We can now wrap our heads around a truly wonderful idea. At the beginning of the shiur, we brought the words of the Navi from the Haftarah and asked how the whole story involving Yehoshua Kohen Gadol is connected to Chanukah. We brought the words of the Gemara stating his clothes were burned in the fire that consumed Achav and Tzidkiyahu – but why were his clothes burned? It is because he didn’t protest against his sons who married foreign women unfit for the Kehuna, and consequently, the children born to them would be disqualified from Kehuna.
This means that when starting the Haftarah, we do not begin with the candles of Zechariah, an obvious connection to Chanukah, but with the decree of the Yevanim – that every woman would be defiled by the governor first, making her offspring unfit for Kehuna. This was all to accuse the tribe of Levi and the women, both of whom did not sin with the golden calf – but if they succeeded in carrying out their decree, there’d no longer be a Shevet Levi or Am Yisrael!
We’ll conclude with one more point. Shlomo HaMelech says (Kohelet 7:1): טוֹב שׁ ֵם מִשֶּׁמֶן טוֹב וְיוֹם הַמָּוֶת מִי וֹם הִ וָּ לְ דו ֹּ – A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of birth. One could also say "Coca-Cola is better than good oil," or "a thousand dollars is better than good oil" – what did Shlomo HaMelech mean by this statement?
When I was sitting shiva for my mother, a Jew provided me with a beautiful explanation; in any liquid that you insert oil, the oil will float to the top. Therefore, the only way to hide oil is to put it in the ground. Thus, when oil spills on the road, they come and pour sand on it to counteract and nullify it – and this is what Shlomo HaMelech tells us: A person can hide himself throughout his life – for ninety years, no one will know him; he will sit quietly in the shul and not talk to anyone. But after he is put in the ground – then he floats to the top! That is when we hear, "What a person he was! A hidden tzaddik!" Therefore, the Pasuk continues and says "and the day of death better than the day of birth" – that after the day of death, his name begins to float and be revealed.
Chazal say (Shemot Rabbah 48:1): A good name is better than good oil – the names of Chanania, Mishael, and Azariah were better than the anointing oil with which Nadav and Avihu were anointed. Why? Because these entered to offer and came out burned, and those entered the fiery furnace and came out in peace.
What exactly is this referring to? The Gemara says (Shabbat 21b): “מַ אי חֲנוּכָּה – What is Chanukah? On the 25th of Kislev, the days of Chanukah are eight. On the 25th of Kislev, the days of Chanukah begin, and they are eight days on which eulogies and fasting are forbidden.” On the eve of last Chanukah [5777], the light of the world, Maran HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman zt"l, passed away, and instructed that he not be eulogized. But nonetheless, Rav Chaim Kanievsky said that we’re commanded to eulogize for the honor of the Torah. Rav Shteinman did not need to be covered with earth for his deeds to come out. During his lifetime, we saw what a great light he was! When the holy Rav, Rav Yehuda HaNasi, died, the Gemara (Ketubot 104a) says he raised his hands to heaven and said: "Ribbono Shel Olam, it is revealed and known before You that I toiled with my ten fingers in the Torah and did not enjoy this world even with my little finger." Commentators ask, how could it be that he did not enjoy, for nothing was lacking from his table? And they answer, true, nothing was lacking from his table, but others enjoyed it – not him!
Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman zt"l could raise his ten fingers and say, "I did not enjoy this world even with my little finger!" A man who make the bracha of Mezonot only on porridge! Who among us has not recited a Mezonot on cake, cookies, or a donut – there are people who sometimes wash their hands for doughnuts! Once they handed him a Hamantaschen on Purim, and he asked, "What do you do with this?!" It was not related to him at all!
I’d like to conclude with a story that truly shook the entire yeshiva world. Once, a Rosh Yeshiva came to Rav Shteinman, wanting to expel a student who was not behaving properly. "Rebbe, I want to expel the boy from the yeshiva." Rav Shteinman asked him, "What is his mother's name?" The educator’s response was, "What is his mother's name? I don't know." Rav Shteinman then said to him, "I don't understand. You’re going to expel a boy from the yeshiva, and you don't know his mother's name?!" "Forgive me, Rebbe, but I don't understand what the connection is between wanting to expel him from the yeshiva and his mother's name." Rav Shteinman then laid it out clearly to him, "You’re going to expel a boy from the yeshiva – did you not daven for him first, that he should do Teshuva?!"
We are in the days of Chanukah – very uplifting days. May Hakadosh Baruch Hu grant us the merit to return in complete Teshuva, may He accept our Tefillot, and may we merit to see Aharon the Kohen Gadol lighting the Menorah in the Beit Hamikdash that will be rebuilt speedily in our days. ◊
