 In the tefillah of Al Hanisim recited on Chanukah we enumerate the many miracles of the war in which we defeated the great Greek armies. We mention that Hashem delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, the
many into the hands of the few, the defiled into the hands of the pure, the evil into the hands of tzadikim, and “zaidim” (heretics) into the hands of those who learn Torah. Now, the first four pairs are opposites of each other, for example the mighty in the hands of the weak. However the fifth listing is puzzling for it seems to be deviant from the others since it is not opposites?
The word zaid is composed of two letters, a zayin and a dalet. The letter zayin symbolizes satiation from the physical world. The Hebrew word zayin means to be nourished. The letter zayin corresponds to number seven שבע which also reads as saveah which translates as satisfied and full. In contrast the letter dalet means poor and empty. A zaid is an individual who indulges in the physical world bringing to himself cheap momentarily sensations of bodily pleasure to be followed afterwards with feelings of emptiness and void. For the nature of all pure materialistic enjoyments are short lived and will never live up to the expectation of bringing true and everlasting fulfillment. The Talmud Succah 52b Rav Yochanan tells us that man possesses limbs on his body that give him intense pleasure. If one indulges in satisfying this need for pleasure constantly, he will make that limb even more addictively starving than before.
However, in contrast if he controls and limits his pleasure, it will become very satisfied. For the letters in the order of dalet zayin represent the man who pursues the spirit, a journey in which many times one is asked to sacrifice the gratification of his instincts for a loftier cause. The feeling of loss symbolized by the letter dalet, is also only momentarily because it is followed by the experience of zayin, a fulfillment and inner satisfaction that lingers on for a very long period afterwards.
The Greeks glorified the body and its pleasures. They are called the Zeidie’ites. In contrast Am Yisrael were Torahites who elevated and hallowed their bodies and all its limbs to the service of Hashem. Learning Torah brings with it a feeling of intense fulfillment while physical pleasures are followed by emptiness and void. It is at this juncture that this fifth pair of opposites, the “zaidim into the hands of studiers of Torah” finds its true opponent.
Smack in the middle of the Gemarrah Shabbos 22a which deals with the laws of Chanukah, the gemarrah brings the following observation from Rav Tanchum. The Torah describes the pit that Yosef was thrown into by his brothers as being empty and not containing any water. Whereupon Rav Tanchum comments that water was not inside but snakes and scorpions were. The obvious question begs to be asked what is the connection between Chanukah and this interpretation of Rav Tanchum?
I would like to suggest the following explanation in the light of what we mentioned above. Yosef is the antithesis of the Greeks. This is alluded to in the gematriah of Yosef’s name 156 which equals Antiyochus the ruling king at that time and also the gematriah of melech Yavon. Yosef who was the ben zekunim of Yaakov was the epitomy of the learner of Torah as the Baal Haturim points out that the acronym of the word zekunim spells the Sedarim of Mishnayos. The “filler” letters of Yosef (the hidden letters of each letter that are nevertheless pronounced) is gematriah 101 וד, ו,ף ה. Our Chazal tell us that the individual who learns a piece of Torah 101 times reaches an incredible level of service to Hashem. Yosef, the “osaik” in Torah was fulfilled. Therefore being thrown into a pit of emptiness and nonfulfillment was the exact opposite of his true essence. For emptiness symbolized by a pit is a result of the gratification of physical cravings. For a pit is absent of water which symbolizes the Torah. From Torah one can only gain deep and everlasting fulfillment not emptiness. A pit which symbolizes the void after indulgence in addictive physical pleasures contains snakes which are cursed to taste its nourishment as dust. So too the craver for earthly pleasures, after his high and rush has ebbed, he feels even more thirstier and hungrier than before, leaving him with the feeling of cheapened and worthlessness as the dust of the earth.
Yosef and the pit is really the story of the Chashmonaeem versus the Greeks in a nutshell: Zedoism vs. Torahism. The miracle of Chanukah was the discovery of flask of oil which continued to keep on refilling day after day even when it was empty. So too the life of Torah and the pursuit of its ideals keep fulfilling and refilling those who preserve it day after day, month after month and year after year. Some sefarim learn that the seal of the Kohen Gadol which was placed on this flask of oil was that of Avraham Avinu who took over the kehunah from Shem the son of Noach. Avraham was able to miraculously pull the king of Sodom out from the pit (Bereishis 14,10 Rashi). This was the power of our first father with his ability of Torah. Just like we found by Yosef, the life of learning Torah repels feelings of emptiness and possesses the power to pull out from its midst even one who is wallowing in his “taavos”. This is hinted in the acronym הבור ריק אין בו מים which spellsאברהם .
The pursuit of worldly pleasures only sinks the indulger into further decadence and loss of control over his impulses, his instincts and the meaning of his life. Chanukah is the time when we can generate extra strength and emunah to draw ourselves out of our personal pits of emptiness and negative addictive behaviors in order to “enlighten” our lives with the fullness of Torah and its mitzvos.
Rav Brazil
Happy Chanukah
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