Tonight’s guest post is written by Rabbi Oren Postrel, a friend and colleague. On this last night of Hanukkah, he talks about how we find joy in Jewish study and learning. R. Jill
The Path With Heart community continues to kindle the bright flames of Hanukkah. Over the past seven nights, we have looked at Dedication/Hanukkah, Hope/tikvah, Gratitude, and Increasing the Light. These are core Jewish values. On this 8th night, we explore the miracle of learning.
The Joy and Miracle of Study
Talmud Torah (making time for Jewish study) by its very term is a sacred interaction, with Torah at the core. It’s also a joy. The joy of learning is deeply Jewish: by deliberating and extrapolating, Jewish learning is Jewish life with an elevated joy.
We have ancient texts and their contemporary readings; we have the scholarly, and we have the easily approachable, the rarified, and quotidian.
Adon Olam, is one of the beloved piyyutim (poems) in our prayerbook. It is an anonymous thousand-year-old sacred poem that opens with a deeply intimate statement of spiritual trust: “In your hands, I place my spirit.”
In Hebrew, this phrase is: b’yado afkid ruchi, and it brings me incredible assurance and joy.
Study & Doing Good
The rabbis believed that study and learning encourage us to do acts of goodness and lovingkindness (mitzvot). For example, we read in our prayerbook:
“These are the things for which a person enjoys the dividends in this world while the principal remains for the person to enjoy in the world to come. They are: honoring parents, loving deeds of kindness, and making peace between one person and another, but the study of the Torah is equal to them all.”
Talmud Shabbat 127a
What could be a fuller celebration of Hanukkah, than to learn?
Light is a symbol of Torah. When we light all eight candles on our Chanukiah, we bring the light of Torah to our neighborhoods and our entire world. By this, we don’t mean to proselytize but to demonstrate what we believe is valuable.
To our sages, the value of study is connected to mitzvot, shedding more light into our world. It is fixed into our spirituality and one of the most ancient practices of our tradition.
Another teaching that reflects this idea is: “When we pray we are speaking to God, and when we study it is God speaking to us.”
Sefat Emet: A Great Illuminator of Torah
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter of Gur (1860-1900) was a great teacher of Torah. He wrote a monumental collection of Torah and Bible teachings. It is called by his name “Sefat Emet.” We study it today.
Many years ago, I wrote my rabbinic thesis on one concept Yehuda Leib developed: unio mystical, the indescribable connection between human beings and the Divine.
Sefat Emet is translated as “The lips of truth.” This is a phrase-fragment that comes from the book of Proverbs (12:19). The very name of the commentary is an exercise in intertextuality, a weave of learning and interpretation. And Sefat Emet is only the first half of the Bible verse. The second half is: that the lips of truth will endure forever. We value not only learning, but also truth-telling.
The ways we interact with Jewish text can bring us the joy of study and the miracle of learning.
Text study enables me to put my trust, my spirit, and my intellect in divine hands like in Adon Olam and Sefat Emet.
Jewish study is both meditative and active, a practice that we cultivate for our own selves, and for the greater mitzvah of passing learning onto others.
Let this eighth night of Chanukah be devoted to a fully optimistic and attainable miracle: the joy of Jewish learning and Jewish study.
Learning: we nurture resilience and to develop a practice of compassion.
Study: we connect more deeply with our tradition and form a basis for a truly contemporary Judaism.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory once wrote:
“As long as the Jewish people never stop learning, the Jewish heart will never stop beating.”
May his teaching inspire us to keep our Jewish hearts beating and our minds to continue learning Jewishly.
The eighth night of lights is here. May our lips speak the truth of Torah, our hearts beat with the joy of learning, and may the lights inspire us to bring greater peace and understanding to the world.
Rabbi Oren Postrel
Introduction to Judaism Course
Rabbi Jill is sensitive to the needs of our community but has the same 24 hours as we each do. She is inviting me to teach an introduction to Judaism course for the Path With Heart community that will examine our basic beliefs, our history, and our sacred times. This is for learners who are completely new to Judaism, those who are considering being Jews, and those who already have a background and wish to discover our tradition anew.
Introduction to Judaism will be starting in January/February. I have been joyfully teaching adults basic Judaism, Torah, and Jewish learning in synagogues and online for years.
If you are interested in more information about this upcoming course, please write to: Lynae@RavJill.com.
Bringing Light to Darkness
From Our Community
We asked members of our Hineni Spiritual Community what brings them joy and this is what they shared:
Seeing my children start adult lives of their own.
Alice Krull
First, my children (Emma and Sara) are my biggest lights. I also am grateful for my golden doodle, Luna, who was a gift from my mom (blessed memory). I get a lot of joy from teaching yoga and meditation, as well as my job!
Elizabeth Hornak
Music, sweet music. Healthy trees, flowers, plants. Clean water n nature, espcially creeks and rivers. The sky, be it impossibly blue or black, sunsets & sunrises. Starts and planets. Being smiled at. Anyone who is nice to me.
David Strong, Austin TX
My family and my mare.
Nechama Alcaras
My family… husband, sons, their wives, my granddaughters, and my sweet new dog, Rosie.
Aimee
Children and grandchildren and the best little dog in the whole world.
Franny Alexander
My grandson is the light of my life. November 30 is his 6th birthday, and he loves to light the Shabbat candles and say the blessing. He’s really looking forward to lighting the Hanukkah candles.
Sue Rodriguez
Tonight, the last night of Hanukkah, we light the shamash (helper candle) and then the eight candles to light the Hanukkiah completely!
Click here for the Chanukah Blessings to say each night.
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Happy Hanukkah,
Rabbi Jill and the team
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Thank you for those words Rabbi.
I think learning is a light.
I taught English as a 2nd language to Asian ladies and it was very exciting to see the confidence that grew in them by learning a language that helped them in their everyday lives.
It is a walk and we cannot run. I am learning Hebrew on Duolingo and get impatient to go onto the next bit even though I haven’t fully grasped the first bit.
It reminds me of Abba sending Israel back to a plae because they hadn’t learnt the lesson in the first place.
We often go back to a place again and again because we love it but when we are sent back to a place we don’t want to be it can be hard to ask what else can I learn about myself from this place?
We have our eyes opened each time we learn the lesson. Then we can see where we are going.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful reflection on Hanukkah and the joy of learning. The article wonderfully captures the spirit of the holiday and the significance of growth and understanding. Inspiring read!