With Chanukah fast approaching, we relive the miracle of our victory over the Greeks. In the tefilla of Al Hanisim, we thank Hashem for delivering “giborim b’yad chaloshim”, the strong into the hands of the weak; “rabim b’yad me’atim”, the many into the hands of the few; “temei’im b’yad tehorim”, the impure into the hands of the pure; and “resha’im b’yad tzadikim”, the wicked into the hands of the righteous. We can understand the fact that we’re thanking Hashem that despite being few and weak, we were able to overcome the many and strong. But why do we thank Hashem for delivering the wicked into the hands of the righteous? How does that magnify the miracle?
In Parshas Vayishlach 32:29 after the Malach fought with Yaakov, he said, “No longer will it be said that your name is Yaakov, but Yisrael, for you have striven with the divine and with men and you have overcome”. Asks Rashi, who were these men that Yaakov overcame? And Rashi answers, Eisav and Lavan. Asks the Brisker Rav, how can Rashi say that Yaakov overcame Eisav if he didn’t even meet up with him yet? The Brisker Rav answers that for one to be victorious in a physical war, he must first be victorious in a spiritual war. Since Yaakov Avinu just fought with the Sar of Eisav and emerged victorious, he was guaranteed to win over Eisav himself.
Rav Elchonon Wasserman says that anything that happens in our world is a reflection of what’s happening in the upper worlds. If we witness sinas Yisroel down here, that is a sign that in the upper worlds there are prosecuting angels speaking against us. When we daven in Avinu Malkeinu to “seal the mouths of our adversaries and accusers”, we are referring to these ministering angels in the upper worlds that speak against us.
Our gedolim are teaching us that when there is a war here in this world, we must realize that the root cause is a spiritual war in the upper worlds. Therefore, it won’t help to overcome the enemy with physical ammunition. Rather, we have to invest in Torah, Tefilla and maasim tovim and then we can be victorious in the war below.
The Chashmonaim understood this and that’s how they were successful in fighting the war against the Yevanim. They understood that the only way to achieve victory was to fight against the spiritual poison of the Greeks, maintaining their kedushah and being moser nefesh to uphold the Torah. And this is what we say in Al Hanisim that Hashem delivered the “giborim b’yad chalashim, v’rabim b’yad meatim”, and only then we say “resha’im b’yad tzadikim v’zaidim b’yad oskei sorasecha”, to show that the reason why the weak and the few were victorious was only because they were righteous and learning Torah. Their victory in the spiritual war enabled them to succeed in the physical war.
The Aruch Hashulchan (Choshen Mishpat siman 425) brings the Rambam in Hilchos Rotzeiach that if one mistakenly kills and he’s exiled to an ir miklat, a city of refuge, the halacha is that he can’t leave the city for any reason, even if klal Yisroel needs him to fight a battle. Says the Aruch Hashulchan, the reason is since a terrible tragedy happened through him – that he killed a fellow Jew – it’s not possible that he will be the savior of klal Yisroel. Even if he is known to be a successful warrior, the fact that he mistakenly killed someone demonstrates that he isn’t worthy of saving his people. He won’t be successful in a physical war if he failed in a spiritual war.
In the city of Brisk there were “enlightened Jews” who put on a play mocking how a war looks like in the Torah. The Kohen Mashiach gets up and says that anyone who is afraid of fighting a war should not fight, and so thousands of soldiers went home. Then he announces that anyone who got married within the year should also go home and not fight, and more people backed out. Who was left to fight the war? A few old, frail sages, depicted as the Shaagas Aryeh, the Vilna Gaon and a few other of our greatest gedolim - they were the only ones left to fight with sticks in their hands. The audience roared with laughter. The frum yidden were enraged at this mockery of Torah, and they complained to Rav Chaim Brisker about it. Rav Chaim responded – they are right! But they left out the punchline – our gedolim would win the war! And that’s because wars are not won with ammunition, but with kedushah. As the macabim won against the yevanim so long ago, so too, it would happen again if we were worthy. We need not be strong and many – we only need to be tzadikim and oskei sorasecha.
With antisemitism on the rise, many community leaders and laymen will give their ideas on how to combat it. However, the truth is that it’s up to us – the few and the weak – to strengthen our commitment to Torah. The more we cling to our mesorah, the stronger we hold onto our mitzvos and limud haTorah, the more we are guaranteed to win over our enemies. It’s our spiritual success that leads us to physical victory.
