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YAAKOV'S CAMPUS CORNER

(Rabbi Yaakov Singer joined our North American Fellowships staff this past summer as our Campus Coordinator.  If you are currently in college and would like to get more involved in our campus programming, please contact him by email at ysinger@aish.edu, or call him toll free at  877-472-5412. Yaakov will be a regular contributor to our Jerusalem Follow-up Newsletter)

This has been an exciting semester on campus! Fellowships Alumni have be running Shmooze discussion groups across the country. As a result, the number of students applying for the Winter JFIL program has more than doubled from last year. I want to thank everybody who is sharing their Israel experience with their friends at school.  

GOOD MORNING! There are two holidays which stir the Jewish soul, no matter how far one is from being religious or observant -- Passover and Hanukah. The last connections with Jewish observance to be lost are the Passover Seder and the lighting of Hanukah candles.

I heard the following story years ago when I lived in Israel and to the best of my knowledge it is true. Before the USSR let the Jews leave for Israel, Jews used to hire a guide to smuggle them out of Russia. One Hanukah a group of Jews were playing "cat and mouse" with a Soviet army patrol as they approached the border. When the guide thought they had lost the patrol, he announced an half-hour break before continuing the trek. One of the escapees, hearing the "magic" number of "one-half hour" -- the minimum time a Hanukah candle must be lit to fulfill the mitzvah -- pulls out his menorah, sets up the candles, says the blessing and starts to light the candles. The other escapees immediately pounce upon him and the menorah to put out the candles -- when the Soviet patrol moves in and completely encircles them.

The head of the army patrol speaks: "We were just about to open fire and wipe you out when I saw that man lighting the Hanukah candles. I was overcome with emotion; I remember my zaideh (grandfather) lighting Hanukah candles .... I have decided to let you go in peace."

Hanukah starts Sunday night, December 13th. Happy Hanukah!

Q & A: WHAT IS HANUKAH AND HOW DO WE CELEBRATE IT?

There are two ways which our enemies have historically sought to destroy us. The first is by physical annihilation; the most recent attempt being the Holocaust. The second is through cultural assimilation. Purim is the annual celebration of our physical survival. Hanukah is the annual celebration of our spiritual survival over the many who would have liked to destroy us through cultural assimilation.

In 167 BCE the Syrian-Greek emperor, Antiochus, set out to destroy Judaism by imposing a ban on four mitzvot: The Shabbat, Learning Torah, The Sanctifying of the New Month (establishing the first day of the month by testimony of witnesses who saw the new moon) and Brit Mila (entering the Covenant of Abraham through Torah-ordained circumcision). The Shabbat signifies that G-d is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. His Torah is the blueprint of creation and the source of our meaning and values. Sanctifying the New Month determines the day of the Jewish holidays. Without it there would be chaos. For example, if Succot is the 15th of Tishrei, the day it occurs depends upon which day is declared the first of Tishrei. Brit Mila is a sign of our special covenant with the Almighty. All four maintain our cultural integrity and were thus threats to the Greek culture.

Matityahu and his five sons, known as the Maccabees, started a revolt and three years later succeeded in evicting the oppressors. The military victory was a miracle -- on the scale of Israel defeating the combined super-powers of today. Having regained control of the Temple in Jerusalem, they wanted to immediately rededicate it. They needed ritually pure olive oil to re-light the Menorah in the Temple. Only a single cruse of oil was found; enough to burn for just one day. However, they needed oil for eight days until new ritually pure olive oil could be produced. A miracle occurred and the oil burned for eight days.

Therefore, we light Hanukah candles (or better yet, lamps with olive oil) for eight days. One the first day, two the second and so forth. The first candle is placed to the far right of the menorah with each additional night's candle being placed to the immediate left. One says three blessings the first night (two blessings each subsequent night) and then lights the candles, starting with the furthermost candle to the left. The menorah should have all candles in a straight line and at the same height. Ashkenazi tradition has each person of the household lighting his own menorah. Sefardi tradition has just one menorah lit per family. The blessings can be found on the back of the Hanukah candle box or in a Siddur, prayer book. The candles may be lit inside the home. It is preferable to light where passersby in the street can see them -- to publicize the miracle of Hanukah. In Israel, people light outside in special glass boxes built for a menorah or little glasses with olive oil and wicks.

The tradition to eat latkes, potato pancakes, is in memory of the miracle of the oil (latkes are fried in oil). In Israel, the tradition is to eat sufganiot, deep-fried jelly donuts. The traditional game of Hanukah uses a dreidel, a four-sided top with the Hebrew letters Nun, Gimmel, Hey, Shin (the first letters of "Nes Gadol Haya Sham -- A Great Miracle Happened There." In Israel, the last letter is a Pay -- for "here.") In times of persecution when learning Torah was forbidden, Jews would learn anyway. When the soldiers would investigate, they would pull out the dreidel and pretend that they were gambling. The rules for playing dreidel: Nun -- no one wins; Gimmel -- spinner takes the pot; Hey -- spinner gets half the pot; Shin/Pay -- spinner matches the pot!

TORAH PORTION: Vayeshev, Genesis 37:1 - 40:23

This week's portion includes four stories: 1) The selling of Yosef (Joseph) by his brothers -- which eventually positioned Yosef to be second in command in Egypt and enabled him to save the known world from famine 2) The indiscretion of Yehuda (Judah) with Tamar (Tamar) 3) The attempted seduction of Yosef by Potifar's wife, which ends with her framing Yosef and having him imprisoned 4) Yosef interprets the dreams of his fellow prisoners, the wine steward (who was reinstated and forgot to put in a good word for Yosef) and the baker (who was hanged).

DVAR TORAH: based on Growth Through Torah by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

Joseph dreamt two dreams. In the first dream, his brothers' sheaves gathered around his sheaf and bowed down. In the second dream, the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. Regarding his first dream, the Torah states, "And Joseph dreamt a dream and related it to his brothers. And they continued to hate him. And he said to them, 'Hear this dream which I have dreamt.' " (Genesis: 37:5,6) What mistakes did Joseph make and what can we learn from them to improve our lives?

The great 16th century Italian Rabbi Obadiah Sforno comments that Joseph's mistake was telling his brothers about the dream and hinting to them that he would rule over them. Joseph knew his brothers hated him and he decided to tell them the dream anyway. Even seeing their reaction, he insists on persisting to tell the story -- "hear this dream which I have dreamt" -- and then, later, telling them the second dream.

If one knows that others have a negative feeling towards him, the last thing he should do is relate stories which might inflame envy. If one sees that he is causing a negative reaction, he shouldn't insist on continuing the story.

Always ask yourself, "How will the listeners react? Will they sincerely share my joy or will they feel the pain of envy? Then appropriately make your decision whether or not to share the story.

CANDLE LIGHTING: Jerusalem 4:00 Miami 5:13 New York 4:10 LA 4:26 Hong Kong 5:24 London 3:35 Moscow 3:39 Singapore 6:41 Guatemala 5:16 Honolulu 5:32 J'Burg 6:35 Melbourne 7:47

"QUOTE OF THE WEEK": No person is so tall as he who bends to help a child.

 Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Chanan Kaufman

This week' s fax is Dedicated to
Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Wachtel
in Honor of the Birth of Their Grandson

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