Latkas and Doughnuts: The Inner Dimension

It's the 3rd Night of Hanukkah tonight, and already my digestive system is pleading with me: "What's with all of these donuts and Latkas!? Spare me, please!" Now, I know you'll tell me that the whole miracle of Hanukkah we commemorate centers around the finding of one last jar of oil in the Temple and that's why we eat all of these oily foods. But let's take a deeper look.

What were the Syrian-Greeks trying to stamp out from the minds and hearts of the Jewish people? Unlike during the times of Purim where a decree was sent for the annihilation of the Jews physically, the oppression of our people by the Greeks was not on our bodies but on our souls and our beliefs.

The Greeks valued beauty: Art, music, philosophy, intellectual pursuit. Socrates, Plato, Homer, Aristotle. If we look back to the Biblical story of Noah and his 3 sons after the flood, the love of beauty in Greek culture makes perfect sense. Noah cursed Cham (look there for reasons why), blessed his son Shem (whom Abraham descended from) with spiritual truth, and blessed his 3rd son Yefet with beauty (Yefet had a son named Yavan, the progenitor of the Greek Empire). Noah wished, however, that this beauty "should be found in the tents of Shem." That true beauty could only truly be found when in a Godly, spiritual context.

But the Torah happens to be a beautiful work, full of philosophical and intellectual debate. It's the #1 best-selling book in History! [I'll have to check Harry Potter statistics later]. It has an original and all-Powerful Author as well. So what was the Greeks' problem? They should have rejoiced in the fact that they could fulfill the wishes of Noah, that spiritual beauty and aesthetic beauty could combine together in perfect harmony. It's known that there was a point in history when this harmony resided. The Talmud mentions an event when the mighty Greek ruler Alexander the Great, when greeting the Jewish sage Shimon Hatzadik, 'alighted from his chariot and bowed down before him...he exclaimed: Blessed is the G-d of Shimon Hatzadik!' Many respectful incidents between Roman rulers and the Sages of Israel exemplify this as well.

The later Greeks' annoyance, however, centered not on the Torah's intellectual beauty. No, the Greeks disliked that the Torah didn't remain just as another intellect. Mitzvot and Jewish ritual weren't considered by the Jews as mere customs and tradition. Jews considered Torah and Mitzvot to be God's Divine Will; that there's something beyond what the human intellect can reach on its own. That there's a higher, Divine reality.

Back to the oily Latkas and Donuts. Jewish mysticism likens oil to the Essence of Torah. Many examples are given why, one being that just as oil's nature is to pervade through and through whatever it comes in contact with (just ask your mother who had to clean your pant's stain ), so too the deepest truths of Torah pervade every fabric of our reality. As the "blueprint of the world", every aspect of life and of our world can be found in Torah on some level.

But unfortunately, oil can't be healthily consumed raw! For consumption of oil, it has to be cooked or fried with something. Spiritually speaking, this need to mix raw oil with dough, or potatoes and onions, or some other more tangible food, represents the need for the Essence of Torah (oil) to come down in a more tangible, "edible" way that we can comprehend, for pure Godliness would be too lofty for us mortals to handle. But through "cooking" and "baking" this Divine wisdom into words and teachings that we can understand, we are able to digest and internalize this divine wisdom and message. This is Torah, from its practical laws to its mystical aspects: 'Digestible' Godliness.

May we all take advantage of the 'donuts & latkas' (Torah and Mitzvot) in our midst throughout the entire year beyond Hanukkah, and let the Essential oil reveal our essential connection to God. And may the 'beauty of Greece' be found in 'the tents of Shem' - the tents of Divine purpose and meaning. Now go enjoy those latkas and doughnuts!

Happy Hanukkah & Shabbat Shalom!

Lighting The Darkness

In this week's Torah portion, Vayeishev, we read about the sale of Joseph by his brothers into slavery. At only 17 years old, Joseph is forced to leave his realm of comfort and holiness in Israel with his father Jacob, venturing into the immoral abyss of Egypt. Everything happens for a reason, how much more so in the case of the lives of our forefathers. So what lessons can we learn from the life of Joseph?

After being sold by his very own brothers to a caravan heading for Egypt, Joseph goes through struggle after struggle, test after test. Still in his teen years, he is solicited incessantly by his employer's wife, and yet he resists time and again. And she couldn't have been the only one; It is said that Joseph had an indescribable beauty, such that whenever he would walk on the street, women would stop what they were doing just to catch sight of him, and would often injure themselves in the process! Yet Joseph stayed true to his moral ideals. He knew that he wasn't sent down to Egypt simply because of his brother's jealousy, but that it was God who wanted him there for some mission.

During the low points - when he was unfairly sent to prison in Egypt for 12 years for a crime he never committed, to the high points - when he was placed in control over the entire Egyptian nation, second only to Pharaoh, he knew it was for a higher purpose. Joseph not only accepted his tough situations with good faith and a smile, he embraced them with the full knowledge that he was placed there for a special mission of creating a better world that God would be proud of. Ultimately, it was Joseph whose plan ended up saving - not only the Egyptian people - but the entire world during the great famine of his time. Instead of succumbing to Egypt's temptations, or wallowing in self pity over the unfair hardships he had endured, Joseph shined, turning the darkness in his life into light.

One special example can be seen while Joseph was imprisoned in a dungeon after being falsely accused. One morning, he sees two dejected prisoners (Pharaoh's butler and baker) and walks over to them with a friendly smile. "Maduah p'neichem ra'im hayom?" he asks them. "Why are your faces sad today?" They tell Joseph of their bad dreams and he interprets them. The butler is later freed, and upon hearing Pharaoh's nightmare, he begrudgingly admits that there is a Hebrew slave that can interpret dreams. Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream as meaning that starvation will hit Egypt soon, and Pharaoh then raises him to second in command, in charge of saving grain in order to eventually feed the entire starving world. How easy and normal would it have been for Joseph to have been sulking in prison, falsely accused and alone without family. Instead, he saw his miserable situation as a divinely planned opportunity. And because of one kind action, one friendly gesture, Joseph ended up saving the entire world!

Irregardless of our dire circumstances, the Jewish people have followed in their ancestor's path of looking at life as a mission with great importance. As the 2nd president of the United States, John Adams, once said: "I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation." As the eight nights of Hanukkah begin this Wednesday evening, may we take note of the light of the candles, working to illuminate the darkness of the world, one candle at a time.

Shabbat Shalom!

-Rabbi Daniel