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DECEMBER 14, 2017 | The Jewish Home
Dear Readers,
W
hen we go to my parents’ Chanukah party in Brooklyn every year, I am imbued with a special, warm feeling. No, it’s not that I’m going back to my childhood home, although that is always nice. And it’s not that I’m going to be spending time with family, although that is also very special. And it’s also not the doughnuts or the latkes or the platters of food that cover the tables, although that is always very welcome (just not to my diet!). The feeling comes as we drive past all the houses on the dark streets. Almost every home has a group of menorahs standing in its window, their small flames glinting in the darkness. Blocks and blocks of windows, rows and rows of menorahs, countless small bundles of light illuminating the darkness. The same emotion – magnified – is felt in Eretz Yisroel. There, the whole country is celebrating Chanukah, and when it gets dark, flames are seen dancing in windows, in stores, and in boxes on the streets. And it’s not just menorahs that imbue Eretz Yisroel with a Chanukah ambiance. The whole country is more joyous, more uplifted, as sufganiyot are piled high in storefronts and potatoes for latkes are sold by the kilo in groceries. Yesterday, when I heard of the passing of Rav Steinman, zt”l, I felt as if a huge light was extinguished from the world. Rav Steinman was the indisputable leader of our generation, shouldering our burdens and shedding light into various matters that seemed dark to us. Suddenly, we are left alone; our world was darkened when he left to the Olam Ha’emes. I recently viewed a clip of Rav Steinman lighting the Chanukah menorah. What struck me when viewing the film was that after saying the brachos and lighting the menorah, Rav Steinman sang Maoz Tzur. The tune he used for singing Maoz Tzur is the same tune that we all use when lighting the menorah, from four-year-olds to 104-year-olds. Look, I said to myself, look at the Jewish nation! We are
all performing this mitzvah of lighting the menorah, and we are all united, singing age-old words with the same melody. Regardless of who we are, the miracles that took place were for “avoseinu,” all of our fathers. All of our ancestors saw the nes of Chanukah, of the war and of the oil, and they passed down those stories of miraculous victories and astounding wonders to their children, who in turn passed it to their children until the chain, unbroken, reached us. As we began to prepare an article on Rav Steinman for this week’s issue we became aware of his tzava’ah in which he asked that the media not print articles on him after his passing. In a world where people yearn for popularity and recognition, Rav Steinman’s request highlights his true self. Even after his passing, his essence so shunned adulation and ego, anything connected to the material world, that he asked for a simple gravestone and to be buried among simple people. He was the embodiment of shemen zayis zach, a pure, untainted human being whose only desire was to connect with Hashem and His Torah. The miracle of the oil on Chanukah only highlights this lesson. When the Maccabim weren’t able to find enough pure oil for eight nights, they could have used something less than pure and it would have been permitted to use. But they desired to do the mitzvah on the purest level. And so, because of their elevated yearning to connect with Hashem in a most pure way, they were zocheh for the miracle of oil burning for eight nights. This Chanukah, as we gather around the menorah with our families, we can gaze upon the flames and the oil burning beneath them and remember the lesson of the shemen and the desire to be pure that our ancestors have passed down to all of us. Wishing you a wonderful, freilechen Chanukah, Shoshana
Yitzy Halpern PUBLISHER
publisher@fivetownsjewishhome.com
Yosef Feinerman MANAGING EDITOR
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Shoshana Soroka EDITOR
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Nate Davis Editorial Assistant Nechama Wein Copy Editor Berish Edelman Mati Jacobovits Design & Production Gabe Solomon Distribution & Logistics P.O. BOX 266 Lawrence, NY 11559 Phone | 516-734-0858 Fax | 516-734-0857 Classifieds: Deadline Mondays 5PM classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com text 443-929-4003 The Jewish Home is an independent weekly magazine. Opinions expressed by writers are not neces sarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The Jewish Home contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.
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