23 Nov CHANUKAH

The Chochmas Shlomo teaches
that if someone in jail is given the
choice of either lighting the Chanukah candles in prison or to leave
the jail for a day to say Hallel, he
should choose to leave and say Hallel. Hallel is more important than
lighting the Chanukah candles because these days were established
for Hallel and Hoidayah (praise).
The Misechta Sofrim says that on
Chanukah we should say Hallel
בנעימה ,to chant it pleasantly and
joyfully.
There was a woman who suffered
from a dibbuk. The Divrei Chaim of
Tzanz zt’l suggested that she stand
by the doorway of the beis kneses
when they say Hallel on Chanukah.
She did so, and the dibbuk left her.
Like all mitzvos, Hallel should be
said with a hislahavus, with passion. Although we will be saying
Hallel for eight days straight, we
should strive to make the Hallel
new, exciting and joyous, each day.
The Baal HaTanya zt’l had a great
chassid called Reb Shmuel Minkas
zt’l. Once, he asked a melamed,
“What are you teaching now?”
The melamed replied that he was
teaching Bava Metziah. Reb Shmuel Minkas asked, “The first Mishnah of Bava Metzia repeats some
of its phrases twice. The Mishnah
writes, “This person says that he
found the garment and this person
says that he found the garment.”
The Mishnah says, “This one says
that it is all mine, and this one says
that it is all mine.”
“My question is,” Reb Shmuel
Minkas said in good humor, “in
the siddur, by Hallel, there are also
some words that are repeated. The
Siddur writes the first words in
large print, and the second words
are written in smaller print. Why
doesn’t the Mishnah do the same?
When the phrase is repeated, it
should be written in smaller print.”
The melamed laughed, but he
didn’t have an answer. Reb Shmuel Minkas said, “I will tell you the
reason. When a person claims that
the garment is his, he says it with
all his heart. He really means it;
he really wants it. Therefore, the
words (both times) are written in
large print. But in Hallel, when
the words are repetitious people
become tired and are uninspired.
The second time, the words aren’t
said with the same enthusiasm as
the first time around. Therefore
the first set of words is written in
large letters but the second set is
written in smaller print.”
This problem certainly can occur when we say Hallel for eight
consecutive days. We can lose
the excitement and the joy, and
it can chalilah turn into a routine.
Therefore, we must strive to say
the Hallel each day, with joy and
with passion.
Halachah states that one shouldn’t
eat before davening Shacharis.
There was an elderly gadol who
was careful with this halachah. This
was a bit of a problem because he
davened Shacharis very late each
day. He was old and ill and it wasn’t
good for his health. His family
tried to convince him to maybe
daven earlier or to eat before
davening because he needed it
for his health, but he refused.
One of his children went to his
doctor. “Maybe you can convince our father to eat earlier?”
The doctor spoke with the elderly man, “I have two questions: My first question is, I
don’t understand why Yidden
daven the very same prayer
each day. It is disrespectful.
Even before a human king,
one doesn’t repeat his words
daily. He changes his requests
and his praises each time he
speaks to the king. Certainly,
one shouldn’t repeat his words
before the King of the world.
“My second question,” the
doctor continued, “is why do
you daven so late? Can’t you
pray earlier?”
The elderly rav replied, “Your
questions are very good, but
one question is the answer to
the other one. You say that
it’s improper to repeat the
same exact words each day,
and I agree with you entirely.
Therefore, I try to have new
intentions every day. Although
the words are the same, I
make certain that my meanings
are deeper and different each day.
Thus Hashem, who knows people’s
thoughts, receives a brand new tefillah each day. But to do so, I need
time to prepare. It isn’t easy to pray
a new prayer each day. Preparation
takes time. That is the reason why I
daven late.”
Reb Yankel Kojhelik zt’l came
from Europe to live in Eretz Yisrael. He assumed that when he
came to Eretz Yisrael he would feel
its immense kedushah, but he was
surprised to discover that he actually felt more spirituality in chutz
le’aretz. He spoke with Rebbe
Shlomke of Zvhil zt’l about this.
The Rebbe of Zvhil explained,
“When one carries water on his
shoulders, it’s heavy. But when he
goes to the mikvah, and is entirely
immersed under the water, there’s
a lot of water on his shoulders but
he doesn’t feel the weight. Because
when one is entirely immersed in
something, he doesn’t realize what
he’s carrying. Now that you are in
Eretz Yisrael, totally immersed in
the holiness, you don’t realize what
you have.
This is one of the reasons that
people become less inspired with
Hallel, Al HaNissim and with the
hadlakas haneir of Chanukah, as
Chanukah goes by. At first, they
are excited and inspired but as they
become more and more immersed
in its holiness, they lose sight of
all the goodness that they have. We
should recognize that the holiness
of Chanukah increases each day
and we should continue to endeavor to experience its wonderful light
and joy.