Parshas Mikeitz

Chof Bais Kislev 5766

 

Volume 2
Issue 10
Past Connections     
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Rabbi B. Levertov
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PARSHAS MIKEITZ

"Come on, Yankie," urged his younger brother Yehudah as the Stern family finished singing HaNeiros Hallalu. "Let's play dreidel."
"Wait a minute, Yehudah," Mr. Stern said, pulling some chairs over to the menorah. "First, let's listen to what the candles are saying."
"But Tatty," protested four-year-old Shifi, "Candles can't talk!"
Mr. Stern sat Shifi on his lap as the other children gathered around. "On Chanukah, the Frierdiker Rebbe would tell his chassidim that they should listen to what the candles are telling them. He meant that we should think about the mitzvah we have just done, and learn the many lessons that the Chanukah candles teach us. Did you know that all the mitzvos are called 'candles'?"
"Yes," answered Yankie. "We learned that the Torah is called 'light' and every mitzvah which we do is like a lamp or a candle which brings more of Hashem's holiness into this world."
"Very good, Yankie. But there is something very special about the mitzvah of the Chanukah candles. You see, as we keep mitzvos such as wearing tzitzis, washing our hands, and eating kosher, we don't always realise how Hashem's light is brightening up the world. But watching the flickering candles makes it much easier to understand that mitzvos light up the world, because we can actually see the light."
Little Shifi tugged at her father's arm. "Tatty, you keep saying candles, but these aren't really candles. They are cups with oil and cotton. In kindergarten, we had real candles. There was a red one and a blue one and a green one."
Mr. Stern smiled. "It's okay to use regular wax candles like you did in school, but in many Jewish homes all over the world the menorah is lit with oil and wicks."
"And not just any oil," added Yehudah. "We use pure olive oil just like the kohanim used in the Beis HaMikdash. Our teacher told us that this is 'mitzvah min hamuvchar' - a better way to keep the mitzvah."
"Actually," explained Mr. Stern, "It's more than mitzvah min hamuvchar. We keep this mitzvah, mehadrin min hamehadrin - the very best way. First, like Yehudah said, we're using the best oil. Second, it would be enough to light one menorah for the whole family, but we have everyone light his own. Third, we're adding a new light every day. You see, it would be enough to light only one candle each day, but the best way to do the mitzvah is to light two on day two, three on day three and so on.
"And we are eager to do this mitzvah the very best way - mehadrin min hamehadrin - every single day. We don't say 'We did it so well yesterday, we don't have to do it so perfectly today.'
"This is exactly what the Maccabees did. They were determined to use pure olive oil which was untouched by the Greeks. According to halachah, they could have used less-perfect oil, but because they wanted to do the mitzvah the best way possible, Hashem helped them and made a miracle with the oil."
"By the way, Tatty," Yehudah suddenly remembered. "What about Chanukah gelt? And I hope you'll be mehadrin with me because I helped mommy today. Don't I deserve a bonus for helping?"
"Yehudah!" Yankie told off his little brother. "You haven't been listening to the candles! We are not allowed to use or enjoy the light of the candles. We only light them because Hashem says we should. This teaches us to do mitzvos because Hashem says so, and not in order to get something out of it."
"Look at the candles," Shifi called. "They look like they're twinkling at us, because they're so happy we listened to what they have to say!"

‘Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said’
(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vols. I and V, Chanukah)
 

Because they rested on 2 X 12 plus 1, I got my name.
___  ___  ___  ___  ___ 
Please send your answers to connections@shluchim.org

Last weeks’ brain buster: I gave him something salty and something strong, A very important part of him I took back. Because of me, we eat Milchigs on Chanukah.

Answer: יהודית

 

Congratulations to Chavi Konikov, from Sattelite Beach, Florida for solving the brain buster .



Hey Kids!
Wow, this week has been a real busy one.  I was innocently minding my own business when I got an urgent call from a Shliach. “Dr Getzel, you MUST help us!  It’s like the days of the Chanukah story.  There’s NO bottles of pure olive oil to be found anywhere!  And there is less than a week left till Chanukah!”
Well, I never refuse to help a Shliach, so off to Italy I went, to the huge olive oil factories there.  It was an amazing experience!  I learnt so much there that I want to share some of my experiences with you children.
Did you know that when oil was made to be used in the Beis Hamikdash, only the first few drops that were squeezed out of the olive were used. 
You know I was thinking about Yidden and olives and I realized that Yidden are a bit like olives.  When we look at an olive, it looks pretty ordinary.  It doesn’t look like we can get the most amazing, useful liquid out of this plain green olive-shaped olive!  So it’s sort of like Yidden.  Sometimes we see a Yid who is not-yet frum.  He or she looks pretty ordinary.  But they aren’t!  Inside that plain-looking Yid is a beautiful Neshama, that like olive oil, we can light with Torah and Mitzvos and it will burn with a beautiful flame!!!
Hmm.. Maybe that’s why Chanukah is also called ‘The Festival of Lights’!!

Dr. Getzel

  

Meir Shemtov, 13
Montevideo, Uruguay

*Editor’s Note: This was sent to us by Meir Shemtov last Chanukah תשס“ה .

Dear Shluchim: My name is Meir Shemtov and right now I’m in the air plane on my way to N.Y. writing from my mothers laptop. Tonight is Tuesday and as you know we light the 8th candle. I really wanted to light it but in the airport you are not allowed to, so I decided to go to the duty free shop. While I was there with my brand new Yarmulka and my tzitzis hanging out from my pants, a guy that worked there saw me and imagined that I was a Yid. He told me: “Happy Hanukkah” “That doesn’t mean that he was Jewish” I thought. “Did you bring your
Menorah or Chanukia along?” he asked. “Any body knows what a menorah is but, not every body knows what a Chanukia is, maybe he is Jewish” I thought to myself. “Are you Jewish?” I asked him. “Well not really, my mother is and my father isn’t…” “so you’re Jewish!” “Well I guess so…” he said happily. “I met you just in the right moment!” I told him. “Why?” he asked. “Because I really want to light the Menorah that I brought along, but they don’t let me do it here, do you know where can I light it?” I asked. “Wait a second” he told me, while he ran out of the duty free.

I was amazed, happy and confused. I thought: “Was this guy really a Yid or was he was stam “Hacking a chainik”?” I told my mother what had just happen. “Wow! But where is he?” she said. “No idea” I told my mother. While I was looking at a
 camera (What most of us, 12-year-old boys do) this guy
suddenly appeared. “Nu” I told him. “Come to my office, light it there”. I ran to my hand-bag, took out the menorah together with the 9 candles and ran together with my mother and sister to his office. I asked him if he would want to light the menorah but he told me that he had to work and he couldn’t join me. He told me to take down the “Happy Holidays” picture. At the end, he stayed watching the candles burn while Leah and I would sing “Haneros Halolu”.


  • ראש חודש טבת
    שבת - ל' כסלו

    Sunday א' טבת

  • I remembered to daven the special parts in שבת מוסף for שבת ראש חודש . (שבת )
  • I remembered to say יעלה ויבא in שמונה עשרה and in bentching. (שבת & Sunday)
  • I remembered to say הלל after שמונה עשרה . (שבת & Sunday)
  • I remembered to daven  מוסף . (Sunday)
  • I remembered to say ברכי נפשי after the  שיר של יום . (שבת & Sunday)
  • (For Girls) I didn’t sew or do any laundry. (Sunday)

    On שבת we say the longest ever bentching: רצה because it is שבת ,
    יעלה ויבא     because it is ראש חודש and ועל הניסים because it is חנוכה!!

כ"ט כסלו

Two years after he was arrested and set free in תקנ“ט (1798), the אלטער רבי was arrested a second time; the reason was the same as the first time. His second imprisonment was not as difficult as the first; and חסידים celebrate the חג הגאולה on כ“ט כסלו , the fifth day of חנוכה with פארברענגען ’s and learning the אלטער רבי ’s חסידות .

ה' טבת

ה' טבת is a special day in the חסידישע calendar . On this date in תשמ“ו (1986), U.S. Federal Court decided that the library belonged to the חסידים . The ruling was based on the idea that a Rebbe is not a private individual but he is the head of the חסידים . The Rebbe asked that on this day everyone should set aside time to learn from ספרים .    

This שבת is special because three ספרי תורה are taken from the ארון and leined from: one ספר תורה for the weekly פרשה , a second ספר תורה for the ראש חודש leining, and a third ספר תורה for the חנוכה leining. (The only other times when three ספרי תורה are taken out are שמחת תורה , and when ראש חודש אדר or ראש חודש ניסן fall on שבת ).


פרשת מקץ is always leined on שבת חנוכה . What connection do they have?

1) According to הלכה , the מנורה is placed on the left side of the doorpost, opposite the מזוזה , which is on the right. In the פסוק “ויהי מקץ שנתים ”, the word “שנתים ” is a ראשי תיבות for “שמאל נרות תדליק, ימין מזוזה ”(on the left light the candles, on the right put the מזוזה ).

2) In the חומש , at the end of every פרשה , the number of פסוקים in the פרשה is written.  At the end of פרשת מקץ , besides the number of פסוקים , we are also told that the פרשה has 2,025 words. Why do we have to know how many words are in the פרשה ?  

The 2,025 words in the פרשה are a hint for the יום טוב of חנוכה . During חנוכה we light candles for eight nights. The מצוה can be kept even with just one candle each night for the entire household.  In Hebrew a candle is “נר ” which has the גמטריא of 250. Eight times 250 equals 2,000. We start lighting candles on the 25th day in the month of כסלו . If we add those two numbers together we get 2025. So, 2025 hints to כ“ה כסלו and eight candles.

Adapted from ‘Vedibarta Bam’

A חנוכה Message from the Rebbe

חנוכה is a time for children.  חנוכה is a time for children to learn and for the adults to teach the children.  The word חנוכה actually is related to the Hebrew word חינוך , meaning education.  That is why everyone focuses so much on the children during חנוכה .
Have you ever sat and watched the חנוכה candles?  They also join in, helping to teach all of you children about the great חנוכה miracle, and about how you could be a חנוכה hero even today.
What can the candles tell us?
The חנוכה candles are holy, and we are not supposed to use them to help us do any sort of work.  We are just supposed to sit and watch the candles.  But we should not just sit and look at them; we need to watch and listen carefully. The candles have a message to tell.
The Rebbe told us: “We have to listen carefully to what the candles have to tell.”
So this is what all of you children need to do.  You should ask your parents, teachers, or anyone who knows a little bit more than you do to tell you about the message that the חנוכה candles have to tell.  They should tell you stories about Jewish heroes and about regular Jews who refused to give in or give up what they know is right, just like the Maccabees in the חנוכה story.  
Listen carefully to these stories.  Listen carefully to what the חנוכה lights are telling you.  If you try hard and do what is right, Hashem will help.  Everything will work out.  So let’s all learn a little bit more, do another mitzvah, and have a happy חנוכה .




Before people drove cars, and trains became easy to use, people would hire a coach driver, and ride in a horse-drawn carriage. The coach drivers had an important job. They would take people on business trips, and deliver letters, packages, and money from one place to another.
In a small town, there lived two wagon drivers. The first one, מוטל , was strong and fast. His horses were also young and strong, and they could get you very far, very quickly. All of the young, important business people traveled with מוטל , because they did not want to waste time.

פיני‘ was the second wagon driver. פיני‘ was very calm and laid back – almost too calm at times. He worked hard and did his job well, but a מצוה that had to be done, always came first. So פיני‘ spent his time davening every morning, learned a little bit of תורה , and only then did he get on the road. פיני‘ ’s horses were old and thin, and could not go nearly as quickly as מוטל ’s. So anyone who was in a rush would not go with פיני‘ . He ended up getting more packages and mail to deliver, for people trusted פיני‘ more than מוטל .

If פיני‘ had rushed a little bit more, he might have gotten more business. But his davening was too important for him to rush through.

It was חנוכה , and שבת had just ended. Several business men had to be at the market early Sunday morning. Three of them were going with מוטל , and two more were going with פיני‘ .

מוטל quickly davened, made הבדלה , lit the מנורה , and ran out the door. He did not even sit by the candles and watch them burn for a little bit. His passengers were happy. They were soon on their way, and would get there nice and early, well in time for the market the next morning.

פיני‘ , on the other hand, took his time davening מעריב , carefully lit the מנורה , and sat down to eat some latkes. The businessmen were getting impatient, but פיני‘ would not leave until the last חנוכה light had burned out. By this time, מוטל ’s wagon was well on its way, and פיני‘ ’s passengers were upset that they were leaving so late.

פיני‘ , undisturbed by the fact that they were late, rode along peacefully, eventually falling asleep. The passengers also fell asleep. The horses rode on, and soon came to a huge lake that had frozen in the winter. The weather, though, had not been cold enough to freeze the lake solidly enough for it to be safe for crossing.  Animals know these things instinctively, so the horses followed the road that went around the lake.

When פיני‘ woke up, they were already approaching the town. It was nearly morning. They came to the inn where the merchants usually stayed, and were very surprised to find that מוטל was not there yet.

A few hours later, after פיני‘ ’s passengers had managed to do quite a bit of good business, מוטל walked in with his three passengers. They were all shaking and shivering. מוטל had tried to rush his horses across the lake, and the ice had broken under them.  Luckily they were able to get out but everyone got soaked, and their clothing froze to them. מוטל and his passengers were forced to stop somewhere to dry off, and arrived very late to the fair.

מוטל realized that the חנוכה lights were upset at him for shaming them, and ה‘ was warning him not to do this again. It is not worthwhile to leave the חנוכה lights unattended just to get a little bit more business.

פיני‘ , who knew what was important and what came first, had been saved. The חנוכה lights were looking out for him.


See the printable version of Connections for incredible fun pages!


Last Week’s Winners:

Avi Cunin, age 8 from Pacific Palisades, California

Rochel Shiminov, age 11 from Calgary, Alberta

We'd love to hear your feedback! Send us your comments, ideas and suggestions to: connections@shluchim.org
 

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