Shabbos 21
“One elevates to a higher level in matters of sanctity.”
Today’s reading is replete with light. We learn that the wonderful list of materials that are prohibited from being used to light a lamp on the Sabbath are acceptable for making a bonfire; this includes cedar bast, uncombed flax, raw silk, willow bast, desert weed, green moss, pitch, wax, castor oil, burnt oil, fat from a sheep’s tail and tallow. I do not know what some of these substances are (what is bast?), but it’s an amazing list to read out loud.
The pronouncement against creating flames from certain substances is carried through to Hanukkah, the festival of lights, when the menorah is lit on the Sabbath. We are told that when the menorah is lit on the Sabbath one must ensure that the flame is strong and steady so that it will last through the night. As always, there are dissenting opinions that say that any substance can be used to light the menorah, because there is no concern if the light does not last. This is contrary to what every child learned about the miracle of Hanukkah where a light meant to last for one day lit a lamp for eight.
Our dissenting pair of sages, Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, provide two different perspectives on how to commemorate the miracle of the lights. Hanukah celebrates Judah Maccabee’s rescue of the temple in Jerusalem after it had been turned into a pagan house of worship by a tribe of Syrians. Growing up, I worshipped the brave warrior Judah who after he rescued the defiled temple was able to light a lamp for eight days with oil that was enough to last for just one.
Shammai and Hillel argue over how to best commemorate Judah’s heroic capture of the temple through the lighting of a menorah. Shammai believes all eight wicks should be lit the first night and one less lit each subsequent night over the eight day holiday, while Hillel believes that one wick should be lit the first night and each night an additional one is added until eight shining lights illuminate one’s home or temple. It is cited in the Talmud that Hillel’s additive approach represents an elevation of sanctity, rather than Shammai’s subtractive one.
Judah Maccabee organized a ragtag army of farmers against the much more sophisticated Syrian army. The story of how Judah captured back the temple with a group of farmers fighting with spears and primitive weapons always reminded me of how a group of farmers in the American colonies were able to overthrow the much more sophisticated British army (with help from the French of course.) There is an American context to the story of Judah and the Maccabees.
We all know the story of Judah from our Hebrew School classes, but here is an article that provides a refresher of how important it is to elevate oneself to a higher degree, like Judah and the farmers, and the American colonists did so many years ago:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-maccabean-revolt/