Chanukahayala herskowitz | January 4, 2022We generally believe that the Greeks wanted the Jews not to learn Torah. But was that all? The Megillat Antiochus tells us that really, the yevanim wanted to stop Bnei Yisrael from performing three particular mitzvot - שבת, ראש חדש, ברית מילה. Specifically, the passuk (ז:י) says: "עַתָּה בֽאוּ וְנַעֲלֶה עֲלֵיהֶם וּנְבַטֵּל מֵהֶם אֶת־הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר כֹּרַת לָהֶם שַׁבָּת רֹאשׁ־חֽדֶשׁ וּמִילָה׃ Come now, and let us go up against them, and destroy the covenant their God has made with them, their Sabbaths, new-moon [festivals], and circumcision" What was so special about these three mitzvot that the yevanim chose to focus their attention on outlawing them? The second Sadigura Rebbe, Rav Yisrael Friedman, offers the following explanation. The yevanim lived only for this world. The Greek lifestyle focused only on the physical aspects of life. The Jews on the other hand, were more focused on the spirituality of life - having Emunah in Hashem and trusting that Mashiach will come. The goal of the Yevanim was to force the Jews to adopt a similar lifestyle to them and ultimately stop believing in ביאת המשיח. Therefore, they tried to abolish three certain mitzvot: מילה, שבת, and חדש. The ראשי תיבות of these three mitzvot - in addition to the word ישראל - spell out the word משיח. This proves that the Yevanim were really just trying to deny that Mashiach would ever come until eventually Bnei Yisrael believed it too. Instead of listening to the yevanim, Bnei Yisrael defeated them and now we have the Yom Tov of Chanukah to celebrate it. The holiday of Chanukah is specifically eight days long to include all three mitzvot the Yevanim tried to take away. Every year, no matter when it falls out, there is a שבת, a ראש חדש, and the שמונה ימי מילה within the eight days. Through celebrating the eight days of Chanukah, which symbolize our dedication to the Mitzvot of ברית מילה, שבת, and ראש חדש, we demonstrate our eternal belief that משיח will come במהרה בימנו. Rabbi DovBerDaniella weingarten & atara gursko
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SKA Looking Glass 2021