CYHSB Weekly 12/8/2023

Volume 18, Issue 8

December 8, 2023

CYHSB WEEKLY Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys Volume 18, Issue 7 Tuning Your Spiritual Instruments Page 3 Cooper Clicks Page 4 Cooper Contretemps: Did the Greek's win?

Page 5 Special shout out this week to Elisha Pollak for answering the riddle correctly before anyone else. If you want a special shout out make sure to answer that riddle as fast as possible.

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Family of hostages brought safely home to Israel following deals made between the IDF and Hamas. Source: ABC news

The Developing Hostage Situation in Israel Ilan Lennon (27’) On October 7 Hamas abducted around 250 hostages, many of whom were not Israeli, including Thai, Argentinians, Americans, French, Russians, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, Tanzanians, and Philippines. Since the hostages have been abducted by Hamas, Israel has been trying to negotiate a hostage, and prisoner transfer to bring back the captives.

On Thursday, November 22, nearly seven weeks after the initial attack, Israel and Hamas agreed, with Qatar as key negotiator. Israel was to receive a total of 50 hostages over

the four-day deal, each day no less than 10 hostages were freed. In return for this Hamas would receive three Palestinian prisoners, all charged with violent crimes by Israel. The deal was a cease-fire set to begin at 10 AM local time (2 AM CT), and the first swap was also set to occur then, each day another swap would take place. There was also a clause for 10 additional people to be released each additional day the ceasefire persisted.

The evening preceding the following day’s prisoner/hostage exchange Israel and Hamas would be 1

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Cont. from last page: required to give the Red Cross a list of those set to be released. The list would then be taken to the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt, to be verified by Israeli soldiers. After they were released they would then go to a hospital for six weeks, before the family could see them, to ensure the health of the freed individual. Once the hostage was chosen to be released the family wouldn’t be notified until the swap was complete.

The truce ended on December 1 after Hamas refused to send the list of hostages set to be released "Bring Them Home" is a phrase at the forefront of every Jewish persons mind right by the deadline of 7:00 am, now. Source: Variety.com additionally, Hamas sent rockets into Israel, breaking reportedly sent over $1 billion to Palestinians were allowed into the truce. A total of 105 hostages Hamas in the past decade.

However, Egypt to receive medical attention. were released by Hamas, 81 of The truce between Israel and Qatar is also a major U.S. ally who which were Israeli during the Hamas allowed Israel to allow the is allied with Israel, they also were temporary truce. Israel released 240 soldiers in Gaza to leave and swap one of the first Arab Gulf states to Palestinian prisoners, all of whom with new reinforcements, however, support Israel.

Consequently, Qatar were convicted of violent crimes. alleged reports from Israeli soldiers in coordination with the U.S., Egypt, Qatar’s role in mediating the truce is report subjugation to continued Israel, and Hamas, worked together further explainedviolence despite the ceasefire. to come to an agreement in which Qatar has always supported Hamas was able to replenish Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, Hamas as they not only “condemn supplies, reposition, and regroup to and American & Israeli Hostages the genocide occurring in the Gaza better positions within the territory. were released, and many injured Strip,” but also house Hamas leaders in luxurious lifestyles and have

Radical Riddles I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?

Whoever sends the first correct answer will receive a special reward! Send your answer to amit.zalman@mhafyos.org! Last issue’s winner: Elisha Pollak

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Tuning Your Spiritual Instruments Avi Becker (24’) status. This implies that a human Upon careful consideration of flawed body while alive is at least as holy as instruments, you can find that any an “alive” Torah. These steps of how necessary reason for their existence we treat a dead body should only becomes discountable. A piano with a further be emulated in the way we broken string can neither produce a treat our living bodies; the very sound nor harmonize a piece. A drum instruments that we use to conduct with a broken stand can not be used our daily lives. Here, we will examine to create a beat. Instruments become the steps of burial and how we can the very lifeline through which we apply those to our everyday lives.

First comes Tahara. The Chevra conduct ourselves and our lives. To Kadisha (a group of Jewish people ruin the symphony of our existence, who care for the deceased to prepare one need only break an instrument. them for burial) unclothes the body Historically, music has played a vital and sets to cleansing it. They begin by role in Jewish history. David and cleaning the body with cold water Serach Bas Asher with their harps, while reciting verses that relate to the Avraham had the ram’s horn, etc. This part of the body they’re cleaning. brings us to the question of this After two rounds of this, the body is week’s Dvar: What is our instrument?

Clearly our “instruments” are not dressed in simple clothing and ready true instruments, rather they are for burial. This should be reflected by powers of our own body. One might us in how we appropriately keep our argue that bodies clean. our bodies Both from lack that physical dirt and natural being looked holiness. down upon as This could dirty, by not be watching our further mouths and from the where we may truth. We step. Beyond s e e that, the clothing L a sthet through is representative r i t u a l of the humility process of we should carry burial and with ourselves.

Ta h a r a h , The body is that Jewish dressed in simple bodies are clothing in an act indeed of humility, to extremely remove any h o l y. A extravagance d e a d Source: https://www.violinist.com/ that one believes h u m a n a physical being body is can truly carry to the next world. So too in our compared to an unusable Torah scroll world, what truly matters is our that still retains some of its former

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Middot and not the extravagance of our garments (although they should still be respectable).

Perhaps more cryptically is the significance of the verses recited pertaining to the dead’s organs. This represents the absolute care and caution we should put in with all our movements and actions. Each one should be thought out and held to a high standard. Just as they would not clean the organ without denoting its importance in the Torah through verses, so too we should not use our limbs without being reminded of their importance to Avodas Hashem.

In between Tahara and burial, there is Shmira. A watchman is to stay with the body at all times and recite psalms. This represents the constant watch we must keep over ourselves, even when no one else is looking. This also shows how we should constantly surround ourselves with Torah, never straying from what truly matters.

Overarching the entire burial process is the speed and efficiency with which it is performed. All arrangements must be made hastily, although not without care. So too in our lives, we should not delay doing what is important and not delay with Avodas Hashem. As is written in Shulchan Aruch “One should strengthen himself like a lion to get up in the morning to serve his Creator, so that it is he who awakens the dawn. Rem" a: At least, one should not delay beyond the time when the congregation prays (Tur).

Rem"a: "I have set the Lord before me constantly" (Psalms 16:8); this is a major principle in the Torah and amongst the virtues of the righteous who walk before God.”

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Cooper Contretemps: Did the Greeks Win? Ezra Davidovics (24’) (Devil’s Advocate)

T

he victory of the fabled

Channukah story is one of the murkiest and least defined victories out of any holiday on the calendar.

While most festivals are black-andwhite, complete, celebrations, Channukah is a shade of gray.

The Jewish Hasmonean dynasty which took the place of the Greeks was largely recognized by Chazal as mistaken in their reign. The dynasty died out within 100 years leaving Judea to the Romans and Herod. In addition, it's almost ironic to think of the Maccabim, a band of yeshiva bochurim, roughing it and fighting for their religious freedom, standing against Greek hedonism and Hellenism, while simultaneously celebrating Channukah as the most materialistic and seemingly Hellenistic holiday that we have.

The biggest proof that the victory of Channukah was short-lived while the influence of the Greeks has been sustained throughout history is the fact that Channukah is the only holiday in which we have school. A major motive for the Maccabee's resistance was against the forced education of their children by Greek scholars.

While I am not advocating for a complete lack of a typical school day, to do so on Channukah feels like a slap in the face. It feels like we’re saying, “You can celebrate your victory when you get home, but you should always remember who really won.”

The fact that Channukah is celebrated very materialistically is not, chas

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v’shalom, to say that the concept of Cooper Contretemps Channukah is Hellenistic. It is the very fact that Channuka is so antiFor this editionthe of Cooper Hellenist thatofmakes way it is Contretemps we asked of our best celebrated all the more two detestable. and CYHSB’ ers almost their opinions Thebrightest over-emphasis and solitary thepressing presentsissues: and on onefocus of theon most the fanciness of even the candle School on Chanuka lighting itself seems to me a huge proof that in the long run, the Greeks won out. This trend reflects poorly on Jewish society, especially in the Modern Orthodox world. This issue has been brought to light recently in pieces such as Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin’s article on what he dubbed “Gvir Culture.”

This culture, as he describes, is

prevalent in the Jewish communities in New York, especially the Five Towns area, and places a heavy emphasis on the superiority of money over all else. The problem he described was not about just having money but the society which seems built around it and which seems to

necessitate it. This culture has apparently carried over to Channukah, although it still purports to be anti-Hellenist.

Returning to the Channukah story itself, the Maccabim decided that after they won the war they would take the kingship and rule over the nation. This was originally meant to be a temporary arrangement but quickly shifted to something much more permanent.

This move was largely problematic as the kingship was never supposed to be removed from Shevet Yehuda and the Davidic dynasty, while the Hasmoneans were Kohanim. This also led to many of the kings during the Hasmonean period appointing themselves Kohen Gadol as king.

These actions ultimately caused their downfall as within one hundred years they were all wiped out by Herod, who ultimately allowed the Romans a foothold in the land. In effect, the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash and our current exile were all put into motion by the actions of the Hasmoneans. In this light, it is hard to view Channukah as a full and complete victory, even while we celebrate it.

In conclusion, while Channukah is an amazing holiday and brings with it much spiritual meaning, the way we celebrate it is missing the point. This article is not meant in, in any way, to diminish the miracle of Channukah either, but rather just to put it within a larger historical context. This context does not lessen the holiday but rather allows us to wonder what Chazal saw specifically in this miracle to make it into a holiday, allowing us to further plunge into the depths of what Channukah is.

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Rafi Goldkin (25’)

E

zra Davidovics has presented us

with a very strong argument as to why our modern celebration of Channukah shows that the Greeks, in the long run, were victorious. In his argument were three central proofs: the fact that we have school, the materialistic nature of our Channukah celebration, and the celebration of the Hasmonean dynasty even though it fell just a century after its founding and could be blamed for the destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash. I would like to take the time to refute each one of those arguments and prove to you that we are not celebrating the Greek victory on Channukah, but rather our own.

Why do we have school?

Chanukah is a particularly interesting holiday that seems to stand out from others. When closely analyzing its halachos and spiritual tokens, one can find the deepest of ideas and most complicated topics hidden behind the physical items we use and indulge in. One philosophical question that seems to emerge when celebrating Chanukah is why do we have school? Out of most major holidays, Chanukah is the only one where kids and teenagers worldwide remain in school, sitting through shiurim and learning in classes. This question puzzled many of us in Rabbi Safier’s Shuir, and it led us down an unimagined path. Ezra Davidavics proposed that our having school on Channukah proves that the Greeks won. He expounded on his point by saying that a Hellenistic value of that age was the institution of philosophical schools. When the Greeks and Romans eventually overtook the Jewish nation, they ingrained their ideals within us. In truth, according to Ezra, we should not be having school on Channukah because CYHSB Weekly

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school shows that Hellenistic values prevailed. However, If this is so, then what did the Rabbis of earlier generations see in the rebellion of the Maccabees that made it worth celebrating? The Greeks must not have won, and school on Channukah must not show their victory. To fix this contradiction, I will prove that school is not necessarily a Greek value.

In Rav Moshe Weinberger Shlita’s new sefer Balevas Eish, he writes about the core ideals behind Chanukah. He describes how the machlokes between Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai over the Chanukah candles represents a much greater spiritual philosophy than we could have thought.

Beis Hillel holds that everyone should light in ascending order with the candles; one the first night, two the second night, etc. However, Beis Shamai holds that we should light in descending order; eight the first night, seven the second night, etc.

The reason why Beis Hillel holds this way is because of the Jewish value that we should be Ma’alin Bakodesh, elevating in holiness. To reflect this in the Chanukah candles, we increase the number of candles each night. He writes that the candles symbolize a huge facet of the Channukah holiday, that on these eight days, we should only be

Ma’alin Bakodesh. We should strive to be elevating ourselves strengthening our connection with Hashem and attempting to bring other Jews closer to the Darchei Torah. Alone, this intricate idea still does not prove that school on Channukah is a Jewish concept. To tie in a Mishnah in Avos, Seder Nezikin that says, ‫ יָסֵף‬,‫וּדְ ֹלא מוֹסִיף‬, translating to, one who is not growing is decreasing. This is taken to mean that at any time if a Jew is not struggling to grow in his yidishkeit, he will thereby be lowered with his connection to Hashem. This can be applied to what Rav Moshe Weinberger Shlita wrote. If we took away the Gemara shiurim and the tefillos that we do at school, then what would Chanukah look like? The main theme is that we should be Ma’alin Bakodesh, we should be growing, learning more, and connecting on a deeper level with Hashem. Without shiurim and our rebbeim, that wouldn’t be possible.

Does Hellenistic Philosophy shape our modern Holiday of Chanukah?

In all their philosophical ponderings and beliefs, the Hellenistic Greeks valued one thing above all others, humanism. Humanism is the idea that puts the human experience at the forefront of their religion whereas other religions such as Judaism and Christianity hold G-d to be the center of the universe.

Greek Humanism also places great emphasis on the importance and perfection of the human body. They focused intensely on indulging in the physical world and satisfying their own wants and needs. Ezra Davidovics preposterously proposed that this reflects greatly in the holiday of Chanukah. On Chanukah, we indulge in delicious foods such as oily latkes, gooey doughnuts, and chocolate gelt. We also have the custom of giving gifts and playing dreidel on Chanukkah. This seems very much reflective of what the 5

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Hellenistic Greek religion practiced, indulging in the physical. I think that an astounding rejection of this can be provided that ties connections between the eight days of Chanukah and the suffering that the Jews endured under the oppression of Greek rule. In 168 BCE, King Antiochus IV Apiphanes was ruling with a heavy hand over the Jewish nation in Judea.

Fearing a rebellion from his Jewish subjects, he outlawed Jewish practice of religion, entered the Beis Hamikdash, defiled it, and instead dedicated it to the Greek god Zeus Olympios. He sent messengers and soldiers throughout the kingdom to impose his royal decree. Jewish subordinates throughout the kingdom were forced to either hide or relinquish their religion. The Jews who wished to retain their religion were forced to practice everything hidden and underground. This is the relation between the time of Greek oppression and the modern holiday of Chanukah. The seemingly physical and materialistic holiday where we indulge in the sweetest and oiliest foods is beneath the surface a very spiritual holiday hidden with Jewish values and lessons.

Just like the Jews who had to hide their religion, we have to find the hidden lessons behind the seemingly materialistic holiday.

Did the Jews really beat the Greeks if they fell only a century later?

One of the many miracles that Hashem the Almighty bestowed upon the Jews during the Chanukah story was the victory of the Greek army. The few were successful against the many. This specific miracle and military achievement has long been CYHSB Weekly

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analyzed by military specialists and disbelievers. How could it be possible that 12,000(at most) ragtag farmers and merchants could have taken down a welltrained army of over 45,000 topnotch soldiers? Historical analytics has delved into the strategy and tactics behind the guerilla warfare that the Maccabees employed. It seems

impossible for them, even with the best strategic standpoint, to have beat this formidable army, but somehow they did. However, some critics comment that the term “victory” might be incorrect. According to the books of Maccabees 1, Maccabees 2, and the historian Josephus, the Chasmonaic dynasty only lasted about a century after the war.

The dynasty was filled with corruption, civil wars, and immoral leaders. They might not

have gained full independence until about 25 years after the Macabean revolt according to some. And on top of that, were reconquered by the Selucideans only 103 years after the Macabean revolt. With this evidence, the question can be pondered if Judea really ever won and gained independence from their surrounding enemies, and if they were just a tool for the ultimate destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash. I believe that this argument is resolved seemingly simply. Just because countries, in the end, fall into the hands of the enemies, does not prove that at the beginning they never were actually established as independent nations. For instance, the Republic of Texas only lasted a decade from 1836-1846. They declared independence from Spain and Mexican governments multiple times, and even though in the end they were brought down, they played a pivotal role in Spanish and American history. So too, Yugoslavia, which only exited from 1918 until 1992.

Yugoslavia played a pivotal role in World War 2 allowing the Nazi troops to pass through to Greece and then again in 1948 when they refused to join the USSR. And again, the First Czechoslovak Republic which existed from 1918 to 1938. All these countries and way more existed for less than a century, yet still managed to make major contributions to the history of their own country and others. We can see from this proof that not only did Judea establish independence from the Greeks but in fact had the ability to change history however they wanted for the short time they existed.

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Cooper Clicks Top Right: The CYHSB celebrates Rabbi Gersten's birthday. Bottom Right: Jonah Siegel cooks in the the lab.

Bottom Middle: Rabbi Safier tries to start a silent DJ party.

Bottom Left: Random strangers think they are cool. Photos by JJ Stein, Dotan Weiss, and Raanan Vanderwalde

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A Sponsorship is a great way to get a message out to the community, celebrate an event, or simply help out your favorite school paper.

Contact Nadav Lowell at nadav.lowell@mhafyos.org if you would like to sponsor an issue for $20.

CYHSB Weekly Staff Editor-in-Chief Ezra Davidovics | ezra.davidovics@mhafyos.org Associate Editor-in-Chief Nadav Lowell | nadav.lowell@mhafyos.org Managing Editor Raanan Vanderwalde | raanan.vanderwalde@mhafyos.org Head of Torah Affairs Avi Becker | avi.becker@mhafyos.org Layout Editors Rafi Davidovics | rafael.davidovics@mhafyos.org Amit Zalman | amit.zalman@mhafyos.org News Editors Akiva Levine | akiva.levine@mhafyos.org Yitzy Ryp | yitzy.ryp@mhafyos.org Ilan Lowell | ilan.lowell@mhafyos.org Photographers and Complaint Managers J.J. Stein | jacob.stein@mhafyos.org Jack Kampf | jack.kampf@mhafyos.org CYHSB Weekly Staff Jojo Ardestani | jonathan.ardestani@mhafyos.org Rafi Goldkin | rafael.goldkin@mhafyos.org Benny Freiden | benjamin.freiden@mhafyos.org Ilan Lennon | ilan.lennon@mhafyos.org Jonah Siegel | jonah.siegel@mhafyos.org Omer Zalman | omer.zalman@mhafyos.org Davi Baum | david.baum@mhafyos.org Administrative Advisors Mrs. Ashley Brown Rabbi Dov Rossman

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From the Editor: In the midst of recent events, the release of Israeli hostages out of Gaza echoes the triumph of light over darkness, a theme mirrored in the timeless story of Channukah. The resilience displayed by those returning from captivity is a testament to the human spirit's unwavering ability to persevere. In the same vein, Channukah's narrative, marked by the miracle of light, offers solace and inspiration.Wishing you a happy Channukah, whether the Greeks won or not.

- Ezra Davidovics

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