really we are stuck. Who we are Really, as Tevah has it. A person is who he is, with his own natures and what bothers him and what he likes, and it's like how can you change that? It takes a miracle, says Rabbi Rukham, to change. That's where this comes in, that's where Chanukah comes in, that's where Abach comes in. When a person goes through Tevah, maximizes Tevah, then he goes Lemaelamina Tevah. That's how change is done, that's how winning is done. Lemaelah is the word, says Rabbi Rukham. It's not that you go hoots, no, go outside of Tevah, you go Lemaelah. Here you have used all of your energy and all of the different possible assets, you have to push through and win, then Hashem takes over and makes a miracle. You don't need me to tell you the measures about Naachshon, how we were standing at the foot of the water when the Jew, when the mitzvah, were behind us and the water was in front of us. And then Naachshon went in and the water was up those waist and then it was up to his shoulders and the water came up to his nose. He couldn't breathe anymore and then boom, the water split. When you reach a level of effort, a level of giving up of yourself, a level of misira snafesh, that's when miracles take place. That's when change is done. The way is through, the only way is through. The way is to give up and the way is to endure, and the way is real energy and effort from misira snafesh for Hashem. And then you enter into lamailu and at Teva, above the Teva, and then miracles happen.