Tarmodian Feet
One cannot fight rebelliousness using conventional means of education and persuasion. There was no rational basis for the handful of ill-trained priests to start a rebellion against the Syrian Greek Empire. But, a rebel does not necessarily limit himself to logic. It takes chutzpah to do what the Maccabees did.
Recurrent Holy Chutzpah
This week’s parsha features several stories that required a lot of chutzpah, in the positive sense of the word.
Joseph risks his life to see how his brothers are faring.
Tamar risks her life not to embarrass her father-in-law Judah.
Joseph risks his future by stubbornly resisting the seduction of Potiphar’s wife.
This Shabbos, we commence the Holiday of Chanukah, the highlight of which is the lighting of Chanukah lights for eight consecutive nights.
It is well-known that there is always a connection between the weekly Torah reading and any holiday that occurs in the same week. It follows then that there is a connection between the chutzpah exhibited in this week’s parsha and the story of Chanukah.
Chanukah Chutzpah
The chutzpah associated with Chanukah can be traced back to the Talmud’s discussion of the laws of Chanukah.
When the Talmud discusses the requirements for the lighting of the Menorah it states that the Chanukah lights must stay lit (or, at least, have enough fuel) “until the Tarmodians have vanished from the market.”
Rashi explains that the Tarmodians were a group of people who sold firewood in the city markets. They remained longest in the market until the people returned home in the evening to start their fires and those in need of firewood returned to the market to purchase it.
The question has been asked why does the Talmud have to mention the name of the people who provided wood in the marketplace. Couldn’t the Talmud just say that the Chanukah lights must last until such time that all the people have left the marketplace, after which time there are no people left who can see the Chanukah lights?
Tarmodian Rebels
The answer to this question lies in a better understanding of the Tarmodians and what they stood for. The Talmud tells us that the Tarmodians were a group of slaves who rebelled against King Solomon. Hence these people were used as a symbol of rebellious behavior.
Furthermore, the very name Tarmod, when rearranged spells the word moredes, which means a rebel.
When one ventures outside, they will discover a plethora of beliefs and practices. The glut of diverse beliefs that exist “out there” are represented by the metaphor of the marketplace. Some of these ideas are desirable, some are neutral, some undesirable and some downright evil and rebellious. This last category is represented by the Tarmodians, whose history and name express the attitude of rebellion.
Hence, the Talmud states that the Chanukah lights must be so effective as to completely eliminate all traces of this rebellious attitude from the marketplace of ideas.
Chanukah represents the victory of light over darkness and pure Judaism over the adulterated version the Hellenists tried to impose on all the Jews. The Chanukah victory is not complete until all traces of rebelliousness have been removed.
Fighting Rebelliousness with Rebelliousness
There is yet another dimension inherent in the Tarmodian metaphor. Just as the objective of Chanukah is to remove the “rebels” from the marketplace, the method we employ to accomplish that goal is also one of rebelliousness. Indeed, the very heroes of Chanukah, the Maccabees, were rebels in their own right.
One cannot fight rebelliousness using conventional means of education and persuasion. If logic would have prevailed, the Maccabees would have thrown in the towel. There was no rational basis for the handful of ill-trained priests to start a rebellion against the Syrian Greek Empire. But, a rebel does not necessarily limit himself to logic. It takes chutzpah to do what the Maccabees did.
By acting as rebels, who defied the overwhelmingly superior forces of the Syrian Greeks, military strategy and logic itself, they elicited the unconventional Divine forces that rebel against the laws of nature that dictate that the strong prevail over the weak.
And it was this “rebellious” energy that provided the lone cruse of oil with the capacity to last for eight nights instead of one.
Modern Day Chutzpah to Greet Moshiach
Chanukah lights have been compared to the light of Moshiach. Today we are in need of rebellious energies to overcome the chutzpah of the world’s tyrants, terrorists and immoral leaders. We also pray to G-d that, as in the days of old, He should assert His unconventional Divine authority and power to bring us Moshiach and the final Redemption.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Vayeishev by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
