Chanukah and Jewish Education (2)

Only by preserving the integrity of Torah, by giving our children a Torah education that emphasizes its relevance to our lives, can we dispel the darkness of exile and usher in the ultimate Redemption. At that time, G-d will remove all the impurity from the world and “the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the sea is covered by water.”

Empty Pits: A Lesson in Jewish Education

Chanukah is related to the word chinuch-education. The Torah reading of Vayeishev occurs either on the Shabbos before Chanukah or on the first day of Chanukah. It is no coincidence that we can find the importance of a Torah education hinted in this week’s parsha.

Joseph’s brothers were about to kill their own flesh and blood. Reuvein, however, convinced them not to spill his blood. Instead, he suggested, he should be thrown into an empty pit. Reuben’s intention was to later return Joseph safely to his father.

The Torah describes the pit as “an empty pit, without any water.” The Talmud, in its discussion of the laws of Chanukah, makes the observation that the words “without any water” are unnecessary. “If the pit was empty,” the Talmud asks, “do we not know that it contained no water?”

And the Talmud answers: This is to teach us that while there was no water in the pit, there were snakes and scorpions.

What is the significance of the Torah telling us that the pit into which Joseph was thrown contained no water, but it did contain snakes and scorpions? And what eternal lesson is there in this knowledge for us?

Torah is likened to water, because like water, we cannot live without Torah; and like water which descends from High places, so too, Torah has come to us from Hashem.

When a person is devoid of Torah that is likened to water, one should not think that they are just empty and innocent. Wherever there is an absence of Torah-water, there will automatically be snakes and scorpions, i.e., harmful influences and spiritually poisonous forces that will attempt to destroy us. Without Torah, we become susceptible to all kinds of negative influences.

Giant Menorah

It is interesting that the Talmud makes this observation about the empty pit in the context of a discussion of the laws of Chanukah. The Talmud states that a Chanukah menorah that is placed higher than twenty cubits (approximately 30 feet) above ground is not acceptable for the fulfillment of the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah menorah. The reason for this is that a menorah placed so high is out of sight.

Commentators have grappled to understand the connection between the law about a Chanukah Menorah, out of sight, with the throwing of Joseph into a pit filled with snakes and scorpions.

Two Extremes

One explanation is that the Chanukah lights symbolize the light of Torah. There are two extremes in the way some relate to Torah, both of which are to be rejected.

There are some – as the Greeks of old – who view the Torah as being nothing more than a beautiful human artistic creation. The Greeks stripped the Torah of its holiness and its G-dly transcendent nature.

There are those who go to the opposite extreme and declare the Torah to be so spiritually high that it is out of our sight. They deny the Torah’s relevance to real life “down here on earth.”

By placing the Menorah – symbolizing Torah – beyond our sight, to put the Torah on a pedestal, and to regard it as being too holy for us, and therefore not relevant to us “down here,” is almost as if we denied the Torah completely. The Torah, as G-d’s wisdom, is relevant on all levels, and was given to us by G-d within the parameters of this physical world.

The Talmud is thus teaching us, that when one places the Torah above and beyond our reach, it is the equivalent of creating an empty pit devoid of water, or Torah, and filled with harmful creatures—snakes and scorpions. To deny any aspect of Torah’s importance is to deny the totality of Torah and an invitation to all the negative forces.

Only by preserving the integrity of Torah, by giving our children a Torah education that emphasizes its relevance to our lives, can we dispel the darkness of exile and usher in the ultimate Redemption. At that time, G-d will remove all the impurity from the world and “the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the sea is covered by water.”

From the book Light from the Future: Chanukah by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.