Bring Light to the Night

A unique project of the Young Israel of West Hartford to celebrate the Festival of Lights

As each of us gather around our channukia we sing songs, sometimes play games, exchange gifts, eat great foods, and just admire the beautiful light of the burning candles. This year, lets add another dimension of meaning to the experience of lighting channuka candles by participating in this wonderful project called Bring Light to the Night. The idea of the project is to add a family learning component to your celebration of this holiday. In order to facilitate that, I have compiled a brief learning sheet to study on each night of channuka. The point is to spend time with whomever lives in your home to learn and discuss Jewish texts and ideas and answer some serious and some not so serious questions. Each nights learning activity is centered around the theme of Light and its many facets in Jewish Law and Jewish Philosophy. The sheets have something to offer people of all ages. Each night, as a family, you can submit the answer to one or more of the questions on that nights sheet. Each submitted answer entitles you to one entry in a raffle to win one of 3 wonderful prizes!! Just email your answers each night to lighttothenight@gmail.com The project will culminate in our shul channuka dinner on Friday evening December 18th (the last night of channuka) where we will study all together as a community and enjoy some games, singing, great food, and the announcements of the winners of the raffle (see registration sheet for details). We will be joined by 8 students from Yeshiva University as part of the Torah Tours program who will be there to add their special touch to our celebration.

I Look forward to your participation!! Channuka Sameach, Happy Channuka to All!

YIWH CHANUKAH DINNER

Come and enjoy the last night of Chanukah with friends and family. The catered dinner highlights an educational and fun program meant to enrich this beautiful holiday.
Friday, December 18th at YIWH
2240 Albany Ave., WH $15 per adult $10 children 5 12 $54 family max

Event begins immediately after conclusion of evening services.

RSVP to Shayne Kesler @ 860-231-7519 or shaynegk@yahoo.com

 The Order of Lighting Channuka Candles

:Before lighting the candles one recites

: :
:On the first night of Channuka one adds

:
:After lighting the candles one sings

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The haftarah that we read on the first Shabbat of Channuka is taken from the book of Zecharya. Zecharya lived at the time of the inauguration of the Second Temple in approximately 516 BCE. It was a time when many Jews had become involved in improper religious behavior such as intermarriage. Zecharya was telling the nation that he saw different images each symbolizing something more hopeful about the upcoming era in Jewish History of the rebuilding of the Temple and the rededication of the nation to Torah. The following is one of them: :)( )( : :)( :)( :)( :)( )( : Zecharya Chapter 4 1. And the angel who talked with me came again, and waked me, like a man who is wakened out of his sleep, 2. And he said to me, What do you see? And I said, I have looked, and behold a menorah all of gold, with a bowl upon its top, and seven lamps on it, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon its top; 3. And there are two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon its left side. 4. And I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5. Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord. 6. Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forward its headstone, shouting Grace, grace to it.

By Dr. Steve Luger

1) What message did the menorah represent about the future of the Jewish people in the time of the Second Temple? 2) What did the olive branches on the sides have to do with the menorah? 3) What modern Jewish symbol was patterned after this one in the vision of Zecharya? Why was it chosen over so many other good symbols?

1) On which Holidays do we say the Bracha she-asah nissim? 2) According to the National Jewish Population Survey 2000-01, place the following Jewish observances in order of frequency of practice by American Jews: A) Hold/attend Passover seder B) Light Chanukah candles C) Fast on Yom Kippur

E-mail your answers to any of these questions to lighttothenight@gmail.com . Every submitted answer will entitle you or your family to one entry in the raffle!

Tonight kindle tow kinds of lights: channuka candles for the holiday and the havdallah candle that marks the end of shabbos. The light that they each produce is very different. One can see that the candles of channuka are small singular flames whereas the havdallah candle produces a larger flame. This is reflective of the halachic requirements of each:

, , ; :' . , ... Code of Jewish Law, Ch. 571:4 If you filled a plate with oil and surround it with wicks, if you covered the plate every wick counts as one channuka candle. If you didn't cover it then it doesn't even count as one candle because it is a bonfire. Rema adds: One should be careful to line up the candles in a straight line not in a circle which would made it look like a bonfire.

... , : ... Code of Jewish Law, Ch. 295:1-2 1) The blessing on a havdallah candle is boreh meorey haesh... 2) The best fulfillment of a candle for havdallah is one with a large flame (i.e. one with many wicks)

By Dr Steve Luger
1)According to the National Jewish Population Survey 2000-01, the average number of Jews in a Jewish Household is: A)1.8 B)2.8 C)3.5 D)4.2 2)According to the Gemara, if you only have enough money to buy wine for Shabbat Kiddush or Chanukah lights, which should you spend the money on?

Why do the channuka candles have to be singular flames whereas the havdallah candle has to be with many wicks? Think about what each of these lights are meant to teach us and how it is reflected in their different appearance.
E-mail your answers to any of these questions to lighttothenight@gmail.com

Rabbi David Aaron in his bestselling book, Endless Light seeks to answer the ever perplexing question of What is Life all About? by telling us about the mystical language of kabbalah: ...The story begins with the creation of the world... In the beginning, all of existence was the Endless Light of the Endless One. When the Endless One wanted to create the world, the Endless One caused the withdrawal of the light from the center, creating a spherical vacuum, creating space. Within this space, the Endless One created vessels. Unlike the Endless One, who is infinite, the vessels were finite. And while the vessels were created by the Endless One, they were also different from the Endless One. They were other and multiple. And being vessels, or containers, they were designed to receive, in contrast to the light, which gives. Then the Endless One projected a thin ray of light in to the vessels. But they were unable to receive the light independently, and so they broke. And existence went into the state of chaos. The Kabbalists tell us that the world and we ourselves are the broken vessels, and that what we are trying to do is to mend ourselves and the world so that someday we may be able to receive the Endless Light of the Endless One without breaking. The Kabbalists call this notion tikkun meaning mending or fixing...
By Dr. Steve Luger

1) In what ways do we fix the world? 2) Name one thing you have done which has brought something from order to chaos or vise versa. 3) How does the kabbalistic story of creation change your understanding of G-ds relationship
E-mail your answers to any of these questions to lighttothenight@gmail.com

1) Assuming you buy a box of 44 candles to light for Chanukah. On which night of Chanukah will you have used up more than half of them? 2)There exist three mitzvot (all de-rabbanan) which carry the component of pirsumei nissa publicizing the miracle. What are they?

In Parshat Tezaveh G-d tells the Jewish people to take pure olive oil in order to light the menorah (including the ner tamid) in the mishkan and later in Jewish History in the Beit Hamikdash. The pasuk says: :)(

Exodus 27
20. And you shall command the people of Israel, that they bring you pure beaten oil olive for the light, for the lamp to burn always. Based on that pasuk in the Torah which tells us that we should bring light before G-d, the midrash has the following comment: )( ) ( , ...

Shemot Rabbah
Israel said to the Holy One, Blessed is He: You are the light of the world and you ask us to kindle a light before you? G-d answered: Not because I require your light, but in order to elevate you by having you give light to me just as I give light to you. This midrash is teaching us that despite the fact that G-d does not need our light at all, but emulating the ways of Hashem we are elevated. Just as G-d gives physical and metaphysical light to the world, we can also bring light in to this world. In the case of the menorah in the Beit Hamikdash we were bringing physical light in to the world. But the light of the menorah in the Beit Hamikdash is symbolic of a spiritual light that we bring to the world as well that elevates the entire world to be closer to Hashem.
By Dr Steve Luger 1) According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, which English spelling is not correct: A) Hanukkah B) Chanukah C) Hanukah D) Chanukkah 2) Traditionally, the Menorah was to be placed: A) On the dinner table B) On the roof C) Outside by the doorway

1) What are some of the ways we emulate Hashem on a daily basis? 2) How are we elevated by the experience of bringing spirituality and light in to the world?

E-mail your answers to any of these questions to lighttothenight@gmail.com

On the eights days of Channuka we add the following passage in to the amidah at shacharit, mincha, and maariv as well as in the birkat hamazon. Please read it carefully and try to see what miracle we are thanking G-d for:
For the miracles and for the salvation and for the mighty deeds and for the victories and for the battles which you performed for our ancestors in those days at this time. In the days of Mattityahu son of Yochanan the Kohen Gadol the Hasmonean and his sons when the wicked Greek kingdom rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget the Torah and compel them to stray from the statutes of Your Will You in your great mercy stood up for them in the time of distress. You took up their grievance, judged their claim, and avenged their wrong. You delivered the strong in the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the diligent students of the Torah. For yourself you made a great and holy name in Your world and for Your people Israel you worked a great victory and salvation as this very day. Thereafter your children came to the Holy of Holies of Your House, cleansed Your Temple, purified the site of your holiness and kindled lights in the courtyards of your sanctuary; and they established these eights days of Channuka to express thanks and praise to Your great Name.

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The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat tells us that two miracles occurred on Channuka: The military victory against the Greeks and the fact that the once crucible of oil lasted eight days. Why does this prayer marking the holiday of Channuka only mention the military victory and not the miracle of the oil (it hardly mentioned even the lighting of the menorah for one day let alone 8)???

By Dr. Steve Luger

1) Matityahu was: A) A Kohain B) A Levi C) A Yisrael

2) The Five sons of Matityahu were: A) Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah B) Simeon, David, Saul, Judah and Reuven C) Jochanan, Reuven, Gamliel, Simeon and Judah D) Simon, Isador, Alvin, David and Judah

E-mail your answers to any of these questions to lighttothenight@gmail.com

 :)( :)( :)( :)( )( : Genesis Ch.1 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And a wind from God moved upon the face of the waters. 3. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. 4. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
: ? ! ... . Babylonian Talmud Hagigah 12a
Was light created on the first day? Doesnt it say and G-d put them in the sky [referring to the sun, moon, and stars] and it says and there was night and there was day: The Fourth Day?? The Sages say these [the sun, moon etc...of the fourth day] were the celestial beings that were created on the 1st day but only brought out in to the world on the fourth day.

By Dr. Steve Luger

1) Why would G-d create the sun and moon on day # 1 and only bring it out in to the world to be used on day #4? 2) What is the significance of calling the darkness and light by different names?

Chanukah is called the Holiday of Lights; from the longest to the shortest wave length the colors are: A) Red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet (correct) B) Green, yellow, indigo, violet, red, orange C) Violet, indigo, green, yellow, orange, red D) Orange, red, violet, indigo, yellow, green

E-mail your answers to any of these questions to lighttothenight@gmail.com

Sefer HaTodaahThe Book of Our Heritage, Ch.11 Rabbi Eliyahu Ki Tov , , , :, , ' , - . ? :'' '. ' , , . : . " : . , . - - :!
The Greeks tried to uproot the faith that the Jews had in a power above nature and tried to get the Jews to operate according to the laws of nature alone: To praise the strong and denigrate the week, to nullify oneself before the majority and to nullify the minority. It is for this reason that Antiochus the leader of the Greek haters of Jews said to his soldiers: There is one mitzvah that the Jews have; if you destroy its observance they will be immediately destroyed. Which one? The lighting of the menorah (in the Temple) which is referred to in the Torah as: to kindle it always . Anytime they are observing that mitzvah they will always survive. His soldiers immediately stood up and made the oil for the lighting of the menorah impure. But since the menorah never went dark [because of the miracle of channuka] were have been able to see it getting brighter and brighter as it spread beyond the temple to the houses of every Jew for 8 days in the year and in the heart of every Jew all year long. There is nothing natural about the existence of the Jewish people because we know it is all dependent on the will of the One who put the natural order in to motion. If at times nature holds us back a miracle can still come and the small light of that miracle, that small light of the Divine can outshine the greatest of human lights in this world.

1) What examples can you think 1) On each day of Chanukah, except for Shabbat, the Torah of which show that the existence of the Jewish people is part mira- reading has how many aliyot? A)4 B)5 C)3 D)7 cle and part natural? 2) What is the value of tamid of always of consistency in life? Take your cue from the value of the consistent light of the menorah. 2) What is the minimum number of candles you must light over the entire holiday of Chanukah to fulfill the basic mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles?

E-mail your answers to any of these questions to lighttothenight@gmail.com

There are many different types of fire and candles that we light as part of our Jewish practice. Tonight we light both Shabbos candles and Channuka candles. We light Channuka candles first because the lighting of Shabbos candles constitutes an acceptance of Shabbos after which you can no longer kindle a flame for the Channuka candles. Even though the proper time for Channuka candles is after dark, we permit them to be lit earlier as long as they have enough fuel to last all the way until half an hour in to the period of darkness.

Shulchan Aruch Code of Jewish Law Ch. 678 A person who cannot afford to buy a Channuka candle and Shabbos candle should buy a Shabbos candle because of Peace in the Home. If the person can buy a Shabbos candle and either a Channuka candle or Kiddush wine the person should buy a Channuka candle because of the publicization of the miracle. Rema adds: The same would be true of buying a Channuka candle before buying wine for havdallah.

;, , , . : " .

The value of shalom bayit, of having peace in the home is SO important that it supersedes the important principle of publicizing the miracles that G-d does for us. There are two interpretations of the phrase Shalom Bayit in this context. Firstly, there is a physical peacefulness that comes about through the candles: The light of the Shabbos candles helps us see what we are doing (especially in a time with no electricity) and prevents us from getting hurt or tripping over things in our home. However, there is also a peaceful aura, a feeling of spirituality that the candles bring to the home: The metaphysical shalom bayit.

1) How do your Shabbos candles add to the peacefulness of your home? 2) What is peace - keep in mind that in Hebrew peace is shalom which is also one of the names of Hashem and also related to the word shalem which means complete. 3) How does the peace we achieve in our homes relate to the peace we are trying to achieve in the world at large?

Agree? Disagree?

Why is this a symbol of peace?

A Big Thanks to Dr. Steve Luger for preparing all the trivia for this program!!
1) The Chanukah story took place around: A) 195-190 BCE B) 170-165 BCE C) 70 -65 BCE D) 70-75 CE 2) Maoz Tzur is frequently sung after lighting the Menorah: A) This is a custom of Sephardim from Morocco that has been taken on by Ashkenasi Jews B) This is a custom of Ashkenazim dating back to medieval Germany C) A composition by a paytan from Tzfat 3) Chanukah is called the Holiday of Lights the speed of light is approximately A) 58,000 miles/hour B) 220,000 miles/minute C) 186,000 miles/second D) 6.02X10 to the 23 rd miles/minute

BONUS QUESTION 1: As long as one has enough money to buy Chanukah lights, it is preferable to be mehadrin min hamehadrin and to add a new light every night of Chanukah. Does this mean one menorah per household or one menorah per individual? (2 opinions one of the Rambam and one of Tosafot.) What is unique about the answer of each? BONUS QUESTION 2: Assume you are given a rectangular cake, with no icing with a rectangular section (of any size or orientation) removed from it. How do you divide the cake exactly in half with only one cut? (2 possible solutions) BONUS QUESTION 3: What is the longest possible Berchat Hamazon of the year?