On Wednesday evening, December 13, community women gathered at Congregation Ohel Simcha for the Annual Night of Gratitude hosted by Chazaq, Amudim, and Emet Outreach. The program was in memory of Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein zt”l.
Rabbi Shalom Yona Weis, well-known speaker, spoke first. He shared that the opposite of love is not hate; it’s not caring. Deep down, we love our fellow Jews because they are family.
The way to measure your level of observance of loving your fellow man is how you treat your spouse or your family. Chanukah teaches us a message. The Greeks outlawed bris milah, Rosh Chodesh, Shabbos, and Torah learning. They wanted to make us lose the feeling that a Jew is special. Rosh Chodesh depends on us saying when we see the new moon. Hashem gave us the key to time. Shabbos cannot be observed by a non-Jew. Milah is a sign of being a Jew, and Torah is our kallah. We aren’t allowed to teach Torah to non-Jews.
He taught that Yosef represents Chanukah, as we learn halachos of the holiday from him. He was thrown into a pit that was 20 amos deep. We learn that the height to place a menorah cannot be higher than 20 amos. Yosef’s name means another son, more Jews. His name means to add on.
Yaakov sent Yosef to check on the peace of his brothers. The Torah says that Yosef saw his brothers. He looked at other Jews (his brothers) and saw them. “Yosef HaTzadik sees and recognizes his brothers.” The Maharal teaches that light is social energy. Darkness is the opposite. It’s when you don’t see your brother. “Light is seeing another Jew.”
Rabbi Weis shared that you first see what is unique about each Jew. Every candle is unique and each Jew lights the world in a way that no one else can.
The first time the word “tov” appears in the Torah is when Hashem created light. According to the Maharal, the first or is hidden in the 36 candles of Chanukah. The Or HaGanuz means to see the good in others.
The darkness of Greece blinded us to the goodness of other Jews. Rabbi Wallerstein saw the light in every Jew. Klal Yisrael needs to work on seeing the good in every Jew. Chanukah is about seeing others and working on gratitude.
We need to bring more light to the world.
Next, Rebbetzin Amit Yagoubi, well-known speaker, spoke about Chanukah as a time of dreams. She reviewed all the dreams in the Yosef story. She stated that just as Yosef was rescued suddenly from the pit, we should hear the hostages are brought out quickly and suddenly in the z’chus of the Chanukah candles.
What is the power of a candle? It sets a mood, an ambience. It casts a glow and then a person can begin to dream. Hashem tells us: I want you to remember how to dream. Reality is irrelevant. A dream exists on a different plane. Hashem wants us to remember our dreams.
What kind of dreams do we have when we look at the candles? Hashem wants us to remember our spiritual dreams.
We are living in a time now when everyone’s dream is Mashiach!
She shared how Tamar, in last week’s parshah, made her dreams bigger and she became mother to Mashiach. Chanukah is time of hodaah and Hallel, which translates as thanks and l’hallel, which means to illuminate. So, it’s a time of gratitude and light.
“When we thank Hashem for darkness, then we illuminate it.”
Following this, there was a beautiful concert singing performed by Shaindel Antelis, and AYAlA joined her.
Everyone swayed and clapped, and some joined into the choruses.
It was a beautiful, uplifting event!
By Susie Garber
